Online Bachelor's Degree BS in Operations Management

Manage People, Processes & Systems with an Operations Management Degree Online

Operations managers are responsible for developing, improving and managing the processes used to produce and transport products, services and even people. They’re often tasked with reducing costs, maximizing profits and increasing customer satisfaction – in other words, the areas most critical to any organization’s sustainability.

Develop the knowledge and skills to look at that long-term sustainability through the lens of an operations manager in the Bachelor of Science in Operations Management degree online program at Southern New Hampshire University.

Choose the bachelor's in online operations management degree alone, or elect a concentration in Logistics and Transportation or Project Management.

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Concentrations
Operations Management (BS) - Logistics & Transportation
Operations Management (BS) - Project Management

See Yourself Succeed in Operations Management

Upon completion of the online operations management degree program, you’ll be able to:

Assess and apply operations management theory and best practices effectively in a global environment to achieve operational goals
Evaluate and apply appropriate continuous improvement practices for achieving sustainable operations
Utilize quantitative and qualitative techniques for solving problems with processes, procedures and products
Evaluate the internal and external factors that influence business sustainability and competitive advantages in business
Make operations-management decisions that create value while minimizing risk for the purposes of meeting specified customer requirements
Develop and apply appropriate resource management techniques for promoting accountability, sustainability and organizational effectiveness

As a private, nonprofit university, SNHU has one mission – to help you see yourself succeed. The benefits of earning your operations management degree online at SNHU include:

Affordability. Take advantage of some of the most affordable tuition rates in the nation
Convenience. Attend class when it's convenient for you – online education means 24/7 access
Efficiency and flexibility. Complete your undergraduate degree at your own pace, over six 8-week terms per year
Expert instruction. Learn from instructors with relevant, real-world experience
Networking. Tap into our nationwide network or alumni for tips and career opportunities
Simple application process. Just fill out an online undergraduate application, and we’ll retrieve U.S. transcripts from your previous institutions and automatically complete an official credit evaluation. Plus, there’s no application fee
Transfer-friendly enrollment. Transfer up to 90 credits toward an undergraduate degree
Student support. Count on the ongoing support of dedicated academic and career advisors specialized in your area of study

Career Outlook

Employment continues to grow as more businesses transport goods in the global economy. While manufacturing continues to be a large employer of operations management professionals, more jobs are being created in education, government, military, transportation, and science and technical services.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for operations research analysts will increase by 27 percent through 2026 – much faster than the average of all occupations.* The need for logisticians will increase by 7 percent in the same time period, according to the BLS.*

Graduates with a bachelor's in operations management can pursue roles as:

Distribution manager
Inventory control analyst
Materials manager
Plant manager
Production planner
Purchasing manager
Quality analyst
Supply chain manager
Warehouse manager

Curriculum

SNHU's operations degree provides a solid foundation of knowledge for managing operations in manufacturing, service and other sectors. The curriculum builds upon a business core, emphasizing communication, ethics and globalization. This bachelor's program culminates in a capstone experience, giving you the opportunity to use what you’ve learned.

Required Core Courses
General Education Program
Business Core Program

Degree Courses
QSO 320 Management Science through Spreadsheets This course introduces the student to mathematical techniques that may be used to aid decision-making. Topics may include linear programming, PERT, CPM, network analysis and others.
QSO 325 Continuous Improvement Tools and Techniques This course examines continuous improvement tools and techniques used in problem solving supporting sustainable operations. Topics include lean techniques, quality management, TQM, JIT, and product experimental design.
QSO 328 Sustainable Operations This course focuses on manufacturing and service operations control and the importance of making operations decisions that support the long-term sustainability of organizations while meeting the needs of the customers. Students explore topics such as brand management, closed loop supply chains, competition, environmental management, safety and compliance, and social responsibility.
QSO 330 Supply Chain Management This course focuses on effective supply chain strategies for companies that operate globally with emphasis on how to plan and integrate supply chain components into a coordinated system. Students are exposed to concepts and models important in supply chain planning with emphasis on key tradeoffs and phenomena. The course introduces and utilizes key tactics such as risk pooling and inventory placement, integrated planning and collaboration, and information sharing.
QSO 415 Trends in Operations Management This course focuses on contemporary topics in operations management. Examples of topics that will be explored included assessing and managing disruptive change, agile project management, automation, innovation, and technology trends.
QSO 489 Capstone in Operations Management This capstone course is the culminating experience for the B.S. in Operations Management program. The aim of the capstone is to assess students' ability to synthesize and integrate the knowledge and skills they have developed throughout their coursework, rather than introducing new concepts. This course is structured to support student success in fulfilling program requirements.
Select one of the following:
QSO 340 Project Management As modern organizations have become more complex, they have also become more project-driven. This course uses a basic project management framework in which the project life-cycle is broken into organizing, planning, monitoring and controlling the project. You will learn the methodologies and tools necessary at each stage for managing the projects effectively in terms of time, cost, quality, risk and resources.
QSO 345 Project Management for CAPM Certification This course teaches the five process groups and nine knowledge areas described in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK ) of the Project Management Institute (PMI ). The course is designed to help students prepare for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM ) certification exam. However, it neither guarantees to help satisfy the eligibility requirements for taking the CAPM certification exam nor ensures success on the CAPM certification exam.
Select four (4) courses from the following:
IT 252 Information Technology Teams and Group Dynamics This course focuses on group functioning and leadership and the factors involved in group cohesion and conflict, and communication systems with a focus on the IT enterprise.
IT 261 IT Service Management The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the management of information technology, including the relationships of parties involved, the tools for IT process improvement, and best practices involved in the field. Students focus on the relationship among an IT organization, business customers, and users. They explore the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the organization and they learn ways to communicate effectively with stakeholders. Students examine the relationships of IT service management to process improvement movements, for example, Six Sigma improvement methodology, total quality management (TQM), business process management (BPM), and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) standards.
IT 328 Project Management in Information Technology Employ project management strategies specific to IT projects. Examine responsibilities of key stakeholders. Explain project planning with key considerations related to risk management and project tracking.
IT 332 Infrastructure Management This course investigates the primary infrastructure components of modern information systems. In particular the course focuses on the main components of an information technology infrastructure: hardware systems; network; and storage structures. Students will recommend tools and technologies for managing IT infrastructures. Students will recommend solutions for enhancing information technology infrastructures to solve business problems resulting from process change or growth to an enterprise.
PHL 316 Business Ethics This course is a philosophical study of moral issues in business. Topics include corporate responsibility, conflicts of interest, morality in advertising, preferential hiring (e.g., minorities and women), personal morality versus employer loyalty, and cultural theoretical issues and their impact on business decisions.
QSO 322 Logistics Management This course provides an overview of the field of logistics including its nature, scope, and process, including logistics management functions and the interrelationships among strategic support and operational logistics. Students examine the logistics functions of business involved in the movement and storage of supplies, work-in-progress, and finished goods. Additionally, it explores the trade-offs between cost and service and the purchase and supply of raw materials.
QSO 349 Project Contracting and Procurement This course addresses the process of acquiring products, resources, services, or results from outside the project team. How to plan procurement management, conduct procurements, control procurements, and close procurements is covered.
QSO 355 Resource Estimating and Scheduling Project managers are responsible for keeping projects on time, on budget, and within scope. This course reviews the critical processes of activity definition, resource estimating, and scheduling.
QSO 420 Integrated Cost and Schedule Control This course reviews cost and schedule control techniques that are integrated with project scope as well as overseeing a cost and schedule plan aligned to that scope. The importance of measuring a project's performance using Earned Value Management (EVM) is reviewed.
QSO 425 Reverse Logistics This course provides students with an overview of today's best practices in reverse logistics. An application perspective is examined in manufacturing, retail and in the military. Students examine the nature, scope, practices, procedures, and processes of adding a reverse logistics operations center to a forward logistics supply chain.
QSO 435 Adaptive Project Management Adaptive project management recognizes the nature of changing business processes and goals and the need for iterative techniques to ensure business results are achieved. Agile frameworks including Scrum are reviewed.
QSO 450 Transportation Management This course provides an overview of the transportation industry to include providers, users, and government agencies. It examines contemporary public policy issues, along with managerial strategies in transportation. Additional focus will be given to micro and macroeconomic issues in the transportation industry. Topics include the economic aspects of rail, water, air, ground, and other transport modes, inventory, and supply.
QSO 455 Integrated Supply Chain Management This course examines key issues associated with the design and management of supply chains. Students examine modern supply chain management practices. Emphasis is placed on the exploration of how to integrate suppliers, factories, warehouses and stores so that products are distributed to customers in the right quantity and at the right time. A key topic area is the service logistics and distribution component of the supply chain.
SCI 218 Natural Resources This class will introduce the concept of natural resources by studying topics such as land, soil, rangeland, forest, water, atmosphere, minerals, and energy. The management, use, and environmental impacts associated with these resources will also be studied. Emphasis will be placed on the United States within the context of the global environment.
SCI 219 Environmental Issues This course covers a variety of environmental topics in a manner specifically designed for the non-science major. It provides a fundamental understanding of the various processes necessary to support life on Earth and examines how human activities and attitudes (individual, traditional, cultural and others) generate environmental issues that threaten these processes. Topics include ecology, populations, agriculture, desertification and deforestation, water and ocean pollution, air pollution including ozone depletion and acid rain, global climate change, natural resource depletion, solid and hazardous wastes, energy including fossil fuels and nuclear power, economics and sustainability.
SCI 220 Energy and Society This course surveys the various forms of energy available to our industrial society. The environmental impact and depletion of each energy form is discussed with emphasis on the development of clean and inexhaustible alternative sources for the home and business. Topics include traditional and renewable energy sources, greenhouse effects, transpiration, nuclear power, and economies.
SCI 333 Waste: Sources, Reduction, & Remediation Waste is a major issue in nearly all aspects of society and understanding it is essential when considering the environment and sustainability. This class will focus on how waste is produced, how to reduce this pollution and how to clean it up once it is released. In addition to the physical science, we will examine the impact of waste on the economy, society and public health.
SOC 318 Sustainable Communities How do we build a society fit for living? This course looks to the field of environmentally sustainable community development (ESCD) for answers to this question. Students explore the principles and practices of ESCD using pattern-mapping of community needs, site visits, and other experiential learning tools that turn communities into classrooms, and bring the challenge of building environmentally sustainable communities to life. In the process, students identify assumptions that lead to unsustainable social practices, and develop the skills necessary to help create livable local landscapes and sustainable local futures through individual and community action.
Any 300- or 400-level business elective
Free Elective Credits: 12 Total Credits: 120

Program Outcomes

Tuition & Fees

Tuition rates for SNHU's online degree programs are among the lowest in the nation. We offer financial aid packages to those who qualify, plus a 30 percent tuition discount for U.S. service members, both full and part time, and the spouses of those on active duty.

Online Undergraduate Programs	Per Course*	Per Credit Hour*
Degree/Certificates	$960	$320
Degree/Certificates (U.S. service members, both full and part time, and the spouses of those on active duty)	$675	$225

*Tuition Rates are subject to change and are reviewed annually.

Additional Costs
No Application Fee, $150 Graduation Fee, Course Materials ($ varies by course)

University Accreditation

Southern New Hampshire University is a private, nonprofit institution accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges as well as several other accrediting bodies. More...

The PMI Registered Education Provider PMI, PMP, CAPM, and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

This program is accredited by NEASC, but not currently accredited by ACBSP. It may be ACBSP accredited when it is eligible. Consumer information is available on the College Navigator.

*Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, on the Internet, at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/operations-research-analysts.htm and https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/logisticians.htm (viewed online November 6, 2017). Cited projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions and do not guarantee actual job growth.