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Review the following scenario:Assume that you have recently
been hired as the director of continuous improvement of a
company. You are an outside hire with limited history of the
firm and personal capital at the firm, and you are responsible
for lean production, total quality management (TQM), six
sigma, and best practice implementation. Lean production
means doing more with less, such as less inventory, fewer
workers, or less space. A recent trade in quality management is
lean six sigma (also known as lean sigma) that integrates six
sigma and lean production.The capacity for which you were
hired has existed for three years with a direct line of report to
the vice-president of operations and dotted line of report to the
21. head of information technology (IT), the chief information
officer (CIO), and the director of internal controls and audit.
You are the second person to fill in this position. You have a
team of internal consultants; half of your team has six sigma
black belt or equivalent capabilities with the remainder having a
solid understanding of operations and IT. You also have a
budget for two external vendor resources. You have taken six
months to familiarize yourself with the organization and its
people, mission, goals, strategy, and structure. In this time, you
have also evaluated current operations. At the end of this
period, you are assigned to deliver a report identifying the three
most promising avenues for achieving best practices within the
company. You have already been told that the company suffers
from both aging and complex information systems and that your
recommendation must include a major upgrade of those systems.
The executive officers anticipate major investments in IT over
the next several years. Your best practice implementations,
coupled with new technology, must be measurable in terms of
speed, quality, productivity, and efficiency or other key
performance indicators that you identify in your report. For this
assignment, you will choose a company with which you are
familiar. You are encouraged to choose a company for which
you currently work or have worked, but you may choose some
other firm if you believe it will be a compelling analysis.You
may choose one area of the company, such as a manufacturing
22. plant or product design, to focus on if you can make a strong
case. Your recommendations should have the following
features.Repeatable: If you “fix” three things in a
manufacturing plant, you should be able to tackle the “next”
three in iteration.Scalable: If they work in one plant, they
should work in all of them.Replicable: Your process for
improvement should be repeatable in different, disparate parts
of the organization.This is a key initiative at the “C” level, and
your recommendation will reach the board of directors.Your
paper must include the following sections:
Strategic Overview
: (1 page)
Provide a brief description of the following elements: The
company, including its products or servicesMarketing strategy:
target market segments, value proposition, market position, and
source of competitive differentiationOrganizational
structureAny other relevant facts
Analysis of the Supply Chain
: (4 pages)
Analyze the supply chain for your identified company by
explaining the following key elements of the supply chain:
Identify key inputs, including less tangible assets, such as
human resources and information. How are these key inputs
23. sourced, reconfigured into a product or service, and delivered to
your customers?Identify the key processes that add value, and
evaluate the supply chain performance relative to the
competition. What are the key inputs for each process? How are
these inputs processed or configured into the final offering for
your customers?What is the value added at each step?What is
the role of information technology and e-commerce in serving
your customers?What are the key performance measures for
evaluating your supply chain?Research online sources to
explain how the performance on these measures compares to
that of your competitors?
Plan to Improve Operating Processes
: (3 pages)
Create a plan for improving the performance of three specific
operating processes in your company. Your plan should address
the following: Identify three elements of the supply chain that
you recommend as targets for improvement.State the
performance improvement opportunity for each element, and
indicate how it will improve process speed, quality, efficiency,
and productivity.Explain what specific action or change you
recommend for each supply chain element selected.
Explanation of the Results of Performance Improvements
Regarding Product or Service
: (2 pages)
24. Explain the following: How will your product or service be
improved as a result of these changes to the supply chain
activities?How are you altering the specific features or
attributes of your product or service?Why are these specific
changes important to your customers?How do these changes
enhance the value proposition and competitive position of your
company?What lasting capabilities and improvement are you
introducing into your company through these changes?How will
you measure the scope and impact of your improvements? What
are your key performance indicators?
Assessment of the Impact on Human Resources
: (1–2 pages)
Detail how your plan impacts your company’s HR and human
capital strategy by explaining how the organization’s structure
supports the new process configuration you are recommending.
Your response should address the following questions: Are the
roles and responsibilities in your organization properly defined
and aligned to enable these changes? Who will perform these
new/modified process activities, and what changes to their jobs
do you anticipate?Is decision-making authority assigned so that
the process changes you propose can be implemented and
properly managed under the current structure? Who will own
the process and the results? Based on the current structure, will
25. they have the authority to make changes as necessary?Are the
individuals with the right skills in place to implement these
changes? If not, how will you attract the talent necessary to
implement your changes? How will you retrain the existing
employee base? How will you handle attrition? How will you
reduce the risk of impacted protected classes?
Changes
:
Explain changes to the compensation and incentives at your
company that are necessary to reinforce your recommendations
and increase efforts for continuous improvement throughout the
organization. Explain how your plan motivates employees,
customers, and suppliers better.Write an 10–12-page paper in
Word format. You may rearrange the above sections if it
improves the quality of your paper. Apply APA standards to
citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention:
LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A1.doc.
By the due date assigned,
deliver your assignment to the
Submissions Area.LASA 2 Grading CriteriaAssignment
ComponentProficiencyMaximum PointsContent Knowledge:
Understanding
Communicates understanding of assignment by synthesizing
data to explain a strategic overview of your company, its
26. services, and all other required data.CO 1
MSM PO: 2, 4, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
ILO 1, 3, 6Response incorporates analysis and synthesis of
central concepts of the assigned topic.Response reflects
understanding of the nature of the specific topic within the
discipline and its applications in contemporary times.Response
provides necessary details and specific examples.48
Content Knowledge: Application Component 1
Communicates the ability to analyze the supply chain for your
identified company by explaining all the following required key
elements of the supply chain.CO: 3
MSM PO: 2, 4
MBA PO: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 2, 3, 6Response demonstrates a working command of
27. the disciplinary content knowledge.Response examines the
specific issue within the context of the topic area using relevant
details and examples.Response analyzes the specific aspect of
the issue to applicable areas within the discipline and their
relevance to real-world contexts.Response is adequately
supported by current and relevant literature56
Content Knowledge: Application Component 2
Communicates the ability to synthesize data to create a plan for
improving the performance of three specific operating processes
in your company (including answers to all required
elements).CO: 3
MSM PO: 2, 4
MBA PO: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 2, 3, 6Response demonstrates a working command of
the disciplinary content knowledge.Response examines the
specific issue within the context of the topic area using relevant
details and examples.Response analyzes the specific aspect of
the issue to applicable areas within the discipline and their
relevance to real-world contexts.Response is adequately
supported by current and relevant literature.56
28. Content Knowledge: Application Component 3
Communicates the ability to synthesize data to explain results
of performance improvements regarding the product/service
(including answers to all required elements).CO: 2
MSM PO: 2, 3, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 3, 5, 6Response demonstrates a working command of
the disciplinary content knowledge.Response examines the
specific issue within the context of the topic area using relevant
details and examples.Response analyzes the specific aspect of
the issue to applicable areas within the discipline and their
relevance to real-world contexts.Response is adequately
supported by current and relevant literature.56
Content Knowledge: Application Component 4
Communicates the ability to synthesize data to create a set of 4–
6 performance measures for evaluating mangers that integrate
with IKEA’s values, and explain how you would implement
them in the workplace.CO 1
29. MSM PO: 2, 4, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
ILO 1, 3, 6Response demonstrates a working command of the
disciplinary content knowledge.Response examines the specific
issue within the context of the topic area using relevant details
and examples.Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue
to applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to
real-world contexts.Response is supported by current and
relevant literature56
Written Communication/
Personal Effectiveness
Conveys through written word understanding and application of
an understanding and application by delivery of a report
identifying the three most promising avenues for achieving best
practices within the company.CO 2
MSM PO: 2, 3, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
30. ILO: 1, 3, 5, 6Writing is concise and clear in content, language
use, grammar, organization, and sentence structure.Writing is
free of major grammatical and usage errors.16
Oral Communication/
Personal Effectiveness
Conveys through oral communication, such as a PowerPoint
presentation, an understanding and application delivery of a
report identifying the three most promising avenues for
achieving best practices within the company.CO 2
MSM PO: 2, 3, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 3, 5, 6Presentation is concise with a logical flow of
thought.Content includes clearly articulated key points that are
free of major errors.Presentation is visually appealing and
addresses audience considerations adequately.12
Total:
300