For this assignment you will carry out an operations analysis focussing on operations and design and the implications for areas of capacity and inventory management. You will be required to choose two operations from the same sector based on an area that you are interested in - for example, take the operation of a sandwich bar or a retail outlet. You then compare and contrast the two operations to identify how they might be similar and how they might be different. The key point to note is that while these two operations might all do pretty much the same thing, they might be different at the level of detail - for example you could compare Starbucks with Costa or McDonalds with KFC or Marks and Spencers with Primark. They will likely work at very different demand volume levels, at different profit margins, some have local manufacturing, some centralised, and so on.

Having chosen your operation, you will then need to complete the following task.

Your Task

Having chosen your operation, you will then need to complete the following tasks;

You are to carry out a comparative operations analysis across your chosen organisations. The analysis must include:

A comparative Four Vs analysis

A comparative Performance Map of the five performance objectives

A comparative Design Analysis that examines the organisational layout

A comparative analysis of the capacity utilisation for the organisations

A comparative analysis of the ways that the organisations hold inventories

Each one of these steps is detailed below;

Comparative Four Vs

Create the Four Vs profile for each of the operations chosen and explain each aspect of the various profiles. Drawing on your understanding of Four Vs, discuss why you think the profiles of the different operations look the way they do, and explain the differences you observe. Clearly you will have to make some inferences, but these should be argued. A Four Vs diagram showing both profiles is required.

Comparative Performance Objectives Profile

Map on a polar diagram current performance of your chosen operations. This will result in a performance profile for each operation. You should also include a profile reflecting what you think are the market requirements. Your main task is to compare each of the profiles providing explanations for similarities and differences. In doing so, you will need at least discuss what the operations performance objectives mean for the organisations under study. A polar diagram showing where on each objective the organisation is operating is required.

How have the Four-Vs and Performance Profile influenced operations design?

Explain how the operations environment, and your organisation's response to it (Four Vs) have impacted upon operations design for your chosen operations. This will involve comparisons of the various design decisions for each operation in terms of layout and flow. Also explain how choices about performance and performance trade-offs have affected the design of these operations.

A comparative analysis of the capacity utilisation for the organisations

Following on from the discussion of the organisational design, you should discuss the ways in which the capacity of the organisations have been established and how capacity is managed in the long, medium and short terms to ensure that the twin objectives of resource utilisation and customer service are being achieved.

A comparative analysis of the ways that the organisations hold inventories

All organisations hold some levels of stock to a greater or lesser extent - remember that inventory is really a sub set of capacity - and you should discuss the ways in which the organisations hold their stocks and how it is managed.

There must be a full set of references to published sources and a list of references (bibliography) provided. You can use appendices if you wish and these do not count towards the wordcount.