Assignment Report and Project Plan for a Business Scenario in an Emerging Economy

GENERAL GUIDELINES

1.Use 12 Times New Roman script
2.All assignments must be submitted with an accompanying Turnitin report.
-The maximum permissible similarity Overall index is 40%.
-However, the maximum permissible similarity percentage per source should only be 3% and below.
3.The assignment should not contain any contents including references cited Harvard Referencing Style to be used with in-text Citations.

Assignment Task 1: (4000 words)
Read the following Scenario, and prepare a Report with the guidelines provided.

Scenario: Scenario: The learner is acting as Chief Operation Officer (COO) of operation and project for a chosen organization in an emerging economy, particularly in the Middle East (ME) region. Currently, the chosen organization is attempting to (a) enhance its global operation from ME to Europe and (b) develop artificial intelligence capabilities to build competitiveness in the corporate business strategy. The learner is required to explore operations strategy/principles, the impact of adopting lean strategies on supply chain networks, developing a project management plan, and building quality systems to build operational competitiveness. 
 

ORGANIZATION MUST NOT BE EXISTED IN EUROPE IN REAL LIFE.
Example: open franchise in Europe for UAE organization.

Your report should include the following aspects:

1.Introduction of the Chosen Organization is required. The student must then highlight the principles of operation management (ex: culture/characteristic) that they think are most important to their business organization. These principles must be justified. The operations strategy of the firm must be discussed explaining how it transforms the input as value-added output (product & services). Finally, briefly discuss at least three operational challenges the firm is now experiencing. 

2.A   review of the operations strategy of the organization, exploring the current and long-term solution to address the challenges the firm is experiencing. The solutions must discuss   the internal and external influences (SWOT analysis and few from PESTLE) that would have led to the need for such action. Drawing from the experiences of other organizations here would add value to your answer.  

3.Supply chain management, like other business functions, is a supporting arm of the operations strategy. Here the student must explore at least 3 SCM strategies which are likely to contribute to a successful and or more profitable enterprise. Each recommendation must be justified, considering the current position of the organization.  Again, we encourage students to draw from the examples of other firms, sharing their experiences in relation to the question. 

4.Students must discuss quality management approaches (lean), highlighting various ways, through examples, in which a quality mindset can add value to the operations at their chosen organization. Students are required to explore several quality managements tools (both offline and online) in the discussion, while exploring quality’s contribution towards a leaner enterprise.  Even though you are writing in the context of the organization, you are encouraged to draw from the examples of other firms, sharing their experiences in relation to the question. 

5.Discuss how an AI (big data driven) platform can further enhance the overall business operations. You must also discuss the business exposure and risks such initiatives could have on the operations strategy of your organization proposing workable solutions to address them. Even though you are writing in the context of the organization, you are encouraged to draw from the examples of other firms, sharing their experiences in relation to the question. 

Assignment Task 2: (1500 words)
Project Plan for a Business Scenario

Propose and design a Project Plan for the implementation of AI software to enhance the chosen organization’s proposals to help improve operations in Task 1. Discuss how the project plan will impact the overall strategic objectives of the organization. 
The project plan must be an active plan where the student is encouraged to make real life assumptions and not just engage the reader in theory.  The plan should define the following:
?Project objectives 
?Organization’s objectives 
?Project scope 
?Project assumptions 
?Project roles and responsibilities 
?Timeline with Gantt charts 
?Risk management with populated template
?Stakeholder management with populated matrix
?Project funding
?Other areas can be discussed

Assuming that below are the stages for your project plan re the implementation   of the new software, you must design a PERT diagram showing its Critical path. You must highlight the drawbacks of applying PERT in the project and recommend ways of mitigating them.