This course is a study of how different strategic operational configurations work. The students in the course will develop the analytical skills necessary to evaluate and understand complex process behaviors and to make performance-improving decisions. Course participants will manage a simulated company that operates in a complex and data-rich environment. The students receive the company in a precarious situation, and they must plan and implement strategies to resuscitate the firm and achieve corporate objectives.

Throughout the course students will gain familiarity with key concepts in the field of operations management and will come to understand, by managing a complex operation, the interactions that take place between the operational side of a business and other functional area of the firm, such as finance and human resource management. More importantly, the students will have to manage a complex operation in a highly engaged manner by developing and implementing strategies in association with teammates who are likely to be operating in distant places, other time zones, and within different contexts. To do so, the students must develop organizational structures and coordinating mechanisms for making timely decisions in an efficient manner over protracted periods. As teams see their performance develop alongside that of other student groups, a rich learning environment will ensue in which participants will learn concepts and execute strategies on strict timelines and under pressure.
 

Instructor: Prof. Luis López

Course Date & Time

We have designed the course so that students will need to dedicate about one hour and a half per day to it, on average.   This is in line with expected work at the graduate level, which usually requires upwards of 10 hours per week per course.  For a large portion of the course, students will be working in teams.  

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 AM in Costa Rica (GMT -6)