Operations Strategy Assignment
You are to write an essay on the following:
McDonalds has come to epitomise the ‘fast-food’ industry. When the company started in the 1950’s it was the first to establish itself in the market. Now there are hundreds of ‘fast-food’ brands in the market competing in different ways. Examples of fast-food chains are companies such as Burger King, KFC, Dominos, Subway. These companies generally offer a counter service often supplemented by an eat-in area. Examples of other companies in the sector are Nandos, Pizza Express and Starbucks. Expensive restaurants would not be appropriate for analysis as they are not in the same market segment.
Using the Hill methodology for operations strategy formulation conduct the following analysis for a typical McDonald’s restaurant in the UK and one other company in the fast-food sector as defined in the previous paragraph. For each company deduce what you believe to be its competitive factors (order winning and qualifying). Translate these factors into performance objectives for operations.
Discuss the strategic fit for each company between its performance objectives and its operations structure and infrastructure. Finally provide a comparison regarding the fit across the 2 companies.
Assessment Criteria
• The assessment requires an evaluation of the strategic fit for 2 companies. The strategic fit is the match between market requirements and operations structure and infrastructure.
• There should be an evaluation of the relative strategic fit of the two companies.
• The evaluation should come from both an analysis of the company’s operations and relevant theory regarding operations strategy.
•
No primary data collection required
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Essential Reading: the articles/chapters listed below should be viewed as core or essential readings that may act as a start point as you prepare to tackle this assignment:
Greasley, A. (2013) Operations Management, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons.
You will need to pick 2 or 3 structural and 2 or 3 infrastructural for each of your companies in your assignment for the analysis. These are suggested structural and infrastructural areas:
(number in bracket relates to book chapter in set text – Greasley, A. (2013) Operations Management, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons.
)
Structural (“What needs to be in place”)
Process Type (chapter 3)
Layout Type (chapter 4)
Supply Network Design (chapter 5) Long-Term Capacity Planning (5) Facility Location (5)
Process technology (chapter 6)
Infrastructural (“What is needed to operate the system”)
Product and Service Design (chapter 7)
Process Design (chapter 8)
Job Design (chapter 9)
Operations Planning and Control (chapter 10)
Capacity Management (chapter 11)
Inventory Management (chapter 12)
Lean Operations (chapter 13)
ERP (chapter 14)
Supply Chain Management (chapter 15)
Module Learning Outcomes Assessed:
1. Plan the implementation of an operations strategy
2. Critically evaluate the various approaches and methodologies used in the development and implementation of operations strategies.
3. Assess the suitability of operations systems & techniques for a particular operations strategy
Recommended Structure:
Introduction
Paragraph discussing relevant academic operations strategy theory (at least 3 academic references)
Main Body
For McDonalds:
• Short paragraph introducing company
• Identify competitive factors and performance objectives – you could do this in a table, you do not need to provide evidence for your selection
• Describe 2 or 3 structure and 2 or 3 infrastructure elements for the company
• Discuss alignment between performance objectives and structure/infrastructure elements you have identified
Repeat above for another fast food company
Conclusion
Conclude by a discussion on the relative fit for the 2 companies
Bibliography
References: 6 ( 2 can be when talking about Hill Methodology)
