NCCW 5080 - Managing Operations

Fall. 2.5 credits. Letter grades only (no audit).

Enrollment limited to: MS in Healthcare Leadership/Executive MBA dual degree students. Offered in New York City at Cornell Tech.

E. Belavina.

Operations is at the heart of every organization. Efficiency of operations is essential for firms to sustain themselves over time. Effective operations are essential for ensuring that the organization is competitive through continuous value delivery to the customer. Successful business innovations also rely upon the management of change in the way the firm operates. Over the years, the focus of courses of operations in Executive MBA programs has moved from traditional efficiency and effectiveness considerations to the attainment of strategic organizational goals and the successful leveraging of disruptive innovations, especially those brought upon by new technologies. These more recent trends will also guide the content of this course. While the sessions will cover the essential concepts of operations, the primary focus of lectures and discussions will be on the links across operations and strategy and business innovation. Healthcare is a large sector of the global economy (around 10%) and it is an even larger share of the domestic US economy (approaching 20%). The sector is facing many challenges including rising costs, demographic shifts, rise in chronic diseases, changes in supply and demand of care services and disruptive innovations brought upon by technological advances. Further the pace of change shows no signs of slowing down. In the midst of these change trends, there will be significant new opportunities as the underlying forces of disruption and value creation are understood and leveraged. This will include opportunities for both transforming existing healthcare businesses and creating new startups. Success in this rapidly changing world will require both a solid understanding of the healthcare sector, service and business model innovation and an inspirational leadership style to be bold, take risks and lead complex change. This course is designed as a core operations course for Executive MBA students. The goal of this course is to provide an effective combination of theory and practice in strategic operations management for professionals in the healthcare sector. Lectures and case studies will provide a rich forum for in-class discussions. EMBA students will be encouraged to share experiences and key lessons from their own careers. A course paper will provide the essential link to practice by getting students to work in small groups on the challenges of managing operations and innovations in an existing organization.