Assignment 1: LASA 2—Company Analysis Report
Review the following scenario:
Assume that you have recently been hired as the director of
continuous improvement of a company. You are an outside hire with limited
history of the firm and personal capital at the firm, and you are responsible
for lean production, total quality management (TQM), six sigma, and best
practice implementation.
Lean production means doing more with less, such as less
inventory, fewer workers, or less space. A recent trade in quality management
is lean six sigma (also known as lean sigma) that integrates six sigma and lean
production.
The capacity for which you were hired has existed for three
years with a direct line of report to the vice-president of operations and
dotted line of report to the head of information technology (IT), the chief
information officer (CIO), and the director of internal controls and audit. You
are the second person to fill in this position. You have a team of internal
consultants; half of your team has six sigma black belt or equivalent
capabilities with the remainder having a solid understanding of operations and
IT. You also have a budget for two external vendor resources.
You have taken six months to familiarize yourself with the
organization and its people, mission, goals, strategy, and structure. In this
time, you have also evaluated current operations. At the end of this period,
you are assigned to deliver a report identifying the three most promising
avenues for achieving best practices within the company. You have already been
told that the company suffers from both aging and complex information systems
and that your recommendation must include a major upgrade of those systems. The
executive officers anticipate major investments in IT over the next several
years. Your best practice implementations, coupled with new technology, must be
measurable in terms of speed, quality, productivity, and efficiency or other
key performance indicators that you identify in your report.
For this assignment, you will choose a company with which
you are familiar. You are encouraged to choose a company for which you
currently work or have worked, but you may choose some other firm if you believe
it will be a compelling analysis.
You may choose one area of the company, such as a
manufacturing plant or product design, to focus on if you can make a strong
case. Your recommendations should have the following features.
Repeatable: If you “fix” three things in a manufacturing
plant, you should be able to tackle the “next” three in iteration.
Scalable: If they work in one plant, they should work in all
of them.
Replicable: Your process for improvement should be
repeatable in different, disparate parts of the organization.
This is a key initiative at the “C” level, and your
recommendation will reach the board of directors.
Your paper must include the following sections:
Strategic Overview: (1 page)
Provide a brief description of the following elements:
The company, including its products or services
Marketing strategy: target market segments, value
proposition, market position, and source of competitive differentiation
Organizational structure
Any other relevant facts
Analysis of the Supply Chain: (4 pages)
Analyze the supply chain for your identified company by
explaining the following key elements of the supply chain:
Identify key inputs, including less tangible assets, such as
human resources and information. How are these key inputs sourced, reconfigured
into a product or service, and delivered to your customers?
Identify the key processes that add value, and evaluate the
supply chain performance relative to the competition. What are the key inputs
for each process? How are these inputs processed or configured into the final
offering for your customers?
What is the value added at each step?
What is the role of information technology and e-commerce in
serving your customers?
What are the key performance measures for evaluating your
supply chain?
Research online sources to explain how the performance on
these measures compares to that of your competitors?
Plan to Improve Operating Processes: (3 pages)
Create a plan for improving the performance of three
specific operating processes in your company. Your plan should address the
following:
Identify three elements of the supply chain that you
recommend as targets for improvement.
State the performance improvement opportunity for each
element, and indicate how it will improve process speed, quality, efficiency,
and productivity.
Explain what specific action or change you recommend for
each supply chain element selected.
Explanation of the Results of Performance Improvements
Regarding Product or Service: (2 pages)
Explain the following:
How will your product or service be improved as a result of
these changes to the supply chain activities?
How are you altering the specific features or attributes of
your product or service?
Why are these specific changes important to your customers?
How do these changes enhance the value proposition and
competitive position of your company?
What lasting capabilities and improvement are you
introducing into your company through these changes?
How will you measure the scope and impact of your
improvements? What are your key performance indicators?
Assessment of the Impact on Human Resources: (1–2 pages)
Detail how your plan impacts your company’s HR and human
capital strategy by explaining how the organization’s structure supports the
new process configuration you are recommending. Your response should address
the following questions:
Are the roles and responsibilities in your organization
properly defined and aligned to enable these changes? Who will perform these
new/modified process activities, and what changes to their jobs do you
anticipate?
Is decision-making authority assigned so that the process
changes you propose can be implemented and properly managed under the current
structure? Who will own the process and the results? Based on the current
structure, will they have the authority to make changes as necessary?
Are the individuals with the right skills in place to
implement these changes? If not, how will you attract the talent necessary to
implement your changes? How will you retrain the existing employee base? How
will you handle attrition? How will you reduce the risk of impacted protected
classes?
Changes:
Explain changes to the compensation and incentives at your
company that are necessary to reinforce your recommendations and increase
efforts for continuous improvement throughout the organization. Explain how
your plan motivates employees, customers, and suppliers better.
Write an 10–12-page paper in Word format. You may rearrange
the above sections if it improves the quality of your paper. Apply APA
standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention:
LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A1.doc.
By the due date assigned, deliver your assignment to the
Submissions Area.
LASA 2 Grading CriteriaAssignment
ComponentProficiencyMaximum Points
Content Knowledge: Understanding
Communicates understanding of assignment by synthesizing
data to explain a strategic overview ofyour company, its services, and all
other required data.
CO 1
MSM PO: 2, 4, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
ILO 1, 3, 6
Response incorporates analysis and synthesis of central
concepts of the assigned topic.
Response reflects understanding of the nature of the
specific topic within the discipline and its applications in contemporary
times.
Response provides necessary details and specific examples.48
Content Knowledge: Application Component 1
Communicates the ability to analyze the supply chain for
your identified company by explaining all the following required key elements
of the supply chain.
CO: 3
MSM PO: 2, 4
MBA PO: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 2, 3, 6
Response demonstrates a working command of the disciplinary
content knowledge.
Response examines the specific issue within the context of
the topic area using relevant details and examples.
Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue to
applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to real-world
contexts.
Response is adequately supported by current and relevant
literature56
Content Knowledge: Application Component 2
Communicates the ability to synthesize data to create a plan
for improving the performance of three specific operating processes in your
company (including answers to all required elements).
CO: 3
MSM PO: 2, 4
MBA PO: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 2, 3, 6
Response demonstrates a working command of the disciplinary
content knowledge.
Response examines the specific issue within the context of
the topic area using relevant details and examples.
Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue to
applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to real-world
contexts.
Response is adequately supported by current and relevant
literature.56
Content Knowledge: Application Component 3
Communicates the ability to synthesize data to explain
results of performance improvements regarding the product/service (including
answers to all required elements).
CO: 2
MSM PO: 2, 3, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 3, 5, 6
Response demonstrates a working command of the disciplinary
content knowledge.
Response examines the specific issue within the context of
the topic area using relevant details and examples.
Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue to
applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to real-world
contexts.
Response is adequately supported by current and relevant
literature.56
Content Knowledge: Application Component 4
Communicates the ability to synthesize data to create a set
of 4–6 performance measures for evaluating mangers that integrate with IKEA’s
values, and explain how you would implement them in the workplace.
CO 1
MSM PO: 2, 4, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
ILO 1, 3, 6
Response demonstrates a working command of the disciplinary
content knowledge.
Response examines the specific issue within the context of
the topic area using relevant details and examples.
Response analyzes the specific aspect of the issue to
applicable areas within the discipline and their relevance to real-world
contexts.
Response is supported by current and relevant literature
56
Written Communication/
Personal Effectiveness
Conveys through written word understanding and application
of an understanding and application by delivery of a report identifying the
three most promising avenues for achieving best practices within the company.
CO 2
MSM PO: 2, 3, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 3, 5, 6
Writing is concise and clear in content, language use,
grammar, organization, and sentence structure.
Writing is free of major grammatical and usage errors.
16
Oral Communication/
Personal Effectiveness
Conveys through oral communication, such as a PowerPoint
presentation, an understanding and application delivery of a report identifying
the three most promising avenues for achieving best practices within the
company.
CO 2
MSM PO: 2, 3, 5
MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3
ILO: 1, 3, 5, 6
Presentation is concise with a logical flow of thought.
Content includes clearly articulated key points that are
free of major errors.
Presentation is visually appealing and addresses audience
considerations adequately.
12Total: 300
