ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

MOD003345 Operational and Project Management

WRITING YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

• This assignment must be completed individually.
• You must use the Harvard referencing system.
• Your work must indicate the number of words you have used.  Written assignments must not exceed the specified maximum number of words.  When a written assignment is marked, the excessive use of words beyond the word limit is reflected in the academic judgement of the piece of work which results in a lower mark being awarded for the piece of work (regulation 6.74).
• Assignment submissions are to be made anonymously. Do not write your name anywhere on your work.
• Write your student ID number at the top of every page.
• Where the assignment comprises more than one task, all tasks must be submitted in a single document.
• You must number all pages.

SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Your work must be submitted on to Turnitin on VLE as a MS Word document only. If you submit a PDF document your work will not be marked.

In order to achieve full marks, you must submit your work before the deadline. Work that is submitted late – up to five working days after the published submission deadline - will be accepted and marked.  However, the element of the module’s assessment to which the work contributes will be capped with a maximum mark of 40%.

Work cannot be submitted if the period of 5 working days after the deadline has passed (unless there is an approved extension). Failure to submit within the relevant period will mean that you have failed the assessment

Requests for short-term extensions will only be considered in the case of illness or other cause considered valid by the Director of Studies Team. Please contact DoS@london.aru.ac.uk.  A request must normally be received and agreed by the Director of Studies Team in writing at least 24 hours prior       to                            the                 deadline.          See rules     6.64-6.73:

http://web.anglia.ac.uk/anet/academic/public/academic_regs.pdf

Exceptional Circumstances: The deadline for submission of exceptional circumstances in relation to this assignment is no later than five working days after the submission date of this work. Please contact   the   Director   of   Studies   Team   -   DoS@london.aru.ac.uk.   See   rules   6.112   –   6.141: http://web.anglia.ac.uk/anet/academic/public/academic_regs.pdf

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION

Select a company you are familiar with and one that is relevant to your degree in which you feel you have employability aspirations. Select one organisation from any of the below industries:

• Financial Services e.g. Banks, Insurances, Payments systems, Trading Brokers etc
• Hospitality e.g. Hotels, Restaurants, Airlines, Events, Transportation etc
• Manufacturing e.g. Automotive, Construction, and Textile.
• Retail e.g. High-Street / Online Stores, Supermarkets, Clothing stores etc

For this assignment, you are required to individually produce and submit a professionally presented management report of 2,500 words about your selected organisation operations, addressing Tasks 1 and 2 below:

TASK 1

Discuss the main theories / frameworks / concepts in each of the three topics below AND apply each to your selected organisation by providing real examples.

1. Components of Input-Transformation-Output Model - (Slack, Chapter 1)

2. Implications of Volume, Variety, Variation, Visibility (4Vs) - (Slack, Chapter 1)

3. The Five Performance Objectives for Operations - (Slack, Chapter 2)

TASK 2.

To make your report more valuable for prospective operations managers, carry out some research on your selected company so you:

4. Identify one real challenge / problem / critical issue that your organisation faced in the past AND discuss the steps and actions taken by the operations department to solve and deal with this same challenge.

Thus within your report, you should discuss relevant theoretical concepts and frameworks, and apply them to your selected organisation. This will show your comprehensive understanding of the complex problems faced by operations managers and discuss some techniques / solutions currently available to help solve these challenges (LO3). You should also develop problem solving skills to improve your operations decision making (LO4) and enhance your employability within the industry of your selected organisation.