Discuss the challenges that two contrasting organisations may face in a) determining initial performance objective priorities (ideas surrounding relative importance), b) designing operations etc. to deliver and manage such objectives and c), managing competing demands (the notion of performance ?trade-offs?
Suggestions and advice
Your answer should logically progress to explore the three points mentioned in the question using the context of the contrasting organisations. The organisations may be entirely different ? for example, a railway operator and a television manufacturer. Alternatively, they may be two different types of providers but within the same industry sector ? a national fast food chain and a upmarket, gourmet restaurant.
Ensure that you explore how performance objectives priorities are established and maybe adapt over time in response to changing market conditions. Explore the constraints imposed on the organisation when designing systems to deliver performance needs. This should then lead you naturally to the ?problem? of ?trade-offs? between objectives; are ?trade-offs? actually an inevitable ?problem? or not?
Some suggested reading
In addition to chapter 2 of Slack (6th edition), the following may assist you:
Ferdows, K. and de Meyer, A (1990) Lasting improvements in manufacturing. Journal of Operations Management, 9 (2), 168-84 (available on Blackboard).
Greasley, A. (2006) 2nd edition. Operations Management, Wiley (chapter 2), – available on Blackboard.
Skinner, W. (1974). The focussed factory. Harvard Business Review, May-June, 113-21.
Skinner, (1985). Manufacturing: The Formidable Competitive Weapon, John Wiley. (available through Inter-library loan or a used copy can be obtained very cheaply from Amazon).
Key Marking criteria will include:
? Initiative: originality, innovativeness of answer
? Assignment Structure: clarity of aims, objective, structure and presentation
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? Quality/Scope of Literature Review: Understanding of established knowledge
? Suitability of Literature: Use of suitable sources, focused to answer key research aims
? Literature Analysis: Quality/level of analytical skill demonstrated
? Insightfulness of Analysis: Interest and usefulness of findings, conclusions drawn.
? Understanding: Assignment demonstrates students have understood key topics
? Overall Quality of Assignment
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