Professor Anderson's Courses

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MBA Introduction to Operations Management (BA 380N - Dallas Weekend MBA Program)

Operations Management (OM) is the cost effective management of material and resources (people, equipment) to successfully achieve an organization's goals (usually, this is a business model that maximizes Return on Investment). Hence, OM is primarily concerned with the systematic planning, design, operation, control, and improvement of the business's processes, particularly with respect to cost, quality, and timing, in order to deliver the desired value proposition to the customer.  Managing operations is vital to every type of organization, for it is only through effective and efficient utilization of resources that an organization can be successful in the long run. 

MBA Managing Projects Course (MAN 386.5)

Managing projects successfully is a quickly growing part of the U.S. GDP.  Yet, studies across various industries repeatedly show that 75% of projects are late, over-budget or both.  Successful projects require a trinity of planning, execution, and people management.  We concentrate in this class on project planning and execution, both at the project and project portfolio level.  In particular, we follow the project through its lifecycle of definition, planning, execution, and close-out as identified by the Project Management Institute and informed by the most recent practice and research.

MBA Operations Consulting Practicum (OM 386.4)

The Operations Consulting Practicum (listed in catalog as "Operations Learning Lab") provides a hands-on experience in tackling real-world problems in operations management.  Groups of 4-6 students will manage a substantial consulting project with well-known local manufacturing or service firm in order to hone their abilities in technical consulting, operational strategy, process analysis and design, supply-chain management, and total quality management.  This class builds on the knowledge gained from the core operations class to enable students to 1) solve practical problems in process analysis or supply-chain management; 2) integrate their operations and information management toolkits into consulting; 3) differentiate themselves for the job market with real-world experience; and 4) take a closer look at some promising prospective employers.

MBA Microeconomics and Operations (BA 380D 2004-2006) Operations Half-Semester

Operations Management (OM) is the cost effective management of material and resources (people, equipment) to achieve organizational goals. As such, it primarily concerns itself with the systematic planning, design, operation, control, and improvement of businesses processes.  Managing operations is vital to every type of organization, for it is only through effective and efficient utilization of resources that an organization can be successful in the long run. 

Using a process-oriented approach, we introduce the basic tools for process analysis and design.  We then study the effects of variability on processes, and finally we study process improvement techniques.  The instructional methodology used incorporates both lectures and in-depth case-studies.  

PhD Service Management Seminar (MAN 392)

Service firms employ over 75 percent of the workforce.  Yet managing service operations is often very different from managing manufacturing or distribution operations.  Relatively little operations literature, particularly that involving mathematical models, focuses on services outside of the traditional area of queuing management.  However, there is a plethora of opinion in the area as well as a great number of empirical studies. Hence, while we will emphasize mathematical service models, we will also examine these other streams of literature to identify opportunities for further service operations management research.

MBA Introduction to Operations Management (BA 380N -- 1998-2003, 2007)

Operations Management (OM) is the cost effective management of material and resources (people, equipment) to achieve organizational goals. As such, it primarily concerns itself with the systematic planning, design, operation, control, and improvement of businesses processes.  Managing operations is vital to every type of organization, for it is only through effective and efficient utilization of resources that an organization can be successful in the long run.