Basics of Operations
Management
Every product and service depends on an operation that works. In about two hours, you will learn how organizations turn inputs into products and services, how to match capacity with demand and how to plan, control and improve everyday work.How to run operations that deliver, in about two hours.
What you will learn
Operations are often the largest part of an organization, in factories and in services alike. This course gives managers and professionals the core ideas and tools to understand and improve how work gets done.
- Analyze any operation with the transformation model and the four Vs
- Link operations to strategy with five performance objectives and choose the right processes and layouts
- Manage capacity, bottlenecks, forecasts and schedules, and use technology and sustainability well
More details
This is practical knowledge for your everyday work. Across nine short chapters you learn to look at any organization through the eyes of an operations manager.
new industrial robots were installed in factories worldwide in 2024, more than twice as many as ten years earlier.
Source: International Federation of RoboticsYou will learn the difference between goods and services, operations strategy and trade-offs, process types and layouts, capacity planning and queues, forecasting, scheduling and inventory basics, service operations, automation and sustainable operations. Two real cases, Aravind Eye Care and Ford’s Model T, bring it all together.
The course is designed for managers, team leads and everyone who wants to understand how organizations create and deliver value. No prior knowledge is required.
The course takes about two hours in text and audio, is fully self-paced, and comes with lifetime access and no prerequisites. Pass the short final exam to earn a verifiable certificate.
What we will cover
9 focused chapters that take you from the basics of operations to planning, control and improvement, each with practical, real-world examples.
See the full curriculum
- Introduction
- The Transformation Model
- Goods and Services
- Operations in Every Function
- The Four Vs of Operations
- The Five Performance Objectives
- Trade-Offs Between Objectives
- Order Winners and Qualifiers
- Manufacturing Process Types
- Service Processes
- The Customer's Role in Services
- Layout Types
- Measuring Capacity
- Bottlenecks
- Queues and Waiting
- Managing Capacity and Demand
- Demand Forecasting Basics
- Loading, Sequencing and Scheduling
- Inventory Basics
- Automation and Robots
- Sustainable Operations
- Circular Operations
- Case Study: Aravind Eye Care
- Case Study: Ford's Model T
- Conclusion
Learn your way
Read or listen at your own pace, on any device — and yours to keep forever.
- No app neededIn your browser
- Any devicePhone to laptop
- Auto-savedContinue anytime
- Stay focusedDistraction-free
Certificate
A certificate you can
actually use
- Instantas a digital PDFPDF download
- Includedno extra fees
- Lifetimeno expiry
- ShareableLinkedIn & CV
- Verifiableunique ID number
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Program
This course is part of
a larger credential
It’s one of the four courses of the Operations Management program — and it counts toward that program certificate at no extra cost.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
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Short course, fast results
From start to certificate
in about 2 hours
Checkout takes a minute — chapter one opens right away.
Compact topics and real case studies, at your own pace.
Multiple choice, free retakes, no time limit.
Issued instantly — add it to your CV and LinkedIn.
Basics of Operations Management
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