MBA 7061
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Operations Management
Word count must be 4000
I ll attached the assignment.
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Master of Business Administration Student Details ( Student should fill the content) Name Student ID (UWIC ID and ICBT ID) Cardiff Met ID : ICBT ID : Scheduled unit details Unit code MBA 7061 Unit title Operations Management Assignment Details Nature of the Assessment REPORT Topic of the Case Study GIVEN Learning Outcomes covered YES Word count 4000 Due date / Time Extension granted? (For Office use only) Yes No Declaration I certify that the attached material is my original work. No other person’s work or ideas have been used without acknowledgement. Except where I have clearly stated that I have used some of this material elsewhere, I have not presented it for examination / assessment in any other course or unit at this or any other institution Signature Date Result (Assessor use only) Marks by 1st Assessor Name & Signature of the 1st Assessor Agreed Mark Marks by IV: Name & Signature of the IV For Office use only (hard copy assignments) Receipt date Received by Assignment Type & Title: For student use: Critical feedback on the individual progression towards achieving the assignment outcomes For 1st Assessor use: Assessment feedback Strengths Weaknesses Name & Signature of the Assessor : Date : Comments by the IV Name & Signature of the IV: Date : Operations Management MBA 7061 Assignment (Individual work) Weighting of assessment: 100% of total marks – 4000 words Learning Outcomes Covered · Evaluate the nature, scope and extent of manufacturing and service operations strategy; · Critically evaluate the use of quality tools and techniques for a wide range of organisational problems; · Solve complex operational problems related to managing capacity and constraints within organisations; · Demonstrate the application of strategies, tools and techniques to improve business operations and appraise and select appropriate methods for managing supply bases for a variety of organisations Assignment brief Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. Operations management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. Operations management is chiefly concerned with planning, organizing and supervising in the contexts of production, manufacturing or the provision of services. As such, it is delivery-focused, ensuring that an organization successfully turns inputs to outputs in an efficient manner. The inputs themselves could represent anything from materials, equipment and technology to human resources such as staff or workers. Section One (40 Marks) Students are required to read the Case Study given below and answer the questions. (Word count – 1600) Burger King Below are some of the key critical areas of the BK operation. Process design Service providers that produce goods can, like manufacturers, adopt either a make-to-order or a make-to-stock approach to manufacturing them. BK, which encourages patrons to customize burgers and other menu items, uses a make-to-order approach. BK can customize products because it builds sandwiches one at a time rather than batch-process them. Like manufacturers, service providers must continuously look for ways to improve operational efficiency. Throughout its sixty-year history, BK has introduced a number of innovations that have helped make the company (as well as the fast-food industry itself) more efficient. BK, for example, was the first to offer drive-through service (which now accounts for 70 percent of its sales (Krummert, 2011).). It was also a BK vice president, David Sell, who came up with the idea of moving the drink station from behind the counter so that customers could take over the time-consuming task of filling cups with ice and beverages. BK was able to cut back one employee per day at every one of its more than eleven thousand restaurants. Material costs also went down because customers usually fill cups with more ice, which is cheaper than a beverage. Facilities When starting or expanding a service business, owners and managers must invest a lot of time in selecting a location, determining its size and layout, and forecasting demand. A poor location or a badly designed facility can cost customers, and inaccurate estimates of demand for products can result in poor service, excessive costs, or both. Location “Through the light and to the right.” This is a favorite catchphrase among BK planners who are looking for a promising spot for a new restaurant (at least in the United States). In picking a location, BK planners perform a detailed analysis of demographics and traffic patterns, yet the most important factor is usually traffic count—the number of cars or people that pass by a specific location in the course of a day. In the United States, where people travel almost everywhere by car, BK looks for busy intersections, interstate interchanges with easy off and on ramps, or such “primary destinations” as shopping malls, tourist attractions, downtown business areas, or movie theaters. In Europe, where public transportation is much more common, planners focus on subway, train, bus, and trolley stops. Layout For its first three decades, almost all BK restaurants were pretty much the same. They all sat on one acre of land (located “through the light and to the right”), had about four thousand square feet of space, and held seating for seventy customers. All kitchens were roughly the same size. As long as land was cheap and sites were readily available, this system worked well enough. By the early 1990s, however, most of the prime sites had been taken, if not by BK itself, then by one of its fast-food competitors or other businesses needing a choice spot, including gas stations and convenience stores. With everyone bidding on the same sites, the cost of a prime acre of land had increased from $100,000 to over $1 million in a few short years. Capacity Planning 1. How many customers will BK has? 2. When will they want the services (which days of the week, which times of the day)? 3. How long will it take to serve each customer? 4. How will external factors, such as weather or holidays, affect the demand for my services? BK can predict sales for a new restaurant by combining its knowledge of customer-service patterns at existing restaurants with information collected about each new location, including the number of cars or people passing the proposed site and the effect of nearby competition. Inventory management Technology, such as the point-of-sale registers used at BK, makes the job easier. BK’s system tracks everything sold during a given time and lets each store manager know how much of everything should be kept in inventory. It also makes it possible to count the number of burgers and buns, bags and racks of fries, and boxes of beverage mixes at the beginning or end of each shift. Because there are fixed numbers of supplies—say, beef patties or bags of fries—in each box, employees simply count boxes and multiply. In just a few minutes, the manager knows whether the inventory is correct (and should be able to see if any theft has occurred on the shift). Questions 1. What are the key initiatives BK has implemented to improve the operational strategy? Discuss your views. (10 marks) 2. “Superior customer service” is one of the key concepts of BK’s success. Discuss your views as to how this concept helps BK to lower the operational cost. (10 marks) 3. What are your suggestions to further improve BK’s NPD (New Product Development) process? (10 marks) 4. Critically assess the importance of capacity planning process to BK? (10 marks) Section Two (60 Marks) (Word count – 2400) Questions 1.) a. Compare and contrast the activities within operations management across THREE different sectors. (15 Marks) b. Explain the role and responsibilities of an operations manager within an organization. (10 Marks) 2.) a. Using a product of your choice, examine the content and purpose of the design process.(10 Marks) b. Discuss the key elements to be considered in developing an Operations Strategy to an organization. (10 Marks) 3.) Critically argue three of the activities below in an organization with appropriate examples. (15 marks) a. Accuracy of data and adapting to new processes and procedures b. Master Production Schedule – includes forecast demand and actual orders c. Advantages of maintain appropriate stock levels – quantity, location and transaction records d. Benefits and challenges associated with the implementation of a customer relationship management e. Providing cost-effective and timely operations f. Importance of strong customer service management in an operations g. Ensuring productive activity is carried out effectively and efficiently Assessment Criteria Section One 10 9-8 7-6 5 4-0 Q1. What are the key initiatives BK has implemented to improve the operational strategy? Discuss your views. (10 marks) Excellent assessment and identification of initiatives implemented in operation strategy and critically evaluate and illustrate with appropriate examples and justifications Good assessment and identification of initiatives implemented in operation strategy with examples but no critical justifications Reasonably defined Adequate, tendency not to be very clear in line with the main tenets of the topic Weak and Limited structure, not very relevant Q2. “Superior customer service” is one of the key concepts of BK’s success. Discuss your views as to how this concept helps BK to lower the operational cost. (10 marks) Excellent assessment and identification of strategies to lower the costs of products, critical evaluation of appropriateness of such strategies and adequate examples to justify the answers Good assessment and identification of strategies to lower the costs of products, critical evaluation of appropriateness of such strategies but not adequate examples to justify the answers Reasonably describe the factors and appropriateness of such strategies Adequate, tendency not to be very clear in line with the main tenets of the topic Limited structure, not very relevant Q3. What are your suggestions to further improve BK’s NPD (New Product Development) process? (10 marks) Excellent assessment and suggestions to improve the NPD (New Product Development) process, critical assessment of such suggestions and examples provided to justify the answers Good assessment and suggestions to improve the NPD (New Product Development) process, critical assessment of such suggestions but no adequate examples Reasonable suggestions to improve the NPD (New Product Development) process, but no critical assessment Adequate, tendency not to be very clear in line with the main tenets of the topic Limited structure, not very relevant Q4. Critically assess the importance of capacity planning to BK? (10 marks) Excellent assessment of the importance of capacity planning process and examples to justify the answers Good assessment of the importance of capacity planning process and examples to justify the answers Average assessment of the importance of capacity planning process and examples to justify the answers Adequate, tendency not to be very clear in line with the main tenets of the topic Limited structure, not very relevant Section Two 15-12 12-10 9-6 5-2 1-0 Q1. Compare and contrast the activities within operations management across THREE different sectors (15 Marks) Excellent answer with critically describing the sector specific input-transformation-output issues – e.g. the relative importance of management of materials, products or people • Reliance on specialised materials/people to deliver the product or service Good answer with critically describing the sector specific input-transformation-output issues – e.g. the relative importance of management of materials, products or people Average answer with describing the sector specific input-transformation-output issues – without examples Weak answer and examples Very weak and unacceptable answers 10-8 7-5 4-3 2-1 1-0 Q2.Explain the role and responsibilities of an operations manager within an organization. (10 Marks) Excellent answer with specifically highlighting the role and responsibilities of an operations manager which might include areas such as: Ensuring productive activity is carried out effectively and efficiently • Ensuring efficient use of resources to meet customer requirements • Providing cost-effective and timely operations Good answer with highlighting the role and responsibilities of an operations manager which might include areas such as: Ensuring productive activity is carried out effectively and efficiently Average answer but with some explanation. Depth and the breadth are not good. Not adequate examples are provided to explain the processes. Weak answer and examples Very weak and unacceptable answers 10-8 7-5 4-3 2-1 1-0 Q3.Using a product of your choice, examine the content and purpose of the design process (10 marks) Excellent answer with coverage of all the terms with appropriate examples. Good answer with coverage of all the terms but not appropriate examples. Average answer. Coverage of the answers are not good. Also the examples not adequate. Weak answer as not all the terms defined well with examples Very weak and unacceptable answers REPORT STRUCTURE · Paper Size: A4 · Word Count: 4000 words · Printing Margins: LHS; RHS: 1 Inch · Binding Margin: ½ Inch · Header and Footer: 1 Inch · Printing: Single Sided · Basic Font Size: 12 · Font Style: Arial/Times New Roman · Presentation: Bound Document Important Information for Students · The final version of your individual assignment softcopy needs to be uploaded to the Turnitin via Cardiff Met Moodle before the deadline. For TURNITIN submission please log on to www.cardiffmet.ac.uk and submit through the Moodle. · The final version of your individual assignment soft copy (word format only) must be uploaded to ICBT SIS on or before the deadline. Please log on to www.icbtsis.lk to upload your assignment.