MBA in Operations: Syllabus, Subjects and Books

MBA in Operations Management courses and curriculum are designed in such a manner that students learn to focus on both, the fundamental business management and operations management speciality. The students are educated in both academic and technical aspects of logistics and supply chain management. The MBA in Operations Management program is a two-year, four-semester post-graduate programme. Students learn the fundamentals of business management and its concepts over the first two semesters. Elective topics that focus on the course speciality are offered in the second and third semesters. Apart from this, professional programs such as projects, research, soft skills, seminars, and business English are offered to improve students' empirical and practical knowledge.

Semester-wise MBA in Operations Syllabus

Economics, accounting, human resource management, business management, business communication, corporate management, and other fundamental disciplines are included in the MBA in Operations Management curriculum. Operations management, marketing and sales, business management, finance management, statistics, manufacturing, logistics and supply chain management, and many other optional disciplines are available. The course is structured into four semesters; each teaches the basics, core, optional subjects, and projects. The following is a semester-by-semester MBA in Operations Management curriculum:

Industry training, research work, seminars, report writing, project work, along with other empirical and academic activities, are included all across the MBA programs, irrespective of the area of expertise. Different specialisations have different minors and management topics.

The MBA curriculum or program includes both major and minor (optional) management disciplines. In order to determine which MBA curriculum is ideal, students should evaluate the curriculum of top MBA Institutes in India. 

Subjects in MBA first semester	Subjects in MBA second semester
Corporate Environment	Business Process Modelling
Communication Skill Development	Corporate Legal Environment
Quantitative Techniques & Methods	Project Management
Management of Organisations	Production Management
Demand and Business Forecasting	Business Communication
Business Skills Development	Business Policy and Strategic Management
Managerial Economics	Enterprise Resource Planning
Accounting for Managers	Production Planning and Control

Subjects in MBA third Semester	Subjects in MBA fourth Semester
Operations Management and Strategy	Specialisation Group A - Human Resource Management
Logistics & Supply Chain Management	Seminar
Project - 1	Project - 2
Information Technology	Management of International Business
Specialisation Group A - Human Resource Management	Information Technology - 2
Marketing	Sales
Finance	Operation Management
Material Management	Finance

List of Subjects for MBA in Operations

External assessments are an important component of the MBA operations program since they enable students to learn about business. They gain a comprehensive understanding of the course through examining published studies, attending seminars, and participating in research facility sections. Alternative topics should be chosen based on the aspirant's skills, the extent of education, and potential job goals. Fundamentals in MBA Operations Management prepare learners to be exceptional leaders and company administrators.

Major Subject Options for MBA Operations:

1. Business Communication
2. Corporate Environment
3. Managerial Economics
4. Demand and Business Forecasting
5. Business Skills Development
6. Accounting for Managers
7. Corporate Legal Environment
8. Project Management
9. Production Management
10.  Quantitative Techniques & Methods
11. Management of Organisations

Minor Subject Options for MBA Operations:

1. Retail Marketing Management and Industrial Marketing Consumer 
2. Services Marketing Research Sales and Distribution Management Behaviour
3. International Marketing Advertising and Sales Management
4. HR Management Organisational Change and Development
5. HR Planning And Development Management
6. Logistics & Supply Chain Management
7. Enterprise Resource Planning
8. Production Planning and Control
9. Operations Management and Strategy

Lab Subjects for MBA Operations:

1. Enterprise Resource Planning Strategic Information
2. Business and Communicational English
3. Networks for Business Electronic Commerce
4. Database Management System Analysis
5. Computer-Aided Design
6. Data Mining Software Engineering
7. Systems Data Warehousing

Subjects in MBA Operations First Year

Corporate Environment - This topic will see the meaning of business environment, factors that affect the business environment, the importance of business environment, how the internal environment and external environment play a role in the company's growth.

Communication Skill Development - this subject will cover important topics like developing skills and etiquette to communicate effectively which include, verbal, written, body language, gestures etc.

Quantitative Techniques & Methods - this topic covers in detail all quantitative methods like regression, data mining, data analytics that play a crucial role in decision making.

Management of Organisations - this topic covers the various aspects of how to achieve the aim of the organisation by effective planning, organising, executing and using the resource available efficiently.

Demand and Business Forecasting - This subject covers the know-hows of predicting demand and future business based on current and past trends. The topic will also include various tools and methods that can be employed to perform the forecasting along with examples and case studies.

Business Skills Development - This topic will cover the essentials required to start a business like having enough capital, budgeting, staffing, costing etc that will be essential to sustain a business.

Managerial Economics - The topics covered in this subject include the meaning of managerial economics, the nature of it, the principles of managerial economics, concepts of managerial economics, scope etc.

Accounting for Managers -  the various topics covered in this are FIFO, LIFO, absorption vs variable costing, understanding cost behaviour and cost-volume-profit analysis, operational budgeting etc.

Subjects in MBA Operations Second Year

Business Process Modelling - This topic covers the importance of business modelling, methods of valuing a company, analysing the business models of various companies, usage of graphs to explain the workflow of an organisation.

Corporate legal Environment - This subject covers the legal aspect of business like corporate law, company’s act, intellectual property act, contract act, negotiable instruments et. to name a few along with examples and case studies.

Project Management - topics covered and demand forecasting, cost estimation, agile management etc.

Production Management - This topic will help understand what is production management, the types of production of products, steps involved in the production, planning, organising and implementing the production process.

Business Communication - This topic lays the importance of conducting oneself in a company and how one should communicate professionally in all aspects like verbal, written, body language, facial expressions, gestures etc.

Business Policy and Strategic Management - topics covered are meaning, understanding business models, the importance of conceptualising and executing strategies, case studies and examples etc

Enterprise Resource Planning - This subject includes the meaning of ERP, importance, the advantages and disadvantages, the applications of ERP etc.

Production Planning and Control -  A continuation of production management, this subject will cover in more detail how to plan and execute the production process and ensure there is stability and control in the process and how to solve problems that arise out of this with examples and case studies.

Elective Subjects for MBA in Operations

Here’s a list of elective subjects for MBA in Operations that are as important as the rest of the curriculum:

1. Enterprise Resource Planning Strategic Information
2. Business and Communicational English
3. Networks for Business Electronic Commerce
4. Database Management System Analysis
5. Computer-Aided Design
6. Data Mining Software Engineering
7. Systems Data Warehousing

MBA in Operations Syllabus of Top Management Colleges in India

The MBA in Operations follows the same course structure and syllabus as other MBA programmes. Aspirants study key aspects related to abilities involved with all elements of business administration in the first year of the degree. Students in the second year of the operations management degree must select minors from the operations domain.

MBA Operations Management Syllabus - Semester 2:

1. Quantitative Techniques & Methods
2. Accounting for Managers
3. Business Skills Development
4. Corporate Environment
5. Corporate legal Environment
6. Management of Organisations
7. Managerial Economics

MBA Operations Management Syllabus - Semester 3

1. Business Policy and Strategic Management
2. Quality Management
3. International Supply Chain Management & Logistics
4. International Trade Practices, Procedures, and Documentation
5. Materials Management
6. International Financial Management
7. Analytics and Business Forecasting

MBA Operations Management Syllabus - Semester 4

1. Management of International Business
2. Summer Training Project
3. Project Management
4. Supply Chain Management and Logistics
5. Services Operations Management
6. Operations Strategy
7. System Dynamics

MBA Operations Management Syllabus - Semester 3 (Minors)

Group A: Human Resource Management

Human Resource Planning And Development Management of Industrial Relations Compensation Management Organisational Change and Development.

Group B: Marketing

Services Marketing, Research Sales, Distribution Management, and Retail Marketing Management.

Group C: Finance

Management of Financial Institution Financial Markets and Services Security Analysis and Portfolio Management, Derivatives and Risk Management.

Group D: Information Technology

Database Management System, Analysis and Design Communication, Networks for Business Electronic Commerce.

Best Books for MBA in Operations

There are several various aspects of Operations Management books that every supply chain expert should study and choosing which reference Operations Management textbooks to read might be overwhelming. So here is a list of some of the top management books:

1. Operations Management (McGraw-Hill Series in Operations and Decision Sciences)
2. Competing Against Time: How Time-Based Competition is Reshaping Global Markets
3. Operations Management (McGraw-Hill Series in Operations and Decision Sciences)
4. Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains (11th Edition)
5. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
6. Operations Management (11th Edition)
7. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
8. Managing Process Innovation: From Idea Generation To Implementation (Series on Technology Management)
9. Operations Management (7th Edition)