Students will practice managerial skills and mathematical/statistical methods necessary to optimize the decisions involved in product development and management of operations.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. A RE-EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND NEW COUNTERMEASURES BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT MIGHT FORCE COORDINATORS TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

Every year, companies launch thousands of new products. Many firms consider innovation of their business although failure rates of up to 80% are not uncommon. In this course we study what it takes to successfully bring products to the market. Specifically, we discuss how companies can produce and supply the new products in a cost-efficient yet customer-oriented manner. The course addresses the operational decisions that lie at the core of this process. Students will practice the mathematical and statistical methods necessary to optimize these decisions. This course follows up on the courses Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management and Quantitative Methods I-III, and has Operations Management as a follow up. There are no formal requirements but basic knowledge of calculus, statistics and Excel is strongly recommended. International Business students at Maastricht University have studied these topics in courses such as Quantitative Methods I-III.

You need to have the following book, in digital or hardcopy form (you can order it at Studystore or the publisher).
* Operations Management, 14th edition (2020), William J. Stevenson, McGraw-Hill Custom Publishing, ISBN 9781260575712.

Furthermore:
* In this course, we make use of Excel, which is available on all UM computers. Please make sure that the Solver add-in is installed. You can find this tools in the Data menu, if they are already installed. If not, choose Options in the File menu (For Mac systems, from the Tools drop-down menu choose Excel Add-ins...). Then select Add-Ins and Manage Excel Add-ins. Click on Go... and select the Solver Add-in). Make sure to get access to the required software before the start of the course.
* We extensively use linear programming techniques. Therefore, it would be good to reread the linear programming reader from the course Quantitative Methods II. In addition, it can help to refresh your memory of Chapters 2, 3 and 6 from Cliff T. Ragsdale (2008) "Managerial Decision Modeling Revised Edition", Thomson South-Western.

Basic mathematics and statistics, general marketing concepts, basic finance.
An advanced level of English.