Introduction to Operations Management

Wharton introduces the relationship between how a process is designed and how work flows through it. Flow management and Lean operations connect with Little’s Law and quality. It suits beginners who want to reason about delays and variation using a small set of analytical tools rather than rely only on an informal impression of efficiency.

What you will learn

• Analyze the flow of a business process.
• Apply Little’s Law to work in progress.
• Recognize Lean and quality-management concepts.

Who this suits

Beginners learning quantitative foundations of operations management.

Before you enroll

Check the assumptions behind each calculation and distinguish a simplified classroom example from a working operation. Improvements can move a bottleneck elsewhere or introduce a new constraint. Use sample information for exercises, document units and compare alternatives before applying a decision to staffing, inventory or service commitments.

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Put it into practice

Map a fictional service process, state consistent units for arrivals and time, and use Little’s Law to check whether the implied work in progress is plausible.

Source and review

This overview is based on the provider's published information, checked on 12 October 2026. It is an editorial assessment, not a claim that we completed the resource. Time filters are approximate study ranges; projects and exercises can take longer.

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