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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:

1.
Strategic Overview: (1
page)

Provide a brief description of the following elements:

a.
The company, including its products or services

b.
Marketing strategy: target market segments, value proposition, market
position, and source of competitive differentiation

c.
Organizational structure

d.
Any other relevant facts

2.
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:

a.
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?

b.
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?

c.
What is the value added at each step?

d.
What is the role of information technology and e-commerce in serving your
customers?

e.
What are the key performance measures for evaluating your supply chain?

f.
Research online sources to explain how the performance on these measures
compares to that of your competitors?

3.
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:

a.
Identify three elements of the supply chain that you recommend as targets
for improvement.

b.
State the performance improvement opportunity for each element, and
indicate how it will improve process speed, quality, efficiency, and
productivity.

c.
Explain what specific action or change you recommend for each supply chain
element selected.

4.
Explanation of the Results of
Performance Improvements Regarding Product or Service
: (2
pages)

Explain the following:

a.
How will your product or service be improved as a result of these changes
to the supply chain activities?

b.
How are you altering the specific features or attributes of your product or
service?

c.
Why are these specific changes important to your customers?

d.
How do these changes enhance the value proposition and competitive position
of your company?

e.
What lasting capabilities and improvement are you introducing into your
company through these changes?

f.
How will you measure the scope and impact of your improvements? What are
your key performance indicators?

5.
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:

a.
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?

b.
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?

c.
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?

6.
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.

ByMonday, July 11, 2016,
deliver your assignment to theM5:
Assignment 1 Dropbox
.

This assignment is worth 300 points and will be graded using a rubric.
Download and read the rubric to understand the expectations.

LASA 2 Grading Criteria

Assignment Component

Proficiency

Maximum 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 literature.

56

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 configure data to explain how your plan
impacts your company’s HR and human capital strategy and how the
organizational structure supports the new process configuration you are
recommending. Explains any changes to the compensation/ incentives for your
company that is necessary to reinforce your recommendations.

CO 1,4

MSM PO: 2, 3, 4, 5

MBA PO: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3

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

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.

12

Total:

300

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