COURSE NUMBER: MBA247.1
COURSE TITLE: Global Operations Strategy
UNITS OF CREDIT: 3.0
INSTRUCTOR: Christopher S. Tang
E-MAIL ADDRESS: chris.tang@anderson.ucla.edu
CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://bspace.berkeley.edu
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Mondays/Wednesdays, 9:30AM-11:00AM
The first meeting
of this class will take place on September 3.
PREREQUISITE(S): MBA204 or equivalent
CLASS FORMAT: Mixture of lectures, case discussion, and debates.
REQUIRED READINGS:
Cases (A partial list)
|
Case |
Location |
Key
Issue(s) |
|
Wal-Mart
in China |
China
|
Global
supply/retail operations in China, India, etc. |
|
Seven-Eleven
Japan |
Japan |
Global
retail operations in Japan, China, USA |
|
Groupon |
USA |
Value
creation, Incentive compatibility |
|
MGM
Grand Hotel |
USA |
Competing
on Business Analytics |
|
Zappos.com |
USA |
Internet
Retailing, Omni-channel Retailing |
|
ITC
e-Choupal |
India |
Value
Creation, Socially Responsible Supply Chains, Information Technology |
|
Nokia
Life Tools |
India |
Value
Creation via mobile Technology |
|
MobiVi |
Vietnam,
South East Asia |
Mobile
Financial Services |
|
IPE
Ma Jun |
China |
Environmental
sustainability, Information Technology |
|
Starbucks
C.A.F.E. Initiative |
South
America |
Business,
Environmental, and Social sustainability |
|
Shanghai
Express |
Any
|
Channel
Incentive, Channel Coordination, Incentive Contracts |
|
Boeing
787 |
USA |
New
Product Development, Supply Contracts, Incentive Misalignments |
|
Li
& Fung |
Asia,
USA |
Outsourcing,
Network externality, Global Supply Chain Operations |
|
Flextronics |
Any |
Outsourcing,
Design and Innovations |
|
Crocs |
USA |
Product
Development and Global Supply Chain Management |
|
Hewlett-Packard
DeskJet Printer |
Any |
Competing
on Product Flexibility |
|
Shanzhai |
China |
Rapid
Product Development |
|
Quirky
|
USA |
Open
Innovation, Crowd Innovation |
|
Mattel
Toy Recall |
USA,
China |
Supply
Chain Risk Management |
|
Western
Digital |
Thailand |
Resilient
Supply Chains |
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:
This class will be
graded as follows: Class participation = 20%; Individual/Group assignments =
40%; and Final Project = 40%.
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This course is intended
for students who are interested in operations
and strategy, particularly those
aspiring to careers in (1) operations, (2) general management, (3)
entrepreneurship, or (4) management consulting.
Essentially, operations strategy consists of the strategic use of functions such
as manufacturing, global supply chain, and innovative service provision. This
course focuses on an important managerial question: How can our company
formulate and implement operations strategies to support the overall corporate
strategy?
Currently, many firms are under pressure to compete on cost, quality, speed,
and yet they need to operate in a socially and environmentally responsible
manner. To compete for sustainable revenue
growth, a firm needs to: (1) develop innovative products/services
rapidly: (2) manage responsive global supply chains in a socially and
environmentally responsible manner; (3) operate multi-channel retailers
(including e-commerce and m-commerce) effectively; and
(4) capture value created for its customers.
The
course will be divided into four parts. In the first part, we will examine
general competitive strategies and explore some of the issues when firms expand
globally. We shall discuss leverage
using operations, the impact of the competitive environment, and the structure
of the value chain. In the second part, we will examine the issue of socially
and environmentally responsible operations and explore how information and
communication technology (ICT) and mobile technology can play an important role
especially when firms operate in developing countries. In the third part of the course, we will
examine different strategic approaches, each of which places requirements on
operations but allow different means for companies to compete. These approaches
include competing on cost; quality; availability; value-added services,
innovations, and new products. We will compare these different approaches and
the tradeoffs among them. Finally, in
the fourth part we will examine some issues in operations policy and strategy
that are particularly relevant today.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Christopher Tang (www.anderson.ucla.edu/x980.xml), UCLA Distinguished Professor and Carter Professor of Business Administration at the UCLA Anderson School.
Chris won numerous teaching awards including UCLA (campus-wide) distinguished teaching
award (2012), UCLA-
Chris received his BSc (First Class Hons.) from King’s College, London, M.A., MPhil, and PhD from Yale University.