| COURSE: Master of Business Administration | |
| Unit: | Operations Management |
| Unit Code: | BUS 506 |
| Type of Assessment: | Assessment 4 – Operations management plan |
| Unit Learning Outcomes addressed: | Learning outcomes – (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) Demonstrate critical understanding of the strategic role which operations management plays in an organisation’s success. Analyse and evaluate the relationships between stakeholders, business strategies, organisational structures and social institutions from an operational management context. Analyse business operations using appropriate performance measures such as, but not limited to, flow time, throughput rate and capacity. Evaluate and model ways of effectively implementing state of the art theories of quality control and management activities in business operations. Assess and synthesise diverse information in order to apply appropriate techniques and tools to address modern operations management challenges faced by organisations and institutions including, but not limited to, logistics and supply chain management. Exhibit an advanced level of awareness of the ethical aspects of operations management within the organisation and across the value chain. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the central theoretical and practical issues, decisions and processes involved in manufacturing and service transformations. |
| Criteria for Assessment: | Criterion 1 – Description of the organisation/ supply chain/ process – (5/50) Criterion 2 – Understanding of operations management concepts – (10/50) Criterion 3 – Analysis of the selected process – (10/50) Criterion 4 – Recommendations and implementation plan – (20/50) Criterion 5 – References and structure – (5/50) |
| Assessment Task: | The purpose of this assessment is to allow students take on a management perspective to analyse an organisational process and develop an operations management plan with the aim of improving the situation. Students will be required to analyse on process in the company they work for or a company they are familiar with and develop a plan with solutions required to make improvements. The operations plan will cover the following: An introduction to the organisation or supply chain Description of the selected process Analysis of the process using relevant concepts to identify shortcomings Evaluation of the possible strategies for addressing the shortcomings Recommendations of the most suitable strategies Resource requirements for implementing the proposed strategies Implementation plan for the proposed strategies 8. Conclusion |
| Submission Date: | Week 13 (online submission via Turnitin) |
| Total Mark & Weighting: | 50 marks (50%) |
| Students are advised that any submissions past the due date without an approved extension or without approved extenuating circumstances incurs a 5% penalty per calendar day, calculated from the total mark e.g. a task marked out of 35 will incur a 1.75-mark penalty per calendar day. |
GENERAL NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENT
Assignments should usually incorporate a formal introduction, main points and conclusion, and will be fully referenced including a reference list.
The word count for the assessment is 2000 words (+/- 10%)
Marks will be deducted for failure to adhere to the word count
GENERAL NOTES FOR REFERENCING
References are assessed for their quality. You should draw on quality academic sources, such as books, chapters from edited books, journals etc. Your textbook can be used as a reference, but not the lecturer notes. We want to see evidence that you can conduct your own research. Also, in order to help markers, determine students’ understanding of the work they cite, all in-text references (not just direct quotes) must include the specific page number/s if shown in the original.
Work that includes sources that are not properly referenced according to the “Harvard Referencing Workbook” will be penalized.
MARKING GUIDE (RUBRIC):
Your assessment would be marked based on the following marking guideline.
Total marks – 50
| Criteria | Mark | Fail | Pass | Credit | Distinction | High Distinction |
| Criterion 1 Description of the organisation/supply chain/process | 5 | Below 5.0 | 5.0 – 6.0 | 6.5 – 7.0 | 7.5 – 8.0 | 8.5 and above |
| Limited and incomplete description, missing many elements | Adequate description of, missing a few elements | Good and thorough description, includes all elements | Very good and thorough description, includes all elements | Exceptional and thorough description, includes all elements | ||
| Criterion 2 Understanding of operations management concepts | 10 | Below 5.0 | 5.0 – 6.0 | 6.5 – 7.0 | 7.5 – 8.0 | 8.5 and above |
| Understanding of the individual concepts not demonstrated | Understanding of the individual concepts is satisfactory | Understanding of the individual concepts is sound | Understanding of the individual concepts is detailed | Understanding of the individual concepts is highly integrated | ||
| Criterion 3 Analysis of the selected operations management process or processes | 10 | Below 5.0 | 5.0 – 6.0 | 6.5 – 7.0 | 7.5 – 8.0 | 8.5 and above |
| Lack of critical analysis of the operations management process or processes Relevant theories or concepts not applied in the analysis | Limited critical analysis of the operations management process or processes Limited application of the relevant theories or concepts in the analysis | Some critical analysis of the operations process or processes demonstrated Relevant theories or concepts have been applied in the analysis | Competent level of critical analysis of the operations management process or processes Relevant theories or concepts have been correctly applied in the analysis | Clear and thorough critical analysis of the operations management process or processes Relevant theories or concepts been adequately applied in the analysis | ||
| Criterion 4 Recommendations and implementation plan | 20 | Below 10.0 | 10.0 – 12.0 | 12.5 – 14.0 | 14.5 – 16.0 | 16.5 and above |
| Limited, insufficient analysis of solutions with few and unclear recommendations for implementation. No implementation plan discussed | Analysis of alternatives with fairly established recommendations for implementation. Implementation plan mentioned but not adequately described | Good analysis of alternatives with established recommendations for implementation. Implementation plan described but could have | Very good analysis of alternatives with established recommendations for implementation. Implementation plan explained. | Exceptionally thorough analysis of alternatives with clearly established recommendations for implementation. |
| been improved by providing more details. | Implementation plan well explained will all key aspects covered. | |||||
| Criterion 5 Structure and mechanics Coherence and organization APA format | 5 | Below 2.5 | 2.5 – 3.0 | 3.5 – 3.8 | 3.9 – 4.4 | 4.5 and above |
| An unfocussed, incoherent essay, characterized by disorganization and/or missing required sections. References are inconsistent with required format; a notable number of errors present. | A somewhat focused, slightly incoherent essay, characterized by some disorganization and/or missing required sections. References are inconsistent with required format; a number of errors present. | A somewhat coherent and organized essay and including most required sections. Referencing format is adhered to throughout the essay, with some errors present. | A clear and coherent essay, organized and including all required sections. Referencing format is rigorously adhered to throughout the essay, with very few errors present. | An exceptionally clear, concise and coherent essay, critically organized and including all required sections. Referencing format is rigorously adhered to throughout the essay, with no errors present. |
APA TEMPLATE FOR ASSESSMENT
APA Style Sixth Edition Template: This Is Just an Example Title That Has a Colon In It
John Smith
Abstract
An abstract is a single paragraph, without indentation, that summarizes the key points of the manuscript in 150 to 250 words. For simpler papers, a somewhat shorter abstract is fine. The purpose of the abstract is to provide the reader with a brief overview of the paper. When in doubt about a rule, check the sixth edition APA style manual rather than relying on this template.
Keywords: writing, template, sixth, edition, APA, format, style, self-discipline
Title of Paper Gets Repeated Here Exactly As It Appears On The First Page
This is where the body of your paper begins. Note that the title of your paper appears at the top of your introduction even though other sections begin with headings like “Method”, “Results” and so on. The rest of the text in this template provides hints about properly generating the parts of your APA-formatted paper. Notice that there is no extra spacing between the paragraphs or sections.
The major components of your paper (abstract, body, references, etc.) each begin on a new page. These components begin with centered headings at the top of the first page. (You can see how major components of text get divided in this freely available sample document: http://www.apastyle.org/manual/related/sample-experiment-paper-1.pdf ). Some papers have multiple studies in them so the body could have multiple sections and subsections within it.
Sections can have subsections with headings. For example, a Method section might have Participants, Materials, and Procedure subsections if there are enough details to explain to warrant such headings. The sixth edition of the APA manual, unlike earlier editions, tells you to bold some headings. Below are examples.
Heading Level 1
Heading Level 2
Heading level 3. (Note the indent and period, and note how the capitalization works. You will probably never go deeper than the third heading level.)
Heading level 4.
Heading level 5.
Citations and References
Check your assigned reading materials for rules about citations (which occur within the text of the paper) and references (which are listed in their own separate section at the end of the paper). Remember that you can find a lot of answers to formatting questions with a careful search. When you’re looking at information online, check the source, and consider whether the information might refer to an older edition of APA format. When in doubt, follow the latest edition of the APA manual.
About a References Section
An example of a References section is on the next page. Take note of the “hanging indent” style and double-spacing (with no extra spacing between references). The easiest way to create hanging indents is to type your references without worrying about indentation and when you are finished, select all the references at once and apply the hanging indents with your word processor.
Many APA format rules are not mentioned or demonstrated in this document. You should plan to spend a lot of time looking up formatting rules (http://www.apastyle.org/ is helpful). If APA formatting is driving you crazy and you want a distraction, how about alleviating people’s suffering with a simple click? Check out The Hunger Site (http://www.thehungersite.com/).
References
Ajournalarticle, R. H., Spud, P. T., & Psychologist, R. M. (2016). Title of journal article goes here. Journal of Research in Personality, 22, 236-252. doi: 10.1016/0032-026X.56.6.895*
B’Onlinesourcesareconfusing, S. O. (2010). Search for answers at apastyle.org and include issue numbers after volume numbers when there is no DOI. Journal of Articles Without Digital Object Identifiers, 127 (3) , 816-826.
Cmagazinearticle, B. E. (2009, July). Note the last names on this page: Each source type has to be formatted in a different way. [Special issue]. Prose Magazine, 126 (5), 96-134.
Dbookreference, S. M., Orman, T. P., & Carey, R. (1967). Google scholar’s “cite” feature is usually accurate and time-saving. New York, NY: Pearson.
O’encyclopedia, S. E. (1993). Words. In The new encyclopedia Britannica (vol. 38, pp. 745-758). Chicago, IL: Penguin.
Pchapter, P. R., & Inaneditedvolume, J. C. (2001). Scientific research papers provide evidence of frustration with giant style manuals. In P. Z. Wildlifeconservation, R. Dawkins, & J. H. Dennett (Eds.), Research papers are hard work but boy are they good for you (pp. 123-256). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Qosenberg, Morris. (1994, September 11). This is how you cite an online news article that has an author. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/dir/subdir/2014/05/11/a-d9-11e3_story.html
* On p. 189, the 6th ed. manual says “We recommend that when DOIs are available, you include them”—so you can skip the DOI if you can’t find it. Footnotes like this aren’t appropriate in a real references section.
Table 1
Correlations Among and Descriptive Statistics For Key Study Variables
Variables | M (SD) | Sex | Age | Income | Educ. | Relig. | Dist. Intol. |
| Sex | 1.53 (.50) | .07 | -.09 | .02 | .14 | .06 | |
| Age | 31.88 (10.29) | .08 | .19* | .20* | .01 | ||
| Income | 2.60 (1.57) | .04 | -.14 | -.09 | |||
| Educ. | 3.44 (1.06) | -.29* | -.06 | ||||
| Relig. | 1.21 (.30) | -.19* | |||||
| Dist. Intol. | 3.75 (1.19) |
Notes. N’s range from 107 to 109 due to occasional missing data. For sex, 0 = male, 1 = female. Educ. = education. Dist. Intol. = distress intolerance. Relig. = religiosity.
* p < .05.
Figure 1.This simple path model, adapted from results in a Journal of Consumer Behaviour paper, is an example of a figure. The figure appears on the last page (although in the rare case that you have an appendix, the appendix would follow the figure).