Operations and Information Systems: Midterm Assessment

Manufacturing/service process design is based on a considerable number of different

variables and represents, in essence, a number of trade-offs. Depending on the nature of
the business, the nature of the product, and the nature of the market place, the chosen
process design will obviously be different.

A) By taking as an example an organization or a product from an industry that you are

familiar with, critically discuss the main factors that influence the choice of a
manufacturing/service process design.

(70% of the mark)

B) How do you see the main principles of project management aiding the operations
manager/manageress in introducing change to the process/system?

(30% of the mark)

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Your answer should not exceed 2,500 words, word-processed (letter size 12, Times New
Roman, 1.5 space); scripts that are excessively long (i.e. exceeding the limit by more than
10%) will not be read beyond the point of the word limit. The word limit applies to the
main report only, and excludes exhibits, cover page, list of references, etc. The paper
should include a cover page (which should give your student number, assignment name,
date and number of words, but not your name), table of contents, numbered pages and a
list of references.

The body text should be fully referenced (Harvard Referencing

System), with clear introduction, discussion and conclusion sections. Please note that
assignment marks will also be based on aspects such as use of examples, figures, tables,
illustrations and statistics that indicate wider/independent reading.
INDICATIVE READING
Material in the form of articles from peer reviewed journals and web references are
available

via

Solar

or

other

sources;

www.emeraldinsight.com

www.sciencedirect.com are two good starting points for refereed publications.

and

GENERAL ADVICE
One of the clear academic objectives of a Masters level programme is to show in the
paper that you have read, understood and absorbed as your own the many concepts
associated with Operations Management. That is not the same as providing a summary of
which author said what; good assignments discuss the literature in terms of themes or
concepts. Try to structure your paragraphs so that the first sentence introduces the theme
or concept discussed in the paragraph, and the paragraphs themselves should be grouped
in such a way that your story flows in a structured, balanced and comprehensible way.

Some dos and dont about style:

Do not copy and paste from books or other sources. If used, direct quotes should be
few, short and in italics;

Be very sparing of using simply expressions such as 'in my opinion'; instead, put
forward your argument as to why one approach may have more advantages than
another. You might compare and contrast what different authors have to say about a
given concept. We are looking for evidence of an analytical approach;

Do not use a large number of in-text exhibits copied and pasted from authors.

Finally,

Turn in your paper on time. Meeting deadlines is critical in business, and late
papers will be penalised. If you are requesting an extension, you must do so before
the due date. Due to unpredictable Internet service, try to upload your paper a few
days before the deadline;

Upload your completed midterm as a .doc through the RKC system. Do NOT
email it to your professor or post it to the forum. Submit only one file. Include any
Excel analysis or other elements (if relevant) as images, not embedded files.

Presentation style and clarity are important. We do not expect perfect English, but
please proofread your work to eliminate confusing passages and major errors.
Students often accidentally skip entire sections, which causes them to lose many
points. Data should be clearly laid out in tabular format so that your approach and
answer are both plainly evident.