RasGuides: MAN3504 Operations Management (CBE) Course Guide: Home

Welcome!

Tutoring
Research & APA
Writing
FAQs

Tutor Match
Successful students work with tutors for help with understanding course concepts, writing, APA, time management and more! Schedule an appointment to meet with a Rasmussen student tutor in Tutor Match.
Brainfuse Live Help
Live Help tutoring by Brainfuse is available on demand during scheduled hours in a variety of topic areas.

Online Library
Access Rasmussen College databases, research, and APA support on the Library and Learning Services website.
APA Guide
APA information including an APA paper template, examples, videos, and handouts covering APA formatting, references, in-text citations, and annotated bibliographies.
NoodleTools
Online citation management software that assists with the creation of in-text citations, reference pages, annotated bibliographies, and more.
Library Chat
The Rasmussen College librarians staff a live chat service to assist students with questions about locating resources, APA citation style, research assignments, and more. The service is offered Monday - Thursday 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm (CT) and Sunday 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm (CT) Access the Library Chat in the Resources tab in any of your courses or by clicking the link above.
Research Appointments
Attend a 20 minute online Research Appointment with a Rasmussen College Librarian for help with: using the Online Library, choosing and navigating databases, evaluating resources, and formatting or writing a paper.

Business Writing
Visit the Business Writing page to learn about specific types or styles of business writing, such as reports, white papers, memos, etc... Find full explanations, lists of items to include for each form of writing, and examples.
Grammarly
Immediate feedback on grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Writing Lab
Get feedback online from a Brainfuse writing professional in 24-48 hours. When you submit your work, include notes for your reviewer to narrow the focus on the aspects of your written work that you are looking to improve.
Writing Guide
Your complete reference for college level writing. Start with the basics, and explore supporting content to help you refine your writing across a variety of forms of composition.
Skill Surfer Writing Tutorials
Access lessons on a wide variety of writing topics, including grammar, thesis statements, unity and support, organization and transitions, and the research process.

Rasmussen College Answers FAQs
Not sure where to begin? Ask your question here. We have over 1000 answers to common questions across the Rasmussen community related to academics and the student experience. Allow us to point you in the right direction.

silhouette

The best advice I could give someone for this course is to follow the rubric. Sometimes it looks different than the assignment, but your work is graded based on the rubric.

silhouette

I was worried about sounding stupid, but my instructor was really good and really meant it when he said we could contact him outside of class. I would say if you're having trouble with any of your assignments to reach out to your instructor or find a tutor.

I wouldn't have survived this class without the live classrooms. I like the recordings because I can listen to them as much as I need to and start and stop as I go. The examples my instructor gave really helped me.

I use the FAQs when I'm confused about assignments in any of my classes. Most of the time, my question has already been asked, and it saves so much time for me. There are so many resources available that I lose track of them.

image of person with tablet screen for face

Having trouble identifying which leadership style best represents you? Browse the online quizzes below to help you reflect on your leadership traits. These quizzes adopt a variety of approaches and represent different paradigms for leadership, but they may still help get your creative juices flowing!

Online Leadership Quizzes

Optional Library Readings & Videos

The Road to Self-Leadership Development by Stanley C. Ross
ISBN: 9781785607035
Publication Date: 2015-11-20

The primary purpose of The Road to Self Leadership Development: Busting Out of Your Comfort Zone is to provide individuals who want to become a leader with a systematic approach for learning how to first learn to become a self-leader. Organizations can use the book for identifying leader types and within leadership development training programs. Individuals need help in understanding the logic of being a self-leader and the critical role of self-worth (encompasses self-esteem, self-concept and self-confidence) in the process of developing the self-leader as a preparatory step to leadership development.
Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath; Barry Conchie; Gallup Press Staff
ISBN: 9781595620255
Publication Date: 2009-01-06

Gallup scientists have been examining decades of data on the topic of leadership. They studied more than 1 million work teams, conducted more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with leaders and even interviewed more than 10,000 followers around the world to ask exactly why they followed the most important leader in their life. In Strengths Based Leadership, New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath and renowned leadership consultant Barry Conchie reveal the results of this research. Based on their discoveries, the book identifies three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in others' strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team, and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership.

man writing plan on the whiteboard

Remember, "table outline" does NOT mean a formal written outline; rather, you are being asked to provide an overview of your ideas in a written paper including two tables (one for domestic and one for international sourcing plans) with a corresponding written discussion. Students who are successful with this deliverable use their rubric as their guide and participate in their live classroom session!

Pro tip: Review the deliverable instructions and the grading rubric before your live session.

Optional Library Readings

Global Sourcing chapter from The Essentials of Supply Chain Management by Hokey Min
ISBN: 0134036239
Publication Date: 2015-06-21

The Essentials of Supply Chain Management shows how to achieve continuous organizational success by applying modern supply chain concepts. Reflecting his extensive recent experience working with leading executives and managers, Min teaches highly-effective methods for supply chain thinking and problem-solving. You'll master an integrated Total System Approach that places functions like inventory control and transportation squarely in context, helping you smoothly integrate internal and external functions, and establish effective inter-firm cooperation and strategic alliances across complex supply chains. Coverage includes: Understanding modern sourcing, logistics, operations, sales, and marketing - and how they fit together.
Strategic Sourcing Chapter from The Procurement Game Plan by Charles Dominick; Sohelia Lunney
ISBN: 9781604270679
Publication Date: 2012-01-01

This invaluable guide provides an easy-to-follow game plan with strategies for procurement and supply professionals to improve supplier relationships, secure measurable cost reductions, achieve operational effectiveness and efficiency, and positively impact margins and competitiveness for their organizations. Utilizing real-world scenarios and examples to make principles and concepts easy to understand, this is an ideal resource for self-learning, training, and classroom instruction.

female customer service representative with headset

Optional Library Readings

Crafting the Customer Experience for People Not Like You by Kelly McDonald
ISBN: 9781118360729
Publication Date: 2012-11-13

Deliver a better business experience, for every kind of customer A "one-size fits all" approach to customer service is no longer viable. Businesses competing on service need to understand and cater to customers' racial, ethnic, religious, generational, and geographic differences in order to meet or exceed customers' service expectations. Crafting the Customer Experience to People Not Like You shows how companies, brands, and products struggling to differentiate themselves in a sea of sameness can foster long-term loyalty and brand preference with exceptional and customized customer service.
Customer Care Excellence by Sarah Cook
ISBN: 9780749457051
Publication Date: 2011-01-15

Customer loyalty is essential to the long term financial success of your business, but with more choice then ever before, customers today have high expectations of the products and services they use. To continue to meet - and even to exceed - these high expectations, you need a top notch customer services system in place, and Customer Care Excellence will enable you to achieve just that. In clear, practical language, this book takes you through how you can develop and sustain a customer-service focus within your company. Emphasizing both strategic and practical aspects of customer care, Customer Care Excellence explains how gaining customer commitment and motivating employees to deliver an excellent service at all your company's touch points can ensure successful results and satisfied customers.
Igniting Customer Connections by Andrew Frawley
ISBN: 9781118916704
Publication Date: 2014-10-27

A new data-driven approach to building customer relationships that fuel sustainable business growth. Igniting Customer Connections explores how organizations of all sizes can build powerful and profitable customer relationships in a today's increasingly complex, fast-paced, and fragmented marketplace. Written by the president of one of the world's largest marketing firms, the book provides expert insights about connecting with customers effectively across all channels and over time.

image of woman with plan on laptop screen

Not sure where to begin for your project plan? Review the resources on survey methodology, RFPs, project planning, and risk management below for help brainstorming around what to include in your project plan for a data collection tool and the related templates you will be creating.

Optional Library Readings

Project Management in Product Development by George Ellis
ISBN: 9780128025598
Publication Date: 2015-09-11

Provides ways to successfully manage product development projects by teaching traditional and advanced project management techniques like Gantt, CPM, Agile, Lean, and others. Covers transformational and transactional leadership, how to create a vision and engage the team, as well as tactics on how to manage a complex set of tasks. Uses a practical, common sense approach to the day-to-day activities of a project manager, including project planning, project process development, problem-solving, project portfolio management, reporting, and more.
Research Methodology in Strategy and Management by David J. Ketchen (Editor); Donald D. Bergh (Editor)
ISBN: 9780762310517
Publication Date: 2004-08-01

Research methods present the strategic management field with great opportunities and challenges. This first volume includes three types of chapters aimed at exploiting the opportunities and meeting the challenges. One group of chapters addresses broad issues of science, including the state of strategy research, issues surrounding the age of data, and how to build cumulative knowledge within the strategic management field. A second group of chapters highlight ways to improve specific practices, including the measurement of knowledge, the assessment of limited dependent variables, and designing studies. A final group of chapters describe how strategy researchers can better use particular methods. In particular, Chapter 8 reviews methodology for survey research.
Successful Project Management: How to Complete Projects on Time, on Budget, and on Target by Dobson, Michael Singer
ISBN: 0761215670
Publication Date: 2015

Successful Project Management focuses on practical tools and techniques students can apply immediately to complete projects on time, on budget, and on target. Packed with proven strategies, the course explains how to clarify objectives, avoid serious errors of omission, and eliminate costly mistakes. Students will learn how to: • Set measurable project objectives and create a practical plan to achieve them • Control time, cost, and scope • Obtain approval and buy-in from senior management and key stakeholders • Create a work breakdown structure to ensure a solid foundation for project activities • Use network diagramming to control the project schedule • Employ standard estimating techniques, including analogous, parametric, and bottom-up methods • Prepare a project plan using progressive elaboration and the Critical Path Method • Lead the project team and manage relationships effectively and productively across the spectrum of project stakeholders • Identify project risk and manage change • Evaluate and report on project performance.

Do not confuse your reference list assignment with an annotated bibliography! Simply create an APA-style reference list, and include a brief summary at the end of the document of your general search strategies and how you made your source selections. To find sources like articles and eBooks, utilize the databases recommended in the Business Management Research box below. Access APA resources in the scrolling box on the left hand column of this Guide.

Pro tip 1: Read your rubric carefully for the number of sources required of you!

Pro tip 2: Review the Database Tutorials and Database Search Techniques tabs in the Business Management Research box below for help with constructing keyword searches and limiting results by date.

NoodleTools
Online citation management software that assists with the creation of in-text citations, reference pages, annotated bibliographies, and more.

Optional Library Readings

*Do not use these reading in your reference list! These readings were selected to support your understanding of quality management and measurement.

Beyond the Lean Office by Kevin J. Duggan
ISBN: 9781498712484
Publication Date: 2016-01-22

While more and more companies are aggressively pursuing Operational Excellence by employing Six Sigma, Lean, and other continuous improvement methods, the concept has yet to be defined in a way that can be easily taught and applied, especially in industries other than manufacturing. This book fills that need. Beyond the Lean Officeuses a compelling novel format to illustrate what it takes to create and sustain flow and Operational Excellence in the office. Readers learn as they follow the main character through initial attempts to correct late responses to a primary customer and the evolution to an approach based on Operational Excellence.

Writing Guide - PowerPoints
Presentations are fundamentally a form of composition that require the same kind of preparation and attention to organization as written papers and specialized forms of business writing. Visit the Writing Guide - PowerPoints as your one-stop shop for planning, creating, and reviewing yours.
PowerPoint Tutoring in Brainfuse Live Help
PowerPoint Video Tutorials - Computer Skills Center
Text-Based PowerPoint Tutorials in SkillSurfer
Q. How do I record and add audio to my presentation?
Browse our FAQs related to PowerPoint presentations. We offer guidance on special topics such as adding audio to your slides.

Optional Library Resources

Forecasting Chapter of HR's Greatest Challenge by Richard P. Finnegan
ISBN: 9781586443795
Publication Date: 2015-10-01

HR's Greatest Challenge will help HR executives: * Convince their CEOs that engagement and retention are top-tier metrics as important as sales and service. * Replace those mysterious turnover percentages and engagement scores with dollar values that resonate with the CFO. * Train managers to conduct stay interviews because they bring proven solutions. * Ask leaders to forecast how long employees will stay and how many of their team will score high on the next engagement survey.