Class contribution

Your class participation and contribution will be assessed in all class sessions 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.

Online quizzes

There will be 5 quizzes (each worth 2% of the total 20% in assessment weighting for this assessment task) on iLearn covering the material in the first block (days 1 through 3 of class). The quizzes are to be completed by 5pm (Sydney time) of 22 February 2019.

Due:  

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

Duration: 20 minutes maximum

Please note: Syndicate groups will be assigned by the lecturer on the first day 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). There should be no more than 5 members in a group, preferably less members. For the benefit of all students in class, the PowerPoint presentation needs to be uploaded to the assessment turnitin link on the class iLearn page by no later than 12pm (Midday) of 8 February 2019 so that printed copies can be made available in class.

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 and use only the relevant topics related to the specific topic of 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, 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). You are also encouraged to explore the competitive landscape of the relevant industry.  
• 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 come fully prepared. It is also essential that you include all of the above dot point in your presentation. Please note that only 2-3 presenters per group are recommended.  
2. The group assignment needs to be prepared in between the first and second BLOCK weekend break and therefore students will need to be available to meet with allocated syndicate group members as agreed during the first BLOCK weekend. Work commitments will not be accepted as reasons for not contributing to the group work. A BLOCK unit, by definition, has a more compressed time frame.  
3. As part of the Macquarie University group assessment policy, individual performance within a group assessment must also be assessed. A 'peer evaluation of group projects' form will be made available on the class iLearn page and will be used by the team to determine individual contributions in the group project and presentation. It allows you to assess the contribution of each group member towards completion of the project and presentation. Ideally in each group, the contribution share of each member is equal (eg. in a group of 3, individual share is 33.3% or in a group of 4, individual share is 25%, etc). All members of the group are required to agree and sign off on the level of contribution (in percentages) made by each team member (the total contribution should add up to 100%). Please bear in mind that individuals contribute to the success of a project in many different ways, eg. quantity of work undertaken, attendance at meetings, quality of work undertaken, meeting deadlines, etc.

Here, I have provided ten topics and each group must choose one that is of interest to them. We shall assign the topics (depending on the number of students and groupings) in the first lecture

No extensions will be granted.

Length: 6 pages maximum (including appendices and references)

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 the following way:

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  
   1. 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.  
   2. 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. 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 and submission

Case study reports should be typed single-spaced, with normal margins, with the use of either Arial or Times New Roman font at size 12. The filename should be in this sequence: 890CASE_LastnameFirstname_student#. 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 of the assignment via iLearn on or before the due date. 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, and in Microsoft Word format (.docx or .doc). No file attachments, other than the single Microsoft Word file 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 (Masud Behnia) 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 23 January 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.