BUS 644 (Ashford) – Operations Management
Week 1
Week 1 DQ 1: Ethical Issues and Operations: Ethical behavior is a corporate issue that affects the companys bottom line. How do ethical issues impact organizations and operations? Include an example seen in the workplace, in the news, etc. that relates to real-life situations. Your initial post should be at least 200-250 words.
Week 1 DQ 2: Business Processes: Why are the following business processes important? Which process do you feel is most important? Explain your reasoning.
a. Strategy development
b. Product development
c. Systems to produce goods and services
d. Order fulfillment
Your initial post should include real life situations and be at least 200-250 words.
Week 1 – Midas: Read the Midas case study in Chapter 2 of your text. Answer questions 1through 4 in a two- to- four page paper in accordance with APA guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Your paper should be in paragraph form (avoid the use of bullet points), and supported with the concepts outlined in your text. Provide at least two scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library or other external sources, excluding the textbook. Do not include the original questions of the assignment in the paper.
a. What are the anticipated impacts upon operating efficiency? How would you attempt to minimize the negative impacts?
b. Should some operating practices be changed to accommodate the tune-ups?
c. Should input be gathered from the shop owners? If so, what?
d. If Midas decides to launch this new program, how should it begin?
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
Week 2
Week 2 DQ 1 Productivity: Many times trade-offs are necessary to increase productivity. What are important trades-offs involving the inputs to productivity? Your initial post should include real life situations and be at least 200-250 words.
Week 2 DQ 2 Product Design and Quality: What important organizational activities enable a firm to build quality into its products? Explain each of these along with its benefits. Your initial post should include examples and be at least 200-250 words.
Week 2 – Memorial Hospital: Read the Memorial Hospital case study in Chapter 4 of your text. Answer questions 1- 4 in a two- to- four (2-4) page paper in accordance with APA guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Your paper should be in paragraph form (avoid the use of bullet points), and supported with the concepts outlined in your text. Provide at least two scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library or other external sources, excluding the textbook. Do not include the original questions of the assignment in the paper.
a. Discuss some ways that a hospital might measure quality.
b. What are the potential costs of quality for Memorial Hospital? How could the value of a human life be included?
c. Are there any ideas or techniques from TQM that Janice could use to help Memorial focus on providing quality health care?
d. What measures could Memorial use to assess the quality of health care it is providing?
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment
Week 3
Week 3 DQ 1 Suppliers:Should a firm attempt to have fewer or more suppliers? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach? Your initial post should be 200-250 words.
Week 3 DQ 2 Forecasting Methods:Read Problem 6 in Chapter 6 of your textbook. Calculate and answer parts a through d. Include all calculations and spreadsheets in your post. Explain why the moving average method was used instead of another forecasting method. What might be another forecasting method that could prove to be just as useful? Your initial post should be 200-250 words.
Week 3 Outsourcing: Outsourcing, especially to low labor-cost countries, has grown substantially. What are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing? Include and describe a product or service of a specific low labor-cost country as an example. Include a recommendation/conclusion based on the research. Answer the question in a two to four (2-4) page in accordance with APA guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Provide at least two (2) scholarly sources from the Ashford Library or other external sources, excluding the textbook. Your paper should be in paragraph form (avoid the use of bullet points), and supported with the concepts outlined in your text. Do not include the original questions of the assignment in the paper.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
Week 4
Week 4 DQ 1 Process Selection: Product Design and Capacity:How is process selection related to product design and capacity determination? Your initial post should be 200-250 words.
Week 4 DQ 2 Monique Food Processing Company and Capacity: Read Problem 6: The Monique Food Processing Company in Chapter 8 of your text.
Monique Food Processing Company produces light snacks that can be heated in a microwave. The following steps are included in the process: Steps
Description
Capacity (Units/Hour)
1
Prepare food
200
2
Measure and place in plastic pouch
175
3
Prepare cardboard box
200
4
Insert pouch into box
300
5
Shrink-wrap box
200
Week 4 – Beck Manufacturing and Plant Capacity. Read the Beck Manufacturing case study in Chapter 8 of your text. Answer questions one through three in a two- to- four page paper in accordance with APA guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
a. Calculate the capacity of each machine center and the capacity of the system.
b. If Beck wants to expand capacity, where should he focus the companys efforts? How much extra capacity can he get without causing another operation to become the bottleneck?
c. How may Mr. Beck expand capacity without purchasing new equipment? Be specific.
Your paper should be in paragraph form (avoid the use of bullet points), and supported with any formulas, calculations, and concepts outlined in your text. Do not include the original questions of the assignment in the paper.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
Week 5
Week 5 DQ 1 Materials Requirements (MRP) Inventory and Customer Service: Explain how MRP can decrease a companys inventory while improving its customer service level. Include a real-life example. Your initial post should be 200-250 words.
Week 5 DQ 2 Perpetual versus Periodic Inventory Systems. Describe the perpetual and the periodic inventory systems. How are they different? Are there circumstances in which one system is better than the other? Include real-life examples. Your initial post should be 200-250 words.
Week 5 – Alliance Supermarket and Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems. Read the Alliance Supermarket case study in Chapter 10 of your text. In a two- to- four page paper, answer questions 1 & 2 in accordance with APA guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Alliance Supermarkets
Alliance Supermarkets has been using a point-of-sale (POS) system for some time to track its inventory. The system uses a laser scanner to read the universal product code (UPC) on each item at the checkout container. The UPC is a number that uniquely identifies the product on which it appears. Currently, Alliance is using the UPC information to update inventory records for each item. Although the system has greatly improved the companys ability to replenish inventory promptly, the company still has some problems. For example, sudden changes in demand for a particular item can catch the company by surprise as it bases inventory replenishment on historical demand patterns. Further, demand patterns and preferences may vary from one store to another depending on the customers served by each, but the inventory system groups all demand information together and treat each store equally. Finally, the manufacturers that make the products stocked by Alliance Supermarkets are always pressuring Alliance to help them target appropriate customers for special promotions and sales.
The chief information officer (CIO) of Alliance realizes that much more could probably be done with the data collected from its POS system. For example, the company could analyze the relationship between each products sales and weather patterns. It is even possible to analyze an individual customers buying habits and identify instances when a customer may be persuaded to try a different brand of a certain product.
Suppose you have been asked to study this situation and suggest possible new and innovative uses for the information generated by the POS system. Ideally, these ideas should help Alliance better serve its customers by ensuring that adequate quantities of each item are available, that costs are kept low, and that customers are made aware of new products that may interest them.
a. What information may help Alliance reduce costs while providing better service?
b. If purchase information can be obtained on individual customers, what new approach could be used by Alliance?
Your paper should be in paragraph form (avoid the use of bullet points), and supported with the concepts outlined in your text. Do not include the original questions of the assignment in the paper.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
Week 6
Week 6 DQ 1 Just-in-Time (JIT) Inventories: Choose companies or industries for which JIT would bea totally inappropriate? Explain your reasoning with examples in 200-250 words.
Week 6 DQ 2 Scheduling Procedures: Categorize different scheduling procedures for various types of service operations, such as restaurants, hospitals, and airlines. Your initial post should include explanations and examples and be 200-250 words.
Week 6 – Focus of the Final Paper
Read the Space Age Furniture Company case study in Chapter 9 of your text. Answer the following questions: and include any MRP calculations.
What options are open to Coral to address this problem?
How would reducing the minimum quantity of subassemblies help?
What are the costs of carrying excess items in inventory at each stage?
What is the trade-off between overtime costs and inventory costs?
Which type(s) of production processing job shop, batch, repetitive, or continuous is the primary mode of operation? Explain.
In what ways could management keep track of job status and location during production?
Can you suggest any changes that might be beneficial to the company or add value for the customer? What are they?
The purpose of the Final Case is for you to culminate the learning achieved in the course by describing your understanding and application of knowledge in the field of operations management. The paper should integrate Readings and Resources and class discussions into work and life experiences. It may include explanation and examples from previous events as well as implications for future applications.
Guidelines for Writing the Final Paper
Readdress the concept and the experience with critical thought. That is, what is your response to the content, either positive or negative, and then defend your position. If multiple options/alternatives/positions are present and are being rejected you must also defend the reasons for rejecting an option.