For companies aiming to stay competitive in today’s global markets, constant evolution and improvement of operations and processes are essential. Innovation in bringing new products to the market, as well as refinement of existing products and processes, is needed more than ever. These aspects constitute the underlying core of this master’s programme.
You will gain a thorough understanding of methods for identifying customer needs and business opportunities and acquire the range of skills needed to manage improvement and change processes — skills such as leadership, project management and change management.
Quality and operations management master's programme at Chalmers
Aimed at improving the processes through which new and existing products and services are developed and delivered, we now witness a strong upsurge in the industry’s interest in improvement techniques and philosophies. Examples are Six Sigma, Lean Production and Lean Product Development. Many industrial companies and public organizations are using improvement programmes based on these or similar ideas. Success in these programmes requires a change in mindset together with organisational transformations. Engineers equipped with the necessary knowledge and competence for leading quality-driven change processes and business improvement are therefore crucial. This master’s programme supports you in acquiring the knowledge and skills required to manage, improve and transform organisational processes.
The master's programme gives you a thorough understanding of tools for identifying customer needs and business opportunities. You will be trained in the skills needed to manage the process of developing and delivering products and services. A strong focus will be on using different qualitative and quantitative tools. Another focus will be on production and delivery processes, in both manufacturing and service and on the tools and techniques for their improvement. You will acquire a number of competencies needed to manage improvement and change processes, whether they concern product development or production. These skills include leadership, project management and change management.
The programme’s pedagogic frame is built on your participation and responsibility for your own learning process. Within the theoretical parts of the education and in order to improve your ability to present ideas both in written and oral form, you will write, present and discuss cases and term papers at seminars. In the programme, a number of group projects will be carried out, all in cross-cultural teams. This provides a training arena for cross-cultural group work preparing you for taking the lead in cross-cultural improvement projects.
Topics covered
The subjects of product development, change management and leadership are fundamental areas in the Quality and operations management master’s programme. The courses included in the programme plan handle operations strategy, six sigma and quality improvement.
Career
Graduates of the programme can find positions as quality and improvement process facilitators, problem solvers or change agents, production, quality or product development engineers or project managers. There is also the prospect of working within management in the above-mentioned areas as well as management consultants or academic researchers.
Examples of positions acquired by students of earlier versions of this programme are management consultants, production engineers, quality engineers, Six Sigma Black Belts, project leaders in product development and company internal quality consultants. Future career opportunities are not restricted to manufacturing organizations, but also include service-providing organisations and public services.
Research
All courses and projects are taught and supervised by active researchers in the field of quality and operations management and we apply or include our current research to examples, cases, projects and regular lectures. As a student, you will be able to take part in research discussions and analyses.
The master's programme is also connected with industry through guest lecturers in various courses and an industrially-based project course. The industrial cooperation is facilitated by the division’s research collaboration with various companies and organizations, e.g. SKF, Volvo Trucks and the Region of Västra Götaland.
In the project courses – Six Sigma, operations improvement, or product development – you will carry out a project in close cooperation with a company. In the Six Sigma project, an employee from the company involved will work together with a group of students carrying out a Six Sigma project in that company. The operations improvement project is similar to a small research study where a group of students investigate a problem of interest to a certain company, for example, through interviews and study visits. The product development project concerns the development of a prototype for a company.
Find out more about research in Technology, management and economics
Requirements
How to apply - From application to admission
This is a step-by-step guide on how to apply for a Master's programme at Chalmers University of Technology.
