Topic
Case Study: Purchasing and Inventory at Prime Motors
Instructions
Pages 7
6th edn, AGPS, Canberra? (Refer to the Abridged Harvard Referencing Guide)
Length: 2000 words ±10% (excluding front matter and reference list)
Purpose
The primary purpose of this assessment task is to help students develop skills in the use of OM principles, theories and models in the analysis of the current operations of a service industry organisation. You are required to analyse the current situation, identify the operational problems within the organisation, and develop a set of recommendations that, when implemented, will overcome the identified problems without creating new ones. In this assessment piece you are expected to provide a solution, recommendations and action plan.
The secondary purpose of this assignment is to give students the opportunity to further develop analysis and problem identification and problem solving skills, as well as skills in presenting an argument for change within the framework of a business report.
Description
Assessment task 2 requires the writing of a professional business report. The report should critically review the current situation, identify and analyse any problems that are in evidence, and demonstrate how those problems should be addressed. As a business report it should be concise, accurate and actionable. At the same time, the report should be founded on appropriate Operations Management principles and theories, and be supported by appropriate evidence and discussion from relevant academic literature.
Details
The assessment item is based on the case study titled Prime Motors (a fictitious company). You should read, and carefully analyse, the case and respond to the issues presented at the end of the case study within the context of a short business report. The objective of the case study is to provide an operations management situation that can be studied and analysed. You will need to put yourself in the role of a management professional who is asked by the organisation to identify the nature of the problem(s), why or how the problem happened or evolved, and make recommendations that will resolve it.
Answer Preview
The case of Prime Motors focuses on different aspects of operations management and growth path for the company. Prime Motors operates with four dealerships, with Auto Supermarket demonstrating great potential to supply large number of customers and maintain quality of services based on the long-standing trademark. One of the major concerns that could affect the strength of the company is the increased operations cost and its implication on managerial practices (Barney, 2012). In this case, there are different management issues that should be addressed in order to resolve Helen Black’s concerns relating to inventory and financial requirements due to the additional auto supermarket dealership. This paper, therefore, provide recommendations alongside the discussion on how to use operations management and technology to improve the current scenario, improve productivity and resolve inventory management concerns.
Word count: 2350