Main Learning Objectives Being Utilized In This Assignment:

1.Work effectively in groups to accomplish objectives in a timely fashion.

2.Communicate information accurately and credibly in oral, written and graphic formats.

3.Describe the advantages and disadvantages of in-sourcing (make) and outsourcing (buy).

4.Prepare a recommendation on supplier selection using the weighted-point evaluation system.

5.Describe some of the concepts of an effective Total Quality Management (TQM) program including: Continuous Improvement, Employee Empowerment, and Benchmarking.

6.Apply time management and organizational skills to facilitate the completion of tasks and to meet deadlines.

7.Discuss the determinants of service quality and how it can be measured.

1)Analysis for the Case

Process: Based on your total cost analysis of Figure 1 and the findings from your research on the industry, list and explain your choices for the five performance dimensions or criteria, then utilize a weighted-point evaluation matrix to evaluate the two options.

a) Select five criteria for choosing between the two alternatives (insource or outsource).  Cost should be one of the criteria.  A total cost analysis chart should be shown to justify costs.  Totals and conclusions should be clearly stated for the reader (3 marks). But, cost is just one of the five criteria and should be included as such in the writeup-- not as a standalone section. 

b) Then list and explain why you selected the four additional criteria that were researched.  Explain why each is important to consider when making this sourcing decision.  Ensure that these dimensions assist in differentiating between the 2 options. Be careful to avoid overlap between them.  Each one should be independent of the others.

c) Assign and explain a relative weighting for each of the five criteria. Explain why you chose to weight them like you did?

d) Assign a ranking to each of the two options (insource or outsource) for each of the 5 criteria.  Explain the reasoning for each of the rankings. (4 marks)Then, utilize the weighted matrix model to evaluate the two choices.

2) State your final recommendation

Should Roell continue on as is or outsource its Customer Services?  Be sure to justify your answer based on your numeric and researched findings pertaining to advantages/disadvantages of insourcing or outsourcing.

3) Benchmarking the Support Desk

Regardless of the outcome from your analysis, management is looking for ways to benchmark or evaluate their Support Desk.  Your manager wants to know how we are going to specifically measure performance of the online assistance whether we continue to insource or outsource it. 
You must provide four specific measurements (preferably quantifiable) for different metrics to measure the performance of your Support Desk.  Your measures must contain reasoning on why these are important, how each measure could be evaluated and how the measurement is to be done.   You can’t manage it if you can’t measure it.

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