Comprehensive OM Analysis
This assignment requires you to analyze the operations of your current workplace. Because employment situations vary, it may be necessary to consult with your professor concerning interpretation of these requirements. Any deviations from the assignment should be discussed with your professor well before the paper is due.
Contents of the Comprehensive OM Application Paper
Description of the Workplace. In this section, you should describe the setting of your workplace. Include background information on the company, such as its name, size, principal products/services, geographical scope, number of locations, age, profitability, form of ownership, etc. Also describe your position, including your job title, reporting responsibilities, and relationship to other components of the organization. Then you will need to define the organizational unit or process chosen for this analysis. You will likely need to make some choices concerning what unit you will study. Explain your rationale for these choices.
Strategy. Describe the strategy of the company and describe the competitive advantage of the firm. Then describe the strategy of the organizational unit and determine to what extent the strategy of the organizational unit is or is not consistent with the firm’s strategy. Then analyze the operations strategy of the unit you are studying, including its product technology, location, facilities, process technology, and human resources.
Productivity. Describe the unit’s productivity. How is the productivity measured? What is the productivity trend? Your analysis should include multi-factor or total productivity measures over time. Based on your analysis, develop a plan to improve productivity in the organizational unit and include your plan in your paper. Calculations Required.
Product/Service Design and Development. Describe the product development process for the organizational unit, and analyze its effectiveness. Describe the key product or service provided by the organizational unit and explain how its customers’ needs and desires match with the organization’s competencies.
Forecasting and Capacity Planning. Describe the forecasting system used to project demand for the unit’s main product or service. Analyze the capacity of the production system. If no system exists, you are to create a forecasting system using one of the methods outlined in chapter 4 that is appropriate for your business. Calculations Required.
Location Strategy. Describe the location and its location strategy and analyze the appropriateness and the implications of the unit’s location.
Facility Layout and Workplace Design. Define the type(s) of layout that apply to the unit and describe the layout. If your analysis indicates layout deficiencies, include suggestions for improvement. Analyze the ergonomics of the production process. If your analysis indicates ergonomic challenges, include suggestions for improvement.
Materials and Inventory Management. Describe the unit’s inputs and outputs and analyze its inventory control process (including any JIT methods in use). Use appropriate computer models, as applicable. If your analysis indicates any deficiencies in the materials or inventory management process, provide suggestions for improvement.
Summary of Recommendations. Based on your analysis of your unit’s operation, provide a summary of your recommendations for improvement. This summary should be in the form of a memo to your supervisor.
Reflections. Describe the ways in which this course and its activities have had an impact on your job and your understandings of the workplace. Feel free to include other relevant reflections related to this course or your degree program.
Writing the Comprehensive OM Paper
This paper is due at the end of week 8 (by 11:59 pm Central on Sunday night).
No minimum length is specified. Your professor places no premium on length; in fact, brevity is preferable as long as the thoughts are expressed completely and comprehensively. (Generally, good papers tend to fall in the 10 – 18 page range for this assignment.)
The paper should be typed, double-spaced. Use a 10-point font or higher. Diagrams may be hand-drawn, but should be neat. Use ink for final copies of diagrams, or turn in a photocopy of penciled drawings. Turn in all of the exercises given in the assignment.
The paper must include a cover page that includes the following:
Your name
Course name and number
Name of paper
Professor’s name
Date submitted
The paper must include each of the sections listed in the Comprehensive OM Paper section above.
The final page must be a Reference Page that is completed according to the style guidelines presented at the beginning of the program.
This is an individual analysis. You may discuss the paper in general terms with members of your group, but your analysis, recommendations, and implementation should be your own and should reflect original thought.
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