State University of New York at Buffalo



State University of New York at Buffalo

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Department of Operations Management and Strategy

MGO 302: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

FALL 2015- September 1st Release

PROFESSOR: Dr. Natalie Simpson

351 Jacobs Management Center

University at Buffalo

Buffalo, New York, USA

Phone: 716-645-2443

e-mail: nsimpson@buffalo.edu

ADMINISTRATIVE Mr. Paul Song

ASSISTANT: e-mail: jsong22@buffalo.edu

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL INFORMATION

Contact Information… Page 1 (see above)

Live Class Time… Page 2

Digital Access Study Hall and MGO 302 Office Hours… Page 2

Email… Page 2

Questions about Scores … Page 2

Academic Integrity… Page 2

LinkedIn… Page 3

GETTING READY: COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Course Prerequisite… Page 3

Required Textbook and Other Material… Page 3

UBlearns … Page 4

Technology and Emergency Plans… Page 4

DOING WELL: GOALS, DELIVERABLES AND GRADING

Course Grading Scale… Page 5

Exams and Exam Policy… Page 5

Pre-EQS Module… Page 6

Exam Question Simulation (EQS) Modules… Page 7

Projects… Page 8

Late Projects… Page 8

Bonus Points… Page 8

Course Content and Learning Goals… Page 9

Class Calendar… Page 10

Notes on Digital Access… Page 11

GENERAL INFORMATION

LIVE CLASS TIME

Our class takes place on the University at Buffalo North Campus, classroom Jacobs 106, from 2:00 PM to 3:20 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can join the video stream live on UBlearns during that time, and our Technical Director Kevin Hartman will relay your questions to the professor when you submit them through the chat room feature. If you miss out viewing or attending live, the finished video recording will appear in “Echo 360” (same location as the link to the live stream) on UBlearns and on YouTube soon after.

DIGITAL ACCESS STUDY HALL AND MGO 302 OFFICE HOURS

Jacobs 106 is reserved for your use as a “study hall” from 12:00-5:00 every Friday this semester. If you are on the North Campus here in Buffalo and have work to do during that time, feel free to study in Jacobs 106!

Prof. Simpson will be in Jacobs 106 from 12:00-3:00 every Friday, for MGO 302 office hours. If you have a question of a personal nature, you may not wish to visit her in Jacobs 106, as the study hall is not very private. In the case of personal matters- or if you have MGO questions but have a conflict during office hours on Friday- please email her for a personal appointment. Otherwise, stop by Jacobs 106, even if you don’t have any questions for the professor! The room is yours to use for studying.

Prof. Simpson will hold extra office hours in the late afternoon/early evenings before important MGO deadlines, often referred to as Atrium Hours. She’ll be sitting in the third floor atrium area of Alfiero during these extended office hours, waiting for you to drop by with a question. Detailed information on these times will be posted on the Announcement page of UBlearns as the various deadlines draw near.

EMAIL

We all receive too much email. Keeping this in mind, MGO 302 will not send you email unless you request it. You, however, can sign up for ‘email reminders’ of important deadlines if you prefer… look on UBlearns for the sign-up icon early in the semester, or email Mr. Song at jsong22@buffalo.edu any time after the sign-up area closes on September 8th and ask to be added to the list. All class deadlines are also entered into the UBlearns Calendar app, if you would prefer this tool instead.

QUESTIONS ABOUT SCORES

For questions concerning numerical grades and scoring, you can e-mail Mr. Paul Song (jsong22@buffalo.edu) directly, as he will be maintaining the records for the class. Among his many responsibilities, Mr. Song is also the ‘keeper of lists’, such as sign-up lists for special exam sessions, so you might need to contact him concerning something of that nature during the semester.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

Your student handbook lists the Standards of Academic Integrity, and a copy is always available at . Violation of these standards will not be condoned. Please pay careful attention to the penalties described for collaborating on individual projects, described on page 3. There is no group work in MGO 302.

LINKED IN

Connect with Prof. Simpson on Linked In, and she will endorse you for ‘Operations Management’ if you earn an A in MGO 302! If you send an invitation to connect now, send her a reminder for the endorsement on Linked In when the semester is over and she can confirm your grade. Regardless of your grade, the professor is happy to accept your Linked In connection… however an endorsement is reserved for A (not A-) students only, in recognition of distinctly superior work. (

GETTING READY: COURSE REQUIREMENTS

COURSE PREREQUISITE

MGQ 201, Introduction to Computers and Statistics

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND OTHER MATERIAL

Simpson, NC and Hancock, PG, Practical Operations Management, Hercher Publishing, ISBN # 978-1-939297-006.

The textbook you need for this class has this front cover (image on left). If your book doesn’t look like this on the front cover, it is not the book for this class. Options for obtaining this text:

• It is available for purchase at the UB bookstores, or can be ordered through various on-line vendors.

• It can be downloaded electronically from VitalSource (go to store., and enter the title under “search.”). The price was US$70 on December 20, 2014.

• At least one copy is available for reading on Reserve at the UB Capen Hall libraries.

Simpson, NC, MGO 302 “Skeleton Notes” This 150+ page document is available for downloading in segments through the “Course Documents” section of our website, or this same note packet can also be purchased on the UB campus at The UPS Store in the Student Commons. (This store is the former Great Lakes Graphics & Printing.) Please note that purchasing a bound copy of the Skeleton Notes from the UPS Store is an optional convenience, while purchasing the textbook is required. Unlike the textbook, all materials in the Skeleton Notes can be obtained through UBlearns as well.

NoteShaper Tutorials and Supplements. Video tutorials explaining all practice problems in the textbook can be found at , as well of supplementary material to aid your studying. This site can be browsed for free, and the supplementary files can be downloaded without cost. Subscriptions range from $10-$30, and are only required to play the videos, which is optional.

UBLEARNS

After August 3rd, log into the UBLearns Blackboard system at , and you will find access to our course site. This site will be a vital component of our class, providing:

• Electronic versions of various documents you may also purchase as “hard copy”, as well as supplementary downloadable material.

• Access to all your lectures, both streamed live and recorded.

• Copies of all the various electronic files used during lectures.

• Access to the pre- EQS module and all your following Exam Question Simulation (EQS) Modules.

• Important administrative announcements on the homepage of the site.

• Your exam, EQS, project and bonus point (if any) scores, as they become available.

It is essential that you have access to our UBlearns site. Even if you decide to attend all lectures “live”, you should check it regularly (or monitor updates) for announcements and additional materials. Log on and explore as soon as possible!

TECHNOLOGY AND EMERGENCY PLANS

We have no reason to believe that UBlearns and Echo 360, our video streaming system, will not be operating perfectly throughout the semester. However, like any technology, both these systems have failed occasionally in the past. Here are four important principles that should be committed to memory (or written somewhere that you’ll remember where to find them) in the event of disrupted technology:

• First and foremost: it is your responsibility to stay current with the class lectures. (This is the key to a good grade, regardless!) You should never rely on UBlearns to be 100% available, although we all naturally expect this.

• Second: remember that all material we discuss during the lectures is also in your assigned reading, and your textbook cannot fail to be available at a random moment.

• Third: remember that our Echo 360 video access system allows downloads as well as streaming. If streaming isn’t working well for you, try downloading… you might like that better anyway. Instructions for downloading and other hints for troubleshooting the video are available through the link ‘Video Help and Frequently Asked Questions’ which appears in the lower half of the Video Access page of our UBlearns site.

• Fourth and finally: remember that back-up copies of all lectures (as well as some supplementary files) are also available on . You can either use YouTube on a regular basis if you find it works better for you than Echo 360, or just remember that it’s there for you, if UBlearns is unavailable. In the event of UBlearns or Echo 360 “emergencies”, simply go to and search for MGO 302.

DOING WELL: GOALS, DELIVERABLES AND GRADING

COURSE GRADING SCALE

Your course grade for MGO 302 is determined by adding three exam scores, two project scores, one pre-EQS score and six EQS module scores- these are the ‘deliverables’ pictured below. Thus, the final grade scale is designed from a (theoretical) maximum of (64*3) + (25*2) + (7*6) = 284 points. On that scale, the cut-off for an A will be a total of 255 points earned, the cut-off for an A- will be 250 points, the cut-off for a B+ will be 245 points, and the cut-off for a B will be 228 points. The complete and final scale will be announced soon after Exam Two.

EXAMS AND EXAM POLICY

There will be three non-cumulative exams in this class. Each exam will contain 27 multiple choice and 5 ‘super multiple choice’ questions. (Super multiple choice will be explained in class.) Correctly answering a question of either type earns you 2 points, and some multiple choice questions on each exam will also have 1 point partial credit answers. Partial credit answers are choices that are wrong, but were obtained by making an identifiable mistake and thus earn you half credit for the remainder of your effort. Please remember that all exams are non-cumulative and all exams are “outside” class times. Here is some vital information:

• Exam One will be administered on Friday, October 2nd. This is a closed book / closed note exam. This exam will be held from 6:00 PM to 7:50 PM in Buffalo.

• Exam Two will be administered on Friday, November 6th. This is a closed book / closed note exam. This exam will be held from 6:00 PM to 7:50 PM in Buffalo.

• Exam Three will be administered on Monday, December 14th. This is a closed book / closed note exam. This exam will be held from 7:15 PM to 9:05 PM in Buffalo.

Alternative Exams: If you have a conflict with either of the evening midterm exams in Buffalo, you have the option of taking the exam at 6:00 AM on those same dates. You will, however, need to email Mr. Paul Song in advance of that date to sign up for the 6:00 AM session. If you do not do so, it is assumed that you will be taking the exam in the evening.

If you require classroom or testing accommodations due to a disability, please contact Accessibility Resources, located at 25 Capen Hall. Accessibility Resources can be reached by phone at (716) 645-2608 or by email at stu-accessibility@buffalo.edu. Please visit Prof. Simpson during office hours as early as possible, and bring your letter from Accessibility Resources outlining what accommodations are required, so that you and she may discuss a strategy for the remainder of the semester.

No Late Exams: Please note that no one may take any exam “late”. This does not happen in MGO 302. Answer keys will be posted after all official exam sessions are concluded, which signals the end of any further opportunity to take the exam in question. In the event of unavoidable misfortune, such as a death in the family or hospitalization, you should contact the professor and be prepared to provide documentation. Students suffering such documented setbacks will be assigned a different assessment framework to determine their final grade. This framework usually involves a substantial investment of effort on the student’s part, to balance the issue of fairness to the rest of the class, and this alternate assessment cannot be assigned for any cases other than documented true emergencies.

If you are sick or distracted on the exam date you are nonetheless urged to take the exam, but contact the professor as soon as possible to discuss what impact you feel this condition may have had on your score. Such matters are not unimportant and when formally noted in the course record, can always be considered at the end of the semester when awarding final grades.

PRE-EQS MODULE

The Pre-EQS Module is a six-question on-line quiz that provides you the opportunity to earn 6 points from questions answered in the course syllabus. While these are not old exam questions like true EQS modules (read more about that in the next section), this Pre-EQS module is functionally identical to all six of the later EQS modules, so it will give you a good preview of how they work. Although standard EQS modules are usually open for 48 hours, the pre-EQS module will be available for six weeks, and you are welcome to complete it at any time during that interval, starting at 5 PM on August 3rd and continuing through to 5 PM on September 10th, Buffalo-time.

Since the pre-EQS module is functionally identical to actual EQS modules, remember that your score is the result of the last version of the quiz that you launched, regardless of your scores on previous attempts. Like EQS modules, you are free to attempt the pre-EQS module as many times as you desire. The pre-EQS module is open for an unusually long amount of time when compared to actual EQS’s, to allow people who add MGO 302 on the last day of ‘adding’ a fair chance to earn those points. However, note that anyone who obtains a score of 6 points before 5PM on August 31st, Buffalo-time will be awarded an additional bonus point. This bonus point will appear under “Bonus Points” during the first week of the semester (it is added manually), whereas all EQS-scores appear instantly under “Check My Scores”, as they are “wired in” directly to the gradebook.

EXAM QUESTION SIMULATION (EQS) MODULES

There will be six Exam Question Simulation (EQS) modules (two corresponding to each exam). EQS Modules are on-line quizzes composed of six questions from previous MGO 302 exams. Each question is worth 1 point. In Buffalo, each EQS module will “appear” in the EQS module section of our UBlearns site on a Sunday afternoon and will be available for participation until the following Tuesday afternoon. When repeating a quiz, remember that UBlearns does NOT award you your highest score, but only your most recent score. Furthermore, UBlearns defines your ‘most recent score’ as the quiz you most recently opened, which is not necessarily the quiz you most recently submitted, if you be unwise enough to keep multiple windows on the same quiz open simultaneously. Here are the dates for each of the six modules:

• EQS Module One: available from 5 PM on Sunday, September 13th through to 5 PM on Tuesday, September 15th, Buffalo-time.

• EQS Module Two: available from 5 PM on Sunday, September 27th through to 5 PM on Tuesday, September 29th, Buffalo-time.

• EQS Module Three: available from 5 PM on Sunday, October 11th through to 5 PM on Tuesday, October 13th, Buffalo-time.

• EQS Module Four: available from 5 PM on Sunday, November 1st through to 5 PM on Tuesday, November 3rd, Buffalo-time.

• EQS Module Five: available from 5 PM on Sunday, November 15th through to 5 PM on Tuesday, November 17th, Buffalo-time.

• EQS Module Six: available from 5 PM on Sunday, December 6th through to 5 PM on Thursday, December 10th, Buffalo-time. EQS Six is open longer than usual to provide some additional flexibility in preparing for exam week. Note that it closes on a Thursday, not a Tuesday.

Once an EQS module becomes available on-line, you are invited to complete it as many times as needed to obtain full credit on the module. Keep in mind that while you are granted unlimited attempts at the EQS module, it will not tell you which questions you have missed (if any) and it will create a somewhat different quiz each time you launch it. Be sure to leave yourself ample time to work before the module’s availability deadline. Also, please note that the professor cannot help you with specific EQS questions while that EQS is still open. However, she would be happy to discuss any questions you might have once the 5pm deadline has passed.

No Late EQS Modules: Please note that there are no ‘make-up’ EQS quizzes. Each EQS is open for at least 48 hours, but when it closes, it is gone. Happily, each of these deliverables is only six points in total, but you are still encouraged to take whatever steps you feel are necessary to make certain that you do not forget an EQS module. (Consider, for instance, signing up for the email reminder list.)

PROJECTS

There are two projects assigned in this class, Native Sun and Fine Wine Rack Company. Each project is worth 25 points, and will have a class-wide contest for extra credit points associated with it. Native Sun will be due on October 23rd and Fine Wine Rack Company will be due on November 20th, Buffalo-time. The exact time of the deadline is 5:00 PM on each of the two dates, Buffalo-time. These projects will be web-based, as you will submit your work for feedback (and eventual grading) by logging into our “Educational Autonomation” website at:



This website will be open for browsing and use shortly after the drop-add period ends for our class. Instructions and more details will be provided with the assignments and discussed in class. Since the submission and grading processes are web-based, you do not need to be on campus on the day of the deadlines. The two projects in MGO 302 are also competency-based assessments, meaning that you will be given a benchmark for full credit, and you are free to submit as many times as necessary, before the deadline, to develop an answer that qualifies for full-credit. You can also earn 2 extra points for obtaining full-credit at least 96 hours before the project deadline, or 1 extra point for obtaining full-credit at least 48 hours before the project deadline.

Both projects are individual assignments. Students who do not honor this principle will be forced to split the 25 point credit with whomever else is claiming their work, and all bonus points associated with shared submissions are cancelled.

LATE PROJECTS

Unlike all other deliverables in MGO 302, projects may be completed late for a penalty. After a project deadline has passed, any work submitted to the project web site (which remains open throughout the semester) is worth at most 80% of the credit it would have otherwise earned if submitted on-time. These submissions are worth exactly 80% of on-time credit if submitted within 48 hours of the deadline, at which point their value drops by 4% and are worth 76% of on-time credit for the next 48 hours, when this factor continues to drop by 4% for every additional 48 hours late. These penalties are steep and so everyone is encouraged to be on-time. However, should you fail to meet a project deadline for whatever reason, some credit is better than no credit, and thus you are encouraged to submit it late, but as soon as possible.

BONUS POINTS

In reality, it is possible to collect more than 284 points… for example, both projects include the opportunity to earn optional bonus points and these count toward your total as well. You cannot hurt your grade by failing to earn bonus points. You can, however, possibly increase your grade by collecting them. MGO 302 bonus points are ‘public property’: bonus point opportunities will always be announced publically in class and no bonus point opportunities are developed for individual students. Please ignore the “maximum bonus points” information that UBlearns shows you when you click on “My Grades.” This is a silly feature of the display software that has absolutely no meaning in reality.

COURSE CONTENT AND LEARNING GOALS

This course is a survey of the strategic concepts and tactical conceptual models and quantitative tools often used in operations management. Operations management, in turn, is required for completion of your ‘core preparation’ as an undergraduate business major. The topics we will cover are organized into four categories that correspond to four areas of your textbook reading: Essentials, Planning Operations, Controlling Operations and Action and Adaptation. Our goals are that, upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Recognize and describe the issues, models, vocabulary and numerical methods particular to operations management, with attention to both the strengths and weaknesses of these models and methods.

2. Select and apply the most appropriate methodology in analyzing a given set of data in a particular situation.

3. Correctly interpret the results of an operational analysis.

4. Creatively adapt simpler frameworks and methodologies to complex and authentic operations.

Each of our three exams provides the opportunity to demonstrate your acquired vocabulary and analytical abilities by completing problems similar to those we discuss in class. In contrast, your two projects will require more creative thought, as you must adapt our simpler classroom methodologies to two real-world problems. The open-note EQS Modules familiarize you with the ‘feel’ of the multiple choice question before you must demonstrate your knowledge on the exams, and both the projects and the EQS modules represent competency based learning, offering you important opportunities to repeat the assessments as many times as you need to earn full credit.

MGO 302 CLASS CALENDAR

Fall 2015

Readings and Topic Schedule: Below, each topic in our class is listed next to its approximate start date, meaning that we will start that material no earlier than that date. Our progression through this survey of operations management is described in the following calendar:

ESSENTIALS:

|Approx. Date |Topic |Required Reading |Important Deadlines and Events |

| | | |( Stated in Buffalo-time. ) |

|9-1-15 |Intro/ Providing Goods& Services |Chapters 1 & 2 | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | |=> Pre-EQS Module opens 8/3 and closes 9/10, 5pm. |

| | | | |

| | | |=> EQS Module One opens 9/13 and closes 9/15 5pm. |

|9-3-15 |Providing Goods & Services | | |

|9-8-15 |Product Quality & Development |Chapter 3 | |

|9-10-15 |Product Quality & Development | | |

|9-15-15 |Forecasting |Chapter 4 | |

|9-17-15 |Forecasting | | |

PLANNING OPERATIONS:

|Approx. Date |Topic |Required Reading |Important Deadlines and Events |

| | | |( Stated in Buffalo-time. ) |

|9-22-15 |Capacity & Waiting |Chapter 5 | |

| | | | |

| | | |=> EQS Module Two opens 9/27 and closes 9/29, 5pm. |

| | | | |

| | | |=> Exam One is on 10/2. |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | |=> EQS Module Three opens 10/11 and closes 10/13, |

| | | |5pm. |

| | | | |

| | | | |

|9-24-15 |Capacity & Waiting | | |

|9-29-15 |Process & Facility Selection |Chapter 6 | |

|10-1-15 |Process & Facility Selection | | |

|10-6-15 |Project Management |Chapter 7 | |

|10-8-15 |Project Management | | |

|10-13-15 |Location Planning |Chapter 8 | |

|10-15-15 |Location Planning | | |

CONTROLLING OPERATIONS:

|Approx. Date |Topic |Required Reading |Important Deadlines and Events |

| | | |( Stated in Buffalo-time. ) |

|10-20-15 |Purchasing & Supply Chain |Chapter 9 | |

| |Partnering | |=> Native Sun Project Deadline is 10/23 at 5pm. |

| | | | |

| | | |=> EQS Module Four opens 11/1 and closes 11/3, |

| | | |5pm. |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | |=> Exam Two is on 11/6. |

|10-22-15 |Inventory Management |Chapter 10 | |

|10-27-15 |Inventory Management | | |

|10-29-15 |Aggregate & Materials Requirement |Chapter 11 | |

| |Planning | | |

|11-3-15 |Aggregate & Materials Requirement | | |

| |Planning | | |

|11-5-15 |Lean Operations |Chapter 12 | |

|11-10-15 |Lean Operations | | |

ACTION AND ADAPTATION:

|Approx. Date |Topic |Required Reading |Important Deadlines and Events |

| | | |( Stated in Buffalo-time. ) |

|11-12-15 |Quality Control |Chapter 13 |=> EQS Module Five opens 11/15 and closes 11/17, 5pm.|

| | | | |

| | | |=> Fine Wine Rack Project Deadline is 11/20 at 5pm. |

| | | | |

| | | |=> EQS Module Six opens 12/6 and closes 12/10, 5pm. |

| | | | |

| | | |=> Exam Three is on the date that UB Central |

| | | |Scheduling assigns us and posts on the HUB. |

|11-17-15 |Quality Control | | |

|11-19-15 |Scheduling & Real-Time Operations |Chapter 14 | |

|12-1-15 |Scheduling & Real-Time Operations | | |

|12-3-15 |Incident & Disruption Management |Chapter 15 | |

|12-8-15 |Incident & Disruption Management | | |

|12-10-15 |Review | | |

NOTES ON DIGITAL ACCESS

This is a Digital Access Course. Class will be held in Jacobs 106 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00 to 3:20 pm, US Eastern Standard Time. Jacobs 106 seats about 55 people. Students who have registered directly into this “live section”, also known as Section F1O, have priority seating in Jacobs 106, but there are generally several open seats at any given lecture. Any MGO 302 student, regardless of section number, is welcome to attend one, more, or all the lectures in Jacobs 106! Even if you access the course digitally, feel free to stop by sometime during the semester just to see what a digital capture operation looks like! Generally, Jacobs 106 can be crowded during the first weeks of the semester, but plenty of room becomes available after that time.

As with any other Digital Access course, a link on UBlearns will become available a few hours after every MGO 302 class, which you can use to access the lecture as many times as you desire. Links to the same lecture on will then appear a few hours after that. Your first “assignment” in MGO 302 is to determine which method of digital access works best for you. Here is a hint for success in this course: when interviewed, successful students in digital access courses consistently report that they created certain times to access lectures each week, as if they were creating an explicit course schedule that fit their particular availability that semester. Similar to working out in a gym, the key to great results in MGO 302 is in creating a weekly schedule that fits your needs and sticking to it.

One powerful advantage of Digital Access is that it also enables you to adapt a lecture-based course to fit your particular learning style. For example, if you have a short attention span, block out three hours in your schedule each time you want to access a lecture. The lecture is only one hour and twenty minutes, but you view only as much as you prefer before you feel your attention wandering. At that point, stop the lecture and switch to some other required activity of 302, such as textbook reading or working the suggested practice problems. When you tire of that, return to the lecture. You will find that the use of “skeleton notes” in this class enables you to stop-and-start within lectures without losing track of what you were doing. The secret is determining what works best for you. Good luck and have a great semester!

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MGO 302 DELIVERABLES: Quick Info and Point Values

MGO 302 DELIVERABLES: Grading Roles and Strategies

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