Operations, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management Essay

On successful completion of this module students will be able to

1.Knowledge outcome – You will be able to develop your understandings of operations, logistics and SCM in organisations and how these contribute to organisational success

2.Intellectual /transferable skills outcome – You will be able to consider a complex scenario related to operations, logistics and SCM and apply quantitative or qualitative techniques to contribute to its solution.

By focusing on the operational and supply chain issues, you should seek to identify and clarify how the operation functions and supports the market that it serves. What service delivery system (s) or manufacturing process (es) does it use? What infrastructure does it use to manage these delivery systems? And how, together, do these support the market (s) that it serves? A critical, detailed and relevant analysis should be made of the various components.

Based on your analysis, you are expected to make recommendations about how the business can improve its performance. Consider triple bottom line - described as the incorporation of economic, environmental and social factors as the three dimensions of sustainability in business practice - in your analysis.

As it might be impossible to analyse all the areas of operations, logistics and supply chain management, you

should also decide which area (s) to cover in your discussion. Therefore, choose two of the following areas in managing operations, logistics and supply chain.

·New product/ service development and process

·Managing quality

·Location and Layout

·Managing people in operation and supply chains

·Logistics mix: Channels, networks, transportation, managing inventory and capacity

·Managing business relationships in supply chains

·JIT, Lean and Agility

To conduct writing the essay, students need to read and refer to core text books and academic journals as well as source of their data collection (mentioned before).

The essay will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Critical review of relevant Operation, Logistics and Supply Chain Management theories (30%)

Analytic discussion with relevant and similar example(s) and applying appropriate solutions of Operations Management (30%)

Clarity of writing, essay structure, correct referencing (10%)

Formative Assessment

You should write down an essay plan (500 words) to introduce

-selected business/ organisation

-two selected areas of Operations and Supply Chain Management

-theories and techniques that should be applied

-potential areas of improvement which need to be reviewed critically

Week 3 assessment brief and outline, Week 4 essay plan is covered and Week 5 in seminar feedback/discussion based upon the essay plan.  Please e-mail your seminar tutor a copy of your plan so they can monitor progress, but it is THE STUDENTS RESPONSIBILITY to bring a copy to the seminar Week 5.

Analytic Discussion

How will we support you with your assessment?

·Two dedicated seminars in week three and ten

·Formative feedback on case studies in seminar

·Formative assessment: writing an essay plan in week 4

·Links to the assessment throughout your seminars and team-building session specifically

·Coursework tutorials with your seminar tutor during reading week and revision week

·Coursework tutorial at week 11

·FAQs on Moodle

How will your work be assessed?

Your work will be assessed by a subject expert who will use the marking grid provided in this assessment brief. When you access your marked work it is important that you reflect on the feedback so that you can use it to improve future assignments.

You MUST use the Harvard System. The Harvard system is very easy to use once you become familiar with it.

Assignment submissions

The Business School requires a digital version of all assignment submissions. These must be submitted via Turnitin on the module’s Moodle site. They must be submitted as a Word file (not as a pdf) and must not include scanned in text or text boxes. They must be submitted by 2pm on the given date. For further general details on coursework preparation refer to the online information via StudentZone

For students who are offered a resit you are required to improve and resubmit your original work as well as adding a further reflective commentary discussing what you have learned from the process.

You must resubmit your work using the specific resit Turnitin link on Moodle. You should:

1.Review your previously submitted work and read carefully the feedback given by the marker.

2.Use this feedback to help you revisit and rewrite your work, improving it in the areas identified as weak in the original marking process

3.Include with your resubmission an additional reflective piece (up to 300/500 words#) on what you understand was weak, how you set about addressing this and what you have learned from this that may help you with further assignments. You should address the following specifically:

i)Identify tutor feedback points on your original work and identify where/how the resit work has changed (give page number) in response to feedback

ii)Identify the lessons you have learnt from doing the resit

iii)Reflect on how your feedback and this process will help you improve future assignments

If you did not submit work at the first opportunity you cannot reflect on your feedback. However, you are still required to submit a reflective piece in which you identify your reasons for non-submission, the implications of non-submission for your future success and how you propose to address this in the future. If you have issues with confidentiality of your reasons for non-submission then you could reflect on how you have met the learning outcomes for the module, how you can use what you have done on the module to support your future career and what skills/employability attributes you feel the module has helped you to develop.

If you were deferred at the first assessment opportunity you do not need to include the reflective piece as this is a first submission at a later date, not a resit.

The original marking criteria will still apply (see marking grid provided above*) except that the 10% weighting for presentation will be awarded instead to your reflective piece

Mitigating circumstances/what to do if you cannot submit a piece of work or attend your presentation

The University Mitigating Circumstances Policy can be found on the University website -  Mitigating Circumstances

Marking and feedback process

Between you handing in your work and then receiving your feedback and marks within 20 working days, there are a number of quality assurance processes that we go through to ensure that students receive marks which reflects their work. A brief summary is provided below.

·Step One – The module and marking team meet to agree standards, expectations and how feedback will be provided.

·Step Two – A subject expert will mark your work using the criteria provided in the assessment brief.

·Step Three – A moderation meeting takes place where all members of the teaching and marking team will review the marking of others to confirm whether they agree with the mark and feedback

·Step Four – Work at Levels 5 and 6 then goes to an external examiner who will review a sample of work to confirm that the marking between different staff is consistent and fair

·Stop Five – Your mark and feedback is processed by the Office and made available to you.