Business Management 1B
MNB1601
Department of Business Management
Assignment 01 for 2021
As per the Updated Tutorial Letter 001/3/2021
,TOPIC 1: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
It is recommended that you read business case 9 “Operations Management: Air traffic
operations excellence” (in the recommended book “Business Cases”) before attempting to
answer Questions 1 to 7.
It is not compulsory that you do so, as the answers to the assignment questions can be found in
the prescribed book, Introduction to Business Management (ITBM).
QUESTION 1
There are various classification criteria for service providers. ORTIA can be classified as
providing _____________ services.
1. professional
2. mass
3. job
4. continuous
Answer:
Refer to the case study:
The ORTIA operations system design
,In the context of operations management, what type of operation is applicable at ORTIA? We
have referred to project management and several other types of operations. The airline
operation is not a simple job shop or a batch operation. Neither is it a project operation.
Although several hybrid operation types can be identified in an airport (like any large airport) it is
primarily a mass service operation.
QUESTION 2
ORTIA had to follow certain stages in the design of their services. Which one of the
following is NOT one of these stages?
1. Screening process
2. Evaluation and improvement
3. Work measurement
4. Concept generation
Answer:
Refer to page 327 of the prescribed textbook:
11.4.2.3 The stages in the design of products and services
The design of a product or service ultimately results in a full detailed specification of the
product or service. To compile this specification, detailed information must be obtained
about the concept (the form, function, aim and benefits of the design), the package (the
composition of products and services required to support the concept) and the process of
creating the package (which determines the way in which the individual products and
services of thepackage will be manufactured or provided). To obtain this full detailed
specification, it is necessary to first follow certain consecutive steps. Although not all
businesses necessarily follow the same steps, the typical sequence of steps is as follows:
Concept generation. The first step in designing a product or service starts when different
ideas for new product concepts or service concepts are generated. New ideas for products
or services can come from within the business itself (for example, the ideas of personnel or
those from formal research and development programmes) or from outside the business
(for example, the ideas of customers/clients or competitors).
The screening process. Not all concepts that are generated will necessarily develop into
new products and services. Concepts are evaluated by means of a screening process based
on certain design criteria, such as feasibility (how difficult is it and what investment is
needed?), acceptability (how worthwhile is it and which return is possible?) and
vulnerability (what could go wrong and which risks are there?). Each of the stages that
follows progressively refines the original concept up to the point where there is sufficient
information and clarity for it to be turned into an actual product or service with an
operational process to produce or deliver it. Such progressive reduction of the multitude of
design options for a new product and service occurs through a process of elimination that
is referred to as the ‘design funnel’. Overall, the purpose is to determine whether the new
concept will make a significant contribution to the product or service range of the business.
Several functional management areas – such as marketing, operations and finance – are
involved in the screening process of new concepts, and each may use different criteria in
, this process. The operations manager is responsible for operations-focused screening to
determine whether the business has both the ability (people, skills and technology) and the
capacity to produce or provide the concepts.
Preliminary design. Once the ideas and the concepts generated by the particular
functional-management areas in the business are reduced to one or two potentially
acceptable product or service concepts, the next step is the preliminary design of the
product or service. The preliminary design is the first attempt to specify the composition of
the components of the product or service to be included in the package and to identify the
processes that will be necessary to produce or provide the product or service package.
Evaluation and improvement. The aim of this step is to evaluate the preliminary design
with a view to improving it, and making the process of manufacture and provision less
expensive and easier. Various techniques and methods can be used as aids in this step.
Prototype and final design. The last step in the design of products or services is the
development of a prototype of the product, or a simulation of the service, in order to test it
in the market. If the prototype, which is based on the improved preliminary design, is
favourably received in the market, the final design and specifications of the product or
service can be compiled.
MNB1601
Department of Business Management
Assignment 01 for 2021
As per the Updated Tutorial Letter 001/3/2021
,TOPIC 1: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
It is recommended that you read business case 9 “Operations Management: Air traffic
operations excellence” (in the recommended book “Business Cases”) before attempting to
answer Questions 1 to 7.
It is not compulsory that you do so, as the answers to the assignment questions can be found in
the prescribed book, Introduction to Business Management (ITBM).
QUESTION 1
There are various classification criteria for service providers. ORTIA can be classified as
providing _____________ services.
1. professional
2. mass
3. job
4. continuous
Answer:
Refer to the case study:
The ORTIA operations system design
,In the context of operations management, what type of operation is applicable at ORTIA? We
have referred to project management and several other types of operations. The airline
operation is not a simple job shop or a batch operation. Neither is it a project operation.
Although several hybrid operation types can be identified in an airport (like any large airport) it is
primarily a mass service operation.
QUESTION 2
ORTIA had to follow certain stages in the design of their services. Which one of the
following is NOT one of these stages?
1. Screening process
2. Evaluation and improvement
3. Work measurement
4. Concept generation
Answer:
Refer to page 327 of the prescribed textbook:
11.4.2.3 The stages in the design of products and services
The design of a product or service ultimately results in a full detailed specification of the
product or service. To compile this specification, detailed information must be obtained
about the concept (the form, function, aim and benefits of the design), the package (the
composition of products and services required to support the concept) and the process of
creating the package (which determines the way in which the individual products and
services of thepackage will be manufactured or provided). To obtain this full detailed
specification, it is necessary to first follow certain consecutive steps. Although not all
businesses necessarily follow the same steps, the typical sequence of steps is as follows:
Concept generation. The first step in designing a product or service starts when different
ideas for new product concepts or service concepts are generated. New ideas for products
or services can come from within the business itself (for example, the ideas of personnel or
those from formal research and development programmes) or from outside the business
(for example, the ideas of customers/clients or competitors).
The screening process. Not all concepts that are generated will necessarily develop into
new products and services. Concepts are evaluated by means of a screening process based
on certain design criteria, such as feasibility (how difficult is it and what investment is
needed?), acceptability (how worthwhile is it and which return is possible?) and
vulnerability (what could go wrong and which risks are there?). Each of the stages that
follows progressively refines the original concept up to the point where there is sufficient
information and clarity for it to be turned into an actual product or service with an
operational process to produce or deliver it. Such progressive reduction of the multitude of
design options for a new product and service occurs through a process of elimination that
is referred to as the ‘design funnel’. Overall, the purpose is to determine whether the new
concept will make a significant contribution to the product or service range of the business.
Several functional management areas – such as marketing, operations and finance – are
involved in the screening process of new concepts, and each may use different criteria in
, this process. The operations manager is responsible for operations-focused screening to
determine whether the business has both the ability (people, skills and technology) and the
capacity to produce or provide the concepts.
Preliminary design. Once the ideas and the concepts generated by the particular
functional-management areas in the business are reduced to one or two potentially
acceptable product or service concepts, the next step is the preliminary design of the
product or service. The preliminary design is the first attempt to specify the composition of
the components of the product or service to be included in the package and to identify the
processes that will be necessary to produce or provide the product or service package.
Evaluation and improvement. The aim of this step is to evaluate the preliminary design
with a view to improving it, and making the process of manufacture and provision less
expensive and easier. Various techniques and methods can be used as aids in this step.
Prototype and final design. The last step in the design of products or services is the
development of a prototype of the product, or a simulation of the service, in order to test it
in the market. If the prototype, which is based on the improved preliminary design, is
favourably received in the market, the final design and specifications of the product or
service can be compiled.
