...Expansion 12 Team Approach or Robotic Approach? Introduction Alpha Reminiscent Cars (ARC) used to be a small factory-based company. Until now it still maintains the hand assembled and hand-crafted tradition. In the last decade, the gradually increasing demand for the new-look-reminiscent-of-an-old style cars urged the company had tripled in size, twice shifting to larger premises and upgrading equipment and staff numbers. However, ARC’s ability still cannot satisfy the customer demand as the waiting list has lined up for six years. It seems that the expansion is currently the most urgent task for the company. At present, the company has two feasible approaches for expansion. One is the 12 team approach which doubled the workforce size of the original 6 teams. Another one is the assembly-line robotic approach which would introduce the computer-based robotics to the three worksites. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to analysis the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches separately, especially the issues of 12 team approach related to ARC’s expansion and finally summarise which approach would be better for ARC to maintain or increase profit and also make its employees happy. Team Approach According to Mohrman & Quam (2000), ‘Teams are a common design fixture in today’s organisations.’ Organizations which are using teams to perform their core work and provide value to customers are called as the team-based organisation. A team-based organisational...
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...Jones: Introduction To Business: How Companies III. A Functional Approach to Business 12. Operations and Materials Management: © The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007 Create Value for People Managing the Production and Flow of Goods and CHAPTER 12 Operations and Materials Management: Managing the Production and Flow of Goods and Services Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Describe the nature of the operations and materials management process and explain how it can create a competitive advantage for a company. 2. Identify the five main components of operations and materials management costs and the methods companies use to reduce them. 3. Differentiate between the three major kinds of operating systems companies use to produce goods and services. 4. Understand the way total quality management can significantly improve both quality and productivity. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT Flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, chocolate, and shortening don’t create much excitement when they are in the kitchen cupboard. They create a lot more excitement when someone transforms them into a cake. Whether it’s a cake, a computer, or a legal docu- ment, operations and materials management processes create value in a household or a company. A company’s operations require inputs such as raw materials or parts and the skilled people and equip- ment to transform them into useful products...
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...Solving Problem 6 Business approach of solving the problem 7 Milestone 2 8 Solution 8 Value of the approach 9 Business Process Changes 10 Milestone 3 11 Business Addition 11 Summary of Milestones 12 Conclusion 13 Recommendations 13 Work Cited 14 Proposal Introduction In 2011, Google Inc. took a big step in their future by merging with Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. With this merger, Google Inc and Motorola Mobility became a major competitor to Apple Inc. organization. Motorola Mobility is the second largest designer and manufacturer of cell phones and tablet devices. Their product which features Google’s Android base software is sold all around the world. In the 4th quarter of 2011, Motorola Mobility manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, shipped about 10.5 millions mobile devices out to stores worldwide (Marketwatch, 2012). To satisfy this high demand of mobile devices, Foxconn need to make the necessary adjustment in their building to be able to make their daily goal of mobile devices built. Business Problem With the high demand of mobile devices needed by Motorola Mobility to satisfy all their customers, the manufacturer has to run the lines full time on all three shifts. When an issue occurs at any point of time in the line, the line goes into a stop until the support team is notified and comes to fix the problem. The support team is considered a floating team, as soon as an issue occurs on the line; one member of the team goes and fixes the problem...
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...work in a teams. Conflict is defined as disagreement between individuals. Conflict can arise among members within a team or between one team and another. Conflict refers to antagonistic interaction in which one party attempts to block the intentions or goals of another. Competition, which is rivalry among individuals or teams, can have a healthy impact because it energizes people toward higher performance. Whenever people work together in teams, some conflict is inevitable. Bringing conflicts out into the open and effectively resolving them is one of the team leader’s most challenging jobs. Conflict in corporate teams is fine as long as team immediately works toward a solution. The role of conflict in work teams is determined by the manner in which it is managed. Conflict is a driving force of change that can result in improved decision-making processes and progressive team development. However, teams must learn to be confrontational without destroying the team process. Teams are able to handle conflict and perform at a high level by following a framework of communication needed for managing conflict constructively and capable to mediate their own conflicts, improve both productivity and member relationships. Teams are typically made up of a diverse group of individuals, each member possessing different capabilities and skills. This element is what makes the use of teams so advantageous; however, diversity can also create conflict. Therefore, it is important for teams to understand...
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...Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), need to consistently develop high-quality products and decrease the time it takes to deliver them to market. To do that, they must efficiently manage product development processes, projects, and information. The REI Gear and Apparel division is taking an integrated process and project management approach to designing, managing, and tracking its product development processes and projects while collaborating and managing the workflow online. REI is combining Microsoft .NET technology, the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution, and software based on Microsoft Office Visio 2003 to create an integrated business solution it can use to model as-is business processes, experiment with what-if scenarios, and then convert the optimized processes into detailed project plans. Project managers can further develop these plans, assign resources division-wide, manage projects online, and collaborate globally. REI predicts this integrated solution will help it improve its efficiency, consistency, and scalability so it can more quickly deliver its products to market. SOLUTION Using Apprentice Process Modeler (based on Microsoft® Office Visio® 2003), REI models processes, optimizes them, and generates project plans from...
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...Green Case Study Analysis: L. J. Summers Company Problem The problem in this case is L. J. Summers Company’s recently implemented cost reduction plan is causing degradation in the organization’s laissez-faire culture and has put the company at risk while challenging their competitive advantage. Furthermore, the inexperienced production manager (owner’s son, Blaine) is using his unearned power as an authoritarian leader to drive change. However, due to poor leader-follower relations, his management style is negatively influencing the synergies ultimately causing a decrease in group productivity and member satisfaction. In addition to causing turbulence between management and the employees, the cost reduction plan resulted in increasing waste and costs while putting productivity behind schedule. In order for L. J. Summers Company to increase efficiencies and reduce production costs, management should develop a plan that will lead to a re-organization of the company’s culture and create a new competitive advantage over their competition. L. J. Summers Company has remained in existence primarily due to one major customer driving 90% of their revenue. Although the informal standards and norms the company is founded on seemed to work, it had many deficiencies that were either not recognized by management or simply overlooked. The perception owned by the employees indicates that it is acceptable to assume a lax work ethic, which includes stealing company property in lieu of below...
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...2277-8616 44 IJSTR©2015 www.ijstr.org A Framework For Software Quality Assurance Using Agile Methodology Maria Sagheer, Tehreem Zafar, Mehreen Sirshar Abstract: Agile methodology that uses iterative and incremental approach is widely used in the industry projects as they can satisfy to the change of requirements. Efficient product delivery is achieved by using short iterations. But assuring the quality in any system is essential and imperative part which is very difficult task, which raises a question that: Is quality is assured in the software which is developed using agile methodology? The research paper proposed a solution and summarizes that how the quality is achieved or assure in agile software development using different factors. The major focus of this research paper is to analyse the quality parameter which assure quality in the agile methodology. The research paper includes the brief overview of the parameters which assure quality in agile. ———————————————————— I. INTRODUCTION. For the successful software engineering, the delivery of high quality software is needed. Mainly the customer satisfaction level is considered as the quality attribute which defines high quality of any system. Traditionally waterfall approach is used for the software development in which system is developed by freezing the requirements. To achieve high quality Agile methods rather than waterfall approach for the software development are adapted by many organizations to compete in...
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...IT Strategies for Uncertain Economic Times How Microsoft delivers high-value solutions at low cost to help organizations improve productivity, accelerate agility, and reduce costs Abstract Even in uncertain economic times, leading organizations recognize that investing in information technology (IT) is a key differentiator that can help improve productivity, accelerate agility, and reduce costs. Intended for IT leaders and procurement professionals, this paper describes how Microsoft, with a long history of delivering high-value solutions and market-leading innovation at low cost, helps organizations accomplish these goals. Specifically, this paper will help organizations build an optimized IT infrastructure plan, understand important solutions for saving money, capitalize on future innovations, and maximize investments with the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement. December 2008 1 The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft or its respective suppliers cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This white paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT AND ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. Complying...
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...competitive services in the business. JCR Drillsol, products include highly efficient and heavy-duty RIGs for a wide range of drilling applications ranging from RC, DTH, Tractor mounted and Wagon Drills, Pumping and Testing Units to Drag Bits, Mud Pumps and Mini Truck Mounted Drills. Our technology also designs other drilling solutions such as DTH Hammers, RC Hammers, RC Drill Rods, Tricone and O-Dex Bits. Problems faced in the industry Various problems faced by the industry are: * Material Wastage and Cost Factor A major problem faced by JCR Drillsol is the wastage of materials and cost factor. The Product output per unit input of raw materials became lower. It also occurred due to heavy inventory. It also occurred due to bad process design and layout. The other factor, which leads to material wastage, was bad quality from process and design. Hypothesis: Lean Manufacturing can be used to eliminate the wastage of materials that reduces the cost per unit of raw materials. A proper management of inventory for the industry can be...
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...offer low prices. QuikTrip is using operational efficiencies and standardization to reduce complexity to create higher employee productivity and fewer errors, reduce labor cost and increase customers satisfaction. By giving employees an opportunity to engage in process improvement and giving them more responsibility, QuikTrip motivates the productivity and passion for work of employees. Key learning parts: 1. If you say the managers are the heart of organization, and employees are at the soul of organization, we couldn’t in order to decrease the cost but ignore the investment in employees. They can provide their skills and responsibility and invest in the development of the company. QuickTrip let its employees enjoy the good wage and material benefits can encourage them work harder, this is like a human resource strategy. 2. Customers are one of the most key factors affect operation. It is important to satisfy what customers want and need. For QuickTrip, through providing by-store stuff and fast, friendly service, it earn double profit of the top quartile of competitors. 3. The importance of work system is a basically factor for any organization’s on human efforts to reach its goals. The company’s focus on promoting from within presents a dilemma of sorts, actually is to provide an opportunity for employees to grow and succeed. 4. QuikTrip Standardize layout and limited product variety in stores, it leads to higher employee productivity and fewer errors. 5. Because...
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...ASSIGNMENT ON MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY RAJESWARI.G ID NO. 2010HZ58075 ASSIGNMENT ON In your opinion, what are some important criteria which the firms should take to increase the quality and productivity of their products and service? Assignment on Productivity Improvement Page 2 Important criteria which the firms should take to increase the quality and productivity of their products and services There are few things to be considered for a Firm to increase the market value/productivity by improving the quality of the product, This is generally can be achieved, By improving the existing product, By introducing new products, Product launching / Advertising the same By improving the services for the newly or existing products, Immediate response for the complaints , querries Cost effective , easy accessible products etc., Let we discuss the points in detail, 4 Quick Steps to Improve an Existing Product You may have a niche marketing website that just isn’t producing sales for you at the rate at which you had hoped it would…..or maybe it isn’t producing any income for you at all or it could be that you haven’t actually figured out that what you are selling is, in fact, a niche market product. You might need to do a little ‘tweaking’ and modify your strategies somewhat to get the site performing better. There really are some things that you can do to improve your existing product. Step #1: Bill Cosby, the famous entertainer, once said, “I don’t know what...
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...Johannesburg MDCM Inc. (A): IT Strategy Synchronization As a member of the MDCM executive team, given the information in the case study we as a team were tasked to define the overall company strategy, business goals and high level IT objectives. MDCM Inc. corporate strategy is to run the company under one single brand across all its subsidiaries geographically based. The company needs to boosts it profits by increasing productivity, to solve this requirement IT Systems and the implementation thereof needs to be addressed. This is due to current lack in forecasting, scheduling, inventory and supply chain problems. We need to match/ align the IT objectives with the company strategy. We wants to be a market leader in the medical product manufacturing industry and we want to increase our market share. We need to reduce internal costs by identifying functional areas where IT can be applied to assist in reducing costs, i.e. IT systems will replace some of the workforce. The risk here is that currently we have so many different / complex systems in place that that also leads to higher admin costs. Not all of the staff understands all the systems. This leads to previously mentioned lack in forecasting, scheduling, inventory and supply chain problems. If one overall system is put into place, the system will replace some staff members that is supposed to look after these tasks and thus increase efficiency. Sharing of information between various departments will improve the services...
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...growing buzz words in the corporate world, and its definition has grown along with its popularity. The term has come to include everything from getting the office keys to onboarding coaching. * Introduction Onboarding is much more than just getting employees "settled in." It´s an innovative, new approach to employee orientation and integration and a direct path to improving retention and time-to-productivity. * Onboarding Onboarding is the process that organizations use to introduce, train, integrate and coach new hires to the culture and methods of the company during their first year. * Onboarding On-boarding is the process of integrating leaders into their new work environment through a phased implementation. * Five Words Sum it up * Align * Make sure your organization agrees on the need for a new team member and the delineation of the role you seek to fill * Acquire * Identify, Recruit, Select and get people to join the TEAM. * Accommodate * Give new TEAM members the tools they need to do the work. * Assimilate * Help the employee join with others so they can work together * Accelerate * Help them (and their TEAM) deliver better results faster. * Why Onboarding? A well thought out orientation program, whether it lasts one day or six months, will help not only in retention of employees, but also in...
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...on: • lowering cost of services • reducing restaurant manager administrative functions • providing “one-stop shop” for services • supporting key business initiatives Organizational functions are divided between offices in Oak Brook, IL and Columbus, OH. Three focused areas of products and services that we provide are: employee services and real estate & restaurant accounting. CSS consists of 280 employees, but will be growing to approximately 340 with the creation of the North America Shared Services Organization. NASS consists of both Corporate and Canada’s shared services. This new organization provides the blueprint for other regions worldwide to create shareholder value by using common metrics, service level agreements, standard processes and a governance structure supporting the shared services model. The development of a three year strategic plan for NASS focuses on automation, standardization and consolidation along with annual productivity targets. The BPO initiative entered into in 2003 and 2005 created uncertainty, but we overcame this by creating critical success factors. We established an analysis team, set clear scoring criteria, made sure our internal relationships were strong, used a third party advisor to give the process structure and discipline and focused on honest and open communication. After realizing these critical factors, we created an internal solution consisting of four parts: 1) process improvement – lower operating costs while improving...
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...And Suggestion Systems 14 1.8 Goals Of Kaizen Vs. Quality, Cost And Delivery 15 1.9 Common Disconnects/Roadblocks In Kaizen Implementation 16 1.10 Advantages Of Kaizen Costing 17 1.11 Disadvantages Of Kaizen Costing 18 1.12 Conclusion 19 References 19 1.1 Introduction Kaizen means improvement, continuous improvement involving everyone in the organization from top management, to managers then to supervisors, and to workers. In Japan, the concept of Kaizen is so deeply engrained in the minds of both managers and workers that they often do not even realize they are thinking Kaizen as a customer-driven strategy for improvement. Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy for process improvement that can be traced to the meaning of the Japanese words ‘Kai’ and ‘Zen’, which translate roughly into ‘to break apart and investigate’ and ‘to improve upon the existing situation’. It is using common sense and is both a rigorous, scientific method using statistical quality control and an adaptive framework of organizational values and beliefs that keeps workers and management focused on zero defects. It is a philosophy of never being satisfied with what was accomplished last week or last year. Improvement begins with the admission that every organization has problems, which provide opportunities for change. It evolves around continuous improvement involving everyone in the organization and largely depends on cross-functional teams that can be empowered to challenge the status...
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