Posted: February 20th, 2015

Operations and Information Management

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

Your answer should not exceed 2,500 words, word-processed (letter size 12, Times New
Roman, 1.5 space)

Operations and Information Systems: Midterm Assessment Manufacturing/service process design is based on a considerable number of different variables and represents, in essence, a number of trade-offs. Depending on the nature of the business, the nature of the product, and the nature of the market place, the chosen process design will obviously be different. A) By taking as an example an organization or a product from an industry that you are familiar with, critically discuss the main factors that influence the choice of a manufacturing/service process design. (70% of the mark) B) How do you see the main principles of project management aiding the operations manager/manageress in introducing change to the process/system? (30% of the mark) ASSESSMENT CRITERIA Your answer should not exceed 2,500 words, word-processed (letter size 12, Times New Roman, 1.5 space); scripts that are excessively long (i.e. exceeding the limit by more than 10%) will not be read beyond the point of the word limit. The word limit applies to the main report only, and excludes exhibits, cover page, list of references, etc. The paper should include a cover page (which should give your student number, assignment name, date and number of words, but not your name), table of contents, numbered pages and a list of references. The body text should be fully referenced (Harvard Referencing System), with clear introduction, discussion and conclusion sections. Please note that assignment marks will also be based on aspects such as use of examples, figures, tables, illustrations and statistics that indicate wider/independent reading. INDICATIVE READING Material in the form of articles from peer reviewed journals and web references are available via Solar or other sources; www.emeraldinsight.com and www.sciencedirect.com are two good starting points for refereed publications. GENERAL ADVICE One of the clear academic objectives of a Master’s level programme is to show in the paper that you have read, understood and “absorbed as your own” the many concepts associated with Operations Management. That is not the same as providing a summary of which author said what; good assignments discuss the literature in terms of themes or concepts. Try to structure your paragraphs so that the first sentence introduces the theme or concept discussed in the paragraph, and the paragraphs themselves should be grouped in such a way that your “story” flows in a structured, balanced and comprehensible way. Some “do’s” and “don’t” about style:  Do not “copy and paste” from books or other sources. If used, direct quotes should be few, short and in italics;  Be very sparing of using simply expressions such as ‘in my opinion’; instead, put forward your argument as to why one approach may have more advantages than another. You might compare and contrast what different authors have to say about a given concept. We are looking for evidence of an analytical approach;  Do not use a large number of in-text exhibits copied and pasted from authors. Finally,  Turn in your paper on time. Meeting deadlines is critical in business, and late papers will be penalised. If you are requesting an extension, you must do so before the due date. Due to unpredictable Internet service, try to upload your paper a few days before the deadline;  Upload your completed midterm as a .doc through the RKC system. Do NOT email it to your professor or post it to the forum. Submit only one file. Include any Excel analysis or other elements (if relevant) as images, not embedded files.  Presentation style and clarity are important. We do not expect perfect English, but please proofread your work to eliminate confusing passages and major errors. Students often accidentally skip entire sections, which causes them to lose many points. Data should be clearly laid out in tabular format so that your approach and answer are both plainly evident.