Submit to the professor an executive report (9 pages max, excluding
letter of transmittal, table of contents, references, recommendations,
introduction, charts) reporting on three specific operations management
topics, either in the service or manufacturing industry.
I. The report should include the following three sections:
a) Brief description of the three topics to be presented – the suggested
topics for each
group are listed in the table of OM topics in the following page.
b) Brief description of two service or manufacturing firms which have
excelled in the application of the selected topic(s). This will also require a
very brief description of the organisation and the services it provides.
Please note that service firms include: Hospitals, medical clinics, health
care providers, call centres, retail stores, schools and universities, IT
design and infrastructure, telecommunications providers, utilities
providers, government, hotels, aged care providers, child care providers,
financial services, banks, architectural firms, engineering consulting,
marketing and advertising, transportation and distribution services, etc.
c) Achievements obtained by each of the organizations, that is, a brief
description of what it looks like to excel in the selected topics of
Operations Management. Present this with as many visual illustrations as
possible and add quantifiable outcomes (e.g. dollar savings, lead time
reduction, quality improvement, throughput increase, moral
enhancement, etc.)
d) Action plan or implementation approach followed by each
organisation in order to achieve this level of excellence. That is, the set of
activities (work packages) planned and completed by management in
each of the organisations – This is the most important part of the
presentation and report and where most of the focus should be placed.
The use of charts or similar visual display is highly recommended. This
section should also include challenges encountered and tactics used by
management in order to overcome these challenges
II. OM Topics
please choose three OM topics to write about.
Topic 2: Product and process design, simultaneous design, fast service to market,
design review process, service launch
Topic 3: Process technology, use of technology (e.g. eBusiness, automation) and
technology innovation as applied to the provision of service
Topic 4: Job design and work organisation, ergonomics, job enrichment,
employee empowerment, teamwork
Topic 5: Capacity planning and control, inventory planning and control, ERP,
level capacity plans, demand management
Topic 6: Supply chain design, managing uncertainty, agile supply chains, supply
chain / business continuity
Topic 7: Supply chain collaboration, use of technology to enable visibility,
collaboration and short lead times across the supply chain
Topic 8: Lean thinking, lean implementation, waste elimination, value stream
mapping, business process re-engineering
Topic 9: Continuous improvement and innovation, Kaizen, quality circles, six
sigma, PDCA 17
Topic 10: Managing quality of service delivery, lead and lag indicators, TQM,
SPC, problem solving process
Topic 1: Performance measurement, KPIs, balance scorecards, cascading of goals
and objectives (corporate goals to business unit objectives), business plan
deployment
III. Marking Criteria
Word document will only be accepted (single spaced @ 350 words/
page)
Peripherals
1) Letter of transmittal: 0.5 marks
2) Numbering pages, table of content, and heading -subheadings: 0.5
marks
3) References and charts: 0.5 marks
4) Introduction: 0.5 marks
5) Conclusion: 0.5 marks
Up to a total of 2.5 marks
Report Content
Up to 9 marks will be allocated to the quality of the discussion (report
style with good narrative avoid questions and answer style, linkages to
the charts, flow charts, diagrams and photos to enhance the report / a
minimum of 9 pages excluding charts diagrams).
1) Brief description of the three key OM decisions ( 1 mark)
2) Brief description of two service or manufacturing firms ( 1 mark). (e.g.,
organizational structure, number of employees, product lines, geographical
coverage, market share, sales volume, mission, vision, key objectives, brief
foundation history)
3) Achievements obtained by each of the organizations ( 3.5 marks)
4) Action plan or implementation approach followed by each organisation
(3.5 marks)
IV. References
Dropbox link with the Operations Management book:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6jvb703ajkfjvak/
AADy_1P3v1f1YZwPlSJ_zErAa?dl=0
Sample Solution