Welcome to FIT5157 Services Science for semester 1, 2009. This 6 point unit is a core unit in the Business Systems professional track of the Master of Business Information Systems, Master of Business Systems and Master of Information Management and Systems degrees, and an elective unit for others studying these degrees and other masters degrees from within the Faculty of IT. The unit has been designed to provide you with an understanding of the management, design and operations of service organizations.
THE IBM DEFINITION: Services sciences, Management and Engineering (SSME) hopes to bring together ongoing work in computer science, operations research, industrial engineering, business strategy, management sciences, social and cognitive sciences, and legal sciences to develop the skills required in a services-led economy.
This course is about Services Sciences, Management and Engineering (SSME) for postgraduate students in information technology, science, management, engineering and other disciplines. SSME is the application of scientific, management, and engineering disciplines to services.
Services science is the application and extension of general operations management into the area of services. It draws from operations management, the social sciences, business, and engineering technology and applies scientific methods to the design and management of services. The use of IT in the operations of a service business is an essential part of services science. The focus of this unit is to provide students with sufficient knowledge of operations management, process design methods and business operations to work effectively in services and general operations management roles in industry.
At the conclusion of FIT5157 students will:
You will need to allocate up to 5 hours per week in some weeks, for use of a computer
Students are expected to have a background in IT, Engineering or Science.
Monash is committed to ‘Excellence in education’ (Monash Directions 2025 - http://www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/directions.html) and strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning.
To monitor how successful we are in providing quality teaching and learning Monash regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through Unit Evaluation Surveys. The University’s Unit Evaluation policy (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/unit-evaluation-policy.html) requires that every unit offered is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys as they are an important avenue for students to “have their say”. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.
Faculties have the option of administering the Unit Evaluation survey online through the my.monash portal or in class. Lecturers will inform students of the method being used for this unit towards the end of the semester.
Contact hours :
Caulfield - Wednesdays 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Thursdays 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Clayton - Mondays 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Tuesdays 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
There will be a 2 hour lecture and a one hour tutorial per week.
The tutorials will cover each topic of the course.
There will be a numerical questions assignment consisting of a question on each of five numerical topics.
There will be a software assignment consisting of a small program to solve a business need for a service business.
There will be a case study assignment.
Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.
It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.
| Week | Topic | Key dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction and Business Strategy | |
| 2 | Operations management, process design tools, services blueprint | |
| 3 | Project management techniques | |
| 4 | Inventory control | |
| 5 | Just In Time and barcoding | |
| 6 | Mathematical Optimization | |
| Mid semester break | ||
| 7 | IT/internet in services operations | 23 April - Submit numerical questions assignment: Project Management, Inventory Control, Just in Time and Barcoding |
| 8 | IT/internet in services operations | |
| 9 | IT/internet in services operations | |
| 10 | Accounting | 14 May - Submit numerical questions assignment: Mathematical Optimization question |
| 11 | Accounting, Contract Law | |
| 12 | ISO9000, Advanced Topics | 28 May - Submit IT/Internet assignment and Case Study assignment |
| 13 | Revision | |
"Successful Service Operations Management", Metters et al, Thomson, South-Western, 2006, ISBN-10: 0324224370, http://academic.cengage.com/cengage/student.do?product_isbn=9780324224375&disciplinenumber=412
The following references will be available on Blackboard:
ACM SERVICES SCIENCE PAPERS.pdf
Applied Mathematical Programming by Bradley, Hax, and Magnanti.pdf
BERKELY Service Science, Management, and Engineering Lecture Series.zip
ENGR 191A-291A Entrepreneurial Marketing - Spring 2008.pdf
Service Science, Management, and Engineering Lecture Series.pdf
Principles of Marketing - Chris Waller.pdf
Optimization Modeling with LINGO.pdf
Study resources we will provide for your study are:
Lecture notes, tutorial exercises and examples are available on the Blackboard site and ftp site ftp://ftp.monash.edu.au/pub/rlmartinThe Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching. To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.
The Educational Library and Media Resources (LMR) is also a very resourceful place to visit at http://www.education.monash.edu.au/library/
All unit and lecture materials are available through MUSO (Monash University Studies Online). Blackboard is the primary application used to deliver your unit resources. Some units will be piloted in Moodle. If your unit is piloted in Moodle, you will see a link from your Blackboard unit to Moodle (http://moodle.monash.edu.au) and can bookmark this link to access directly. In Moodle, from the Faculty of Information Technology category, click on the link for your unit.
You can access MUSO and Blackboard via the portal: http://my.monash.edu.au
Click on the Study and enrolment tab, then Blackboard under the MUSO learning systems.
In order for your Blackboard unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be correctly configured.
For example:
For more information, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html
You can contact the MUSO Support by phone : (+61 3) 9903 1268
For further contact information including operational hours, please visit: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/contact.html
Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site: http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html
Title : IT - Internet Assignment
Description :
Weighting : 10%
Criteria for assessment :
The criteria for assessment will be a subjective assessment of your approach to the problem and involve writing code and your understanding of the SOAP protocol.
Due date : 28/05/2009
Title : Case Study
Description :
A case study of a service business. Groups of 2 students. The case study will involve planning out the operations of a service business, and preparing a project plan to build and start the business. Variations on this description are invited.
Weighting : 15%
Criteria for assessment :
The criteria for assessment will be a subjective assessment of your case study.
Due date : 28/05/2009
Title : Numerical Questions Assignment
Description :
A numerical question on each numerical topic of the course: (1) Project Management, (2) Inventory Control, (3) Just In Time, (4) Barcoding, (5) Mathematical Optimization - 5% for each topic, making 25% total
Weighting : 25%
Criteria for assessment :
Assessment will be based on about 50% correct answers and 50% on the method and logical approach to each question.
Due date : 23 April - numerical questions: Project Management, Inventory Control, Just in Time and Barcoding; 14 May - numerical questions: Mathematical Optimization question
Weighting : 50%
Length : 2 hours
Type ( open/closed book ) : Closed book
The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.
Late assignments will be accepted without penalty up to the date of the examination, or publication of the solution, whichever is earlier.
Arrangements will be made in the case of illness or other serious reasons.
Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.
Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/assessment/
We will aim to have assignment results made available to you within two weeks after assignment receipt.Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with the University Plagiarism policy and procedure (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/conduct/plagiarism-procedures.html) which applies to students detected plagiarising.
In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work.
When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer.
Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.
Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.
Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.
The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.
The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.
Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:
Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.