business research report paper

The objective of the class project is to demonstrate your understanding and integration of ten strategic operations management (OM) decisions. By the end to the class you will create a 30-page OM research report, that incorporates the concepts, models, tools, and techniques learned in class.

Each student will be responsible to select a company and present the top five recommendations that will lead to a 15% increase in the company’s productivity. Identify the type of business (i.e., Restaurant, Banking, Clothing, Medical, Information Technology, etc.) and business sector (i.e., Services, Manufacturing, Construction, Agriculture, or Mining).

In order to do so, you will demonstrate five top recommendations, using a factor-weight analysis constructed from the ten operation management strategies. I will demonstrate in class, how you will construct a factor-rating analysis, using the ten OM strategies and the key success factors, to quantitatively present the top five recommendations to improve productivity by 15%.

The research report will be broken down in the following manner:

1) Current and Future State of each the 10 Operation Management Strategies (1 page for the current state and one page for the future state) = 20 pages
2) An Abstract = 1 page
3) Table of Content = 1 page
4) Reference list = 1page
5) Conclusion = 1 page
6) Gant chart (Project Plan) = 1 page
7) Factor-Weighting Analysis = 1 page
8) SWOT Analysis = 1 page
9) Mission Statement = 1 page
10) Table of Charts = 1 page
11) Addendum = 1 page

Therefore, the research report will be a total of 30 pages.

Your factor-rating analysis will present your rational for bringing forward your top five recommendations to increase your company’s productivity by 15%.

You may perform your literature research via the internet or by other more traditional means (i.e., library, peer review journal articles, books, etc.) You must use the publication manual of the American Psychological Association (APA sixth edition or later) format for your research paper format and citations. All research papers must have a summary of the conclusions and list of 10 recommendations, with the top five clearly delineated and the reason why you selected each.

10 OM Strategies – Decisions

1) Design of goods and services

Explain the design of your goods and services.

2) Managing Quality

Determine the customer’s quality expectations and establish the policy and procedures to identify and achieve that quality.

3) Process and Capacity Design

Determine how your company’s goods or services will be produced (i.e., process for production).
What specific technology, quality, human resources, and capital investment will be required?
How does your capacity design decision impact your organization’s cost structure?

4) Location Strategy

Where will you locate your business?
What considerations where made regarding how near to you are to your customers, suppliers, and talent?
What consideration did you make regarding cost, infrastructure, logistics, and government?

5) Layout Strategy

What are your company’s capacity needs, personnel levels, technology, and inventory requirements to determine the efficient flow of materials, people, and information?

6) Human Resources and Job Design

What consideration have you made regarding recruitment?
How will you motivate and retain personnel with talent and skills?

7) Supply-chain Management

What consideration have you made to integrate the supply chain into your company’s strategy?
What decisions were made to determine what is to be purchased, from whom, and under what conditions?

8) Inventory Management

What decisions were made regarding inventory ordering and holding?
How do you plan to optimize these decisions as customer satisfaction, supplier capability, and production schedules are considered?

9) Scheduling

What steps did you take to determine and implement intermediate-and short-term schedules that effectively and efficiently utilize both personnel and facilities while meeting customer needs?

10) Maintenance

What decisions were made the consider facility capacity, production demands, and personnel necessary to maintain a reliable and stable process?