Operations Strategy

Now that I'm starting to settle back in, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss one of my favorite classes this semester - Operations Strategy.  It's a case-based class, and so far we've looked at the operations of companies as wide-ranging as Boeing, McDonald's, and Amazon.  That's one of the things I love about the course (and Ops in general) - it doesn't matter if you are building airplanes or hamburgers, you need to effectively identify and execute your operations (read "value-creation") strategy to be successful and grow.

This semester, the course is being taught by two amazing professors: Zeynep Ton (who is one of the best lecturers I've ever had) and Don Rosenfield (the director of the LGO program).  Professor Ton brings a great degree of excitement to the course, and challenges you to really think critically about the case you are discussing to understand the things that companies do well and why they do them.  Don's insight into the operations of these companies is also incredibly valuable, as he literally wrote the book on Operations Strategy.  As well, here's a link to an interesting article he wrote about why Operations management is so important.

In short, the class is awesome.

Back on Campus

After another coast-to-coast drive - Seattle to Boston - I'm back.  The internship went surprisingly fast, but it's exciting to be back on campus.  In a few words, Seattle was rainy, and Amazon was awesome.  It was a great chance for me to apply Operations Management and Supply Chain knowledge I had learned both in class at MIT and in my prior experience to a company and industry that were both quite new to me.  Surprisingly enough, whether you're building engines, shipping textbooks, or optimizing patient flow through and Intensive Care Unit (a classmate's project); the same principles can be applied to improve the process and organization.  It never ceases to amaze me, and I'm sure annoys my wife when I explain how Costco is doing a great job getting customers through checkout when she is more concerned with making sure our 2-year-old doesn't fall out of the shopping cart.

Anyway, now that I'm back it's a busy semester in front of me: classes, recruiting, thesis, and most importantly - Baby #2.  That's right, you heard it here first (unless of course I've told you previously) - we're having a baby boy on or around October 5th!  Needless to say it's going to be an exciting 4 months! I've had to make some adjustments to my course schedule as the reality of how busy it's going to be has set in, but luckily that's fairly easy, and just means my final semester at LGO will probably be a little more full than that of some of my classmates.  As well, the thesis will take up a fair amount of time, but luckily I  feel like I have a pretty good outline and direction moving forward for it.

With everything happening, I'll try to post updates for anyone interested in what the program is like during recruiting, as well as what it's like having a baby during the program.  But now, it's time to prepare a case for Operations Strategy - ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy - it should be interesting.