Operations Management Major (Options in General Operations Management, Service Operations Management, and Supply Chain Management)

Bachelor of Science degree

Operations Management is a growing and rapidly evolving area of employment being shaped by international competition. If resources (people, money, machinery, facilities, material and information) are to be used wisely, operations management personnel must be familiar with computer technology, quantitative methods, planning, and problem-solving techniques useful in analyzing business systems. At UMass Dartmouth, the Operations Management major is within the department of Decision and Information Sciences, thus emphasizing the importance of computer generated data in the production of goods and services and in ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective. Students learn techniques applicable to both production environments and to service-providing organizations, resulting in effective and efficient management of the supply chain from vendors to customers. Majors select from one of three options: General Operations Management, Service Operations Management, or Supply Chain Management.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• be able to describe and analyze the interdisciplinary nature, purposes, principles, and concepts of the operations function;
• demonstrate quantitative and qualitative problem solving and decision-making skills, as well as critical thinking abilities for managing productive systems;
• develop familiarity with the adoption and implementation of technology and describe its impact on strategic concerns for the organization and the individual;
• be able to identify the value-adding steps of a process and understand the complexity of  value-adding processes in any organizational context;
• have the ability to recognize the problems that exist in a given process, take ownership of the problems, and take leadership for improvement;
• be able to assume an active, constructively-critical posture as consumers of goods and services whose aim is to stimulate improved quality.