Operations management, 7.5 credits

Production management is about how goods and services are produced. Everything you eat, sit on, use, read and all the clothes you wear, come to you thanks to the production manager who organized the production of these. All the books you borrow at the library, every treatment you receive at the hospital and every service you expect in the shops - has been produced. People who organize this "production" are not always called production managers but that is what they really are. And that's what this course is about - tasks, areas and decisions in these leaders work with and that make services and products that we all depend on. This course in production management is about the design and management of products, processes, services and supply chains. It refers to the development and utilization of resources that companies need to deliver goods and services that their customers want. The course deals with the management of operations at strategic to tactical and operational level. Strategic issues focus on the size and location of factories, how the structure of services or networks is determined and the design of supply chains. Tactical issues include the choice of production layouts and equipment. Operational issues include production planning and control, inventory management, materials management and quality management. In the course, these topics are related to the people in the organization, diversity issues, negotiation techniques, corporate social responsibility and environmental and sustainability aspects.