Every organization, be it a manufacturer of industrial goods, a restaurant, a bank, or a hospital organizes its operations to produce its output. Over the past century various models and techniques have been developed to design, manage, and improve these operations. The majority of these models and techniques have focused on routine and physical work, so called ‘blue-collar’ work. However, over the past two decades an increasing fraction of work has become neither routine nor physical, but rather involves creativity, worker discretion in decision making, and more complex forms of learning; these tasks are often called ‘white-collar’ work.

In this seminar, we will compare and contrast operations in these two work settings. At first, we will introduce and discuss the basic performance measures to analyze and design blue-collar work operations. Secondly, we will explore if and how these measures can be employed in white-collar operations. Throughout the seminar, students will participate in simulation games and engage in teaching case discussions. Short projects including student presentations will conclude the class.

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