Transcript Document

Process Book
Revision class
IKEA case study & general
questions
Chapter 1,2,4,5,6,10,11,12,13,&15
Please read p 13 & 14 – IKEA
case study, and answer the
following questions.
Q1 : Think about this organization (IKEA) as an open system, and Identify
the main activities it performs. List the main inputs and the main
outputs of the operations.
Q2: Kats & Khan sets 5 sub-systems at work. Identify them according to
IKEA case.
Q 3: What is the dominant transformed resources-materials, information
or customers? List all the information resources you find it in IKEA
case.
Q 4: Consider IKEA outputs to assess the extent to which the outputs are
goods or services? Explain.
Q5: List macro & micro-operations in IKEA.
Q6: Write down the major advantages and major disadvantages of
buffering an operation function from its environment?
Q7: “For IKEA success, processes should be systems focused”. Discuss
this statement using materials and examples from the B200 Processes
module.
8- Define the 10 steps of Order Management Cycle (OMC) briefly describing
each step
How can we apply it to IKEA case study?
9. “ All parts of the organization are operations” Explain this statement through
examples.
10. As employee in a Successful organization, what the advice you might
suggests to the CEO to shift into capabilities based competitors, and identify
the 4 basic principles of capabilities based competitors to clarify the idea.
11. Competitive scope can have a powerful effect on competitive advantage.
What are the major dimensions of scope that affect the value chain?
12. Identify the value activities which play important role distinct activities that
depend on the particular industry and firm strategy?
13- Discuss why an organisation might choose to recall its products and how
this recall take place. Give examples from the B200 Processes module.
14- Effective logistics management can provide a major source of competitive
advantage. Explain.
Q1 : Think about this organization (IKEA) as an open system, and
Identify the main activities it performs. List the main inputs and
the main outputs of the operations.
IKEAS as an open system have direct interact with the environment.
Open system have 3 major characteristics:
Receive input from environment
Convert input to output
Discharge their outputs into their environment.
Environment
Input
Conversion
Materials (wood,..)
Ideas (designing)
Staff
Finance (budget)
Location
Manufacturing
Research
Marketing
Planning
Production
Output
Furniture
Services (information
tickets ,
help desk, child care
Catalogue)
Q2: Kats & Khan sets 5 sub-systems at work. Identify them
according to IKEA case.
Production sub-system: concern with furniture production and services
(manufacture, customer service, catalogue, …)
Supportive sub-system: concern with relationship between the organization and
external environment. ( information point, information tickets, self service are,
food stuff, children’s play area).
Maintenance sub-system: concern with stability of the organization (rules and
reward the staff).
Adaptive sub-system: concern with what the organization might become. How
IKEA is working and deliver services and product in unique way.
Managerial sub-system: controlling, coordinating, planning, and taking decision.
IKEA management develop
Q 3: What is the dominant transformed resources-materials,
information or customers? List all the information
resources you find it in IKEA case.
The transformation process in operations is closely connected with the nature of its
transformed input resources. Transformation mean using resources to change
the state or condition.
Material Process: IKEA using raw materials to develop their products (furniture)
Information Process: IKEA using customer’s ideas and suggestions to design new
products.
Customers Process: self-services
Q 4: Consider IKEA outputs to assess the extent to which
the outputs are goods or services? Explain.
Most operations produce both goods and services. IKEA produces
goods and services, produce furniture and provide customer
services.
IKEA outputs are:
Tangibility, because we are looking to the furniture, we have the ability
to compare and choose. In the other hand IKEA provide intangible
services by advising the customer to choose the product they want
by comparing.
Storability, Furniture could be stored ,
Transportability, IKEA help customers to transport the furniture's,
loading area.
Simultaneity, catalogue (goods) and services.
Customer contact, relationship between customer & operation.
Quality, how customer will juge services and the products.
Q5: List macro & micro-operations in IKEA?
Marketing &
Sales
Finance
Production
HRM
Furniture design & production
Customer Service
Staff recruitment
Budgeting
Maintenance & Support
….. Others
Q6: Write down the major advantages and major disadvantages of
buffering an operation function from its environment?
Answer:
Buffering is the best way to reduce environmental disruption. Buffering
will be in 2 ways:
Physical buffering by designing an inventory or stock resources at the
input side of transformation process or at the output. IKEA can store
the raw materials, the furniture's, some semi-products.
Organizational buffering by allocating the responsibilities of the various
function in IKEA to be protected form external environment –
competitors. Buffering the ideas and suggestions .
The disadvantages as listed in p 29 & 30.
7- “For IKEA success, processes should be systems
focused”. Discuss this statement using materials and
examples from the B200 Processes module.
Answer
Ch 1, 2, 11, 14, ….
Define process, system, competitive advantage,
transformation process, OMC, logistic management,
…….and any related topic.
8- Define the 10 steps of Order Management Cycle
(OMC) briefly describing each step
How can we apply it to IKEA case study?
Answer
13 p. 188 – 190
Identify OMC, explain each order with
example.
9. “ All parts of the organization are operations”
Explain this statement through examples.
Answer guide:
- Identify operation in the organization, the major and
support function
- Explain how the organization departments &
management are working effectively to reach the goal.
- Examples by using table 2.1 p 16
- See your book Ch. 2 P. 15 to 17
10. As employee in a Successful organization, what the advice you
might suggests to the CEO to shift into capabilities based
competitors, and identify the 4 basic principles of
capabilities based competitors to clarify the idea.
Answer
- To be a competitor we need to focus on some effective points ( 5
dimensions) speed, consistency, acuity, agility & innovativeness.
- I identify the 4 steps that transferee the company into capabilitiesbased competitor.
- More clarification by mention the 4 principles.
- Use Honda case study as example.
- See your book Ch. 4 p. 42, 43, 44, 46, & 47.
11. Competitive scope can have a powerful effect on
competitive advantage. What are the major
dimensions of scope that affect the value chain?
Answer:
- Explain the 4 scopes with examples.
- See your book – Ch. 5 p. 62 - 64
12. Identify the value activities which play important
role distinct activities that depend on the
particular industry and firm strategy?
Answer guide:
-
Identify value chain
Identify value chain activities
Use the diagram p 52
Identify the activities that play important role in
competitive advantages
- Support each part of answer with example from your
organization .
- See your book Ch. 5 P. 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, & 56
13- Discuss why an organisation might choose to recall
its products and how this recall take place. Give
examples from the B200 Processes module.
Answer
Ch 12
Identify reverse logistic
Classes of recall
Steps of recalling
Mention examples
Fig 12.1 p 171
14- Effective logistics management can provide a major
source of competitive advantage. Explain.
Answer
Ch 11 p.150 – 153
Identify logistics, productivity advantage, value
advantage, supply chain management.
Fig 11.3
explain
end