Overview
Operations Analytics track equips you with statistical, optimisation, and simulation tools and skill sets to give you a competitive edge in the marketplace. You will receive rigorous training in Operations Management, with a wide range of core and electives modules covering topics such as project management, global supply chain, logistics and transport management, retail operations, and high performance warehousing and fulfilment. In addition, the course will take you through the entire cycle of data analysis, and you will have the opportunity to employ analytics tools on real data.
Curriculum
Compulsory courses for OM major:
- OPIM311 Service Processes
- OPIM321 Supply Chain Management
Additional compulsory courses for Operations Analytics Track:
- MGMT108 Introduction to Business Analytics / IS217 Analytics Foundations*
- COR-IS1702 Computational Thinking/COR-IS1704 Computational Thinking and Programming*
- IS105 Business Data Management / IS112 Data Management*
- OPIM326 Service and Operations Analytics
- 2 other Operations Analytics Track electives from the list below**:
- MGMT317 Managing Process Improvement
- OPIM314 Logistics and Transportation Management
- OPIM322 High Performance Warehousing and Fulfillment
- OPIM348 Supply Chain Analytics
* All students opting for LKCSB's Analytics tracks should take Introduction to Business Analytics. For Operations Analytics Track's students who enrol in Analytics Foundations instead of Introduction to Business Analytics, they will have to take an additional Operations Management Elective to fulfill the respective major's requirement. Introduction to Business Analytics will be mutually exclusive to Analytics Foundations.
* Students could take COR-IS1702 Computational Thinking/COR-IS1704 Computational Thinking and Programming until AY2024-25 Term 1. However, students should take COR-IS1704 Computational Thinking and Programming in place of COR-IS1702 Computational Thinking from AY2024-25 Term 1.
* With effect from AY20-21 Term 1, non-SIS students should take IS105 Business Data Management instead of IS112 Data Management. Only students declaring majors from School of Computing and Information Systems should take IS112 Data Management.
*Students who have taken Introduction to Business Analytics before AY19/20 Term 2 will be allowed to use the course to meet their respective major elective requirements. With effect from AY19-20 Term 2 offering onwards, Introduction to Business Analytics will only fulfil the major elective requirements for students with a declared Analytics track. If students who had earlier declared the Analytics tracks and have taken this course in and after AY19-20 Term 2 choose to drop out of the tracks, the course will no longer be used to fulfil the major elective, and it will be counted towards Free Elective. The student will need to take another course to fulfil the major elective.
**List of electives may be subject to changes. Students may transfer up to 2CUs of OAT Electives from their exchange programme.
Note: In addition to the above, non-BBM students would need to take OPIM101 Decision Analysis and OPIM201 Operations Management.
Overview
Maritime Business and Operations track provides you with a deep understanding of the maritime business covering the economic, legal and managerial environment, as well as the operations of their organizations up and down the maritime and trade value chain. You will be able to develop your domain knowledge in different business operational management aspects of the maritime sector such as port-focal logistics and maritime operations, shipping business, logistics and transportation and business analytics. In addition, you will be introduced to other aspects of the maritime related industry job roles through non-credit classes taught by industry practitioners that range from tanker chartering and ship brokering to applications of data analytics and how robotics and automation are applied in the maritime sector. You will also have opportunities to gain industry exposure through internships, overseas Industry Study Missions and local site visits where you will learn about the various operational intricacies which provide maritime companies their competitive edge.
Curriculum
Compulsory courses for OM major:
- OPIM311 Service Processes
- OPIM321 Supply Chain Management
Additional compulsory courses for Maritime Business and Operations Track:
- OPIM343 Port-Focal Logistics and Maritime Operations
- OPIM314 Logistics and Transportation Management
- TRAD201 Shipping Business
- LGST223 Law of International Trade
- 2 CUs of other Maritime Business and Operations Track electives from the list below**:
- MGMT317 Managing Process Improvement
- OPIM318 Sustainable Operations
- OPIM322 High Performance Warehousing and Fulfillment
- OPIM324 Global Supply Chains
- OPIM326 Service and Operations Analytics
- OIM344 Sustainable Shipping and Ports
- OPIM347 Shipping Strategies - The Digital Dimensions (SSDD) (Previously known as Shipping Strategy - The Global and Digital Challenges)
- OPIM348 Supply Chain Analytics
- FNCE310 Trade Finance* (Not OM Major Elective)
- MGMT346 Global Trade and Maritime Work-Study Elective (2 CUs)* (Not OM Major Elective)
(Click here for more details about this elective.)
- At least three non-credit seminars (Agri-Commodities, Maritime and Logistics Management, Commodity and Energy Trading, Geopolitics and Impact on Shipping Routes, Financial Risk Management, Sustainability, Carbon Trading, The LNG Value Chain, Container Liner Trade, Technology and Trade, Port Operations, Data Analytics)
*For Maritime Business and Operations Track's students who enrol in 2 CUs from Trade Finance, and/or Global Trade and Maritime Work-Study Elective to fulfil the Track elective requirement, they will have to take 1 additional CU of Operations Management Major Elective to fulfil the major's requirement.
**List of electives may be subject to changes. Students may transfer up to 2CUs of MBOT Electives from their exchange programme.
For more information, students can visit https://iti.smu.edu.sg/undergraduate
Note: In addition to the above, non-BBM students would need to take OPIM101 Decision Analysis and OPIM201 Operations Management.
Please click here to view the slides shown in the above video presentation.
If you like to understand the processes that create value in a business, if you enjoy coming up with ideas for improvement and implementing them, if you believe in the power of rigorous analysis to make better decisions, then the Operations Management (OM) major is for you.
OM aims to help companies realize their full potential by efficiently utilizing their resources to create outstanding goods and services in a timely fashion. As such, a job in OM has a direct impact on the bottom line and requires quantitative and qualitative skills in equal measure. Quantitative skills will serve you well when identifying, collecting and analysing data. It is your qualitative skills that will transform the data into insights based on which you can then implement reasoned change.
Exciting job opportunities across multiple industries in different roles await you. As a sample, our graduates have joined a diverse set of companies, such as P&G, JPMorgan, DHL and SingHealth. Starting jobs as business process analyst, procurement, transportation or logistics planner, supply chain value expert and quality improvement manager show the breadth of applications within those companies.
Operations Management Major
Operations Management Core - 2 course units
Students are required to complete the following two courses. These two courses give you a strong foundation in the field of OM.
- OPIM311 Service Processes
- OPIM321 Supply Chain Management
Operations Management Electives - 4 course units
Students are required to complete 4 CUs of Operations Management Electives. These courses allow you to focus on individual links in the supply chain, learn more on trending issues in OM or pick up new skills with varied application. Some examples of our electives are listed below and we refer you to the full list here for further details on each elective course.
- OPIM313 Project Management
- MGMT317 Management Process Improvement
- OPIM324 Global Supply Chains
- OPIM326 Service and Operations Analytics
- OPIM346 Operations and Supply Chain Management in Healthcare
Operations Management Tracks
Students on the Operations Management major may also choose to pursue one of the specialisation tracks listed below. Where applicable, students may double-count courses taken to fulfil the track requirements towards the Operations Management Electives requirement.
Operations Management Second Major
Operations Management Second Major Core - 4 course units
Non-BBM students are required to complete the following courses.
- OPIM311 Service Processes
- OPIM321 Supply Chain Management
- OPIM101 Decision Analysis
- OPIM201 Operations Management
Operations Management Second Major Electives - 4 course units
Students are require to complete 4 CUs of Operations Management Second Major Electives. These must include 1 CU from the following:
- FNCE101 Finance/ FNCE103 Finance for Law
- ACCT101 Financial Accounting/ ACCT105 Financial Accounting for Law
- COR-COMM1304 Management Communication
- OBHR101 Management of People at Work
- MKTG101 Marketing
- MGMT102 Strategy
Students may fulfil the remaining requirement by completing 3 other Operations Management Second Major Electives, such as:
- OPIM313 Project Management
- MGMT317 Managing Process Improvement
- OPIM324 Global Supply Chains
- OPIM326 Service and Operations Analytics
- OPIM346 Operations and Supply Chain Management in Healthcare
Refer to the full list here for further details on each OM elective course.
Operations Management Tracks
Students on the Operations Management Second Major may also choose to pursue one of the specialisation tracks listed below. Where applicable, students may double-count courses taken to fulfil the track requirements towards the Operations Management Second Major Electives requirement.
Over the years, Excel has evolved to meet business needs, becoming the to-go tool for a variety of functional roles in any company. As such, Excel has become increasingly useful and embedded in business processes worldwide. During the course of your study, the OM major equips you with some necessary Excel skill sets. We refer you to the following table for the details.
The following table describes the Excel skills that you would learn in the OM major
Course Code | Course Name | Excel Skills Learned |
MGMT108 | Introduction to Business Analytics | Excel commands (e.g., vLookup, INDEX, MATCH); cross sectional and time series regression analysis; logit and probit regressions using RegressIt add-in; Solver add-in; visualization (scatterplot, boxplot, bar chart, pie chart, histogram, line graphs); pivot table; simulation (data table) |
OPIM 101 | Decision Analysis | Basic Excel commands; Solver add-in |
OPIM 201 | Operations Management | Basic Excel commands |
OPIM 311 | Service Processes | Basic Excel commands, Monte Carlo simulation |
OPIM 313 | Project Management | Use Excel to set up a simulation model, to create a project network diagram and to identify the critical path for a project |
OPIM 314 | Logistics and Transportation Management | Solver add-in |
OPIM 319 | Operations Strategy | Use Excel to calculate expected net present value of capacity expansion options under probabilistic scenarios |
OPIM 321 | Supply Chain Management | Excel setup and the use of Solver add-in for supply chain optimization and revenue management |
OPIM 322 | High Performance Warehousing and Fulfilment | Data processing; optimization using Solver/OpenSolver add-in |
OPIM 324 | Global Supply Chain | Use Excel commands (e.g., INDEX) to demonstrate supply chain concepts |
OPIM 346 | OM and SCM in Healthcare | Qmacros add-in; general use of Excel |
OPIM 348 | Supply Chain Analytics | Excel commands (e.g., vLookup); pivot table; data analysis; regression analysis using RegressIt add-in |
Need further advice?
If you would like to get any further advice on majoring in OM, please feel free to contact the OM academic advisors: Prof Guiyun Feng (gyfeng@smu.edu.sg), Prof Buket Avci (buketavci@smu.edu.sg) or Prof Marcus Ang (marcusang@smu.edu.sg).
OM in the news:
Associate Professor Onur Boyabatli shares his research which proposes a sustainable crop allocation policy to help farmers choose which crops to grow on their farmland while optimising their profitability.
Associate Professor Lim Yun Fong discusses the key developments and trends in the retail sector, and shares his insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by retailers today.
Reducing inventory and improving service? Operations analytics is changing operations as Big Data and AI come together to predict demand at e-commerce company Otto in Germany.
The CEO of RedMart talks about their successful operations backend - supplier management, inventory management, logistics and more.
Apple is known for its design – but its hidden operational excellence makes all the difference in delivering those great products to the customer.
