Describe the specific operational issue, problem or process that needs to be addressed and analysed..
Using your own organisation or any organisation that you know well, identify a strategic operations issue or problem that needs to be addressed. The operations issue should be related to one of the 10 topics that are covered in this subject. You should focus on one topic; however, you may benefit from more than one topic due to their overlapping nature.
For example, you may work in a bank, hospital or hotel and would like to select a specific process and analyse how to improve it (in this case the operations issue is related to ‘Process Design and Analysis’ and you should focus on Topic 3 and use some relevant concepts covered in this topic), or you may be interested in investigating an operations improvement opportunity in your company, which is related to Topic 9.
Write a report which addresses the strategic operations issue/problem as follows:
Describe the organisation. Keep the description brief but make sure that the reader can clearly understand what the organisation does and the organisational context.
Describe the specific operational issue, problem or process that needs to be addressed and analysed. Again, keep this brief but ensure the reader understands what the issue or problem is and how the issue/problem affects the organisation’s processes.
In order to help explain how the issue/problem affects the organisation, you might want to include one or more of the following:
o a chart or process flow diagram to show the functional relationships of the issue or problem with the rest of the organisation’s workflow
o key objectives and purpose of the operation including your opinion of its current and ideal performance (preferably supported by actual performance data)
o opportunities for change and improvement to the process or techniques being used now
o resource implications or constraints that need to be considered
o technologies and/or manpower issues involved in the process.
Analyse the issue or problem using the relevant concepts. This analysis should be the major content of your report.
When analysing the issue, you should also consider:
o the five main performance objectives of operations management (use and discuss as many as relevant)
o changes to performance or outcomes (such as cost, output, quality, productivity etc.)
o potential improvements that you believe can be made
o relevant analytical formula if applicable
o where possible, any information about the costs involved.
Describe the specific operational issue, problem or process that needs to be addressed and analysed.
