Category: Operations Management

Financial position of an organization by analyzing financial statements.

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

Determine the financial position of an organization by analyzing financial statements.

Student Success Criteria
View the grading rubric for this deliverable by selecting the “This item is graded with a rubric” link, which is located in the Details & Information pane.

Scenario
Microsoft is looking to hire a paid intern in their finance department. You have been selected as one of the final candidates. As part of the final interview, there has to be a presentation to the financial team in which the candidates show that he/she have basic financial knowledge, room for growth, and will still be an asset to the team. You have been given financial documents from previous years to use for your presentation. Now is your time to shine and be creative!

For your presentation to the financial team, create a presentation in MS PPT. Include the following information:

List the financial statements and describe their purpose in detail.
State the accounting equation and how it relates to each financial statement.
Present the cash accounting method and the accrual accounting method.
State the difference in accounting methods and how it affects each financial statement.
Conclude with an analysis of the company’s financial position.

Inter-organizational relations are important

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Provide at least a 250 word response.
Clearly, inter-organizational relations are important. In fact, the authors make the case that managing these relationships can have significant impacts on project outcomes. In the readings this week, some thoughts were shared regarding the importance of this dynamic. Synthesize some of these thoughts in this discussion question and offer your own reflections on the ideas presented.

O​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​perations management transforms inputs

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

O​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​perations management transforms inputs (labour, capital, equipment, land, buildings, materials and information) into outputs (goods and services) that provide added value to customers. It does not matter whether the organisation is a for-profit company, a non-profit organisation (religious organisations, hospitals, etc.), or a government agency; all organisations must strive to maximise the quality of their transformation processes to meet customer needs. From what you have learned up to now about operations management is this statement always true? Individually, you are required to respond to the forum scenarios posted in weeks 7, 8 an​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​d 9 and prepare a 500 word written reflection. Assessment Description. In this Individual assessment, students will be given an opportunity to explain operational strategies and demonstrate the skills needed to build effective supply and logistics systems that support desired business outcomes, such as analysing internal and external forces that impact business operations and utilise conceptual models to determine the ethical implications of day-to-day and strategic decisions. This assessment will also allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of operating data about sales, costs and finance in directing the activities of an organisatio​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​n

Case Study 01Project Manager

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

Word-Tech is a medium-sized firm that designs and manufactures electronic
systems for the mass transit industry. It competes with other firms to win contracts to
provide such systems. When Word-Tech receives a contract, it creates a project to
complete the work. Most projects range from $10 million to $50 million in cost and
from one to three years in duration. Word-Tech can have 6-12 projects going on at
any one time, in various stages of completion some just starting and others finishing.
Word-Tech has a handful of project managers who report to the general manager;
other people report to their functional manager. For example, the electronics
engineers all report to the manager of electrical engineering, who reports to the
general manager. The functional manager assigns particular individuals to work on
various projects. Some people work full time on a project, whereas others split their
time among two or three projects. Although individuals are assigned to work for a
project manager on a specific project, administratively they still report to their
functional manager.
Jack Kowalski has been with the company for about 12 years, since graduating
from college with a BS in electronic engineering. He has worked his way up to senior
electronics engineer and reports to the manager of electrical engineering. He has
worked on many projects and is well respected within the company. Jack has been
asking for an opportunity to be a project manager. When Word-Tech is awarded a $15
million contract to design and manufacture an advanced electronics system, the
general manager promotes Jack to project manager and asks him to run this project.
Jack works with the functional managers to get the best people available assigned
to the project. Most of the people are buddies who have worked with Jack on previous
projects. However, with Jack s position as senior electronics engineer vacant, the
manager of electrical engineering has no one with the appropriate level of expertise
to assign to Jack s project. So the manager hires a new person, Alfreda Bryson. Lured
away from a competitor, Alfreda has a Ph.D. in electronic engineering and eight years
experience. She was able to command a high salary more than Jack is making. She is
assigned to Jack s project full time as the senior electronics engineer.
Jack takes a special interest in Alfreda s work and asks to meet with her to discuss
her design approaches. Most of these meetings turn into monologues, with Jack
suggesting how Alfreda should do the design and paying little attention to what she
says.
Finally, Alfreda asks Jack why he is spending so much more time reviewing her
work than that of the other engineers on the project. He responds, “I don t have to
check theirs. I know how they work. I’ve worked with them on other projects. You re
the new kid on the block, and I want to be sure you understand the way we do things
here, which may be different than at your previous employer.”
On another occasion, Alfreda shows Jack what she thinks is a creative design
approach that will result in a lower-cost system. Jack tells her, “I don t even have a
Ph.D. and I can see that that won’t work. Don’t be so esoteric; just stick to basic sound
engineering.”
During a business trip with Dennis Freeman, another engineer assigned to the
project who has known Jack for six years, Alfreda tells him that she is frustrated with
the way Jack treats her. Jack is acting more like the electronics engineer for the project
than the project manager, she tells Dennis. Besides, I have forgotten more about
designing electronics than Jack ever knew! He really isn’t up to date on electronic
design methodologies. discuss the matter with the manager of electrical engineering
and that she would never have taken the job with Word-Tech if she had known it was
going to be like this.
CASE QUESTIONS

  1. Do you think Jack is ready to serve as a project manager? Why or why not?
    How could Jack have prepared for his new role?
  2. What is the major problem with the way Jack interacts with Alfreda?
  3. Why do you think Alfreda has not had an open discussion with Jack about the
    way he is treating her? If Alfreda approaches Jack directly, how do you think
    he will respond?
  4. How do you think the manager of electrical engineering should respond to
    this situation?
  5. What should be done to remedy the situation?
  6. What could have been done to prevent the situation?

Case Study 01Project Manager

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

Word-Tech is a medium-sized firm that designs and manufactures electronic
systems for the mass transit industry. It competes with other firms to win contracts to
provide such systems. When Word-Tech receives a contract, it creates a project to
complete the work. Most projects range from $10 million to $50 million in cost and
from one to three years in duration. Word-Tech can have 6-12 projects going on at
any one time, in various stages of completion some just starting and others finishing.
Word-Tech has a handful of project managers who report to the general manager;
other people report to their functional manager. For example, the electronics
engineers all report to the manager of electrical engineering, who reports to the
general manager. The functional manager assigns particular individuals to work on
various projects. Some people work full time on a project, whereas others split their
time among two or three projects. Although individuals are assigned to work for a
project manager on a specific project, administratively they still report to their
functional manager.
Jack Kowalski has been with the company for about 12 years, since graduating
from college with a BS in electronic engineering. He has worked his way up to senior
electronics engineer and reports to the manager of electrical engineering. He has
worked on many projects and is well respected within the company. Jack has been
asking for an opportunity to be a project manager. When Word-Tech is awarded a $15
million contract to design and manufacture an advanced electronics system, the
general manager promotes Jack to project manager and asks him to run this project.
Jack works with the functional managers to get the best people available assigned
to the project. Most of the people are buddies who have worked with Jack on previous
projects. However, with Jack s position as senior electronics engineer vacant, the
manager of electrical engineering has no one with the appropriate level of expertise
to assign to Jack s project. So the manager hires a new person, Alfreda Bryson. Lured
away from a competitor, Alfreda has a Ph.D. in electronic engineering and eight years
experience. She was able to command a high salary more than Jack is making. She is
assigned to Jack s project full time as the senior electronics engineer.
Jack takes a special interest in Alfreda s work and asks to meet with her to discuss
her design approaches. Most of these meetings turn into monologues, with Jack
suggesting how Alfreda should do the design and paying little attention to what she
says.
Finally, Alfreda asks Jack why he is spending so much more time reviewing her
work than that of the other engineers on the project. He responds, “I don t have to
check theirs. I know how they work. I’ve worked with them on other projects. You re
the new kid on the block, and I want to be sure you understand the way we do things
here, which may be different than at your previous employer.”
On another occasion, Alfreda shows Jack what she thinks is a creative design
approach that will result in a lower-cost system. Jack tells her, “I don t even have a
Ph.D. and I can see that that won’t work. Don’t be so esoteric; just stick to basic sound
engineering.”
During a business trip with Dennis Freeman, another engineer assigned to the
project who has known Jack for six years, Alfreda tells him that she is frustrated with
the way Jack treats her. Jack is acting more like the electronics engineer for the project
than the project manager, she tells Dennis. Besides, I have forgotten more about
designing electronics than Jack ever knew! He really isn’t up to date on electronic
design methodologies. discuss the matter with the manager of electrical engineering
and that she would never have taken the job with Word-Tech if she had known it was
going to be like this.
CASE QUESTIONS

  1. Do you think Jack is ready to serve as a project manager? Why or why not?
    How could Jack have prepared for his new role?
  2. What is the major problem with the way Jack interacts with Alfreda?
  3. Why do you think Alfreda has not had an open discussion with Jack about the
    way he is treating her? If Alfreda approaches Jack directly, how do you think
    he will respond?
  4. How do you think the manager of electrical engineering should respond to
    this situation?
  5. What should be done to remedy the situation?
  6. What could have been done to prevent the situation?

“Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems

Posted on | by Brian Leakey

Review “Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems,” “Managing Information Security Risk,” and online contents regarding risk management processes. During this assignment you will conduct a full risk assessment against the same corporate profile selected earlier. Based on the information obtained from previous assignments, provide a synopsis on how to manage identified risks, and describe the tools and strategies that will ensure network security.
Prerequisite: Using a vulnerability scanner obtained for the previous assignment, conduct a full scan against all servers in the domain. (This information will be used in Part 3 of the assignment.)
Use the following guidelines to create a four to five-page report.
Part 1: Prepare for Risk Management (“Establish a Framework for Managing Risk”)

  1. List the corporate requirements (i.e., standards, laws) associated with the company. Briefly explain the impact of non-compliance.
  2. Develop categories and a classification method for company information systems. List at least eight categories for various people, processes, hardware, software, and data applicable to the company. Describe the data/system classification scheme as well as the reasons for selecting it.
    Part 2: Identify Risk (“Where is the Risk to My Information Assets”)
  3. List a minimum of 20 assets (data, systems, people, processes, etc.) and measure their value to the company (Low, Moderate, High, Critical) in a simple table.
  4. In one column, identify assets that can impact company compliance, customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, or business productivity (i.e., Business Impact Analysis).
    Part 3: Assess Risk (“How Severe is the Risk to My Information Assets”)
  5. Identify, measure (quantitative and qualitative), and mitigate key information technology risks. In addition, describe each of the tasks associated with risk framing, assessment, response and monitoring. Refer to risk models (e.g., “Managing Information Security Risk”).
  6. Select the optimal risk assessment methodology based on corporate needs. Compare the advantages/disadvantages of your selected risk assessment methodology to others used in the industry.
  7. Provide a diagram of the matrix that was used to assess risk.
  8. Define for each asset the potential threats, the likelihood the threat will occur or be successful, and the impact loss the asset will have on the company (Risk Mitigation Economics). Note: This includes disasters, loss of power, employee resignations, system malfunctions, drop-in customers, etc.
  9. Using the vulnerability scan, list in a table a minimum of 15 identified threats (open vulnerabilities) to the information systems, the impact of the exploited vulnerability, and remediation steps (countermeasures) to remove or reduce either impact or likelihood from threat.
    Part 4: Define Risk Appetite (“How Much Risk is Acceptable to My Organization”)
  10. Review the characteristics of a risk appetite within Chapter 6 of the course text.
  11. Establish a Risk Appetite Statement for the company.
  12. Define the Risk Tolerance of the company.
    Part 5: Control Risk
  13. In 300–500 words, identify and describe the Risk Control Strategy adopted by the company. Ensure the strategy is in alignment with corporate requirements (standards, laws, frameworks, security policies, etc.) and risk appetite.

Operations management and supply chain.

Posted on | by Brian Leakey
  1. Briefly describe operations management and supply chain.
  2. Describe the three major functional areas of business organizations and how they interrelate.

Section should be approximately 2 – 3 pages in length.
PART 2:

  1. List the key ways that organizations compete.
  2. Apply the key ways discussed to your organization if possible. If not possible, pick an organization and apply the key ways accordingly.
    Section should be approximately 2 pages in length.

PART 3:

  1. Discuss the purpose of value analysis.
  2. Examine your personal and/or professional life and describe an example of where value analysis could be applied.

Operations management and supply chain.

Posted on | by Brian Leakey
  1. Briefly describe operations management and supply chain.
  2. Describe the three major functional areas of business organizations and how they interrelate.

Section should be approximately 2 – 3 pages in length.
PART 2:

  1. List the key ways that organizations compete.
  2. Apply the key ways discussed to your organization if possible. If not possible, pick an organization and apply the key ways accordingly.
    Section should be approximately 2 pages in length.

PART 3:

  1. Discuss the purpose of value analysis.
  2. Examine your personal and/or professional life and describe an example of where value analysis could be applied.

The closing process group

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In this unit, the focus is on the closing process group. You have learned that maintaining the lessons learned registry and then creating a lessons learned register is vital to future projects and project managers. As a project manager, what type of lessons learned information do feel is most vital to future projects? In what other ways can you help the next project manager or the organization with future projects during the closing phase of your project?