Assignment scenario.

• You are the head of Operations Management Department of a

company in a particular industry (which will be specified by your
course tutor). You have been assigned by the managing director to
carry out an evaluation on the current operational activities and the
role of management and leadership in various contexts. This report
will enhance the decision making of BOD in the Annual General
Meeting with regards to adjusting the operations activities to meet
the future objectives and expectations of stakeholders.
Table of content
I. Introduction

• Main purposes and structure of the work.

• The chosen company
II. The operations and operations management theories and approaches

1. Key theories of operations and operations management:

• Queuing theory.
• Lean production
• JIT
2. Different operations management approaches
• MBO (Management by objectives)
• SMART
• TQM (Total Quality Management): Kaizen, Six sigma
Find out whether your chosen company is currently applying any TQM techniques and JIT production or not
with evidences to justify your answer.
Propose a SMART objective for your company to aim for in the future
Critically evaluate the importance of different operations management approaches in contemporary
business environment to help obtain and maintain business competitive advantages.
III. The importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives

1. The key operational functions of a business:

a. Control and distribution systems: direct distribution, indirect distribution
b. Transformation process
c. Process design: Market pull and Technology push.
d. Capacity management:
• Logistics and inventory management: inbound and outbound logistics, supply chain
management; inventory Management, the Benefit of holding stocks.
• Scheduling: Operational scheduling: forward scheduling and backward scheduling; shop
Floor Control (SFC)

Find out how your company is currently operating these functions in practice (at least 3
applications must be provided).
2. Explain how managing these operational functions would help your
company to achieve the targeted SMART objective (which has been
proposed by you previously).

• Which operational function(s) is the most important one to obtain

that objective?

To enhance your discussion, evaluate in general whether management

or leadership role is more appreciated in the work of managing a
business’ operations once the objective is already specified.
->Management and leadership have different roles in businesses.
IV. Factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management
and decision-making by leaders and managers.

Carry out a brief study on the impacts of Covid-19 and some

contemporary management issues (such as CSR, culture, value, ethics and
sustainability) that the chosen company/industry is facing. The relevant
stakeholder pressures should also be taken into considerations.

1. Macro environment
• PESTEL
• Identify the key forces affecting the operational management and
decision-making of the chosen company.
2. Contemporary management issues
• Regarding to:
+CSR
+Business ethics
+ Organizational Values And Sustainability
• A recent scandal of the chosen company relating to CSR
3. Stakeholder pressures
• The concept of stakeholder: internal, external.
-> the pressures from different stakeholder groups on the management and leadership
roles in the context of CSR, organizational values, ethics and sustainability
• Aspects that the business have made to reduce pressure from stakeholders within the
contexts of
+CSR
+Business ethics
+ Organizational Values And Sustainability
In order to meet the stakeholder’s expectation and reduce the pressure,
In order to meet the stakeholder’s expectation and reduce the pressure,
leader and managers need to identify key field topics based on updated
leader and managers need to identify key field topics based on updated
requirements and expectations from stakeholders, in accordance with the
requirements and expectations from stakeholders, in accordance with the
development strategy.
development strategy.

-> display examples of stakeholder expectations and leadership and

-> display examples of stakeholder expectations and leadership and
management directions in meeting expectations and relieving pressure
management directions in meeting expectations and relieving pressure
from stakeholders
from stakeholders
V. Conclusion