Short Course: Operational Excellence
About
Operational excellence is how organisations deliver the highest levels of service; this course will give you an understanding of key operations management concepts that underpin operational excellence.
The course covers content such as:
- The impact of demand on process
- How performance objectives intersect with operations decisions
- How to design a process and use process diagramming
- Capacity measurement, utilisation and productivity
- The concept of systems thinking
This short course will help you develop valuable skills including the interpretation of qualitative data, the application of quantitative models that help your decision-making.
Excellent organisations achieve and sustain outstanding levels of performance that meet or exceed the expectations of all their stakeholders. Delivering excellent service requires the implementation of professional operations management practice.
This short course aims to provide students with a solid foundation in operations management capability and to facilitate students to acquire knowledge of rigorous operations models to enable excellent performance to be achieved.
This course aims to help students develop valuable business improvement skills; in particular, the acquisition of a solid foundation of operations management skills, the analysis and interpretation of quantitative data; and the application of quantitative models that will enhance management decision-making and provide relevant performance measures.
This course is aimed at people who can affect improvements in their organisation.
Delivery format
- Tuesday 23 September 2025, 9am to 5pm
- Wednesday 24 September 2025, 9am to 5pm
- Thursday 25 September 2025, 9am to 5pm
Students will also be expected to complete reading, research and write an assignment outside the taught days.
The course is assessed via 100% coursework. Students will hand in a practical individual assignment based in their own organisation, which will identify the most significant issues to address to make practical operational improvements in their workplace.
Career options
Students will be able to use the knowledge on this course to drive change in their organisation.
The skills learned on this course are transferrable to a number of organisations, sectors and roles.
Students may wish to study other masters level courses which could lead to a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or Masters degree.
Campus
Belfast
Term Dates
Teaching days are 23, 24, 25 September 2025
Academic Profile
This module is taught by Dr Alan McKittrick
Further Information
Modules
This is a 20 credit module short course.
Entry requirements
You should hold a Second-Class Honours Degree or better OR have significant managerial / business experience.
Eligibility
Places are limited and open to applicants who:
- are 18 or over at the point of enrolment;
- have a right to work and undertake training in the UK at the point of application and for the duration of the course and must not be disqualified from doing either by reason of their immigration status. Proof of this will be required to progress your application. Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK
- meet the course specific entry requirements. See course pages for requirements.
- meet the Ulster University general entry requirements including competency in English (as evidenced by GCSE Grade C in English or alternative). For English competency, a degree taught in UK or Ireland covers this requirement. If your degree is from outside the UK or Ireland, please see our list of acceptable qualifications or tests.
- are available to register in person at the campus as required.
Apply now - limited places available
There are a limited number of places for this course. Offers will be extended to those applicants who meet the entry requirements following successful completion of the application process, and have provided evidence of such, on a first come , first served basis. Applications will no longer be accepted or processed once all offers are extended. Applications will no longer be accepted or processed once all places are filled. Applications can not be considered once a course has started.
Please note you can only be funded by DfE for a maximum of two courses at any one time (including modules to a total of 45 credits per semester - if studying part-time).
When creating your application you will need to have the following documents saved electronically as they need to be uploaded as part of the application process:
- Passport
- Evidence of having right to work and undertake training in the UK*
- Degree Certificate
- English Competency (If you have a degree from UK/ROI, you don't need to provide anything else
* Holders of UK or Irish passports automatically have this right. if you hold a passport from another nation, please provide evidence of UK immigration permissions to include a ShareCode and/or BRP.
To select the correct course, in the field called Please select the subject area, select Business Improvement from the drop down box. Then select Operational Excellence from the next drop down box.
