Operations Management in small businesses: key techniques
What you'll learn
- Successfully apply operations management techniques in a small business
- Develop and implement operations that can deliver business strategy
- Evaluate and select an operations management technique to deliver a specific need
- Manage others to implement an operations management technique
Requirements
- There is no requirement for prior theoretical knowledge
- To provide a meaningful context to apply the techniques, students should either be working in a small business or be familiar with a small businesss
Description
Small business operations are often developed informally and by trial and error. Operations management can make or break a business. As your business grows there will be a need to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of its operations. Operations management techniques, which have their origins in large organisations, can be applied with great results in small businesses. This course is a practical guide to how these proven techniques can be used in small businesses.
This course will take you on a journey through:
- Learning the key concepts of operations management
- Exploring how operations management can deliver your business strategy
- Learning how to design products, services, operations and processes
- Exploring how operations can be planned and delivered
- Learning how operations can always be improved
- 4 quizzes to confirm your understanding of the course sections
- Mini case studies of the applications of these techniques in a range of small business sectors
- Suggestions for activities for you to apply specific techniques to your own business or a business you are familiar with
- Discussions where we can share experiences of applying these techniques
Who this course is for:
- Small business owners and managers
- Business studies students, at all levels, who plan to set up or work in a small business
Instructor
Qualifications: BSc. (Hons) Mathematics, Member of the British Computer Society, Chartered Engineer, Chartered IT Professional.
Chris West has worked in education and business in the UK. He started his IT career in project planning and control in civil engineering. He was Head of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics at a college, which later became the University of Gloucestershire. His research interest was mathematical modelling. As Vice-Principal at Swindon College, he led planning and resourcing. Chris was an Associate Lecturer for the Open University. He worked in a government policy unit to develop college management information systems nationally. As Chief Executive of ECCTIS, he privatised the UK government’s information service on higher education courses and credit transfer, using an outsourcing model. As Head of the UK NARIC, he created this international qualifications equivalence information service. For Anglia Television he developed and led an e-learning business for schools and subsequently a professional development business for Granada Media.
Chris now works as a consultant. He tutors under-graduates in Operations Management for the University of Essex Online. His recent activities for the Association of Colleges include researching the potential for colleges of cloud computing, CRM applications, IT outsourcing, delivering professional development programmes and as a national leader of governance. He is currently Vice Chairman of the Royal National College for the Blind