Posted: February 9th, 2015

Information & Operations Management;

Information & Operations Management;

•    Assignment: Report on an Operations Improvement at (an organisation)
•    Length: Your report should be 2000 words (+/- 10%)

The Brief
•    Visit the Prospects.ac.uk website and search for an organisation that you may wish to apply for graduate level employment.
Maybe  a supermarket (Tesco or Sainsbury’s) or other organisations
•    Assume you have been shortlisted for a role at the company and you’ve been invited for interview at the organisation’s graduate selection event.
Maybe a role in retail(industrial buyer, retail buyer, retail manager, retail merchandiser)or others
•    You have been asked to prepare a report in advance of the assessment centre interview day.  The report asks you to outline your ideas for implementing a

sustainability focused improvement initiative, within the organisation.
•    You are highly motivated to get the job and you know the competition will be strong.  You also know you will need to demonstrate your understanding of

operations theory and practice by describing how the initiative would be operationalised and monitored and how it resonates strategically with the business

environment. However, the real challenge for you is in selecting an interesting focus.  Above all you will need to show what impact your sustainability improvement

suggestion will have and the likely impact in terms of change management on the company.
•    You should include a very brief outline of your chosen organisation and the products/services your sustainability initiative relates to.
•    The main body of the report will critically evaluate your sustainability improvement initiative and the planning and implementation issues associated with it.

You will also need to show how you will validate the initiative.
•    Your report will be of no more than 2000 (a +/- 10% tolerance applies) words and will include a range of appropriate sections.
1000 Word Indicative guidance.
What are you being asked to do?
Assignment  asks you to prepare for a graduate level interview by producing a 2000 word ‘operational improvement’ report for the interview panel.  So, your initial

task is to identify a company that:
•    advertises graduate commensurate employment opportunities
•    you would be interested in doing the research anyway
•    has (evidence required) some potential for improvement
Self-selection and self-organisation.
The fact that you have being given the opportunity to select the organisation yourself, means that the assignment brief is at face value, fairly generic.  However, you

should consider the content of this course, the core textbook and suggested readings when considering the focus for your improvement initiative.
Textbook :
Define your terms clearly.
The terms sustainability and ‘improvement initiative’ have a number of meanings, it would be a requirement to clearly define and contextualise the terms

‘sustainability’ and  ‘improvement initiative’ in the same way as you would for any other potentially vague terminology.  A good place to start looking for definitions

would be the trade organisations associated with the sector that you have selected. BIS.gov.uk also outlines A number of key improvement initiatives at in the sector

level.
Articulate the problem situation.
Everyday it seems, dreadful inequalities and inefficiencies are reported in the news, and quite often these are a direct result of poor or outdated process

management/policy direction.  The first job that your report must achieve is to explain what the problem is that your initiative could solve.  Your report will pick up

on such systemic/system failure and go some way to alleviating inefficiency/injustice as defined by key commentators/academics.
Provide a ‘route map’
Your next task is to ‘map-out’ the potential scope and impact of the initiative over time.  Here, you will want to suggest how and what will be required to prepare for

the launch of your initiative and then to clearly define how the initiative would be launched, tested and subsequently rolled out.  It may also be important here to

discuss the impact or requirements placed on partner organizations in order for the initiative to be optimized.  Some initiatives use the phrase ‘route map’ to refer

to this type of mapping.
Demonstrate operational understanding.
The assignment brief asks you to demonstrate your understanding of operations theory.  This is a difficult task but you’re starting point will be to ensure that you

have a good understanding of the sector within which you’re selected organization operates.  Very often, improvement initiatives in each of the main sectors are

already underway. You can locate these by accessing relevant trade organization websites (example: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) exists to

support and promote the interests of the UK automotive industry at home and abroad. It is important that you attempt to align your report with ‘received wisdom’

offered by authoritative publications.  You will also need to reference academic publications in order for you to demonstrate the relevance of your proposed

initiative.
Sections of the report.
I’m often asked what sections to include:  in order to help you decide I have provided you with a report writing guide attached to the assignment.  You should include

a title page which should be adequately considered and well balance visually.  This can be achieved quite simply by inserting a front cover using the available options

in Microsoft Word.  Moreover, try to think of an interesting title and make sure that you include any other relevant information. Quite often this is good place to

include a short abstract or extract.
Your executive summary will be written last, but appears at the front of the report.  This should give me an overview of your initiative; its objectives, scope,

feasibility, et cetera. This section is not graded, however, to treat it as an unimportant would be a mistake. This creates the first impression of your report, and is

a bit like wearing a suit to an interview.  After introducing and giving some background to the initiative concept (not the company itself) you’ll need to decide on

the main sections.  Never, call this section ‘main section’.  You need to guide the reader by using appropriate headings.  One word headings may be too brief, but a

full sentence, maybe perhaps too much.
Think about what the section is trying to achieve. You might start, by writing a sub-section about a particular functional area, for example, Maintenance Repair and

Overhaul; within the section you might like to point out how the problem situation manifests itself, outlining both practitioner and academic positions.
Next, you might think it important to introduce the improvement initiative and how and why it is relevant to the company. This section may include several parameters,

including, training requirements, support mechanisms, performance measurement etc.  You may also feel that you need to write a section on how the initiative would

resonate with the general strategic direction taken by the trade organisations and the company itself.  Are there any aspects that potentially clash?
Another section, perhaps one on improvement tools and techniques that exist, to potentially be adopted, and any philosophies outlined.  Here, it would be useful to

define the managerial objectives using the SMART acronym of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.  You may alternatively wish to explore the

‘necessary and sufficient’ debates in order to discuss strategic resonance.
You might also require a section that discusses how the initiative will be operationalised and monitored.  Would this be something that could be done internally or

would you need an unbiased third-party to audit improvements.  Another section that might be useful would be one based on how the initiative would be launched and

subsequently rolled out.  Sometimes, these initiatives create ‘silos of excellence’ rather than wholesale and sustainable change.  It would be important for you to

answer the question of – How you would avoid the situation where you light lots of fires, yet feel no long-term widespread, improvement? Of course, all of the above

would need to be referenced rigorously using the Harvard style.
Make sure you conclude strongly
This assignment, encourages you to think about making a difference in organisations.  Operations managers, make important decisions when they implement processes.  It

is therefore incumbent on you to clearly state and the potential benefits of your initiative, along with an authoritative appreciation of any likely detriments.  In

other words some form of cost-benefit analysis is highly recommended. In the conclusion, you will not be bringing any new evidence or ideas.  This section is purely to

restates your case using information already provided in the main body of the report

Information & Operations Marking Rubric – Adapted from marking criteria (see module handbook).    0-35%
Fail
Unacceptable    36 – 39%
Bare Fail
Poor    40-49%
Third
Satisfactory    50 -59%
Lower Second
Sound    60 – 69%
Upper Second
Good     70% – 84%
First
Excellent     85% +

Outstanding
Selection and appropriate application of theoretical concepts.
20 Marks    Your answer bares no or very little, relation to the brief.

You demonstrate some understanding of what operations and operations management concepts are about but your explanations are superficial.    You demonstrate

that you understand operations and operations management concepts and that you have some grasp of ideas.      You demonstrate a good grasp of operations and

operations management concepts and ideas.      You demonstrate a good knowledge of operations and operations management theory by appropriately selecting and

accurately citing a number of authors, approaches and perspectives.    You demonstrate an extensive knowledge of operations and operations management theory by

appropriately selecting and accurately citing a number of relevant approaches and perspectives.      As with first, but shows a highly original concept and

approach.
Discussion of operational implications for implementation of initiative.
40 Marks
You demonstrate no or only a superficial understanding of what operations and operations management are about.
Your answer is drawn from class work and or supposition, rather than wide reading and appreciation of the topic boundaries.     It is apparent that you have

read some of the core text book but little in the way of other sources and that you rely heavily on class and lecture materials.    Although your answers are based

largely around lecture notes there is evidence that you have read the text books and some journals articles and have referenced these where appropriate.    You

show evidence of reading within and around the subject area and you are able to apply your knowledge well.    You show evidence of considerable reading within and

around the subject area and your ability to apply your knowledge to the problem is excellent.      As with first, but mature, meticulously planned and executed report

using high quality journal articles to underpin theory and practice.  Faultless in execution.
Alignment of intervention with existing business environment and strategy.
30 Marks     It is clear that you have done no reading of textbooks or journals and
Your report has weak structure and is often incoherent.    You display no critical evaluation or understanding of the concepts.    Your critical evaluation and

application of ideas to the problem is limited.      You are able to apply your understanding to the situation of the question and your ideas are coherent and well

structured.    Good critical appraisal and analysis of concepts and ideas – discussion of strengths and weaknesses, different perspectives, competing positions,

comparing and contrasting different positions.    Your critical appraisal and analysis of concepts and ideas – discussion of strengths and weaknesses, different

perspectives, competing positions, comparing and contrasting different positions – is excellent.      As with first, but exquisitely detailed and thought provoking

environmental analysis.  Worthy of first grade at level 6.
Presentation
Includes, cover page layout and style of written work and referencing
10 Marks    Your use of grammar, punctuation and spelling is poor and referencing is very basic.    Your use of grammar, punctuation and spelling is poor and

referencing is careless and basic.    Your use of the Harvard referencing style, grammar, punctuation and spelling are of a satisfactory standard.    Your use of

grammar, punctuation and spelling is generally correct and your report is referenced in the Harvard style.    Your arguments have a logical flow and your report is

well structured and well referenced.  Your grammar, punctuation and spelling are of a good standard.    You have a good logical flow to arguments.  Your grammar,

punctuation and spelling are of a high standard and you have used the Harvard referencing system consistently.    As with first grade. Perfect no faults in presentation.

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