Admission and Unit Information - Graduate Certificate in Business (Operations Management)

This unit introduces participants to operations management in a range of organisational and industry contexts. Operations management is an important element of business strategy and integral to both service and manufacturing sectors alike. Students will develop an appreciation of the latest trends in operations management and the applications currently adopted in organisations. They will also learn to apply quantitative techniques for analysing problems and providing recommended solutions. This unit provides an excellent foundation for further specialist study in operations management but also works well for students in general business programs.

This unit introduces students to the philosophy, tools and techniques for effectively managing projects in an organisation. Learning activities focus particularly on case analysis; cases of success and of failure. Participants will be required to apply lessons from cases to real-world examples in ways that are relevant to their future careers. Topics include organisational strategy and project selection, identification of stakeholder needs, project definition, tools and techniques, human resource issues, team management, project planning ,developing networks, scheduling and control, resource allocation and control, cost analysis and budgetary control, and determinants of project success and project failure.

This unit comprises three modules that focus on the risk management, performance measurement, and quality systems. A framework for risk management is examined that will guide managers in developing risk management strategies in specific industries. Performance measurement and benchmarking provides firms, managers, and employees with a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and its business processes. The quality systems module explores quality management principles, quality management systems, and the quality tools and techniques needed for creating customer value and improving competitiveness and organisational effectiveness. Students are required to select and study only two of the three modules.

The movement of product from suppliers through to transformation at a factory and then on forward to distributors and customers is an expensive process. The ability of the manager to balance these costs against increasing customer service expectations and to integrate the complex network of business relationships of the organisation is essential. Supply chain management goes beyond operational and logistical issues to cross-functional integration of key business processes both within the organisation and across the external network of organisations that comprise the supply chain. Managing the supply chain in the context of globalisation and increasing international trade provides opportunities for delivering value to customers. Case studies are a key learning strategy.

This unit provides participants with an understanding of the diverse and complex issues surrounding the strategic management of technology. Special emphasis will be placed on the basic concepts and theories that will be needed to understand, anticipate, acquire, and use technology strategically for attaining a competitive edge in the market. The unit is of particular relevance to managers, engineers, technologists, and scientists who have, or will have, responsibilities for managing technological change and innovation.

Strategic management processes determine the direction of an enterprise and its viability in the light of the changes in its environments. This unit examines strategic management processes, recognising the interests of stakeholders and a range of external and internal constraints. It critically examines the major theoretical approaches to strategy and emerging trends. A strong emphasis is on the application of knowledge to industry and organisational contexts relevant to the student. Participants research and analyse how decision-making processes, leadership, and organisational politics impact on the strategy process. A dynamic, contingent and contested view of contemporary strategic management processes is presented.

This unit provides the concepts, tools and techniques needed in purchasing and materials management. It includes purchasing policy and strategy, organising and staffing in purchasing and materials functions, supplier selection and evaluation, price/cost analysis, negotiation skills, inventory management, value analysis and standardisation, purchasing in the international market, government purchasing, and legal aspects of purchasing. These issues are examined in contexts such as the opportunities of globalisation and new information and communication technologies. A key learning strategy is case analysis.

This unit provides an understanding of the principles and practice of re-engineering to enable the design of business processes that can enhance customer value creation while simultaneously enhancing corporate performance. The principles of business re-engineering aim at achieving breakthrough improvements in performance through a critical analysis and redesign of existing business processes. The unit aims to equip the participants with the necessary tools and techniques for carrying out a critical analysis and redesign of the operations, processes, organisation and culture of business establishments.

Entrepreneurialism and creativity can mean success or failure for large, small and new businesses, as organisations strive to stay abreast of turbulent environments and to exploit new opportunities. This unit investigates entrepreneurialism and change, aiming to equip participants with an appreciation of entrepreneurialism, ways of managing innovation for growth, approaches to identifying and developing opportunities, ways of adding value to products and services, and strategic thinking around technological development and organisational change. Tools and concepts for entrepreneurialism and innovation are analysed and applied, such as feasibility studies, commercialisation, product life cycles, business plans, intellectual property, knowledge management and forecasting.

Much of a manager's and leader's role involves application of knowledge and skills in a particular industry or organisational context. Effective management requires diverse capabilities in analysis, research, problem-solving, information literacy, negotiation as well as influencing and interactive communication. Students will critically reflect on current theory and practice in leadership and management using interactive experiential approaches. The effectiveness of each manager's capacities to learn from experience across varied careers and contexts will be enhanced. Each student will undertake a self-development project taking into account their development needs in a work or industry context of their choice.

This unit engages the academy with commerce by integrating theory with secondary research to solve real-life business problems. Typically students choose a specific area of the discipline relevant to their graduate award and investigate a related problem at a workplace.

The main aim of this unit is to provide a theoretical understanding of the issues involved in the design and implementation of enterprise resource planning solutions. The broader topics include introduction to enterprise systems, the architecture of an enterprise system, building enterprise systems and development/deployment of enterprise wide solution using SAP ERP system.