Business and Management

JC Penny Operational Issues

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Paper Instructions:

To: MGMT 6355 Students
Re: Individual Case Assignment Instructions
The purpose of this assignment is to identify and apply OM (Operations Management)
concepts/tools to solve operational problems and improve operational performance. To
this purpose, you should find an interesting operational problem from the real business
world and think about how you can apply the OM concepts/tools that you learned in this
course to solve the problem.
More specifically, each individual should:
· Find an operational problem from the real business world (from his/her own work
or from any company)
· Identify specific OM concepts/tools that can be applied to the problem
· Apply an appropriate OM concept/tool or a set of appropriate OM concepts/tools
to propose a solution to the problem
· Analyze the expected results that may be obtained when the solution is
implemented. This section should also include a comparison between best and
worst scenarios of the potential outcomes.
The table in the appendix below will serve as the grading rubric for this assignment.
The report should be 8 - 10 pages in length including the cover and appendices, with 1”
margins on all sides, double-spacing, and 12 point font. The cover of the report should
include title, class code and name, section number, your full name, and date of
completion.
The report must follow the outline below:
1. Executive summary (no more than one page)
- Summarize what is the operational problem, what OM concepts/tools have
been applied to the problem, and what are the expected results of the proposed
solution.
2. Background information
- Clearly state whether the operational problem is from your own work or from
business articles/cases. If it is from business articles/cases, provide its source
(title, author, name of the journal, date published).
- Briefly introduce the company background (e.g., name, products, business size,
location, internal/external interesting facts, etc).
3. Problem Description
- Describe the operational problem clearly and specifically.
- You should focus on a single OPERATIONAL problem, although you
can introduce several other issues for informational purposes. General
management problems are not acceptable.
- The problem may involve either operational decision-making or process
improvement.
- This section must include a problem statement starting with, e.g., “This paper
considers the problem of determining …”, “The main problem of the firm is how
to ...”, etc, either in the beginning or at the end of the section.
4. OM concepts/tools that can be applied
- Describe what specific OM concepts/tools can be applied to the problem and
why they are appropriate to the problem. This section should make it clear that
you understand the concepts/tools you are about to use.
5. Application of OM concepts/tools
- Choose an OM concept/tool or a set of OM concepts/tools among the ones
provided in section 4 and apply it to propose a solution to the problem.
- In this section you “must show your calculations”, which means that you must
use real or estimated/simulated data in solving the problem or analyzing the
process. It is NOT acceptable to provide only general descriptions of how the
concepts/tools can be applied.
6. Analysis of expected results
- Analyze the expected results of the proposed solution.
- You should compare between best and worst scenarios after the
implementation of the proposed solution and justify the proposed solution
clearly.
- The expected results may include cost/revenue impact and/or improvement of
operational performance such as throughput time, throughput rate, and
inventory. You must be specific to receive full credit.
7. Conclusion
The meaning of an operational problem will become clearer as you study this course
(see the textbook contents). An operational problem may involve process design and
improvement, supply chain management, capacity planning, inventory management,
quality management, project management, production planning and control, forecasting,
facility location and layout, supplier management, purchasing, distribution, etc.
You are strongly encouraged to find a problem from your own work, so that you may
apply to your work the concepts/tools that you learned from this course. If you choose to
find a problem from business articles/cases, you can find one from any
journals/newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek,
Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and so on. Or you can surf the Internet to find an
interesting article/case.
The OM concepts/tools that can be applied to your problem may include process
flowchart, theory of constraints, decisions trees, inventory models, six-sigma tools,
critical path method, MRP, scheduling, lean manufacturing, Kanban production control
method, forecasting methods, systematic layout planning, assembly line balancing,
factor rating system, centroid method, learning curves, simulation, waiting line models,
work measurement techniques, group technology, mass customization, etc.
CHECK LIST OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE INSTRUCTION
In order to ensure students understand the requirements of this individual case
assignment, please complete the following check list after you have perused the
instructions above.
( ) I understand section 1
( ) I understand section 2
( ) I understand section 3
( ) I understand section 4
( ) I understand section 5
( ) I understand section 6
( ) I understand section 7
If you fail to understand the expectations of each section, please contact your instructor
for explanations.
Best regards,
Jie Yang
Appendix. Expectations for the individual case assignment
Below Expectations Meets Expectations Exceeds Expectations
1. Identification of
operational
problem
Lack of understanding
about what problems are
faced by operations
managers. Problem
description may be vague.
Accurately identifies an
operational problem that
is faced by operations
managers but may omit
issues of minor
significance.
Accurately identifies an
operational problem that
is faced by operations
managers and describes
the problems clearly and
specifically.
2. Identification of Fails to identify Identifies appropriate OM Identifies a novel
appropriate OM appropriate OM concepts/tools that can approach that combines
concepts/tools concepts/tools that can be
applied to the identified
problem or selects
inappropriate OM
concepts/tools.
be applied to the
identified problem.
multiple OM
concepts/tools that can
be applied to the
identified problem.
3. Application of Inappropriately applies the Appropriately applies the Applies the selected OM
OM concepts/tools selected OM
concepts/tools to the
identified problem.
selected OM
concept/tools to the
identified problem
although the application
may lack some depth.
concepts/tools expertly in
detail and in depth to the
identified problem.
4. Analysis of Superficial or absence of Provides some analysis Provides in-dept analysis
expected results analysis. May analyze
results that are not directly
related to the solution.
of results related to the
solution. May omit
discussion of some
results.
of all significant results
related to the solution.

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"Operations Strategy" Please respond to the following:

Choose two service companies with which you are familiar, such as Facebook, Amazon, and UPS. Apply Hill’s Strategy Development Framework to them.
For each company you chose, compare and contrast each sector of the framework and determine which key area(s) provide(s) a competitive advantage. Provide at least two examples to support your position.
Note: Refer to Chapter 3 of the text for information on Hill’s Strategy Development Framework.

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An elderly acquaintance comes to you and reports that she is having difficulty coming to terms with her husband's terminal illness. She feels if she knows what to expect she may be able to handle the process more effectively. She knows you have been studying lifespan development and asks you what behaviors she might expect from her husband. You use Kubler Ross' Stages of Dying to describe what the woman's husband may experience as he is facing death. State each of Kubler Ross' stages and a typical behavior that the husband may demonstrate in that stage. DO NOT give a definition of each stage - cite a typical behavior instead. (Two points for each stage accompanied by a salient behavior)

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To prepare for Part 1 of the Discussion, consider educational leaders in your field that you know. Think about how the educational leaders you know exemplify or do not exemplify the concepts related to leading positive social change. What did the leaders do well or not do well, especially as they relate to initiating change? In addition, identify one scholarly resource on change leadership related to your post to share with your colleagues in the Discussion.

For Part 1 of the Discussion, post a description of the characteristics of an effective leader of change, providing specific examples from your own experience with leaders. Explain why leaders need to have these particular characteristics to be effective in initiating change. Be sure to include a reference to the scholarly resource you identified on change leadership, and explain how the reference relates to your post.

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select one of the risk areas: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, or technological.

For this assignment, imagine that you have been tasked with creating a proposal for the new CEO of your organization. You have been asked to create a proposal that establishes an ethics program, as well as develop a training plan, and develop a plan to conduct compliance auditing. Your proposal must include the following:

Describe an emerging global risk that is either economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, or technological.
Identify all countries that might be associated with the risk.
Describe the effects of the risk on each country.
Evaluate the role of ethical decision-making in business organizations as the role pertains to your global risk.
Analyze the impact of business ethics on stakeholder relationships.
Analyze why it is necessary to create an ethics program, conduct training, and engage in compliance auditing.
Design a training plan for ethical considerations and social responsibility as it relates to the key risk area and the countries you have selected. The training plan must include the following:
The goals of the training program
The objectives of the training program
The learning methods/activities of the training program
How the training program will be evaluated
Describe how the training will be conducted
Describe how compliance auditing will be conducted.
Summarize the key findings

The assignment:

Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length (not including the title page and references page) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Must include a separate title page with the following
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
Must use at least three scholarly and/or credible sources in addition to the course text and the Usnick and Usnick (2013) article.
The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesPreview the document table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the

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Do you think Embraer’s decision to try and hedge against further appreciation of the real in the early 2000’s was a good decision? What was the alternative?

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Between mid-2014 and early 2015 the real depreciated significantly against the US dollar. What do you think the impact was on Embraer? Explain your reasoning.

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