Operations Management

Citation

Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., & Burgess, N. (2026). Operations Management (11th ed.). Pearson.

Chapter Summary

The eleventh edition (Pearson, April 2026) is a paperback of about 760 pages in nineteen chapters, arranged in four parts that follow what the publisher calls the "4 Ds" of operations management: directing, designing, delivering and developing the operation. The publisher describes a practical, decision-focused approach, with "Operations in Practice" examples, short cases and end-of-chapter case studies drawn from services and manufacturing, and worked examples that combine quantitative and qualitative analysis. It also signals two themes of this edition: artificial intelligence and the human side of operations.

Part 1: Directing the Operation (Chapters 1–5)

Chapter 1: Operations Management; Chapter 2: Operations Performance; Chapter 3: Operations Strategy. The book opens by defining operations management as a function present in every organisation, then sets out how the performance of an operation is judged and how operations decisions connect with an organisation's strategy.

Chapter 4: Managing Product and Service Innovation; Chapter 5: The Structure and Scope of Supply. Part 1 continues with the innovation of products and services and with the strategic questions of how an operation's supply network is structured and how far its scope extends.

Part 2: Designing the Operation (Chapters 6–9)

Chapter 6: Process Design; Chapter 7: The Layout and Look of Facilities; Chapter 8: Process Technology; Chapter 9: People in Operations. The design part moves from the overall design of processes to the physical arrangement and appearance of facilities, the technology processes use, and the design of work and the role of people. Placing people as a full design chapter fits the publisher's emphasis on how people drive operations.

Part 3: Deliver (Chapters 10–14)

Chapter 10: Planning and Control; Chapter 11: Capacity Management. Delivery begins with the principles of planning and controlling day-to-day operations and with matching capacity to demand.

Chapter 12: Supply Chain Management; Chapter 13: Inventory Management; Chapter 14: Planning and Control Systems. The part then extends planning and control beyond the single operation to the supply chain, treats inventory, and closes with the information systems used for planning and control.

Part 4: Development (Chapters 15–19)

Chapter 15: Operations Improvement; Chapter 16: Lean Operations; Chapter 17: Quality Management. The development part covers how operations improve over time, the lean approach, and the management of quality.

Chapter 18: Managing Risk and Recovery; Chapter 19: Project Management. The book ends with how operations prepare for, mitigate and recover from failure and disruption, and with the management of projects.

Key Concepts

Part 1: Directing the operation

• Operations function: the part of every organisation that creates and delivers its products and services.
• Operations performance: the objectives against which an operation is judged and improved.
• Operations strategy: the pattern of decisions that shape an operation's long-term capabilities and its contribution to the organisation.
• Structure and scope of supply: decisions about the shape of the supply network an operation belongs to and how much of it the operation covers.

Part 2: Designing the operation

• Process design: arranging the resources and activities that transform inputs into outputs.
• Layout: the physical positioning of an operation's resources and its effect on flow and appearance.
• Process technology: the machines, equipment and systems that help an operation create its products and services.

Part 3: Delivering

• Planning and control: reconciling the supply an operation can provide with the demand placed on it.
• Capacity management: adjusting an operation's output capability to fluctuating demand.
• Inventory management: deciding how much stock to hold, and when to replenish it.

Part 4: Developing

• Lean operations: an approach that seeks smooth flow and the elimination of waste.
• Quality management: the systematic management of conformance to customer expectations.
• Risk and recovery: reducing the likelihood and impact of failure and restoring operations after disruption.
• Project management: planning and controlling one-off undertakings with defined objectives.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A clear organising framework. The four parts (direct, design, deliver, develop) give readers a map that every chapter fits into, moving from strategy to design, day-to-day delivery and long-term improvement.
• Breadth of settings. The publisher stresses examples from both services and manufacturing and presents operations as shaping every industry, so the book is relevant to students who will never work in a factory.
• Layers of cases. Short "Operations in Practice" examples, short cases and longer end-of-chapter case studies give material for both quick illustration and extended analysis, and worked examples mix quantitative and qualitative reasoning.
• Current themes. The eleventh edition is presented as updated with fresh cases and with attention to artificial intelligence and to the people in operations; Chapter 9 on people and Chapter 18 on risk and recovery give these themes a chapter of their own.

Limitations

• Long. At about 760 pages the book holds more than a one-semester module, and instructors will need to select chapters.
• Quantitative depth is moderate. The worked examples combine quantitative and qualitative analysis, but the book is managerial in emphasis; courses that need extended treatment of forecasting, optimisation or queueing models will want a more quantitative companion.
• Supply chains in one chapter. Supply chain management has a single chapter plus the strategic Chapter 5; a dedicated supply chain text is needed for a full module on the subject.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the course's broad, managerial introduction to operations. Heizer, Render and Munson's Operations and Supply Chain Management and Krajewski and Malhotra's Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains cover similar ground with a stronger quantitative toolkit (solved problems, forecasting, inventory models, linear programming, waiting lines); they suit students who need to practise calculations or as a companion to Slack on those topics. Hugos's Essentials of Supply Chain Management is a compact practitioner introduction that expands on Chapters 5 and 12.

Two further books are the natural next steps. Chopra's Supply Chain Management is an advanced, model-based treatment of the supply chain as a whole, suited to a dedicated supply chain module. Hopp and Spearman's Factory Physics develops quantitative laws linking throughput, work in process, cycle time and variability, and gives a rigorous foundation to the planning, capacity and lean chapters of Parts 3 and 4.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduate business and management students taking a first operations module and professionals building practical skills; basic numeracy is enough for the worked examples.

A practical reading plan:

• Start with Chapters 1–3. The definitions, performance objectives and the link to strategy are referred to throughout the rest of the book.
• Core for a one-semester module: Chapters 6–7 (process design and layout), 10–13 (planning and control, capacity, supply chain, inventory), and 15–17 (improvement, lean, quality).
• Choose by emphasis: Chapters 4–5 for courses with a strategy or innovation angle; Chapters 8–9 for technology and people; Chapter 14 for planning systems; Chapters 18–19 for risk and project management, which often appear in separate modules.

For each chapter, read the "Operations in Practice" examples with a question in mind (which performance objective is at stake, which part of the framework applies), work through the worked examples by hand, and attempt the end-of-chapter case study in writing. Applying the four-part framework to a familiar operation, such as a café, a hospital clinic or an online retailer, is an effective way to revise the whole book.