The Theory of Operations Management
This MIT Sloan doctoral seminar examines theoretical tools for studying operations planning and control, with a term focus on customer-driven operations. Students read and present research papers on how companies align operational systems around customer needs, covering distribution systems, short life-cycle product management, and forecast evolution models. The seminar format centers on primary research literature rather than lectures, building the analytical foundation doctoral students need to develop their own operations management theory. Materials on MIT OpenCourseWare include the syllabus, reading list, and assignment structure from the course as taught at MIT's Sloan School of Management. No certificate is offered, but all course materials are free to access and reuse under MIT's open license.