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.

Further details of this assessment can be found in the assessment guide in the class iLearn page.

Due:

• Session 9 – Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4
• Session 10 – Groups 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9

Duration: 20 minutes maximum

Please note: Syndicate groups will be assigned by the lecturer in session 1 of class.

Each syndicate group will be required to:

1. Research and deliver a 20-min presentation to the class on a specific operations management topic, strictly in the service industry, and
2. Submit to the lecturer a hard copy of the slides at the beginning of 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 below. ***Please note that not all listed topics must be included in the presentation.
• Brief description of one or more 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
• 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

IMPORTANT ITEMS TO NOTE:

1. The novelty, originality and applicability of the research will be key assessment criteria as will the level of professionalism displayed in the presentation delivery. This is critical in order to ensure the syndicate group presentations are valuable learning experiences for all students and memorable highlights in the overall delivery of the subject. It is highly recommended that students make extensive use of visual displays and that they come fully prepared. Please note that only 2-3 presenters per group are recommended.
2. As part of the Macquarie University group assessment policy, individual performance within a group assessment must also be assessed. Each group member will be required to submit a one-page summary identifying which parts of the group project they have contributed too, as well as write about their individual key learning/reflection from the research work and how they would generally be able what they learned in their careers.
3. ​No extensions will be granted.

Syndicate group

Operations management topics

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

Relevant textbook section

1

Performance measurement, KPIs, balance scorecards, cascading of goals and objectives (corporate goals to business unit objectives), business plan deployment***

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

2

Product and process design, simultaneous design, fast service to market, design review process, service launch***

6

3

Process technology, use of technology (e.g. eBusiness, automation) and technology innovation as applied to the provision of service***

7 & 8

4

Job design and work organisation, ergonomics, job enrichment, employee empowerment, teamwork***

9

5

Capacity planning and control, inventory planning and control, ERP, level capacity plans, demand management***

10 & 11

6

Supply chain design, managing uncertainty, agile supply chains, supply chain / business continuity***

12, 13 & 14

7

Supply chain collaboration, use of technology to enable visibility, collaboration and short lead times across the supply chain***

12, 13 & 14

8

Lean thinking, lean implementation, waste elimination, value stream mapping, business process re-engineering***

15

9

Continuous improvement and innovation, Kaizen, quality circles, six sigma, PDCA***

16 & 17

10

Managing quality of service delivery, lead and lag indicators, TQM, SPC, problem solving process***

18 & 19

Due: Submission in iLearn on or before 5pm (Sydney time) of 30 August 2019

Length: 6 pages maximum (including appendices and references) - excludes front cover page of your assignment

Students will be required to write an individual report of 6 pages’ maximum (including appendices and references). 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 operation’s operation over a period of 6 – 18 months.

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

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

2. Gap analysis

   • 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

   • 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.

   • 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.)​

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

Report format

Students will have the freedom to choose the most effective way to structure their report and are encouraged to use “business like” delivery formats that are commonly used in the workplace. Naturally, clarity and structure are critical elements of success. Students are also encouraged to use the available pages wisely and forego dwelling on defining terms that are obvious and already known. The report should be written as professionally in a business-like manner, 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) or Microsoft PowerPoint presentation (.pptx or .ppt). 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 file).

Please ensure your full name, student number, unit code (MGSM890), unit name (Operations management), lecturer (Masud Behnia) and assignment title 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 special consideration is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.

Duration: 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading time

Format: Open book final examination

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 10 July 2019 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.