Vice President of Operations, Part 3Scenario: Imagine that you are the vice president of operations at a production or service organization. You have noticed that your organization’s current operati

Supply chain management is one of the most fundamental and vital areas of a business. Supply chain management enables an organization to be aware of its products and to ensure that transportation of products from the inventory to the firm’s clients without delay or default is efficient. The firm selected for this assignment is Michigan based General Motors, which is one of the top automotive companies in the world. The firm is popularly known for cars such as Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC, a line of products that it has maintained for years.

  Evaluate two to four (2-4) weaknesses that are evident in the selected organization’s product life cycle. Generate a new product design and product selection, and then determine three (3) strategies that the organization needs in order to strengthen the operation. Provide support for the rationale.

The first weakness that the company has is in the form of its limited and reduced market in many developing countries. A good example would be the Cadillac being present only in India among the developing countries in Asia and Africa and the absence of the Buick and Chevrolet in South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina. Another weakness is in the product lifecycle in that it is limited regarding diversification. The products of the company are quite limited in number and only come in the form of automobiles and GM Financial, a financial service provider, typically providing automobile loans. Therefore, the company faces a lot of risks if there is to be volatility in the market, as it could mean a tremendous loss to the firm. GM is also finding it challenging to expand, due to the constant risks it is exposed to because of its weaknesses. A third issue that faces the firm’s product lifecycle is in bureaucracy. The company has become entirely ineffective in dealing with external threats to its products and services. Addressing the matter will require changes in the organizational structure, from the management down to the general employees.

The first strategy that the firm could use to address these weaknesses would be to revamp design and increase product selection. GM would need to ensure that its products can remain sustainable in the market. They should be looking at some of the additional international demands that can be explored especially in developing countries. GM should continue to look at countries such as China, Brazil, and India, which have recently seen a boom in their economies. With an increase in consumer purchasing power, GM should explore these opportunities closely. The product lifecycle would be made more efficient, and the demand for their products would increase significantly, as the products enter a larger market. General Motors can also try to restructure its organizational makeup to tackle the ongoing bureaucracy. The company should also explore the option of increasing the range of products offered and go beyond automobiles and financing services.

Additionally, the following strategies are essential in improving the operational efficiency of the company. First, the organization should try to implement an innovative culture from within. This type of approach can be achieved through several elements, such as employing qualified and dedicated staff members and providing additional training to current employees to improve their skillset. The employees would then be able to develop new ways of improving the supply chain and in the process make the product lifecycle much more effective. The second strategy would be to increase their research effort on the supply chain. The supply chain is one of the most critical elements of a business and is the backbone of operations, so it is imperative to develop new ways of making it more efficient through research and development. The company can also decide to employ strategies used by global organizations which are keen on reducing operational expenses and similarly improving the product delivery system (Caruana, 2002).

Determine the key components of supply chain management for the company you have selected. Determine three (3) major issues that could affect the structuring, sourcing, purchasing, and the supply chain of your organization. Provide a solution to each issue.

The main aspects of supply chain management for General Motors are network structure, management, and business operations and processes. The network structure is an essential tool in identifying and evaluating the roles played by different people in the supply chain. Business operations and procedures act as the link between the different people in the supply chain by developing a framework to work around. Management, on the other hand, ensures that there is consolidation and integration of the supply chain to increase efficiency.

General Motors as a company, has operational problems that stem mainly from the fixed market that the company is operating in. The first problem is the time taken in the production process. The company must outsource for the raw materials on a consistent basis, and similarly, the firm fails in approximating the exact amount of raw materials that would be required for the operation process. It also takes time before the final product can be developed owing to the nature of the products. In most cases, GM develops semi-finished products which are completed later, where there is an increase in demand or orders placed by the clients. The issues were demonstrated during the 2011 tsunami, which decimated many of the company’s suppliers, and the result was a crisis in the production process that saw the company record significant losses. The company did, however, learn from the crisis and had since ensured that supply chain risk management is one of its critical areas of concern.

GM also has a history of poor relations with its suppliers often being accused of significantly cutting on the production costs, which in the long run, negatively influences suppliers. The company can resolve this issue through an array of methods. For example, the company can ensure that suppliers are involved in the product development process early enough to ensure that the costs remain within the required limits. Additionally, the firm can make the supplier performance more transparent and open to scrutiny and improve the communication process. The suppliers will then feel more involved. The company can also try to recognize and reward suppliers for their excellent service provision. The firm will then be able to not only enhance the production process, but also significantly enhance the product lifecycle.

The third problem the company faces is a delay in supply. As described earlier, the problem has mainly stemmed from the poor relations that the company has with its suppliers, which crippled GM’s production process. The company has done a lot to tackle this problem, but there is still a lot more to be done. The network between the suppliers, distributors, and management should be vastly improved if future occurrences of the problem are to be limited.

Develop a total quality management tool that identifies and analyzes any future issues. Provide a rationale for developing the selected tool.

A relations diagram is the most appropriate tool for the identification and analysis of future issues that the company could face. The tool identifies the relationship between different departments, processes, and factors at the organization (Woodall, Spitzner, Montgomery & Gupta, 2004). As stated above, to solve some of the issues facing the company, there will be a need for a complete revamp of the company policy. An example would be increasing the number of products that the firm deals in. A relations diagram would be helpful in mapping the potential issues, and risks that the organization faces and identify the policies that would be most instrumental in solving current problems (SkyMark Corporation, 2013). Other tools that can be used by the company include histograms, flowcharts, and bar graphs.

Analyze three (3) advantages in employing the just-in-time philosophy in your organization. Evaluate three to five (3-5) potential impacts that the philosophy will have on quality assurance. Provide specific examples to support your response.

The first advantage of the JIT philosophy is that it assists in the formulation of a similar workload plan. The philosophy highlights the importance of the proportionate distribution of responsibilities among different departments at the firm. GM can then be able to efficiently manage its inventory and in the process to streamline its supply chain and product lifecycle (Cheng & Podolsky, 1996). The second advantage is that the philosophy, if well integrated with the company’s framework, makes it easier for any changes to be implemented efficiently and successfully. The JIT philosophy is also advantageous in that it significantly shortens the production process, as there is better coordination among different departments at the firm.

Regarding quality assurance, the philosophy could be helpful to the company in several ways. JIT would enhance the quality of the company’s products through increased coordination and integration in the production process (Cheng & Podolsky, 1996). Additionally, General Motors could save on production costs, realize more profits, and explore additional markets. JIT can also lead to downsizing, increasing efficiency, functionality, and make the production process more productive and useful.

Determine a qualitative and quantitative forecasting method for your operation. Next, create a table in which you identify the characteristics of the operation that relate to each method. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each method.

The qualitative forecasting is entirely inconsistent when used in business. Therefore, it depends on the quality of the employees that the firm has at its disposal. On the other hand, quantitative forecasting methods are applied scientifically and therefore can give the organization productive and consistent outcomes (Speegle, 2009). For the quantitative forecasting, the organization requires stored and previous information.

Table for GM MOTORS Forecasting

Demand, the trend of customer needs and production output, raw materials, and the performance of the supply chain network are some vital elements that could be used to formulate quantitative forecasting. However, this method may not be completely helpful to the company since every market is volatile. Because of this, no one can accurately predict the future of marketing (Kyriakopoulos, 2011). This method of forecasting involves having people involved in the decision-making process, who not only have extensive market experience, but also directly relate to the customers. They would then be able to make a productive forecasting analysis for the firm’s products.

References

Caruana, A. (2002). Service Loyalty, The effects of service quality and the mediating role of customer satisfaction. European Journal of Marketing, 36 (7/8), 811-828.

Cheng, T. & Podolsky, S. (1996). Just-in-Time Manufacturing: An Introduction. Springer.

Kyriakopoulos, G.L. (2011). The role of quality management for effective implementation of customer satisfaction, customer consultation, and self-assessment, within service quality schemes: A review. African Journal of Business Management, 5 (12), 4901-4915.

Corporate Strategy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2018, from https://www.gm.com/investors/corporate-strategy.html

General Motors Strategic and Operational Overview. (2016, September 21). Retrieved July 22, 2018, from https://www.gm.com/content/dam/gm/events/docs/5237319-645997-GeneralMotorsStrategicandOperationalOverview-9-21-2016

Our Company. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2018, from https://www.gm.com/company/about-gm.html

Reid, R. D., Sanders, N. R. (2013). Operations Management, 5th Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Retrieved from https://strayer.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781118819685

Schwalbe, k. (2009). Information Technology Project Management. USA: Cengage Learning.

SkyMark Corporation. (2013). Relations Diagram (or Interrelationship Digraph). Retrieved August 11, 2018, from http://www.skymark.com/resources/tools/relations_diagram.asp

Speegle, M. (2009). Quality Concepts for the Process Industry. USA: Cengage Learning.

Woodall, W.H., Spitzner, D.J., Montgomery, D.C. & Gupta, S. (2004). Using Control Charts to Monitor Process and Product Quality Profiles. Journal of Quality Technology, 36 (3), 309-320.