5/23/2017 OPM591Syllabus

OPM591

HIGHPERFORMANCEMANAGEMENTPROCESSES
IntensiveSchedule:October3031,November67,14(8:00am5:00pm)

INSTRUCTOR:CraigW.Kirkwood

Thiscoursefocusesonsystemorientedmethodstounderstandandimprovemanagementprocesses.Youwill
learnhowtoconstructandusecausalloopdiagrams,stockandflowdiagrams,andsystemdynamicssimulation
modelstoinvestigate"bugs"inbusinesssystemsresultingfromcrossfunctionalinteractionsandfeedback.You
willstudysuchissuesastheimpactofcapitalinvestmentonmarketgrowth,managementoffluctuating
workloads,marketgrowthandstagnation,newproductdevelopment,productlifecycles,andproject
management.

GRADINGANDHOMEWORK

Yourcoursegradewillbebasedentirelyonhomework.Becausethematerialinthiscourseiscumulative,itis
importanttokeepcurrentanddothereadingandhomeworkwhenitisassigned.Thefollowingarethe
homeworkpoliciesforthiscourse:

1.Toreceivefullcreditforalatehomeworkassignment,youmustreachawrittenagreementwithmeprior
totheduedateregardingwhenandhowtheassignmentwillbesubmitted.(Thiscanbedonebyemailor
fax.)
2.Length,byitself,isnotavirtueinhomeworksolutions.Somepeoplehandinassignmentswithmany
pages,eachofwhichhasonlyasmallVensimorPeopleExpressdiagram.Boththesepackagessupport
Clipboardcopying,andpleasecompactyourhomeworkbycopyingVensimandPeopleExpressoutputs
intoawordprocessorfile.
3.IregularlycheckmyemailandvoicemailevenifIamnotinmyoffice.Youcanalsocontactmeathome
before9:00p.m.ifyouhavequestions.
4.Homeworkmaybesubmittedbytheduedateusingemailattachmentsorfaxwithoutawrittenagreement.
Ifyousubmitbyemail,sendWord,PowerPoint,orPDFfiles.Forlargefiles,pleaseusezipcompression.
IwillconfirmbacktoyoubyemailthatIhavereceivedtheassignment.Pleaseconfirmpriorto
submittingahomeworkassignmentasanemailattachmentthatyoucansendemailattachmentsthrough
yourcompanyfirewall.
5.Pleasenotifymebyemailthatyouhavesentafax,andIwillconfirmbacktoyoubyemailthatIhave
receivedit.

TENTATIVECOURSESCHEDULE

DATE TOPICS READING

10/30 Feedbackandcausalloopmodels: Sterman,etal(1997)[Optional]

[IBPA],Ch.1,App.A
Counterintuitiveprocessbehavior: Kirkwood(1998b),pp.19
Qualityprograms Kirkwood(1997)Sterman
Causalloopmodeling (1988)Whitestoneand
Systemarchetypes Schlesinger(1995)

PeopleExpressmanagementflightsimulator

10/31 PeopleExpressmanagementflightsimulator [IBPA],Ch.2,App.B

(cont) Kirkwood(1998b),pp.1011

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Stockandflowdiagrams:

Stockandflowdiagramming
Genericinfrastructures

TheBeerGame

11/6 Systemdynamicsmodels: [IBPA],Ch.35,App.F,Ch.67

Kirkwood(1998b),pp.1115
Basicfeedbackstructuresandmodeling Kirkwood(1998c)
Workforce,inventory,andoscillation
Newproductdynamics
Delays,smoothing,andforecasting
Decisions

11/7 Systemdynamicsmodels(cont): [IBPA],Ch.89,App.C,D,G,

HKirkwood(1998b),pp.1618
Capacity,marketgrowth,and Cooper(1993)
competition
Nonlinearities
Initialconditions
Projectdynamics

Modelingworkshop

11/14 Themodelingprocess [IBPA],App.ERanders(1980)

Graham(1980)Hamilton(1980)
Modelingsteps [Optional]Sterman(1994)
Parameterestimation Meadows(1980)

Organizationallearning:

Productiondistributionexample:The
beergamerevisited
Learningincomplexsystems

READINGS
1.K.G.Cooper,"TheReworkCycle:HowItReallyWorksAndReworks,"PMNetwork,Vol.7,No.2,
pp.2528(February1993).
1.A.K.Graham,"ParameterEstimationinSystemsDynamicsModeling,"inJ.Randers,Elementsofthe
SystemDynamicsMethod,MITPress,Cambridge,MA,1980.
2.M.S.Hamilton,"EstimatingLengthsandOrdersofDelaysinSystemDynamics,"inJ.Randers,Elements
oftheSystemDynamicsMethod,MITPress,Cambridge,MA,1980.
1.C.W.Kirkwood,"IntegratedBusinessProcessAnalysis:ASystemDynamicsSourcebook,"1998a.
(Designatedas[IBPA]intheschedule.)
1.C.W.Kirkwood,"UsersGuide:PeopleExpressManagementFlightSimulator,"1997.
1.C.W.Kirkwood,"VensimPLEQuickReferenceandTutorial,"1998b.
2.C.W.Kirkwood,"NewProductDynamics:IllustrativeSystemDynamicsModels,"1998c.
3.D.H.Meadows,"TheUnavoidableAPriori,"inJ.Randers,ElementsoftheSystemDynamicsMethod,
MITPress,Cambridge,MA,1980.
4.J.Randers,"GuidelinesforModelConceptualization,"inJ.Randers,ElementsoftheSystemDynamics
Method,MITPress,Cambridge,MA,1980.
1.J.D.Sterman,"PeopleExpressManagementFlightSimulator,"1988.

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1.J.D.Sterman,"LearningInandAboutComplexSystems,"SystemDynamicsReview,Vol.10,pp.291
330(1994).
1.J.Sterman,N.Repenning,andF.Kofman,"UnanticipatedSideEffectsofSuccessfulQualityPrograms:
ExploringaParadoxofOrganizationalImprovement,"ManagementScience,Vol.43,pp.503521(1997).
AversionofthispaperisontheworldwidewebatthefollowingURL:
http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/ADI/ADI.html[Optionalreading].
1.D.WhitestoneandL.A.Schlesinger,"PeopleExpress(A),"Case9483103,HarvardBusinessSchool,
1995.(8/5/98)

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