Assignment Brief/ Coursework Content:

Two case studies (services and goods)

The coursework is based on the application of operations and process management concepts to Muscat Bank and Glee Toys.

The assignment covers Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of operations and process management under different conditions

Students need to read and digest the two case studies and prepare answers to the questions using their knowledge and by applying concepts to the case studies as required

Case study 1-Muscat Bank

Think about Muscat Bank considering its staff, customers, materials and daily operations. This assignment requires you to describe and analyse operations taking place at Muscat Bank.

You can do so by addressing the following questions:

(Q1) Present the operations taking place at Muscat Bank as an input-output figure? Explain Muscat Bank operations and describe the figure. (150 words maximum).

(Q2) What are the service quality dimensions applicable to Muscat Bank and how are they managed? Also, how can Muscat Bank customers evaluate quality of service they received? (200 words maximum).

(Q3) Analyse the operations’ characteristics of Muscat Bank based on the 4Vs? How can Muscat Bank handle variations? (150 words maximum).

Case study 2-Glee Toys

Glee Toys began producing and selling toys in 1990. Since then, senior managers focused on delivering quality and innovative products making Glee Toys one of the best-known companies in this sector. However, in the last six years, sales reports have evidenced low sales compared with the same period on the previous year. The Production Manager (James Hopkin) attributed these low sales to “state of the economy”. James was appointed to address low sales by: (i) laying-off employees, mainly from the product design department; and (i) cutting production costs. James thinks these decisions would result in an increase in profits within the next seven months. The Vice President of Sales (Joe Martin) noted that customer complaints regarding the “Realistic Toys” line of working-model factories, farms, and service stations had increased and that parts for certain types of toys have failed to operate properly. To resolve this issue, James’s assistant (Brad Stone) Suggested a new investment-program in which defective goods could be replaced for customers for free. Brad thinks that this will express goodwill and increase customer satisfaction. In addition, Brad suggested repairing and reselling these defective items at cheaper prices in the company’s retail outlet store. He hereby believes that this approach would not dilute revenue from the sales of new models. A new member of staff would be required to lead this initiative and current production staff would repair faulty models during the off-season period, which will keep the production level stable but improve labour productivity. Kate Brosney (an assistant within the production dept) suggests further investment in the inspection process of finished models before they leave the factory. She believes that 100% inspection rates would prevent any faulty finished models from being shipped to customers and therefore solving this problem entirely.

Questions:

(Q1) Describe Glee Toys’ competitive strategy and why they night have this strategy? (80 words maximum.)

(Q2) As an inspector of the factory, you have undertaken a thorough investigation into processes adopted in the production of the “Realistic Toys” line of working models and recorded several observations. Some observations showed an in-control process; however, some individual measurements fell out of the control limits. Would you hereby investigate these measurements or not? Justify your answer. (120 words maximum).

(Q3) If the CEO sought your advice as a consultant to address their problems, what would your advice be? (200 words maximum).

(Q4) How could you embed sustainability into Glee Toys’ operations? (100 words maximum).

Descriptive details of Assignment:

Name: Muscat Bank and Glee Toys

Format: Written assignment

Word limit: 1000 words, as allocated on each question.

Reference style: Hanvard

Recommended reading/ online sources:

-Slack, N. Brandon-Jones, A. & Johnston, R. (2016) Operations Management, (Eighth edition), Harlow: Pearson Education. Pages 13 18.

-SLACK, N. (2013). Alistair BRANDON-JONESa Robert JOHNSTON. Operations management, 8.

*** Words count = 1000 words.

*** In-Text Citations and References using Harvard style.

*** I’ve uploaded materials for this assignment inside this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uhomg5oq0e38w0t/AACzMBpEuguL9-8DfajH2h0ga?dl=0