BUS2032 : Service Operations Strategy and Management
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Professor Jingxin Dong
- Co-Module Leader: Dr Paul Lewis
- Lecturer: Dr Xiaotian Xie, Professor Stewart Robinson
- Owning School: Newcastle University Business School
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
Effective management of operations is critical to the success of organisations right across business and industrial sectors, the service sector, the public sector and the ‘not-for-profit’ sector. Organisations that produce products and/or deliver services have operational systems at their core. Well-designed, robust operational systems that align with an organisation's strategy and are managed consistently well are central to sustaining high levels of organisational performance.
This module provides a broad introduction to the Operations Strategy and Operations Management discipline with a focus on topics that are particularly relevant to practice. The aim of the module is to provide the foundations and frameworks to understand and analyse key issues of relevance to the management of operations in contemporary organisations. It also aims to offer an insight into the contemporary issues of the subject of operations strategy and its importance for an organisation.
Outline Of Syllabus
This module covers four key themes in Operations Strategy and Management:
1. Operations strategy
2. The management of service operations (steering operations and processes)
3. Service operations improvement
4. Planning and controlling operations
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 12 | 2:00 | 24:00 | PiP lectures |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 60:00 | 60:00 | Time for students to complete formative and summative coursework & assessments |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 66:00 | 66:00 | Estimated based on 3 hours per teaching week (not necessarily to do in that week) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 6 | 1:00 | 6:00 | PiP seminars |
| Structured Guided Learning | Structured non-synchronous discussion | 4 | 0:30 | 2:00 | 2 per semester |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 39:00 | 39:00 | Balance to equal 200 overall |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Scheduled on-line contact time | 3 | 1:00 | 3:00 | Introduction to the module (1hr), S1 pre-assessment clinic (1hr), and S2 pre-assessment clinic (1hr). |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The module includes lectures, exercises, readings, cases and discussions. The lectures will be formal sessions. Opportunities will be made available for discussions and Q&A. Lectures provide the concepts and frameworks. These contribute to the module’s intended knowledge outcomes. The seminars and other interactions allow responses to questions giving students the opportunity to use the concepts and frameworks. These contribute to the module’s intended skills outcomes.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC Examination | 60 | 1 | A | 25 | N/A |
| PC Examination | 120 | 2 | A | 75 | N/A |
Exam Pairings
| Module Code | Module Title | Semester | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operations Management | 1 | N/A |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 1 | M | Group discussion and a problem solving session. Feedback is offered during the seminars and also on VLE. |
| Written exercise | 2 | M | The students can practice exam questions |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Formative feedback is provided throughout the module in order to help students check their understanding of the teaching material to help prepare for the exams. Once a student has attended the lecture and undertaken the essential reading they can check their understanding through taking an online test. Where numerical concepts have been covered, students can undertake multiple exercises to test their understanding of these concepts. The assignment and exam assesses students’ breadth and depth of understanding of the key concepts and techniques in operations strategy and management. The examination is an appropriate way to assess the theoretical underpinning and problem solving skills associated with operations management in order to identify what is important and how to think critically. The semester one assignment assesses the work undertaken in the first part of the module. The second semester exam assesses concepts and techniques covered across the module and also assesses numeracy skills associated with application of basic techniques in operations strategy and management.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- BUS2032's Timetable