B6102 Operations Management and B5102 Operations Management are core courses for MBA and EMBA students at Columbia Business School. B8107 Service Operations Management, however, is an elective course for students interested in operations research in service organizations. The Decision, Risk, and Operations department offers both B6102 Operations Management and B8107 Service Operations Management.

Our graduate-level operations research tutors can assist you with tutoring for the B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management courses at Columbia Business School or other courses offered by the Decision, Risk, and Operations department.

Prerequisites for B6102 Operations Management  

Although other core courses may not have a prerequisite, the B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management course has B6100: Managerial Statistics as a prerequisite. The B6102 Operations Management is a prerequisite for several other courses, including B8107: Service Operations Management.

Prerequisites for B8107 Service Operations Management

The B8107 Service Operations Management course is an elective course with prerequisites. The prerequisites for the B8107 Service Operations Management course are Managerial Statistics B6100, Business Analytics B6101, and Operations Management B6102.

Target Audience B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management

Operations is a critical function of any business. B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management are recommended for anyone interested in general management, entrepreneurship, management consulting, investment banking venture capital, and management consulting. A good understanding of operations research is essential when studying a new business plan, a potential business restructuring, a possible M&A, etc. 

B6102 Operations Management maybe a core subject offering every MBA and EMBA student will take. However, the above category of MBA & EMBA students will benefit from taking other similar courses such as B8107 Service Operations Management, B6801 Operations Management, etc.

B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management Course Objectives

The B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management course aims to give Columbia MBAs a graduate-level introduction understanding of manufacturing and service operations and their role in the organization. 

Operations Research is the study of the design of a firm and the processes involved in transforming inputs into finished goods and services. The B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management course introduces students to a range of operations management topics including process flow analysis, supply chain management, capacity planning, facilities location, and total quality management. 

The B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management course teaches these topics from a managerial and applications-oriented perspective. This course aims to show students how operations management is intertwined with other functions of the company such as finance, strategy, marketing, sales, etc. 

Professor Fanyin Zheng who teaches B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management says “Our objective by the end of the course is to provide you with the basic skills necessary to critically analyze a firm’s operating performance and practices.”

Remember that all professors are free to meld the course to a large extent. 

B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management Course Structure & Format

The B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management Course teaching format is mostly lecture-based, supplemented with plenty of case studies. In addition to the lecture slides and textbook reading, students are provided with a lot of supplementary reading. The B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management students watch videos in class to see real world operations applying the concepts taught in class.

The grade for Littlefield simulation game is based the teams ranking (20%) and a write-up of your application of operations research concepts applied to the manufacturing setting in the Littlefield simulation to be handed in at the end of the game (80%).

  • Introduction to Process Analysis 
  • Process Analysis and Vocabulary. Quantifying the impact of process improvement in business
  • Introduction to Littlefield Simulation Game
  • Lean operations, with applications to the automotive industry and to healthcare.
  • Quality Management, Statistical Process Control, Process capability and Six-Sigma.
  • Applying quality management in service operations.
  • Managing Variability and Waiting Times
  • Managing waiting time in service and healthcare operations.
  • Introduction to Supply Chain Management. The Newsvendor Model.
  • Managing supply chains. Role of speculative and reactive capacities in matching supply with uncertain demand. Sourcing decisions.

B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management Faculty At Columbia Business School

B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management has been taught by several Columbia faculty members, including Marcelo Olivares, Hannah Li, Nicole DeHoratius, Nicola Rosaia, Santiago Balseiro, Daniel Guetta, Carri Chan, Fanyin Zheng,  Hongyao Ma, Nelson Fraiman, etc., in recent years.

Textbook for B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management

There is no required textbook for the B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management courses. Some professors of the course B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management course use the textbook Matching Supply with Demand” by Cachon and Terwiesch. All professors have additional material posted on the course website, such as slides, articles, annual reports, etc.

All professors provided plenty of additional reading material and case studies to work through. See some examples at the end of this article. Some case studies used as teaching material include: L.L. Bean, Inc, Emergency Department Congestion at Saintemarie University Hospital., The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company: The Quest for Service Excellence, Sport Obermeyer, Ltd., Beleza Natural, etc.

B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management Evaluation

The final grades in B6102 Operations Management Class Participation 20% Assignments (3) 15% Littlefield Labs Game Write-Up 15% Final Exam 50%

The final grades in B8107 Service Operations Management Class have Participation 20% Written Assignments 15% Group Project 15% and Final Exam 50%.

Some of the additional reading recommended for the operations management courses at Columbia Business School.

  1. American Airlines, Inc.: Revenue Management by A. Dhebar and A. Brandenburger, Harvard Business School (1993)
  2. Benihana of Tokyo by J. Klug and W. Earl Sasser, Harvard Business School (2004)
  3. Booz-Allen & Hamilton: Vision 2000 by J. O’Connell and G. Loveman, Harvard Business School (1996)
  4. Classifying Services to Gain Strategic Marketing Insights by C. H. Lovelock, Journal of Marketing (1983)
  5. Branch Performance at Nashville National Bank by R. Metters, Emory University (1994)
  6. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) by J.A. Fitzsimmons & M.J. Fitzsimmons, Service Management, McGraw/Hill Companies (1994)
  7. Dropbox: “It Just Works” by T.R. Eisenmann, M. Pao and L. Barley, Harvard Business School (2012)
  8. First National Bank’s Golden Opportunity by S. Cole, P. Tufano, D. Schneider and D. Collins, Harvard Business School (2008)
  9. Infosys’s Relationship Scorecard: Transformational Partnerships by F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, R.S. Kaplan and K. Miller, Harvard Business School (2009)
  10. Megacard Corporation by J. S. Whetsel, Jr., and E. W. Davis, University of Virginia (1993)
  11. Modell’s DEA by S. Mahajan and G. J. van Ryzin, Columbia Business School (2011)
  12. Note on Processing Systems with Variation by P. Zipkin, Columbia Business School (1994)
  13. Offshoring at Global Information Systems, Inc. by W. E. Fruhan Jr., Harvard Business School (2005)
  14. The Offshoring of America 215 by R. H.K. Vietor, J.W. Rivkin and J. Seminerio, Harvard Business School (2008)
  15. Tata Consultancy Services: Selling Certainty by P. Ghemawat and S.A. Altman, Harvard Business School (2011)
  16. TD Canada Trust (A): The Green and the Red by D. Campbell and B. Kazan, Harvard Business School (2008)
  17. TD Canada Trust (B): Linking the Service Model to the P&L by D. Campbell and B. Kazan, Harvard Business School (2008)
  18. TD Canada Trust (C): Translating the Service Model to Service Operations by D. Campbell and B. Kazan, Harvard Business School (2008)
  19. University Health Services: Walk-In Clinic  by D. Maister, S. Doyle and R. Pigneri, Harvard Business School (2006)
  20. Will You Survive the Services Revolution? by U. Karmarkar, Harvard Business Review (2004)

Tutoring for B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management

There are several tutoring options provided by the Columbia Business School administration that we have listed here. If you don’t find the assistance you are looking for our graduate level operations management tutors can assist you with tutoring for the B6102 Operations Management,  B5102 Operations Management & B8107 Service Operations Management at Columbia Business School or other from the Decision, Risk, and Operations department. Email or call us, and we will happily set up a tutoring session.