This project will help you synthesize and apply what you have learned in the Operations Management course to your organization. Keep in mind you will analyze your organization from a leadership perspective. You will assess your organization through a competitive priority lens and evaluate the ten OM decision areas and key processes to develop actionable recommendations to increase your company’s competitive advantage.
This should be a 7-9 page paper. Choose an organization (current or past) and complete the following:
- Describe the competitive priorities of your organization and the product-process strategies used. As a result, what are the key tasks that senior management should focus on doing especially well?
- Hint: Compete on differentiation, cost and/or response? Process focus, repetitive focus, product focus, or mass customization focus?
- Refer to the Ten Strategic OM Decisions (page 8, Heizer & Render):
- Design of goods and services
- Managing quality
- Process and capacity design
- Location strategy
- Layout strategy
- Human resources and job design
- Supply-chain management
- Inventory management
- Scheduling
- Maintenance
Describe how each of the ten OM decision areas is currently addressed.
- 3 – 5 sentences/bullets for each area
Evaluate the decisions made in each of the ten OM decision areas:
- Do they align with the organization’s competitive priorities and product-process strategies? Explain why or why not.
- Describe the operations and key processes of your organization. Describe current-state processes using the following business process maps:
- SIPOC, and
- Detailed process flowchart, swim-lane process map, or value-stream map
- What specific, actionable recommendations would you present to your company’s senior management to improve operations for competitive advantage? Provide a rationale for all recommendations, and consider the following hints:
- Would you present any changes to competitive priorities and/or product-process strategies?
- How would you address any of the ten OM decisions differently?