Your class participation and contribution will be assessed during discussion of class content, exercises and cases. This will be based on the extent to which you appear prepared, the relevance and depth of your comments, reflections on your work experiences or other industry examples, and how you have contributed to the learning experience of the class. Please notify your instructor in advance if you have to miss a class, or if you will be late or leaving early from class.

Assessment criteria:

• Be prepared with class readings before each session
• Work effectively in groups to solve cases and industry questions in class
• Actively participate in class discussions and contribute to them using relevant sources, experience and/or extensive knowledge on the topic
• Attend the class on-time and be actively present throughout each session to the end

Syndicate groups will be assigned by the lecturer on the first day of class. Groups might experience minor changes up until the third week after the start of the term.

Each group should introduce their group representative before week 2 of the term. Group representative will be responsible for communications with the lecturer.

Each syndicate group will be required to (1) research and deliver a 20min presentation to the class on a specific operations management topic, strictly in the service industry, and (2) submit to the lecturer a soft copy of the slides before the presentation. The last slide in the presentation should list the specific research sources (e.g. journals, webpages, textbooks, etc.).

The presentation (and slides) should include the following:

• Brief description of the topic(s) to be presented – the suggested topics for each syndicate group are listed in the table of OM topics in the following page. Please note that not all listed topics must be included in the presentation.
• Brief description of one or more Australian service firms which have excelled in the application of the selected topic(s). This will also require a very brief description of the organisation and the services it provides. Please note that service firms include: Hospitals, medical clinics, health care providers, call centres, retail stores, schools and universities, IT design and infrastructure, telecommunications providers, utilities providers, government, hotels, aged care providers, child care providers, financial services, banks, architectural firms, engineering consulting, marketing and advertising, transportation and distribution services, etc. The nominated organisation(s) must operate in one or more of these areas and must not be involved in manufacturing or other industry sectors.
• Achievements obtained by each of the organisation(s), that is, a brief description of what it looks like to excel in the selected topic(s) of Operations Management. Present this with as many visual illustrations as possible and add quantifiable outcomes (e.g. dollar savings, lead time reduction, quality improvement, throughput increase, moral enhancement, etc.)
• Action plan or implementation approach followed by each organisation in order to achieve this level of excellence. That is, the set of activities (work packages) planned and completed by management in each of the organisations – This is the most important part of the presentation and where most of the focus should be placed. The use of a Gantt chart or similar visual display is highly recommended. This section should also include challenges encountered and tactics used by management in order to overcome these challenges

Operations management topics

(must include at least two of the OM tools listed in the topics below)

Marking scheme:

• Novelty, originality, and applicability of the report (10%)
• Professionalisim in delivery (e.g., engaging the audience, introduction to the problem, seamless flow of presentation (What? Why? How?), maintaining eye contact, satisfactory response to the questions asked by the audience, effective time management in presenting the slides and in Q&A, and design and animations used in the slides) (10%)

In addition to the marking scheme above, each individual is being marked out of 100 for their individual (50/100) and group (50/100) contributions. The details of how this marking is done will be announced in class and on the class iLearn page. If any individual members of a group do not get a full mark on either of their individual or group contributions, their final group project mark will be deducted proportionally. For instance, if a group receives 15 out of 20 for their group project and a specific member receives 80 out of 100 for his/her collective (individual and group) contributions, this individual’s final mark will be 15*0.8 = 12. Group representatives should e-mail the individual and group contributions of each group member confidentially to the lecturer.

No extensions will be granted.

Students will be required to write an individual report of 5000 words maximum. The most important component of this report is the application of insights, concepts, tools and techniques discussed in class to the student’s chosen organisation.

The date of submission is planned after the end of the course to ensure students have the opportunity to review all of the material covered in the subject. Students are required to select and make use of topics studied in class in order to (1) draw links to a chosen organisation’s function, department or operation, (2) conduct a gap analysis and (3) elaborate a detailed action plan designed to improve the organisation’s operation over a period of 6 – 18 months.

It is highly recommended the chosen organisation be the student’s most recent employer to ensure the assignment is kept real and practical. The report should be written in a concise manner and should be structured in the following way:

1. Brief description of chosen organization and section within the organisation, including  a description of the input resources, transformation process and output goods and services.

2. Gap analysis

          i. ​Problem or topic definition - This section includes the problem or topic definition which is a statement of what your report is about. It defines the main area of opportunity when comparing the current state of the organisation to the best practice tools and techniques studied in class and discussed in the case study

          ii. Description of proposed (future) state - For each of the factors selected in ii, this section includes a description of the intended state (e.g. 3-week work-in- progress inventory decreased to 1-day work-in-progress inventory, unstructured and ad-hoc product design process to a systematic staged design process; low customer centricity to robust voice of customer programs at all levels in the organisation, etc.)

          iii. Description of current state - This includes the issues or factors which draw the organisation back and contribute towards inefficiencies, loss of productivity, long lead time, low quality, waste, low morale, etc.

3. Implementation plan - This is the most important part of the report. It must include a Gantt chart showing the detailed activities, activity duration, milestones and responsibilities.The implementation plan shows the step by step approach required to close the gap and reach the proposed future state. The selection of the right concepts, tools and techniques is critical to ensure the implementation plan is feasible, pragmatic and real.

4. References and bibliography

Marking scheme:

• Report formatting and structure compliance (10%)
• Brief description of chosen organization (10%)
• Gap analysis (As is- To be) (30%- 10% each component)
• Implementation plan (40%)
• References and bibliography (10%)

Report format

Case study reports should be typed single-spaced, with normal margins, and Times New Roman 12pt font. Clarity and structure are critical elements of success. Use the available pages wisely and forego dwelling on defining terms that are obvious and already known. The report should be written as a professional business type of report, reflecting its practicality, applicability and relevance to the business.

Submission details

Students are to submit 1 x soft-copy of their individual report on or before the due date as listed in the box above. The soft-copy submission will be submitted to Turnitin via the MGSM890 iLearn portal, a program used to ensure the originality of the work undertaken by the submitter.

Only ONE single file must be submitted with ALL attachments, displays and charts included within. This can be submitted as a Microsoft Word document (.docx or .doc). No file attachments, other than the single Microsoft Word file or single Microsoft PowerPoint presentation will be assessed (please ensure all charts are placed in the one Microsoft Word file).

Please ensure your full name, student number, unit code (MGSM890), unit name (Operations management), and lecturer (Dr. Merhdokht Pournader or Dr. Peter Shi) is clearly visible on the front page of your assignment. No MGSM individual assignment coversheet is necessary.

Extensions and penalties:

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks   made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved.

Duration: 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading time

Format: Open book final examination

Date: MGSM Term 2 exam week: 11 - 16 June 2018

You are expected to present yourself for examination at the time and place designated in the MGSM examination timetable. The timetable will be available on 25 April 2018 at https://students.mgsm.edu.au/sydney-students/units/exams/

The final examination will be open book and concern all the material (assigned readings, class lectures, group presentations and classroom discussions) from the entire unit. The specific format of the exam will be explained in the last class of the term. You can use books, notes and a non-programmable calculator. Notebook computers, iPads, tablets, PDAs and similar are not allowed.