BMO2181: Operations Management
Assessment 4 – Operations Report (25%): Learning outcome X (2)
Objective
Operations report will be based on the topics covered under the unit and the text book case the ‘Hard-Rock Café’ (Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3) and ‘a local company’ PF Changs China Bistro . The objective of this assignment is to require students to apply the operations functions, concepts and knowledge gained from this subject to do a comparative analysis of a chosen organisation(s). For some conceptual matters you can use text book and any other operations management book or journals or magazines.

Assessment: Report (25%)
Group size: Groups of three-four students.

Length: The length of the report should preferably be 3000-3500 words. Please use 1.5 spaces.

Compare and contrast the types of operations tasks between Hard-Rock Café (HRC) with the local company.
• With a brief company introduction compare the operations of the Hard-Rock Café with the local company. For comparison, use the definition of operations in terms of input, transformation process, and output. Define productivity of operation such as service sector like Hard Rock Café.
• What are the operations strategies of the Hard Rock Cafe? Identify strategy changes that have taken place at HRC since its founding in 1971. Use SWOT analysis and identify Hard Rocks Cafe’s competitive advantages.
• Operations process is important for any organisation. Although all operations processes look similar in that they all transform inputs, they do differ in a number of ways such as volume of output, variety of their output, variation of demand for their output. Identify local company process strategy. Draw a flow chart of operations process; explain how to improve the operations processes of the local company. How do volume and variety affect their operations processes? Are there any customised products or services available at local company facilities?
• Quality is defined as “consistent conformance to customers’ expectations”. How to define quality of a service operations and quality of a manufacturing operations? How would you build a culture of quality in the local company? What techniques does local company follow in its drive for quality and continuous improvement?
• Supply chain is important for any business operations. Draw a supply chain network of your studied company (product/service). Describe the role of information, demand and cash flow with the chain. Discuss logistics activities with the chain?
• Capacity planning: In ‘the goal/the theory of constraint’, Jonah defines a bottleneck as “a resource that’s capacity is less than the demand placed upon it. Bottlenecks control the rate of output for any organization, not just a manufacturing plant”. Describe a bottleneck in Hard Rocks Cafe or local company. Apply five steps of Theory of Constraint. What approach is being taken by local company toward matching capacity to demand? What other approaches of matching capacity to demand they could have taken?
• Conclusion: Operations management lessons learned from the companies. Your opinion and suggestions.

Use references (Harvard Style) wherever it is necessary. The areas to be covered in your analysis will be further discussed in class on request.
Marking scheme for Operations Report:

See the following marking scheme pro forma. Reports which do not make the grade will attract a maximum of a Pass mark, or Fail.

Item Possible Awarded* Comments

• Introduction 3
• Operations strategies 3
• Operations process 4
• Quality 4
• Supply chain 3
• Capacity planning 3
• Conclusion 2
• Presentation, reference 3
and a subjective view by the lecturer
on your overall understanding of the task

TOTAL* /25

Overall Comments:
* The total represents a judgment of the whole piece of work in fulfilling the criteria in the Subject Guide. This may not exactly agree with the sum of the items.

Assessment 3 (Group) – Operations Report (25%) – Learning outcome X (2)

Submission due date- week 10
An operations report is to be carried out in a group of four students. The objective of this assignment is to require students to apply the operations functions, concepts and knowledge gained from this subject to do a comparative analysis of the organisation(s) chosen for plant visits/case study. It is important to understand the problems and concerns that surface repeatedly in day-to-day business operations.
Details about the report outline will be uploaded on WebCT in due time
We choose PF Chang’s China Bistro restaurant to compare it with Hard Rock Cafe.