Master of Business Administration

Student Details ( Student should fill the content)

Name
Student ID (UWIC ID and ICBT ID) Cardiff Met ID : ICBT ID :

Scheduled unit details

Unit code MBA 7061
Unit title Operations Management
Assignment Details
Nature of the Assessment REPORT
Topic of the Case Study GIVEN
Learning Outcomes covered YES
Word count 4000
Due date / Time 05 September 2021
Extension granted? (For Office use only) Yes No

Declaration
I certify that the attached material is my original work. No other person’s work or ideas have been used without
acknowledgement. Except where I have clearly stated that I have used some of this material elsewhere, I have not
presented it for examination / assessment in any other course or unit at this or any other institution

Signature Date
Result (Assessor use only)

Marks by 1st Assessor Name & Signature of the 1st Assessor Agreed Mark

Marks by IV: Name & Signature of the IV

For Office use only (hard copy assignments)

Receipt date Received by

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Assignment Type & Title:

For student use: Critical feedback on the individual progression towards achieving the assignment outcomes

For 1st Assessor use: Assessment feedback

Strengths

Weaknesses

Name & Signature of the Assessor : Date :

Comments by the IV

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Name & Signature of the IV: Date :

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 Master of Business Administration

Operations Management MBA 7061

Assignment (Individual work)

Weighting of assessment: 100% of total marks – 4000 words

Learning Outcomes Covered

 Evaluate the nature, scope and extent of manufacturing and service operations strategy;
 Critically evaluate the use of quality tools and techniques for a wide range of
organisational problems;
 Solve complex operational problems related to managing capacity and constraints within
organisations;
 Demonstrate the application of strategies, tools and techniques to improve business
operations and appraise and select appropriate methods for managing supply bases for a
variety of organisations

Assignment brief

Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest
level of efficiency possible within an organization. Operations management is concerned with
converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the
profit of an organization.

Operations management is chiefly concerned with planning, organizing and supervising in the
contexts of production, manufacturing or the provision of services. As such, it is delivery-
focused, ensuring that an organization successfully turns inputs to outputs in an efficient manner.
The inputs themselves could represent anything from materials, equipment and technology to
human resources such as staff or workers.

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Section One (40 Marks)

Students are required to read the Case Study given below and answer the questions.
(Word count – 1600)

IKEA Furniture Manufacturer

The world’s largest home furnishing retailer has 298 stores in 37 countries. It ranks Number41
on Forbes’ esteemed World’s Most Valuable Brands list, and took in 35.5 billion in sales
in2013. IKEA has certainly come a long way in its 60 years of business since its 1943 founding
in Sweden. This organization impresses not just its consumers with affordable, high quality
furniture, but also competitors and companies around the world – especially with its unique
supply chain and inventory management techniques. Each IKEA store is huge and holds more
than 9,500 products! How in the world does IKEA offer so much at such a low price while
always being able to keep items in stock?

Cost Saving In Future Design

IKEA designs unique products that incur low manufacturing costs while meeting strict
requirements for function, efficient distribution, quality, and impact on the environment.
According to a case study produced by The Times of London, more than 50% of the products are
made from sustainable or recycled products. IKEA seeks to use as few materials as possible to
make the furniture, without compromising on quality or durability. By using fewer materials, the
company cuts down on transportation costs because it uses less fuel and manpower to receive
materials and ship products

Sustainable Relationships With Suppliers

A key part of IKEA’s success is credited to its communications and relationship management
with materials suppliers and manufacturers to get good prices on what it procures. IKEA is a
very high volume retailer – it buys products from more than 1,800 suppliers in 50 countries and
uses 42 trading service offices around the world to manage supplier relationships. They negotiate
prices with suppliers, check the quality of materials, and keep an eye on social and working
conditions. Although Ikea fosters competition among suppliers to ensure they attain the best
prices and materials, it believes in making long-term business relationships with them by signing

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long-term contracts, thus lowering prices of products further. For example, IKEA has a code of
conduct called the IKEA Way of Purchasing Home Furnishing Products (IWAY), containing
minimum rules and guidelines that help manufacturers reduce the impact of their activities on the
environment. The requirements within IWAY raise standards by developing sustainable business
activities and leaving positive impacts on the business environment in which the suppliers
operate. This also underlines IKEA's commitment to the 'low price but not at any price' vision.
Although IKEA wants its customers to enjoy low prices, this should not happen at the expense of
its business principles.

Do-It-Yourself Assembly Lowers Packaging Costs

Most IKEA furniture is designed and sold in pieces for the customer to assemble. The pieces are
placed into convenient and efficient, flat packages for low-cost transport because they take up
less room in trucks, maximising the number of products that can be shipped. The unique
packaging also take up less space in warehouse bins and reserve racks, allowing for more room
to stock additional items for order fulfilment. What the company saves in fuel and stocking costs
is passed on to customers.

Combining Retail And Warehouse Processes

 Every IKEA store has a warehouse on the premises. On the main showroom floor, customers
can browse for items. They then obtain the products themselves from the floor pallet location
with racking as high as the typical person could reach, where furniture can be purchased and
taken home. Additional products are stored in reserve racks above these locations. Inventory is
let down to the lower slots at night (forklifts and pallet jacks are not used during store hours for
safety reasons). About one third of the lower level is comprised of a warehouse off limits to
customers. This space contains items too bulky for customers to load without help from the staff.
Since IKEA wants as much self-service as possible, it works to minimize the number of items in
this bulk storage area.

In-Store Logistics

IKEA also relies on something rare and unique concerning its logistical management of
reordering products –  it employs in-store logistics personnel to handle inventory management at
its stores. According to the ARC Advisory Group (professionals and consultants on logistical and
supply chain operations), there is an in-store logistics manager responsible for the ordering
process and a store goods manager responsible for material handling logistics at all IKEA stores.
The duties of the logistics personnel are to monitor and record deliveries, carefully check
delivery notices, sort and separate the goods, and get them off to the correct sales area or

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designated overstock locations. Overall, they ensure an efficient flow of goods within IKEA
stores, which is essential to maintaining high sales and enhancing customer loyalty.

Usage Of High-Flow & Low-Flow Warehouse Facilities

IKEA’s store operations are supported by high-flow facilities (focused on the 20% of SKUs that
account for 80% of the volume) and low-flow warehouses that are more manual. In its high-flow
warehouses, IKEA employs automatic storage and retrieval systems to drive down its costs-per-
touch. Products stocked in a low-flow facility are not in high demand, and operations rely on
manual processes since workers will not be shifting and moving inventory around too much.
These strategies have made IKEA the world’s most successful furniture retailer with low
operating costs and high product demand. This allows the company to stay competitive in the
industry as it continually seeks more advanced methods to streamline supply chain management.
IKEA has a clear vision supported by complementary cross-functional logic. This not only
differentiates IKEA from its peers, but also provides it with a competitive advantage that is
difficult to duplicate at other organisations. While it may be hard for other organisations to copy
IKEA’s successful formula with stock management and order fulfilment, IKEA’s supply chain
strategies pushes against boundaries. This will hopefully inspire you to develop your company’s
inventory strategies suited for your company’s particular operations. To end off, IKEA sets an
optimistic trend where more companies will move away from traditional and out-dated supply
chain management strategies used for generations to seek creative and better-suited solutions to
handle inventory.

Source: (Business Case Studies, 2019)

Questions

1. What are IKEA’s best-kept secrets behind its smooth backend operations and efficient
supply chain processes? Discuss your views. (10 marks)
2. How has IKEA been able to lower the costs of its products? Discuss your views. (10
marks)
3. What are your suggestions to further improve IKEA’s Warehouse Facilities? (10 marks)
4. Critically assess the importance of sustainable relationships with suppliers? (10 marks)

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Section Two (60 Marks)

(Word count – 2400)

Students are required to select an organization (preferably the current work place) and answer the
questions below.

Questions

1.) Describe the importance of operations management to the organization. Justify your
answer with adequate evidences from the organization.( 12 marks)

2.) Critically assess the following critical areas of operations. Highlight weaknesses of the
current system and recommend improvements. (18 marks)
a. Product Design Process
b. Process Design Process
c. Facility Location
d. Layout of operations
e. Capacity Management
f. Forecasting

3.) Write short notes to the following with appropriate examples (30 marks)
a. Cohesiveness of supply chain management for smooth operations
b. Sound quality management framework for cost reduction in operations
c. Appropriate Total innovation management (TIM) for product and process
innovations
d. Effective Inventory management for uninterrupted operations
e. Sound Customer service management for customer retention
f. Linear programming for optimizations of resources

Very important

You must use Harvard Referencing system throughout your work. Correct in-text referencing is
required and a full and correct reference list needs to be provided. Please note for academic
acceptance, it is important to refer to adequate sources in building critical arguments with regard
to this assignment. Generally, the lecturer expects minimum of 15 latest sources from accepted
recommended journals, required reading and recommended readings. For a list of required and
recommended reading, please refer the “Module Specification” section of the student handbook.

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Assessment Criteria
Section One
10 9-8 7-6 5 4-0
Q1. What are Excellent Good Reasonably Adequate, Weak
IKEA’s best- assessment and assessment and defined tendency and
kept secrets identification identification not to be Limited
behind its of secrets of of secrets of very clear structure,
smooth backend smooth smooth in line not very
operations and operations and operations with with the relevant
efficient supply critically examples but main
chain evaluate and no critical tenets of
processes? illustrate with justifications the topic
Discuss your appropriate
views. (10 examples and
marks) justifications

Q2. How has Excellent Good Reasonably Adequate, Limited

IKEA been able assessment and assessment and describe the tendency structure,
to lower the identification identification factors and not to be not very
costs of its of strategies to of strategies to appropriateness very clear relevant
products? lower the costs lower the costs of such in line
Discuss your of products, of products, strategies with the
views. (10 critical critical main
marks) evaluation of evaluation of tenets of
appropriateness appropriateness the topic
of such of such
strategies and strategies but
adequate not adequate
examples to examples to
justify the justify the
answers answers
Q3. What are Excellent Good Reasonable Adequate, Limited
your assessment and assessment and suggestions to tendency structure,
suggestions to suggestions to suggestions to improve the not to be not very
further improve improve the improve the warehouse very clear relevant
IKEA’s warehouse warehouse facilities, but in line
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Warehouse facilities, facilities, no critical with the
Facilities? (10 critical critical assessment main
marks) assessment of assessment of tenets of
such such the topic
suggestions suggestions but
and examples no adequate
provided to examples
justify the
answers
Q4. Critically Excellent Good Average Adequate, Limited
assess the assessment of assessment of assessment of tendency structure,
importance of the importance the importance the importance not to be not very
sustainable of sustainable of sustainable of sustainable very clear relevant
relationships relationships relationships relationships in line
with suppliers? with suppliers with suppliers with suppliers with the
(10 marks) and examples and examples and examples main
to justify the to justify the to justify the tenets of
answers answers answers the topic

Section Two
12-11 10-9 8-7 6 5-0
Q1. Describe the Excellent Good answer Average Weak Very weak
importance of answer with with answer with answer and
operations critically critically describing and unacceptable
management to
describing the describing the examples answers
the organization.
(12 marks) operations the operations
management operations management
using adequate management using
criteria and using adequate
adequate adequate criteria and
examples to criteria and adequate but
justify the adequate but no criticality
answers not adequate and
examples to examples to
justify the justify the
answers answers

18-16 15-13 12-10 9 8-0

Q2. Critically Excellent Good answer Average Weak Very weak
assess the answer with with answer but answer and
following critical

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 Master of Business Administration
areas of critically critically not all the and unacceptable
operations. describing the describing process examples answers
Product Design operations. the have been
Process, Process
Depth and the operations. described.
Design Process,
Facility Location breadth are Depth and Depth and
,Layout of good. the breadth the breadth
operations, Adequate are good. Not are good.
Capacity examples are adequate Not
Management, provided to examples are adequate
Forecasting explain the provided to examples
(18 marks)
processes. explain the are provided
processes. to explain
the
processes.

30-25 24-20 19-16 15 14-0

Q3.Write short Excellent Good answer Average Weak Very weak
notes with answer with with answer. answer as and
appropriate coverage of all coverage of Coverage of not all the unacceptable
examples (30
the terms with all the terms the answers terms answers
marks)
appropriate but not are not defined
examples. appropriate good. Also well with
examples. the examples
examples
not
adequate.

REPORT STRUCTURE

 Paper Size : A4
 Word Count : 4000 words
 Printing Margins : LHS; RHS: 1 Inch
 Binding Margin : ½ Inch
 Header and Footer : 1 Inch
 Printing : Single Sided
 Basic Font Size : 12
 Font Style : Arial/Times New Roman
 Presentation : Bound Document

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Important Information for Students

The final version of your individual assignment softcopy needs to be uploaded to the Turnitin
via Cardiff Met Moodle before the deadline.

For TURNITIN submission please log on to www.cardiffmet.ac.uk and submit

through the Moodle.

 The final version of your individual assignment soft copy (word format only) must be uploaded
to ICBT SIS on or before the deadline.

Please log on to www.icbtsis.lk to upload your assignment.

The softcopy should be named as MBA-(subject number) (followed by the Cardiff met student
ID.

E.g. for Delivering Successful Projects Assignment

MBA-7024 -2000000

 Students are expected to keep a backup of all the assignments. ICBT and Cardiff Metropolitan
University have all the right to re call for soft copy of any assignment at any time during the
course.
 Please note that plagiarism is treated as a serious offence and therefore the work you produce
must be individual and original although may work in groups in some instances (Please refer to
Student Handbook on Plagiarism & Cheating).
 All sources of information must be referenced using “Harvard referencing” where a reference
listing should be included at the end of the assignment.
 Please note that the submission date given for this assignment is the final date that you can
upload the assignment. No late submissions are allowed by the system.
 Please refer to Student Handbook on Assignments – Re-submission, mitigating circumstances
procedure.
 Please include the assignment coversheet and feedback sheet in your softcopy of the
assignment. Please avoid copying assignment question in your answer file.
 The submission instructions of Turnitin and ICBT SIS will be circulated a few weeks before the
submission deadline.

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