Operations Strategy

Code:

MIET0030

Acronym:

EOP

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Technological Sciences

Instance: 2025/2026 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Innovation and Technological Entrepreneurship

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIET	19	Syllabus since 2008/09	1	-	6	42	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Learning outcomes of the curricular unit:
a) To understand the role played and the impact of an operations strategy in corporate competitiveness and objectives b) To understand and explain the different operations strategy frameworks
c) To review the most used strategies to improve operations performance: resources, processes and capabilities dimensions.
d) Design and operations strategy aligned with the business strategy.

Learning outcomes and competences

The student will take part in the expository classes and will be integrated in teams working on solution/problem(s) combinations. The teaching-learning process will be centred on the student's work (autonomous and tutored) and a constant monitoring of the student's evolution and acquisition of knowledge and skills will be carried out, privileging the acquisition of the competences, specialised and specific, which enable the competent professional exercise when the student moves to the labour market.

Working method

Presencial

Program

a) Overview of Operations: operations as a transformation system. Operations and competitiveness. Relevance and impact in organizations’s performance. Trade-off concept.
b) Operations Strategy: conceptual model, Operations Strategy Frameworks. Alignment between Business Model and Operating Strategy.
c) Capacity Strategy
d) Sourcing strategy. Vertical and Outsourcing strategies. Localization strategy. e) Technologies and Processes strategy
f) Innovation and Improvement strategy

Mandatory literature

Jan A. Van Mieghem; Operations strategy. ISBN: 978-0-98991086-6

Teaching methods and learning activities

Fundamentally, a methodology based on case studies will be explored.
Each session is structured in four phases:
i. presentation of concepts and fundamentals within the theme of the session;
ii. analysis and group discussion (4 students) of the study case planned for the session (individual pre-study by the students).
iii. analysis and discussion together (involving all students)
iv. wrap up

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho escrito	30,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	35,00
Trabalho de campo	35,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	64,00
Estudo autónomo	36,00
Frequência das aulas	36,00
Trabalho escrito	26,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Frequency of the planned classes (as defined in the UP regulations).

Calculation formula of final grade

Evaluation model:
Distributed evaluation without final exam and based on the following components:
A.Group assignments: analysis and presentation of cases in groups (35% = 7 x 5%)
B. Group Assignment (business idea’s operations strategy) (35%)
C. Individual assignment (30%)

For each student, the evaluation component of ‘group assignments’ will be corrected taking into account the final 'intragroup' evaluation; will be considered: three criteria (peer review by each of the team members – for each team assessing each criteria from 1 (low) to 5 (high))

• Q1. Amount of work performed


• Q2. Quality of the contributions


• Q3. Interpersonal relationships

Examinations or Special Assignments

A set of 7 cases will be examined as a group during the semester; A group assignment will also be carried out on the definition of an operations strategy associated with a business idea;
individual work on a case will also be launched.

Classification improvement

Being a curricular unit with distributed evaluation without final exam, the classification may be improved by developing a new project/assignment in the following academic year.