A new publication presents everything managers need to know about logistics and operations management

October 2, 2014

Full Professor Hélène Giroux, in co-operation with full-time lecturers Claire Poitras and Véronique Poirier, recently published La gestion des opérations et de la logistique – Méthodes et principes fondamentaux, a concise look at the essentials of logistics and operations management.

The textbook, currently being translated into English and Spanish, presents the basics of logistics and operations management and explains them in enough detail for the reader to apply them.

“We’ve deliberately taken a different approach,” emphasizes Professor Giroux. “Partly because the fashionable approaches will soon be outmoded in any case, and partly because those approaches are all based on the same timeless set of principles, which can be adapted to a variety of different contexts. We focused on those essentials. A good manager is like a cook who first masters the basics of his craft and can then make any recipe.”  

The central theme that runs through all the chapters is the need for compromise. The authors explain that in logistics and operations management, there is rarely a simple, ready-made path. All the choices the manager has to make involve give and take. In fact the book could have been subtitled The Art of Compromise.

Hélène Giroux holds an MBA from HEC Montréal and a PhD in Organizational Communication from the Université de Montréal. She has authored many papers on the phenomenon of management trends, quality management and education applied to operations management, and has produced a series of videos on managing operations and service businesses. In her 25 years of experience, she has touched on all aspects of operations management and now specializes in education applied to service operations. She received the School’s award for teaching excellence in 2009.
Claire Poitras holds an MBA and a BBA from the School, and specializes in supply and inventory management, customer service and brand management. She has taught at HEC Montréal for over a decade, as well as working for 15 years in SMBs in computer manufacturing and distribution.	.
Véronique Poirier holds an MSc in Administration from HEC Montréal and a BSc in Mathematics from the Université de Montréal. She started her career as a consultant, acquiring vast knowledge in supply chain strategic planning, design of distribution centres, warehousing and transportation. In the past 10 years she has been teaching in the BBA and Graduate diploma in supply chain management programs at the School. She is also a member of the Steering Committee for Women in Logistics (WIL), an association of women working in the logistics field.

La gestion des opérations et de la logistique – Méthodes et principes fondamentaux, by Hélène Giroux, with Claire Poitras and Véronique Poirier, September 2014, 448 pages, Éditions JFD, available at Coop HEC Montréal.