Measures of Dispersion and Variability: Range, QD, AD and SD
Take Me to Your (Ethical) LeaderFour years ago, George Macke.docx
1. Take Me to Your (Ethical) Leader
Four years ago, George Mackee, his wife, Mary, and their two
children moved from El Paso to Hondo, Texas. He had accepted
a promotion, along with a pay raise, to manage the local plant
for Ardnak Industries, a manufacturer of plastic parts for oil
refineries. The plant employed several hundred workers, a
substantial portion of Hondo’s employment base. Ardnak had
several plants similar to the Hondo operation in Texas and
Oklahoma. George felt he had a good relationship with his
boss, Bill Melon, at Ardnak’s headquarters in Austin.
A problem at the Hondo plant was its smokestack emissions
consistently exceeded EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
guidelines. Several months ago, Bill told George that the EPA
had found the plant out of compliance and would be levying
fines until the problem was cured. Installing “scrubbers” was
the best way to fix the problem, but until the company’s profits
improved Bill wouldn’t approve George’s budget request to
install them. Instead, Bill asked why other Ardnak plants with
older equipment than at Hondo were able to satisfy the EPA’s
standards.
After calling other Ardnak plant managers, George learned how
they did it: work that produced out-of-compliance emissions
was always scheduled for the night shift rather than during the
day. That way, when the EPA did a random daytime check,
emissions levels were within standards and the plants were able
to meet their production goals. George thought about re-
scheduling the Hondo plant’s work in this way, but realized that
doing so would actually increase total emissions in the local
airspace.
3. 2. Who are the stakeholders affected by this situation?
3. How are these stakeholders affected?
4. What are George’s options to resolve this problem?
5. Evaluate the pros and cons of each option.
6. What should George do? Why?
The EOSP provides an opportunity for you to
demonstrate integration of your knowledge of financial and
operational management.
You will each develop a plan that integrates effective financial
and operational decision making to successfully meet a
managerial challenge and improve the performance of your
enterprise.
The faculty hopes that the application to your own
enterprise will be both motivating and ideally, of practical value
to you at work. Previous students in other MBA courses have
reported that their EOSPs have been approved for actual
implementation at work.
Each student is to choose one of the following three enterprises
- Amazon.com, Inc., Apple, Inc., or Google, LLC and:
· Propose a major (= strategic) decision facing your chosen
enterprise
· Evaluate the decision, emphasizing
its financial and operational aspects
· Develop a plan of action for the enterprise to employ to make
and then implement the decision, in a succinct report that
4. includes an executive summary, in 10-12, double-spaced, 12-
point font pages
For examples:
· One major decision facing Amazon.com, Inc. is whether to
improve the working conditions of its employees, currently
believed by many to be underpaid and overworked in meeting
the company's tight shipping times
· One major decision facing Apple, Inc. is how to regain the
market share its smartphones have recently lost to competitors
around the world
· One major decision facing Google LLC is how to avoid being
charged as a monopolist enterprise in the United States.
More Information:
What is a succinct report? Could it be 10 pages or less? One
reads that IBM decision papers are limited to that length, and
we all recall the single-sheet Ringo Sho approach to important
decisions at Toyota.
As to overall plan format, I-B-
C (http://polaris.umuc.edu/~jstewart/StewartWebSite/writingt.ht
m) is, recommended for your consideration.
A results-filled executive summary (ES) should lead off the
plan. This link is to "How to Write an Executive Summary" in
Course Resources. You may also benefit from a review of the
files in Course Resources specific to Writing Guidelines and
the files showing proper APA citations.
The
EOSP
provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate
integration of
5. your knowledge
of financial
and operational management.
You will each d
evelop a plan that integrates effective financial and operational
decision making to
successfully meet a managerial challenge and improve the
performance of your enterprise.
The
faculty hopes that the application to your own enterprise
will be both motiva
ting and ideally, of
practical value to you at work.
Previous students in other MBA courses have reported that their
EOSPs
have been approved for actual implementation at work.
Each student is to choose
one
of the following three enterprises
-
6. Amazon.com, Inc., Apple, Inc., or Google, LLC and:
·
Propose
a
major
(=
strategic)
decision
facing your chosen enterprise
·
Evaluate
the
decision
, emphasizing its
financial
and
operational
aspects
·
7. Develop
a
plan
of
action
for the enterprise to employ to make and then
implemen
t
the decision, in a succinct report that includes an executive
summary, in 10
-
12, double
-
spaced, 12
-
point font pages
For examples:
·
One major decision facing Amazon.com, Inc. is whether to
improve the
working conditions of its employees, currently believed
by many to be
underpaid and overworked in meeting the company's tight
shipping
times
8. ·
One major decision facing Apple, Inc. is how to regain the
market share
its smartphones have recently lost to competitors around the
world
·
One major decision facing Googl
e LLC is how to avoid being charged as
a monopolist enterprise in the United States.
More
Information:
What
is
a
succinct
report?
Could
it
be
13. You
may
also
benefit
from
a
review
of
the
The EOSP provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate
integration of your knowledge of financial
and operational management.
You will each develop a plan that integrates effective financial
and operational decision making to
successfully meet a managerial challenge and improve the
performance of your enterprise.
The faculty hopes that the application to your own enterprise
will be both motivating and ideally, of
practical value to you at work. Previous students in other MBA
courses have reported that their EOSPs
have been approved for actual implementation at work.
Each student is to choose one of the following three enterprises
-
Amazon.com, Inc., Apple, Inc., or Google, LLC and:
14. enterprise
operational aspects
and then
implement the decision, in a succinct report that includes an
executive
summary, in 10-12, double-spaced, 12-point font pages
For examples:
Amazon.com, Inc. is whether to
improve the
working conditions of its employees, currently believed by
many to be
underpaid and overworked in meeting the company's tight
shipping
times
market share
its smartphones have recently lost to competitors around the
world
charged as
a monopolist enterprise in the United States.
More Information:
What is a succinct report? Could it be 10 pages or less? One
reads that IBM decision papers are
limited to that length, and we all recall the single-sheet Ringo
Sho approach to important decisions at
Toyota.
As to overall plan format, I-B-
C
(http://polaris.umuc.edu/~jstewart/StewartWebSite/writingt.htm
) is, recommended for
your consideration.
15. A results-filled executive summary (ES) should lead off the
plan. This link is to "How to Write
an Executive Summary" in Course Resources. You may also
benefit from a review of the
Deena Vaughn
End of Seminar Project:
Increased Effectiveness and Efficiency in the Delivery of
Instructional Materials
Deena Vaughn
April 20, 2010
University of Maryland University College
16. 1002 DMBA 620 9040
Professor James Stewart
James J. Stewart
Rectangle
James J. Stewart
Rectangle
2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
...............................................................................................
........................................ 4
Introduction
...............................................................................................
................................................... 5
Managerial Challenge
............................................................................... ................
.................................... 6
Course Materials at UMUC
...............................................................................................
........................ 6
24. 4
Executive Summary
UMUC, a global university with over 90,000 students, offers a
broad range of opportunities for
adult learners to realize their education pursuits. While the
University has provisions for traditional
classroom instruction, eighty percent of the classes are offered
within the virtual classroom. As we enter
the new decade, the administration of UMUC has been actively
engaging in the evaluation and analysis
of the programs that are offered in both the graduate and
undergraduate schools.
In the undergraduate program, in which nearly seventy thousand
students are involved, a
tremendous initiative is underway. The school has implemented
a curriculum re-design program known
25. as Segue. Not only have all programs been assessed and re-
align, but the format of the course offering
has been standardized. Effective with the fall 2011 semester,
all undergraduate courses will be offered
in eight week sessions.
This initiative is changing operational processes across the
entire University. The textbooks unit,
which is already challenged by state legislation to reduce the
cost of course materials to students, will
be significantly impacted by Segue. Due to the high incidence
of backorders with MBS, UMUC’s
partnering bookstore, we simply cannot meet the course
materials delivery demands that will be
brought about by consecutive eight week and there is a need to
develop an alternate operational
strategy to meet the needs of students.
26. A project team has been assembled to research, design and
establish a virtual university
bookstore that will deliver e-Content to students over a secure
website. The team will establish a
working plan that will enable the project goal to be delivered on
time, by July 2011 and within budget,
one million dollars. The team will maintain a clear line of
communication and reporting to stay on track
keep upper management abreast of the progress. Consideration
has been given to internal and external
constraints to prevent these from hindering the team’s ability to
deliver the project goals.
Operationally, the focus will be centered on the Japanese
principle of jidoka, which is
continuous improvement. The process improvement plan will
include an ongoing system of evaluation
27. and quality control. It will be necessary for the University to
make a substantial investment in
technological enhancements; however, these should be offset by
sales potential. Additionally, customer
satisfaction is expected to increase three-fold and should have a
positive impact on enrollment and
retention.
5
Introduction
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) was
28. founded in 1947 and is one of 11
degree-granting institutions in the University System of
Maryland (Anonymous, 2010). What began as
the adult education arm of the University of Maryland College
Park (UMCP) has blossomed into a global
university that offers classes at locations in the Washington
Metropolitan area, Europe, Asia and online.
With an enrollment of nearly 90,000 (80% of which is online),
UMUC serves students around the globe.
UMUC's mission is to offer a quality education to students in
Maryland, the nation and the world
(Anonymous, 2010). Among the core values of the University
are principles to guide the behaviors of
individuals and institutions within UMUC. These include:
students first, accountability, diversity,
integrity, excellence, innovation and respect (Anonymous,
2010). To meet the needs of a growing student
29. body, UMUC relies on the support of individuals within several
departments across the University.
Ultimately, the function of all units touches the student in some
way; therefore, it is critical for each to
operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.
The University has established guidelines and objectives for
each unit with the intent to ensure
that every area of the organization is focused on meeting the
needs of the students. The textbooks unit is
responsible for ensuring that students are able to purchase
required course materials. Additionally, the
unit ensures that instructors receive the materials needed to
prepare a quality course.
Within the textbooks unit there are considerations for both the
graduate and undergraduate
programs. While there are many correlations between the two
30. schools there are some considerable
differences. There are a substantially greater number of
students and courses within the undergraduate
program as compared to the grad school. Additionally, there
are a greater number of formats in which
courses are offered in the undergraduate program. As a result,
new initiatives are typically rolled out
within the undergraduate program and then implemented within
the graduate program.
There are also two perspectives on the textbook requirements
for the undergraduate program. As
indicated earlier, the unit ensures that the course materials
needs of both students and instructors are met.
As such, an all encompassing process is implemented. Again,
in this area of focus, there are similarities
and differences. Gratis materials are provided, as a courtesy, to
all UMUC faculty members. Students,
31. on the other hand, are required to secure materials
independently prior to the start of class. As a result,
delivery methods are centered primarily on the needs of
students and then applied to the faculty
distribution process.
This paper will provide an integrated approach to tackle an
important managerial challenge
within the undergraduate student textbook delivery process.
Emphasis will be placed on developing a
strategy that will be scalable to meet the growing needs of the
University.
6
32. Managerial Challenge
Course Materials at UMUC
According to our text, quality is defined by two characteristics,
design and process (Jacobs &
Chase, 2008). Design quality is concerned with meeting the
requirements of the customer, while process
quality is concerned with the reliability of a product or service
(Jacobs & Chase, 2008). With the
marriage of the two, an organization is able to deliver
excellence in the products and services that are
valuable to the customer. The product that my organization
hopes to deliver is a quality education that
will be respected in the marketplace when UMUC graduates
seek to gain or improve their job status. Of
significance is the fact that the University is delivering this
product primarily through the technology of
33. virtual classrooms. So essentially there is a need to ensure that
students receive a quality diploma and
actually feel as if they have learned something that they can use
to advance their careers.
Textbooks are a critical part of the successful academic setting
that UMUC is cultivating.
Students and instructors must have materials from the first
moment of instruction. Currently the
University partners with Missouri Book Services (MBS) to
provide students with the ability to purchase
materials from a virtual bookstore. This arrangement is
managed under a contract that is generated to
provide students with a dedicated source for course material
needs at a reasonable price.
Although UMUC has partnered with MBS on certain guidelines
to meet the course material needs
of students, the online bookstore is still a separate entity from
34. the University. As such, MBS operates
under a business model that meets the company’s profit and
sales objectives. Ultimately, this means that
the University cannot dictate MBS’ purchasing strategy.
Although MBS is contractually bound to
provide students with the ability to purchase all course
materials as adopted by UMUC, the order
quantities are based on student sales.
Despite UMUC’s negotiated contract pricing with MBS, there
are a number of retail outlets that
offer the specified course materials at a lower cost to students;
therefore, these savvy adult learners shop
the market place to secure the best deals on material
requirements. In addition, instructors that are
concerned with the cost of materials have researched the best
deals and often steer students away from
35. MBS. As a result, sales decline at the online bookstore and
ordering quantities are adjusted accordingly.
A consequence of this unfortunate cycle is that MBS has
become notorious for high levels of student
backorders over the years.
Student Backorders
The University maintains a high level of concern about the
instances of students who do not have
required course materials at the start of class. From UMUC’s
perspective, one backorder could cause a
student to fall behind and ultimately drop the course. This has
a high reaching effect on student retention
that the University takes very seriously. MBS on the other hand
has determined that a 1% backorder rate
is acceptable within the company’s business model and does not
find the current order strategy to be too
risky.
36. Backorders exist when students place orders with MBS that are
not immediately processed and
shipped. Although student backorders would seemingly be the
result of an order deficiency with the
retailer, students pay the cost for late materials. Additionally,
there are no estimates provided on the
7
arrival stock and MBS does not expedite shipping. This
situation is particularly troublesome for military
students who are stationed in faraway lands that have a mail
system that is already quite extensive.
Backorders can also be caused by the school if academic units
are allowed to implement changes
at the last minute. If the replacement title is not readily
37. available in MBS’ distribution system, an order,
which is subject to the constraints of shipping lead times, will
be placed. This situation also has an
impact on the quality of the instruction within the classroom, as
the instructor is also likely to be without
the necessary course materials.
State legislation has prompted the University to implement a
text selection process to lower the
cost of materials for students. This practice, which solicits bids
from the publishing community, has
come with a fair share of problems. One such problem is the
need for the University to adopt materials
that are assigned specialized international standard book
number (ISBN). These specialized materials are
created because the publishers cannot offer UMUC a lower
price than is provided to any other
38. establishment.
As a consequence of this system, custom ISBNs are assigned
and students are only able to order
from MBS. Unfortunately, MBS approaches these items with
the same focus on the company’s business
model and orders against previous student orders. A case in
point, the math and statistics department
implemented a program that utilized bundled packages
specifically designed to meet the needs of the
students taking courses within that discipline.
Despite the custom nature of this program and the company’s
position as the sole distributor of
the materials, MBS did not alter the acquisition strategy. This
is due to the fact that customized materials
present a larger problem for the company; they can only sell the
materials to UMUC students. And since,
39. students sometimes will go through an entire semester without
purchasing course materials, MBS could
not rely on enrollment data to build orders for product that
might sit in the warehouse. While the
publisher was willing to offer a guaranteed return on custom
packages, MBS took two years to develop
enough data to accurately project sales and build the appropriate
inventory to meet the needs of the
students.
UMUC Intervention
The textbooks unit at UMUC has worked diligently to combat
the issues that cause student
backorders. MBS is provided updated enrollment data three
times a week for an extended period leading
up to the semester start date. This sharing of information is
intended to aid MBS in the development of a
procurement strategy designed to meet the needs of all students.
40. MBS, in return, provides data on
problem titles, of which, inventory cannot be secured for a
variety of reasons as well as notices of
backorders from publishers that supply the bookstore.
Another strategy that has been implemented by the University
that has resulted in an advantage to
the partnering bookstore is the introduction of staggered start
dates for online sessions within each term.
This has allowed MBS to carry less inventory and place orders
as needed for each session. There have
been some fallacies with this system, in that the bookstore has
run into trouble with securing the required
materials for the later sessions.
8
41. When the undergraduate program decided to offer ten week
sessions, the Dean was very
concerned about the impact of backorders on the new
accelerated format. As such, the textbooks unit was
charged with developing a way to circumvent any potential for
collateral damage. The approach that was
undertaken was one in which the help of the academic units,
library services, marketing/communications
and the publishing community was solicited. This collaboration
resulted in the implementation of an
intricate system of providing the first three chapters of all
textbooks utilized in the affected courses. An
elaborate system of communication was developed for the
academic units, faculty and students. The
program would be considered moderately successful considering
the scale for which it was implemented.
42. Purpose of UMUC/MBS Partnership
With the challenge of ensuring that the course materials needs
of students are met, there is a
lingering thought that the University should maintain a
bookstore instead of outsourcing this important
function. While the idea may be tempting, there are a
significant number of factors that would preclude
UMUC from undertaking such an endeavor. The most prevalent
would be the cost associated with the
construction and maintenance of a brick and mortar facility to
accommodate the inventory that would be
needed to supply materials to nearly 70,000 undergraduate
students.
The next question one might ask is why the University would
develop a partnership when the
internet has opened the market place for student purchases.
While this might also be a good option in
theory, there are also reasons that would prohibit this practice
43. for some students. With the number of
students utilizing financial aid to cover the cost of educational
expenses, UMUC needs to provide a venue
that will accept book vouchers for payment of course materials.
MBS serves students well in this
capacity by accepting financial and employer issued vouchers.
In addition to offering students the ability to utilize alternate
payment methods, partnering with
MBS affords the University the opportunity to offer a one stop
shop for course materials. As mentioned
in the undergraduate catalog and the schedule of classes, MBS
is the only placed guaranteed to stock all
of the materials required and recommended for UMUC courses.
Course Materials at Competing Universities
Strayer University is an open access institution dedicated to
serving the needs of adult students in
44. locations all along the eastern seaboard and parts of the
Midwest. The school is a UMUC competitor in
that working adults are offered a broad range of options to
complete their education. Strayer also partners
with MBS to provide course materials for students; however,
they appear to have taken the approach a
step further. To avoid the issues of some student backorder or
to just give the students an opportunity to
get a jump start on reading assignments, Strayer has provided a
limited number of e-chapters that students
can obtain from MBS, free of charge, with the purchase of
certain textbooks. Strayer also has a selection
of e-books that students may purchase from MBS.
University of Phoenix (Phoenix), which is UMUC’s primary
competitive, has taken course
material availability to the next dimension in comparison to
UMUC. Phoenix does not partner with any
45. bookstore to provide course materials for students. In fact, the
school ended a long time relationship with
MBS shortly after I joined UMUC. This was a hot topic of
discussion as UMUC officials scrambled to
learn the cause of the resolution of this relationship. I recently
had the opportunity to speak with a former
UMUC employee who now works at Phoenix. As a result of this
conversation, I learned that the
9
University of Phoenix actually provides students with e-
Resources, which are course materials that are
embedded in the virtual classroom. The cost of these resources
is included in the tuition; therefore,
students do not pay separate fees for course materials.
46. Looking Ahead
As UMUC looks ahead to the next decade and beyond, upper
management seeks to ensure that
the University is poised to meet the challenges and
opportunities that accompany sustainable growth.
This vision is being carried out at every level of the
organization. Often the change in one area
necessitates a change in a related area.
The academic units within the undergraduate programs have
recently implemented a strategic
plan that will reshape the way courses are presented to students.
This initiative, which is titled Supporting
Educational Goals for Undergraduate Excellence is
affectionately labeled SEGUE (pronounced segway).
Through the efforts of SEGUE, the entire undergraduate
curriculum will be redesigned by fall 2011.
Along with the re-defining and re-shaping of the programs
47. within the school, all face-to-face and online
sections will be offered in eight week sessions. An undertaking
such as this will have far reaching
ramifications across the UMUC and has already signaled a need
for drastic process improvements in
many departments. As the undergraduate dean has been noted
as saying, “this is not a SUS initiative, it is
a UMUC initiative.”
Feasibility
The textbooks delivery method, as it is today is not sufficient to
meet the needs of nearly 70,000
students who will be taking a new class every eight weeks. The
current process, which is primarily
handled by an outside vendor is plague with a plethora of
perceived or real delays that have no place in a
highly accelerated course offering such as that which is
promised by SEGUE. The University simply
48. does not have enough control over the external entities that
support the needs of the students.
The provost has already identified the textbooks unit as one that
will be impacted by the
implementation of SEGUE. As a result, he has commissioned
the department to develop a website to post
the first three chapters of all courses, graduate and
undergraduate, offered at Adelphi, Asia and Europe.
In addition, a new position has been approved to manage this
process on an ongoing basis. This approach
is really a work around that does not get to the root of the core
problem. By implementing such a plan,
University officials are essentially admitting that there is a lack
of faith in the abilities of the partnering
bookstore.
Companies such as Wal-mart or Dell that understand the
49. significance of effective supply chain
management also understand that the companies with which
they form alliances must be on the same
page. Both companies work within the constraints of just-in-
time (JIT) inventory, which is a pull system
that grabs parts for Dell or stock for Wal-mart, only when
needed for the next stage of the process. Both
companies have indicated that any supplier that wishes to do
business with them must be willing and able
to subscribe to this system. As a result, vendors and suppliers
have made a tremendous amount of
concessions, including establishing offices strategically in
relation to these companies in order to comply.
UMUC has outsourced a critical function that dramatically
impacts the quality of instruction at
the University. Along with contracting this external vendor to
handle this monumental task, UMUC has
50. 10
yielded power. As a consequence of this practice, customer
satisfaction has declined and many students
and faculty have complained. If UMUC intends to be a leader
in distance education, the University must
take control of the critical operation of course material delivery
to students.
The Proposed
