an executive report (8 pages max, excluding letter of transmittal, table of contents, references, recommendations, introduction, charts). The presentation should list the specific research sources (e.g. journals, webpages, webinars, annual reports, journals, textbooks, etc.). The slides and report should include the following three sections: a) Brief description of the three topics to be presented the suggested topics for each group are listed in the table of OM topics in the following page. b) Brief description of two service or manufacturing firms which have excelled in the application of the selected topic(s). This will also require a very brief description of the organisation and the services it provides. Please note that service firms include: Hospitals, medical clinics, health care providers, call centres, retail stores, schools and universities, IT design and infrastructure, telecommunications providers, utilities providers, government, hotels, aged care providers, child care providers, financial services, banks, architectural firms, engineering consulting, marketing and advertising, transportation and distribution services, etc. c) Achievements obtained by each of the organizations, that is, a brief description of what it looks like to excel in the selected topics of Operations Management. Present this with as many visual illustrations as possible and add quantifiable outcomes [e.g. dollar savings, lead time reduction, quality improvement, throughput increase, moral enhancement, etc.) d) Action plan or implementation approach followed by each organisation in order to achieve this level of excellence. That is, the set of activities (work packages) planned and completed by management in each of the organisations This is the most important part of the presentation and report and where most of the focus should be placed. The use of charts or similar visual display is highly recommended. This section should also include challenges encountered and tactics used by management in order to overcome these challenges OM Topics Topic 1: Performance measurement, KPIs, balance scorecards, cascading of goals and objectives (corporate goals to business unit objectives), business plan deployment Topic 2: Product and process design, simultaneous design, fast service to market, design review process, service launch Topic 3: Process technology, use of technology (e.g. eBusiness, automation) and technology imrovation as applied to the provision of service Topic 4: Capacity planning and control, inventory planning and control, ERP, level capacity plans, demand management Topic 5: Supply chain design, managing uncertainty, agile supply chains, supply chain f business continuity Topic 6: Supply chain collaboration, use of technology to enable visibility, collaboration and short lead times across the supply chain Topic 7: Lean thinking, lean implementation, waste elimination, value stream mapping, business process re-engineering Topic 8: Continuous improvement and innovation, Kaizen, quality circles, six sigma, PDCA 17 Topic 9: Managing quality of service delivery, lead and lag indicators, TQM, SPC, problem solving process
