Operations Management Curricula: Literature Review and Analysis

A review and analysis of studies on the interface between Operations Management (OM) academicians and industry practitioners indicate the existence of a persistent gap between what is being taught and what is relevant to practitioners in their daily jobs. The majority of practitioner studies have been directed at upper management levels, yet academia typically educates students for entry level or management trainee (undergraduate) and mid-management (MBA) positions. A recurring finding was that academicians prefer to teach quantitative techniques while practitioners favor qualitative concepts. The OM curricula literature shows some disagreements between academicians concerning subject matter, and a wide variety of teaching opinions. This paper provides an extensive analytical review of OM curricula literature along with their respective authors’ conclusions. From this analysis we suggest a customer-focused business plan to close the gap between industry and academia. This plan can be modified to account for faculty teaching and research interests, local industry requirements and institution specific factors such as class sizes and resources

B2C Mass Customization in the Classroom

The purpose of this article is to describe an internet-based mass customization assignment in Operations Management/Supply Chain Management classes where students utilize the Web site of a company that offers a customized product. Students evaluate the user interface, judge the value proposition of the product they demonstrate, and discuss issues of product design, process design and scheduling, inventory management, Supply Chain Management, marketing, and competitors. The students learn about mass customization from both the producer\u27s perspective and the consumer\u27s perspective. Through their own research and the class presentations students are able to develop a better understanding of the implementation requirements and challenges of mass customization. The assignment is highly interactive and has been successfully used in Operations Management and Supply Chain Management courses at under-graduate and graduate levels and at multiple universities. In addition, practitioners interested in implementing a mass customization process can use the assignment as a brainstorming or benchmarking exercise

Empirical Evidence of RFID Impacts on Supply Chain Performance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the actual benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) on supply chain performance through the empirical evidence. Design/methodology/approach - The research reviews and classifies the existing quantitative empirical evidence of RFID on supply chain performance. The evidence is classified by process (operational or managerial) and for each process by effect (automational, informational, and transformational). Findings - The empirical evidence shows that the major effects from the implementation of RFID are automational effects on operational processes followed by informational effects on managerial processes. The RFID implementation has not reached transformational level on either operational or managerial processes. RFID has an automational effect on operational processes through inventory control and efficiency improvements. An informational effect for managerial processes is observed for improved decision quality, production control and the effectiveness of retail sales and promotions coordination. In addition, a three-stage model is proposed to explain the effects of RFID on the supply chain. Research limitations/implications - Limitations of this research include the use of secondary sources and the lack of consistency in performance measure definitions. Future research could focus on detailed case studies that investigate cross-functional applications across the organization and the supply chain. Practical implications - For managers, the empirical evidence presented can help them identify implementation areas where RFID can have the greatest impact. The data can be used to build the business case for RFID and therefore better estimate ROI and the payback period. Originality/value - This research fills a void in the literature by providing practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of the quantitative benefits of RFID in the supply chain

Understanding the cost of change Function: A basis for using an effective small step change strategy

This paper develops the cost of change function under the Continuous Improvement (CI) paradigm advocated by quality gurus such as Deming, Taguchi, and Shingo. CI is considered to be focusing on "frame bending" or minor changes while Organizational Change (OC) is considered to be focusing on "frame breaking " or major changes. The cost of change function is modified to be a discrete function incorporating a "monitoring" cost component and a "doing" cost element, which leads to a better understanding of the multiple tradeoffs: a) between the number of smaller steps to be taken to achieve the desired or planned change and the total cost of change, and b) between the total cost of change and the time needed to achieve the desired change. It is proposed to seek validation of the modified cost of change function by interviewing senior management personnel, who have project management and/or change management experience, such as managing six-sigma projects

Radio Frequency Identification Technology: Applications, Technical Challenges and Strategies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the technology behind RFID systems, identify the applications of RFID in various industries, and discuss the technical challenges of RFID implementation and the corresponding strategies to overcome those challenges. Design/methodology/approach - Comprehensive literature review and integration of the findings from literature. Findings - Technical challenges of RFID implementation include tag cost, standards, tag and reader selection, data management, systems integration and security. The corresponding solution is suggested for each challenge. Research limitations/implications - A survey type research is needed to validate the results. Practical implications - This research offers useful technical guidance for companies which plan to implement RFID and we expect it to provide the motivation for much future research in this area. Originality/value - As the infancy of RFID applications, few researches have existed to address the technical issues of RFID implementation. Our research filled this gap

An Efficient Branch and Bound Algorithm for the Warehouse Location Problem

This paper introduces an efficient branch and bound algorithm for a special class of mixed integer programming problems called the warehouse location problem. A set of branching decision rules is proposed for selecting warehouses to be constrained open and closed from any node of the branch and bound tree. These rules are tested for their efficiency in reducing computation times and storage requirements to reach optimal solutions. An improved method of solving the linear programming problems at the nodes which substantially reduces the computations is also introduced in this paper.

Comment on "Economically Optimum Design of Cusum Charts" by A. L. Goel and S. M. Wu

This note questions the authors' claim for optimality in designing cusum charts using the heuristic pattern search method.

An Efficient Branch and Bound Algorithm for the Capacitated Warehouse Location Problem

This paper describes an efficient solution procedure for the warehouse location problem in which limitations on the amount of goods which can be handled are also imposed. The proposed branch-and-bound solution method is made efficient by developing dominance, lower and upper bounding procedures and branch and node selection rules utilizing the special structure of this problem. Computational results are provided for large sized problems.

Simulation Testing of Aggregate Production Planning Models in an Implementation Methodology

The planning of production, inventories, and work force at an aggregate level to respond to fluctuating demands on a production system has received substantial theoretical treatment in the literature for several years. However, widespread implementation of the available analytical techniques has not occurred. The objectives of this research are to explore this implementation problem: (1) by developing a simulation model of an operating firm, (2) by using this simulation to compare the performance of aggregate production planning models, and (3) by formulating a generalized methodology for implementing quantitative planning models into the decision procedures of operating firms.