Scaling Operations: An Online Course by Northwestern University

Updated: Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 20:07 [IST]

Northwestern University is offering an online course on scaling operations; linking a strategy and execution. The course will equip student with concepts and tools to build operations in a way that not only supports your competitive strategy, but also allows you to create new opportunities in the market place.

About the Course

The five-week course dedicated to make strategic decisions that are grounded in operational reality
In the course student will study how to build and evaluate the "operating system" of the firm to maximize value. This involves tailoring the firm's operational competencies, assets, and processes to a specific business strategy
During the course student will also explore case studies, engage in discussions and examine realistic data
At the end of this course, you will be ready to build an effective, actionable plan to scale your department or organization
This course will be part of a research study about learning and education. As part of this study, we will use student records, such as quiz scores, video consumptions, etc

Course Syllabus

The course will cover the following topics:

Week 1: Framework for scaling operations
Week 2: Building a cross-functional dashboard. Using an external view of operations, linking operations, marketing and finance
Week 3: Competitive cost benchmarking. Cost containment using trade-off curves
Week 4: Resources investment: making expansion decisions when facing risks
Week 5: Outsourcing: make-or-buy decisions and supplier relationship management

Pre Requisites

Knowledge of and interest in operations strategy is helpful but not necessarily required. This course will appeal particularly to entrepreneurs and small business managers interested in scaling their firms.

Important Dates