Course 2015-2016 a.y.

Go to class group/s: 31

CLEAM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - CLEF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - CLEACC (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - BESS-CLES (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - BIEMF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08)

Course Director:
ALBERTO GRANDO

Course Objectives

In the last 20 years, both service and manufacturing companies have been paying a growing attention to the environmental and social outcomes of the goods they offer and of the processes they manage. Nowadays, we are witnessing phenomena such as the increasing costs of energy and materials, which call for a more efficient use of productive resources, and such as the growing awareness of consumers for environmental and social issues, which leads them to prefer companies that adopt sustainable practices. The resulting challenges for enterprises include integrating environmental, health, and safety concerns in their agenda. Operations Management is increasingly connected to sustainability, since it influences a wide bundle of decisions that affect several environmental and social issues, such as new product development, product recycling, quality management, off-shoring and outsourcing in newly developing countries, green logistics etc.

This course aims at illustrating how Operations can be managed so as to properly deal with health, safety and environmental issues and how to transform such challenge into a source of competitive advantage.

The teaching style of this course is based on case discussions and on the interactions with guest speakers from companies that are coping with these issues. During the course, topics are analyzed moving from real-life case-histories, so as to make the students aware not only of the technicalities related to sustainability in Operations Management, but also of the most valuable experiences of companies and of industries that are leading the process toward a more sustainable operating system.

Course Content Summary

• Synergies between profits and sustainable practices in Operations Management: a reference framework.
• Design for Environment.
• Lean management and green operations.
• Remanufacturing, recycling and closed-loop supply chains.
• Sustainable transportation and packaging.
• Reverse and return Logistics.
• Off-shoring and outsourcing in Newly Developing Countries.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

For attending students:

The final evaluation is given weighing the grades of the team works and of the individual result in a final written exam.

For non attending students:

Written exam.

Textbooks

• Sustainable Operations Management, V. Belvedere and A. Grando, Egea.

Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Last change 13/05/2015 12:19