Quality and Performance Management

Course information

Learning outcomes

Business success depends on a company's ability to produce  products and services to match customers need. The aim of this course is to familiarize students with concepts and methods in quality and performance management. Further, students will understand the role of quality in  related to all processes and products/services of a company, and to understand that better quality products/services and processes enhance the company's performance and thus improve the company's profitability.

Content

The main concepts and topics of the course include definitions of quality and performance management, total quality management, lean, six sigma, statistical process control, and different quality certificates. Those who pass the course will also receive Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification.

Teacher

Markku Kuula

Study material

H.S. Gitlow, R. J. Melnyck, and D. M. Levine, A Guide to Six Sigma and Process Improvement for Practitioners and
Students: Foundations, DMAIC, Tools, Cases, and Certification (2nd Edition) 2015 ISBN· 10:0133925366

Articles, case and exercise materials

Lecture slides

Workload

Lectures, exercises, cases and Lean Six Sigma test

Prerequisites

Recommended ISM-A3002 Tuotannon ja palveluiden johtaminen / 35A00310 Tuotantotalouden perusteet or equivalent course/knowledge

Evaluation

Exercises

Cases

Lean Six Sigma test

Teaching time and location

The teaching time and the location of the course can be found at Sisu information system

1. The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
2. From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that academic year 2025-2026 is selected  

3. From the blue bar, click Lecture and open the Groups and teaching times tab to see the teaching time and the location of the course. Exam times can be seen by clicking Exam.
    

   Exam instructions at the Open University

The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.

Further information

Substitutes a previous course: 35E00500 Quality Leadership. Student can only take one of these two courses.

Online learning environment for the course  

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.

Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses 

More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 
Course registration

Registration for this course starts on 8.12.2025 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 12.1.2026 at 23.59

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

The number of participants is limited to 10.

This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Business.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication

You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID

Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.

Instructions for using Multifactor Authentication