| Schroeder has written a very good broad,introductory text that can be effectively used in three different ways.The book can be used as an introduction to operations management for non business or liberal arts majors.The second way that the book can be used is as a supplement to the Knod-Schonberger book or the Stevenson book.The management case studies section at the end of the book is excellent .However, it is not recommended that this book be used as a core textbook in a formal operations management course in a business department curriculum unless the instructor intends to supplement the students reading with numerous technical handouts.For instance,a handout on basic cost-volume analysis must have already been digested by the student before he could make any sense out of the example or exercise problems in chapter 12(Facilities and Aggregate Planning). Shroeder may have assumed that the reader of his text will already have completely mastered many/most of the basic operations management tools and techniques.This should be the case in graduate level courses;the book would be a useful supplement in MBA courses. |