Production and Operations Management Case Studies

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date
Case 1: Product Development Risks

1. What would be your line of action?

I would go ahead with the investment since it offers high good returns. However, it is

important to be highly efficient and ensure that the engine produced meets FAA and DGCA

standards.

2. Incase of lengthy product design and development time, what kind of risks are there?

1. The risk of major delay and economic cost (Chase, 1998)- for example, the engine may take

longer than the five years before production. This would also increase costs associated with

its production.

2. Risk of losing other opportunities (Chase, 1998)- Since the organization will be focused on

the single project, it may lose other opportunities given that most of its resources will be

directed to the project.

Case 2: Conflict of Interests

1. Under the above situation, if you are asked to work as a consultant to show the perspectives

to the Board of Management, what action plans would you suggest

The first step would be to understand the mission, vision, and the organizations goals. I

would then assess whether processes in the financial, processes and people management, are in

line with the organization’s goals and vision. It would also be important to evaluate the current

organizational structure for the possible restructuring of critical roles in a more suitable

hierarchy. I would also opine the restructuring of key performance indicators for the various

positions.
2. Does Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) help in situations like these?

BPR is effective especially in situations such as the one highlighted in the case study. This is

because the aim of BPR is to radically restructure the business processes of an organization to

identify areas of improvement. The organization has the opportunity to restructure its vison or

mission during the process if the current vison is unachievable or undesirable. Business process

reengineering benefits include, streamlining the business processes, reduction of operating costs,

increasing productivity, among others.

Case 3: Project Delays

1. Discuss the importance of Project Management in the light of the above situation

Project management enables the strategic alignment of resources, leadership and the output.

In this case, feasibility assessment before the commencement of the project could have identified

whether the location was suitable, and most importantly, whether the project was economically

viable. Project management also offers a realistic project planning approach (Adam & Ebert,

1991). The timeline of the commencement and completion of the various activities would have

been clearly delaminated and only commenced where it was certain that they are necessary and

achievable. For example, land acquisition should have been among the first processes in the

project.

2. As a project manager employed with GAIL, what would be your line of action to see to it

that the project is not delayed any further?

I would first carry out a feasibility study to ascertain that the project is economically viable.

I would then mobilize the necessary resources from all partners. I would then establish a team

and clearly indicate their various responsibilities, deliverables and Key performance indicators.
3. Why do projects suffer from time and cost overruns?

Issues such as financial constraints which lead to halting of projects, there may be delay in

payment of competed work leading to delayed commencement of remaining portions,

redesigning which may require restarting work that had already commenced, poor management

of funds, and poor feasibility studies and project analysis (Loader, 2006).

Case 4: JIT in Action

1. Do you think NaaR’s strategy would work? Why or why not? What is the importance of

retailers in its business strategy?

The strategy may not work due to the long delivery time. While the women are guaranteed of

jeans that are to their specifications, they can also get the same jeans from other shops instantly.

The strategy would have worked were it developing special products that only NaaR has the

know how to develop.

2. Will customers wait for 10 days to have the jeans delivered? What can NaaR do to compete

on customer service if delivery takes this much time?

While the women may not wait for that long, NaaR can offer incentives aimed at beating any

competiti0on. The first strategy would be price wars. Since NaaR is the manufacturer, they can

offer the Jeans at cheaper prices compared to retailers. They may also offer other services, for

example, partner with laundry businesses to offer cheaper dry-cleaning services for jeans bought

from them.

3. Comment on the necessity of a robust supply chain in the context of NaaR Clothing Inc.
 Since NaaR relies on other parties to get the customer’s specifications, and also to deliver the

jeans, they need to trust the retailers, and those making deliveries. Further delays in the supply

chain could lead to unsatisfied customers and therefore lead to lose of their market share.

Moreover, any mistakes that may occur along the supply chain, the customer is directly affected

which inturn affects NaaR’s sales.

Case 5: Service Blues!

1. Do you think that After Sales Service through a third party is a cause for concern? Justify

Yes. Where the third party is unethical, they may extort the customer such as the case of

Jyoti. Moreover, since the third party has no relations to the brand, they may offer services

poorly. Lastly in some cases, the third party may breach guarantee contracts.

2. There seems to be a breach of trust in the given caselet. How is breach of trust related to

quality of service?

Breach of trust has a negative effect on the customer perspective of the brand. Moreover, the

customer is not satisfied with s8uch services. Breach of trust may also affect sales since the

customer may view the brand as untrustworthy despite the quality of the product.

3. In the context of the given caselet, formulate a Quality Service Policy to ensure customer

satisfaction.

 The part repairing the item must conduct a full analysis of the item’s condition before

commencement of repair and after repair. Record of the analysis must be shared with the

customer before picking up item.

 The customer has the right to raise issues related services offered. Issues raised will be

reviewed and where the customer suffered any unjust mistreatment, the third part will take

responsibility of any costs that were unfairly surcharged to customer.

 The customer is requested to rate services offered. Ratings will be reviewed regular and may

form decisions to terminate partnership with third parties.

 Reference

Adam, E. E., & Ebert, R. J. (1991, November 30). Production and Operations Management:

Concepts, Models, and Behavior (Subsequent). Prentice Hall.

Chase, A. R. B. ; (1998, October 8). Production and Operations Management: Manufacturing

and Services : Instructor’s (8th Ed). McGraw-Hill Education.

Loader, D. (2006, May 12). Advanced Operations Management (2nd ed.). Wiley.