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MN30475: Sustainable operations management

[Page last updated: 09 August 2024]

Academic Year: 2024/25
Owning Department/School: School of Management
Credits: 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 120
Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Period:
Semester 2
Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Assessment Detail:
  • Coursework (CW 100% - Qualifying Mark: 35)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites: Before taking this module you must take MN20017 OR ( take MN10545 AND take CM10227 ) OR take MN50635 OR take MN10572
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this unit, participants will be able to:
* critically assess the role of Operations Management in improving corporate sustainability.
* evaluate the sustainability performance of an organisation, or a subset of the operations of an organisation, while evaluating the suitability of various metrics.
* evaluate various pathways to improved sustainability performance through product, process, organisation, and supply chain design.
* evaluate various implementation strategies designed to improve sustainability performance.


Aims: Whatever an organisation produces, the bottom line is awash with sustainability. Consumers and clients demand environmentally and socially responsible products and production, regulators are keen to pass environmental legislation, and dwindling resources mean production is expensive. It has become necessary to devise tools and systems that will help industry maintain and improve its environmental and social performance while remaining profitable. Thus, an organisation's sustainability performance has to be measured; these measurements must be translated into better design; and better design must be achieved through implementation.
The activities of measurement, design, and implementation are all within the remit of Operations Management (OM). The field of OM also has a special responsibility in tackling the tension between profitability and environmental friendliness, since the physical operations of a firm are closely related to the natural environment in which it operates. In this unit, we will re-define OM concepts to include sustainability as one of the major factors contributing to operational (day-to-day) and strategic (long-term) decision making. Thus, the unit is particularly geared towards those desiring the set of skills and knowledge necessary to profitably manage sustainability.

Content: Content will cover some or all of the following:
Operations Management and Sustainability
Sustainability Metrics / Systems Thinking
Sources of operations sustainability risk
(regulation; consumers/clients; resources; contexts)
Carbon footprinting (concepts)
Carbon footprinting demo Product and service design for sustainability
Sustainable Supply Chain Management
The Circular Economy
Sustainability strategy
Environmental Management Systems (and variants)
Implementation: barriers
Careers in sustainability.

Course availability:

MN30475 is Optional on the following courses:

School of Management
  • UMMN-AFB02 : BSc(Hons) Accounting and Finance (Year 3)
  • UMMN-AKB02 : BSc(Hons) Accounting and Finance with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UMMN-ANB07 : BSc(Hons) Business with Thin sandwich placement(s) (Year 4)
  • UMMN-ANB01 : BSc(Hons) Business Administration with Thin sandwich placement(s) (Year 4)
  • UMMN-AYB06 : BSc(Hons) International Management with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UMMN-AFB04 : BSc(Hons) Management (Year 3)
  • UMMN-AKB04 : BSc(Hons) Management with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UMMN-AKB05 : BSc(Hons) Management with Marketing with Year long work placement (Year 4)

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2024/25 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2025/26 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2024/25.
  • Courses and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.