Course Overview

As a senior manager, your mission is, of course, “to get things done and deliver results.” No matter how theoretically correct your plan may be, no matter how much effort you and your people have made, you will not be appreciated unless you deliver results. This course focuses on “how to get things done” – practical wisdom on operation/implementation. (However, we will not focus on narrowly defined operations management concepts such as flowchart, utilization, cycle time, lead time)

We will examine “Japanese operations management.” Japanese companies are said to be good at “operations management,” as exemplified by the Toyota Production System. Is there really such a thing as “Japanese” operations management? If so, can non-Japanese companies implement “Japanese” operations management? Or can Japanese companies implement it outside of Japan?

Course Structure

We will gain “practical wisdom” through discussion of real-world examples or discussion based on talks by real-world guest speakers. However, the core source of learning in this course is you. We will share our own experience and practical wisdom and learn from each other. Therefore, participants are expected to speak up and contribute to the class discussion. To stimulate your discussion, the instructor will provide cases, mini-exercises, or guest speakers. The course will be held through a combination of online and classroom discussions.