Question 1

LTL Ltd is a manufacturing organisation that produces made to order equipment for the construction industry such as bespoke windows and doors. The Head of Operations has received four large orders of windows and doors and is considering the sequencing of when the orders should be made. Which of the following should the company do?

Options :

A : Use a First Come First Serve system to prioritise the orders that were made first. This will ensure customer satisfaction

B : Sequence the orders in the way that will be the cheapest to produce so as to create the highest profit margin

C : Create the orders in the most logical, economic and fastest pattern. This may mean that the first order received is the last to be produced

D : Start manufacturing the order that has the longest time to complete first so all orders are ready at the same time.

Answer: C

Question 2

Below are brief descriptions of 5 organisations operating in the manufacturing sector. Each organisation creates a different product and is engaging in a different operational strategy. For each organisation, select the product type described as per the Boston Consultancy Group Matrix and the organisational strategy.

Organisation 1: This is a new product which has just launched into the market. It currently has a small market share but the business is confident that it has a high potential for market growth. There is a long-term commitment to improving quality with an emphasis on manufacturing infrastructure.

Organisation 2: This product has been on the marketplace for many years and the organisation believes that there is no further room for growth in market share. As it is currently the market leader, the organisation benefits from economies of scale. The manufacturing process has, over the course of the years, eliminated all waste from the processing of the item which has contributed to a high profit margin.

Organisation 3: This product has a high relative market share and high potential for growth. The organisation is required to invest heavily in this product to ensure its continued success. They have therefore created a specialist team to create innovative ideas to improve quality and reduce waste in the manufacturing process.

Organisation 4: The organisation is carefully considering whether to continue to make this product as it has a low return on investment, low market share and low potential for growth. The company is considering starting from scratch in order to streamline production and decision making.

Organisation 5: This product is difficult to manage. It has the potential to become a market leader and sales are increasing, but there is heavy competition. The organisation will use a process technology strategy which will include all staff and all departments and have an impact on the development of systems and procedures.

Complete the table below. Some answers may be used more than once: Star, Problem Child, Dog, Cash Cow, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering, Lean.

Which of the following will you put into box 5?

2022-12-23-12-39-44-e322ee980510ddf3b5264c697596624d

Options :

A : Star

B : Problem Child

C : Dog

D : Cash Cow

Answer: B

Question 3

Below are brief descriptions of 5 organisations which are working to create an Operations Strategy. Each organisation is focusing on one aspect of strategic thinking and has a different attitude to designing the organisation’s structure. Based on the descriptions below, select the attribute of strategic thinking and the Organisational Type according to Laloux’s Organisational Model which correspond to each organisation.

Organisation 1: This organisation uses the metaphor of a machine to describe its organisational model. The priority is to achieve competitive advantage within the marketplace, drive growth and generate profit. The main attribute is therefore to understand how value can be created within the system by understanding the current reality and what changes need to be made to ensure the organisation remains competitive.

Organisation 2: The management at this organisation constantly re-evaluates the direction of travel in order to determine if that direction is still valid. The organisation is extremely responsive to changes in the external environment and has a participatory management system with employees encouraged to voice ideas and opinions. The main concern of the organisation is to drive employee empowerment.

Organisation 3: The organisation knows what it wants to achieve and all energy is directed to achieving these aims. The goals are clearly defined by senior leadership who have strong managerial command and control systems in place. There is little creativity at this organisation.

Organisation 4: This organisation uses the metaphor of a family to describe itself. It invests heavily in developing organisational culture and its people. The organisation listens to its employees and is extremely prudent about avoiding past mistakes. The priority is to be as responsive as possible to the current environment and renewing the organisation’s strategy for the future.

Organisation 5: Here there is a creative and critical approach to strategy design. Rather than using data to drive decisions, management asks ‘what if?’. There is heavy investment in agile practices, and employees do not have direct line managers, rather they ‘self-manage’. The organisation uses the metaphor of a living organism to describe itself.

Complete the table below by listing the Strategic Thinking Attribute and Organisational Type. Some answers may not be used: systems perspective x2, hypothesis driven, intent focused, thinking in time, intelligent opportunism, orange x2, teal x2, green x2.

Which of the following will you put into box 2?

2022-12-11-14-28-02-9da9de1331f81c746dcae10be7866a1b

Options :

A : systems perspective

B : hypothesis driven

C : intent focused

D : thinking in time

E : intelligent opportunism

Answer: A

Question 4

Which area of operations strategy is concerned with information management systems, automation and productivity?

Options :

A : capacity

B : supply network design

C : process technology

D :

development and organisational design

Answer: C

Question 5

Risks are always present within organisational strategies and it is important that they are assessed. Which of the following are strategies for dealing with risk?

Options :

A : avoid, eliminate, reduce, transfer

B : terminate, escape, eliminate, destroy

C : escape, eliminate, evade, end

D : track, control, mitigate, reduce

Answer: A

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