Production and Operations Management

Instructions

Pick a company with which you are familiar, either by working for it or by a close family member or friend working for it.  Most of us are more familiar with a particular department than the company as a whole.  With that in mind, write a paper about the company as a whole (or drill down to a department in the company for some of the items). The paper must include all of the sections listed below.  For example, you might write about the Mission of the company and focus on the goals, delivery methods, productivity, and recommendations of a specific department.

The paper should devote ½ page to 1 page to each section. The paper should be written in 12pt, Times New Roman Font, be double-spaced, and use headings for each section. Use APA writing style but you do not have to include references.

Introduction – Identify the company and the Mission and Goals of the organization (include the Mission Statement)

Overview - Describe the organization in terms of its

History

Products or services

Operational delivery

Type of operations (project, job shop, repetitive, batch)

Overview of operations (describe the process of producing a product or service – a flow chart or layout might help here)

Productivity –

What does it mean for this company/department?

How is it measured?

What factors affect it?

What has been done to affect productivity?

Competitive Advantages – How does the company compete (differentiation, cost, response)? Be specific and support your claims. What are the order winners, qualifiers, and non-issues? Identify your competitors and their competitive advantages are. Compare your company to one or more competitors.

Complete a SWOT analysis. Discuss both Internal and External factors.

What are the company’s/department's critical success factors?

What does quality and customer service mean in the business? What do your customers want and how do you know?

What is the current CMM level of the business/department? Use the revised Capability Maturity Model framework covered in class.

What recommendations would you make to improve the CMM position?

Make at least four recommendations that are a result of this case study.

Make your recommendations using the ‘Problem-Solution-Benefit’ format.