IP Matrix

Question 1

Two major influences on the manner in which operations improvements are prioritised.
(Think of Java and the snail garden salad)

Answer 1

1. Needs and preferences of customers (For java: clean food. Lol)
2. The performance and activities of competitors (Leaf and Bean perhaps)

Question 2

Fundamental purpose of operations is to create…

Answer 2

Goods and services in a way that meets the needs of their customers.

Question 3

IP Matrix =

Answer 3

Importance (Importance of operations objectives is shaped by customers needs and preferences, i.e. What customers find important operations should regard as important) and Performance (Operations judge their performance based on the comparison against competitors; thus competitors determine achieved performance)

Question 4

Both _ and _ need to considered before any judgment can be made as to the relative priorities for improvement.

Answer 4

Importance and Performance.

Why? Because say if something is important to customers, the operations may not need to improve to incorporate this as maybe they’re already doing better than the competitors. Or if an operation is not good compared to its competitors, doesn’t mean the customers will value the proposed improvement in operation.

Thus both must be considered to judge the prioritisation of objectives.

Question 5

Three things to consider when judging importance to customers (How important are aspects of operations to customers)

Answer 5

1. Order winning competitive factors
   (These directly win business for the operation)
2. Qualifying competitive factors
   (May not win extra business if the operation improves its performance, but can certainly lose business if performance falls below a particular point: qualifying level. E.g. Drive throughs for food chains)
3. Less important competitive factors
   (Relatively unimportant compared with the previous two)

Question 6

The three factors mentioned before for judging importance to customers are sub divided into three further points namely?

Answer 6

1. Strong
2. Medium
3. Weak

(This is done to judge the relative importance of an operation’s competitive factors, thus a more discriminating scale is used, hence the further sub division: nine point performance scale)

Question 7

Judging performance against competitors involves judging whether the achieved performance of an operation is _, _, or _ than that of its competitors.

Answer 7

Better than, same, or worse.

However, a more discriminating scale nine-point performance scale is derived here as well

Question 8

Importance-Performance Matrix does what exactly

Answer 8

It positions each competitive factor according to its scores or ratings or criteria.

(That is, priority for improvement based on the competitive factors should be assessed from a comparison of their importance and performance)

Question 9

IP Matrix is divided into

Answer 9

Zones of improvement priority.

Question 10

The first zone boundary of the IP Matrix is the

Answer 10

Lower Bound of Acceptability

(Boundary between acceptable and unacceptable performance.
If a competitive factor is rated as relatively unimportant, this boundary will be low in practice)

Question 11

Would most operations be prepared to tolerate performance levels which are at the bottom end of the rating just to be in same region of performance as their competitors?

Answer 11

Yes, for unimportant competitive factors. Most only get concerned when they’re performing below their competitors.

Question 12

For highly rated competitive factors, at what level would operations perform in comparison to their competitors?

Answer 12

At the lower end of ‘better than their competitors’ class.

Question 13

The lower end of the ‘better than their competitors’ class is defined by the _ _ _ _

Answer 13

Minimum bound of acceptability.

Question 14

_ the minimum bound of acceptability, there is need for improvement.
_ the minimum bound of acceptability there is no immediate urgency for improvement.

Answer 14

Below the minimum bound of acceptability there is need for improvement.
Above the minimum bound of acceptability there is no immediate urgency for improvement.

Question 15

For competitive factors falling below the minimum bound of acceptability, _ still needs to be considered.

Answer 15

Priority. This would vary for the competitive factors falling below the minimum bound of acceptability (A-B)

Question 16

The priority given to the competitive factors falling below the minimum bound of acceptability (A-B) can be divided by a line C-D into:

Answer 16

Urgent priority zone

Less urgent improvement zone

Question 17

Do the competitive factors found above the minimum bound of acceptability (AB) line have varying priority?

Answer 17

Yes. This is indicated by the E-F line.

Question 18

What does the E-F line do?

Answer 18

It separates the performance levels of the operation above the minimum bound of acceptability (AB) into:

1. Appropriate/Good
2. Excess/Too good

Question 19

List the four different zones of the Improvement-Performance matrix.

Answer 19

1. The urgent-action zone.
2. The improve zone.
3. The appropriate zone.
4. The excess zone.

Question 20

Describe the four zones of the IP matrix in detail.

Answer 20

1. The urgent-action zone:
   These competitive factors are important to customers but performance is below that of competitors and thus must be considered as candidates for immediate improvement.
2. The improve zone:
   These competitive factors lie below the minimum bound of acceptability and thus must be all candidates for improvement.
   3.The appropriate zone:
   These competitive factors lie above the minimum bound of acceptability and should be considered satisfactory.
3. The excess zone:
   These competitive factors are high performing (compared to competitors) but are not important to customers. Therefore the key concern here is whether the resources could be better used elsewhere.