About This Course
Welcome to the foundation course for the manufacturing technology discipline! Here, you’ll find out just how innovative, strategic, and creative manufacturing is. It’s the perfect entrypoint for students majoring, minoring, or getting a certificate in manufacturing operations management, and it’s also a great elective for students seeking a better understanding of the core sector in both US and international economies.
The overall objective of MM 3001W is to explore different facets of manufacturing in today’s global economy, and the three dimensions of the high-performance manufacturing organization (HPMO) model are paramount in that exploration. You’ll take a look at past and current Minnesota manufacturing companies (3M and Red Wing Shoes, for example) that are surviving and thriving in today’s economy, and we’ll also analyze why some of those Minnesota companies have failed.
As a writing-intensive course, MM 3001W also prepares students to be successful writers, both in their future coursework at the University of Minnesota and in their careers one day. That said, special attention will be paid to real-world writing applications, skills, and processes.
Sample textbook: Hargadon, A. (2003). How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate.