Strategies Flashcards

1
Q

List the Operation Strategies

A
  • Performance Objectives
  • New product / Service Design and development
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Outsourcing
  • Technology
  • Inventory Management
  • Quality Management
  • Overcomming Resistance to Change
  • Global Factors
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2
Q

List the Performance Objectives

A
  • Quality
  • Cost
  • Speed
  • Flexibility
  • Dependability
  • Customisation
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3
Q

Why are performance objectives important?

A

Performance goals enable employees to plan and organize their work in accordance with achieving predetermined results or outcomes. By setting and completing effective performance goals, employees are better able to:

  • Develop job knowledge and skills that help them thrive in their work, take on additional responsibilities, or pursue their career aspirations;
  • Support or advance the organization’s vision, mission, values, principles, strategies, and goals;
  • Collaborate with their colleagues with greater transparency and mutual understanding;
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4
Q

What is Quality as an Objective

A

Meeting customer expectationts such as Durability, Reliability, Consistency, Features Aesthetics, Service.

–> Effects costs - Higher quality = Less warranty claims = less costs (efficiency)

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5
Q

What is Speed as an Objective

A

Time taken for the production and operations system to respond to market demand

-> Reducing lead times and satisfying customer demands ASAP

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6
Q

What is Dependability (Reliability) as an Objective

A

Consistency of products -> How well its designed and manufactured

-Warranty claims are a measure of dependability

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7
Q

What is Flexibility (Adaptability) as an Objective

A

How quickly operations can respond to changes in the market.

By increasing maximum productive capacity, bus. will have more productive resources at their disposal to change.

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8
Q

What is Customisation as an Objective

A

How quickly a product can be redesigned to match customer demands
-Bus. must have regular and close contact with customers to understand their needs

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9
Q

What is Cost as an Objective

A

Minimising expenses so that operations processes are conducted as cheaply as possible

  • Technology increases efficiency
  • Reducing supplier costs, storing / moving costs etc.
  • Cost Leadsership
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10
Q

Why is New Product Design important?

A
  • Important for Innovation
  • Develop or maintain comp. adv.
  • Satisfying customer needs
  • Necessary to maintain market share
  • NPD used to respond to new technology and changing market conditions
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11
Q

What is the NPD process?

A

1) Market Research
2) Product Design
3) Prototypes / Feedback
4) Product Refinement
5) Production / Promotion

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12
Q

List some Considerations of NPD

A
  • Costs
  • Features
  • Differentiation
  • Ability to Produce (Necessary equipment to manufacture)
  • Ability of Workforce
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13
Q

What does Supply Chain Management Involve?

A

Involves integrating + managing the flow of supplies to best meet the needs of both the bus. + the customers\

Includes:

  • Production Processes
  • Suppliers of Raw Materials
  • Energy
  • Labour + Distribution
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14
Q

What are the 3 Aspects of Supply Chain management?

A
  • Sourcing (Global Sourcing)
  • e-commerce
  • Logistics
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15
Q

What is global sourcing?

A
  • Bus. purchasing supplies without being constrained by their geographic location
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16
Q

What are the Pros of Global Sourcing

A
  • Higher quality materials
  • More variety
  • Cheaper products
  • Access to specialists
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17
Q

What are the Cons of Global Sourcing

A
  • Risk of lower quality (Unknown quality)
  • Storage to store bulk
  • Time to import goods
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18
Q

What is E-Commerce

A

Buying / Selling goods + service via the Internet

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19
Q

What is E-procurement?

A

Managing supply chain through online ordering

  • > Allows direct access to level of suppliers
  • > When stock falls to predetermined point, suppliers automatically notified
  • > Is a Business-to-Businesses (B2B) arrangement
20
Q

What is Logistics

A

Broad term refering to distribution but also includes transport, storage + handling

21
Q

What are some Storage + warehousing on-costs

A
  • > Insurance (contents insurance)
  • > Security systems
  • > Excess or redundants stock costs
  • > Inventory measurement / controlling costs (management)
22
Q

What is Outsourcing?

A

The contracting out of non-core bus. activity e.g. Servicing of Equipment

23
Q

What are the Pros of Outsourcing?

A
  • Access to specialist knowledge / expertise –> The function is their core bus.
  • Lower costs -> contracted bus. can achieve better economies of scale
  • Better access to IT, tech and most suitable equipment –> Increase equality / efficiency
  • Frees up resources to invest in core. bus. activities
    e. g. IT and Banking administration are globally outsourced in India -> Less expensive yet skilled and educated labour with faster turn around times for work.
24
Q

What are the Cons of Outsourcing?

A
  • Loss of control over quality, reliability and Costs
  • Cultural barriers –> Language barriers (miscommunication)
  • Poorer relationships with stakeholders and redundant employees –> Ehitcal (CSR)
25
Q

What is Inventory

A
  • Amount of raw materials, work-in-progress amd Finished goods that the bus. has on hand
26
Q

What are the Pros of Holding Inventory?

A
  • Consumer demands met when stock avaliable -> low lead times
  • Able to generate imediate revenue
  • Bulk production -> economies of scale
27
Q

What are the Cons of Holding inventory?

A
  • Cost associated with holding stock –> Insurance, security, storage
  • Cost of Absolescene -> Product becomes irrelevant
  • Money invested in stock can be used elsewhere, where more immediate benefits may be gained
28
Q

What are the inventory valuation methods?

A

LIFO (last in, first out)

FIFO (First in, First out)

29
Q

What does LIFO do?

A

Last goods purchased are sold first

Understates profits + overstates COGS (If prices rise)

30
Q

What does FIFO do?

A

First goods purchased are sold first

31
Q

What is Just in Time inventory management?

A

JIT aims to ensure that the exact amount of material inputs are avaliable + will arrive only as they are needed in the production process

  • > Method of managaing flow + storage of stock
  • > Only makes enough products to meet demand
32
Q

What are the advantages of JIT?

A
  • Resource + storage saving

- Reduced obsolescence costs#

33
Q

What are the disadvantages of JIT

A
  • Missed sales opportunities
  • Requires reliable + trustworthy suppliers
  • If mistakes in transformation process, must order materials again
34
Q

What is Quality management?

A

Procedures + processes undertaken to ensure product consistency, reliability, safety + fitness for purpose.

35
Q

List the 3 Quality management points.

A
  • Quality Control
  • Quality assurance
  • Quality Improvement
36
Q

What is Quality Control?

A

Checking for defects at key points in the production process

  • Removing defects before they reach customers
37
Q

What is Quality Assurance

A

Establishing a set of procedures + standards to prevent defects + errors
-> Preventing quality problems before they occur

e.g. ISO 9000

38
Q

What is in Quality Improvement

A

Has 2 Parts:

  • Continuous improvement
  • Total Quality Management
39
Q

Describe Continuous Improvement

A

“Kaizen” - Japanese term used to describe activities that continously improve all bus. functions.

-> Belief that product + service can always be improved (on-going commitment to quality improvement)

40
Q

Describe TQM

A

Quality management is placed upon all staff –> Encouraged to take on initiatives that promote quality

41
Q

Describe reasons for resistance to change

A

1) Inertia -> Fear of the unknown -> Always safer to keep doing the same thing (psychological resistance to change)

2) Financial Costs:
- New equipment (training costs, etc)
- Redundancies when skills no longer required (payouts)
- Reorganising plant layout (moving costs, lost production time)

42
Q

List change management strategies

A

Change models:

  • Kurt Lewins (“Ice Model”)
  • Force Field Analysis
43
Q

Describe the Process of Kurt Lewins “Ice Model”

A

1) Unfreeze - Break down the forces supporting the existing system using evidence such as declining sales to convince the bus. that there is a need for change.
2) Change -> New procedures implemented and communicated
3) Freeze -> Positivie reinforcement to make sure the change lasts and creating stability through training and bus. culture

44
Q

Describe the force field analysis

A

A point system, weighing the pros and cons.

45
Q

Global Factors - What is scanning and learning

A
  • Learning from best practice of others
  • Experiences (Diversity in skills allows bus. to grow)
  • Conferences / events -> Learn from industry leaders
46
Q

Global Factors - Research and Development

A
  • Allow bus. to develop leading edge technologies -> comp. adv.
  • Government encouraged R & D and may offer incentives such as grants and assisstances (Advice, low interest rates on loans, government gives you money)