Applied Operations Project Paper (Individual Assignment): Each student will prepare an Operations report for an organization to apply the practices and concepts of Operations
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Management. These topics are drawn from the content in the course and the textbook. The student may select any organization (e.g. services, manufacturing, for-profit or not-for-profit, large or small, domestic or international). However, you are not allowed to select a company that you have submitted as an assignment in any previous BAS course, unless approved by the Instructor (this course excepted). You should prepare the report as if you were hired by the organization as an independent operations consultant to conduct a critical review of their operations, and make recommendations about their strategy and how to solve key operational issues. Be sure to make extensive use of quantitative data and insights from industry experts to support your findings. Consider your audience to be that of the organization’s CEO or Board of Directors.
The Operations project paper is to be single-spaced and a minimum of 3,000 words not including the cover sheet or appendixes. You may write more if appropriate. The margins are to be one inch each side, top, and bottom; the font is to be Times New Roman Font size 12. The report must include:
Executive Summary: The report should start off with a summary of the key issues and operational recommendations for the organization. It should be kept short and businesslike, preferably no more than half a page.
Background: Provide a brief background of the firm describing the market, product/service offered and organizational history, preferably no more than half a page.
Most of the following categories will be included in the operations review. However, one or two categories may not be in your operations report; it depends on the nature of the business. For example, inventory management is a negligible factor in a service-oriented business, so it may be discussed briefly or not at all.
Operations Strategy: What is their competitive advantage (cost, quality, availability, flexibility, service)? What are their core operational competencies? Are these competencies difficult for their competitors to duplicate? Are the operational elements aligned and do they support the business strategy? Describe the operational vision for the future of the business, a summary of changes required and an action plan to achieve that vision. Particular attention should be paid to the impact of growth on operations and mechanisms that will help the business grow.
What market risks or competitive threats exist now or in the future? Are there new competitive threats likely from organizations from other industries or geographic markets? If applicable, how are they integrating their goods and services?
Organization and Structure: How has the operations organization been structured and how do the people interact? What key skills, educational experience or expertise are required from the workforce? What Management issues are there? What Operational Management issues are there? What language, diversity, or cultural issues impact the organization?
Location: How do they choose their operating location(s)? What factors did they consider in their location decision? Will it meet their forecasted needs? If not, what changes will be required?
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Operating Facilities and Capital Assets: What operating assets does the organization require? How do these assets contribute to the value proposition of the organization?
Production and Operating Procedures: Describe how goods are produced or services provided from start to finish and how value is created. How long does it take to produce the product or provide the service? Do they have sufficient capacity, too little or too much? What systems do they use to analyze and improve process performance? What unique or special processes are used? Do these create competitive advantage? How effective are new products or services introduced?
Work flow/planning/scheduling: Do customers move to the employee(s) or do employees move to the customer? Is the workflow efficient? Is the organization achieving maximum outputs based on their inputs? Do they use full time employees, part-time or contract employees? Do they cross-train their employees? Do they have teams of employees working together? How do they motivate and empower their employees? How do they conduct planning and scheduling activities?
Technology and Automation: What information technologies do they use and do they provide competitive advantage? Do they utilize an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Master Scheduling system? Do they have a web presence? Do they use automation (robots, automatic telephone answering systems, etc.)? What is the impact of automation?
Quality: Do they have a formal program to improve quality? If yes, what is it? Do they have a TQM, lean or Six Sigma program? If yes, what have they done as a part of that program(s)? What are their quality standards and do they set their quality standards? How do they monitor the quality of their goods and services? How do they deal with customer complaints? Do they solicit customer suggestions?
Supply Chain: What critical issues do they face with their supply chain? How will the supply chain have to evolve in the future to support the business? Should they be more or less vertically integrated into the future?
Inventory: What kind of items do they carry in inventory? Describe what types of inventory management systems are used.
Special Requirements and Contemporary Themes: Are there any special requirements or needs, such as: environmental (water, power, etc.), patents, customer privacy, government regulation, etc.? What contemporary themes are important?
Delivery and Customer Service: What is being done to minimize delivery time? What distribution channels are being used and how are they providing strategic advantage? Do they provide after-sales support? What are they doing to manage customer expectations?
Cost: Give details of the product/service cost make-up? What are the major initiatives to reduce costs or increase value for the same cost? What are the tradeoffs between cost and the other operational decision making area?
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SWOT Analysis: Conduct a SWOT analysis of the operational elements of the organization. Describe the weaknesses and strengths of the operational elements relative to the industry averages or the key competitors. Examine and asses the opportunities and threats to the firm and discuss how well positioned the company is to act on those opportunities and threats.
Recommendations: Provide a clear and concise set of recommendations to address the areas that need improvement based on your critical analysis of the company’s operations, their competitors, and the ‘best-in-class’ companies. Your recommendations should provide the company with a blueprint for action including an effective implementation plan and an assessment of the associated risks and costs involved. The recommendations section is the most important part of your operations plan, and should be at least one page in length.