Resumen de Where to locate? a project-based learning activity for a graduate-level course on operations management
Jasmina Berbegal, Dolors Gil Doménech, Inés Alegre
Location decisions represent an integral part of firms’ strategic planning process. Because these decisions have a significantimpact on the organization, location analysis is a recurrent topic on operations management courses. In this study, we positthat students enrolled on such courses should experience location decisions actively. To this end, this paper proposes anactivity that adopts a student-centred approach. The main purpose is for students to acquire the required technical skills todeal with location decisions. Furthermore, the activity is designed in such a way that it also helps students develop some ofthe soft skills that operation managers should possess, such as teamwork and digital skills. The activity mimics a real-lifesituation, with students asked to decide where to locate a specific new public service in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Thisactivity was part of a course on operations management, included in the master’s degree in engineering management andproduction systems taught at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. The results suggest that the proposed project-based activity helps students to improve relevant skills needed by project managers. By providing students with theopportunity to take part in a location decision that simulates a real-life situation, the activity enhances students’experience-based learning.
