do it well

As you prepare for the final exam questions please note the following:

You can bring to class up to 175 words of notes.  You will need to show me your notes before you start your final, and then submit your notes to me after you finish the final.  I’m looking for you to use your best analytical skills, objectivity, and critical thinking skills to your preparation. 

The example will require a laptop with the Respondus Browser.  You cannot use your cell phone, or other devices.  You can only use the sheet of notes that you bring to class with you.  During the exam the Respondus Browser window is the only one that can be open.  To take the exam – you will need to arrive on time.  If you do not have a computer that you are not confident in – you have the option of handwriting thefinal exam.  You should bring pen and paper as back up in case you have an unexpected problem with your laptop.

For many of the questions there is not a right, or wrong answer.  There is simply a well developed, thoughtful, and rigorous approach to the question.  The final will consist of 2 of the following 7 questions.  To earn an A for this exam you will need to go beyond meeting the minimum submission asked in the question, demonstrating critical thinking skills.  A well written answer will probably be at least 350 words for most of the questions.

1.) Name a specific company, or organization that you are interested in, and identify 3 specific strategies that they should consider to improve their operational performance.  In your answer discuss the obstacles to their achieving these operational improvements, and what they should do to overcome these obstacles. (Note operational challenges – not sales and marketing)

2.) What are the inputs and outputs of the Master scheduling process? Why is this process important?  What are 3 obstacles to developing an accurate Master Schedule?

What is a strategy for overcoming each of these three obstacles? (3 x 1).  How does an inaccurate master schedule potentially impact manufacturing cost? 

3.) Table 9.3 on p. 143 of your textbook relates to the cost of quality. Name the 4, describe the 4 categories of quality and give an example of each of the four other than what is discussed in the textbook.  Offer a strategy for how you would reduce the likelihood of internal and external failure.

4.) Identify 3 strategies for dealing with uneven demand.  Then identify 3 strategies for successfully dealing with demand that increases suddenly and unexpectedly?  How does responding to uneven demand relate to product quality?

5.) Name all of the functions of inventory from your textbook.  How are these functions affected by lead time, specifically whether lead times are very long, or relatively short?

How does an increase, or decrease in lead time affect inventory carrying cost?

6.) Identify a project that you are interested in other than the fundraiser or job search we worked on in class.  Identify the major steps of this project, and which of these are on the critical path.  Then show the last step of the project and estimate the total time for the project. Use figure 17.3 from your textbook and Table 17.1 to help develop your answer. 

NOTE: Estimating the total project time will require developing a general understanding of what needs to be done between the first steps and the last step, how much time eadh step takes and how much overlap occurs from one step to another.

7.) If you were an operations manager for an organization (service or manufacturing) with at least 1,000 employees what three strategies would you use to make the operation as successful as possible?  What is your rationale for each of the three strategies?  What is one thing that might go wrong with each of these three strategies?  Approach this question by first identifying a specific business, or type of business.  (Note that if you are managing 1000 employees there will be a number of levels between you and the lower level employees.  This is an operations question – so the response is related to operational challenges – not sales, marketing, finance, or accounting.