Strayer JWI550 All Weeks Discussions Latest 2020 October

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 1 Discussion

Operational Excellence and Competitive Advantage

Welcome to the course. Please introduce yourself to your classmates and professor.

What are the top 2 operational challenges in your industry?

What differentiates the most competitive organizations from the laggards in your industry?

What do you hope to get out of this course as it relates to operations management in your workplace?

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 2 Discussion

Value Stream Mapping

Read the Course Project overview on pp. 16-17 of the Course Guide. In preparation for Part A, identify a value stream relevant to your organization that needs improvement. Include specific references to this week’s course materials to support your response.

What value does this value stream deliver to the organization or contribute to its competitiveness?

What metrics are currently used (or should be used) to monitor the performance of this value stream?

What do you predict might be some improvement opportunities in this value stream?

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 3 Discussion

Process Performance Impacts Competitive Advantage

Identify one key process that is within the value stream map you shared in Week 2. Include specific references to this week’s course materials, specifically Operations Management Reading: Process Analysis, to support your response.

What process metrics are used in this process?

Describe any shortcomings such as delays, bottlenecks, or quality issues in the process.

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 4 Discussion

Process Types and Strategies

Choice of process types is a strategic decision in Operations Management. Answer the following and include references to this week’s course materials, specifically "Operations Management Reading: Designing, Managing, and Improving Operations," to support your response.

Identify 2 different processes used in your industry and classify them into process types such as job shop, batch processing, assembly line, etc. Explain the rationale for your process type classifications.

Which companies or similar organizations in your industry would you consider to be recognized leaders in any of these process types? How does that compare to your organization?

What should management focus on in managing those process types?

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 5 Discussion

Applying Lean in Your Organization

This week, you learned how Lean is used to reduce inventory, eliminate waste, and improve processes. In preparation for Course Project Part B, answer the questions below. Be sure to include specific references to this week’s course materials to support your response.

Now that you have completed your value stream assignment, what are some opportunities in your value stream where a Work-Out or Kaizen event can be applied?

Which Lean tools would be most useful in these events?

What challenges have you seen, or anticipate, in deploying Lean in your industry? How would you address those challenges?

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 6 Discussion

Inventory and Supply Chain Management

One of the most important areas of focus in pursuing operational excellence is improving inventory and supply chain performance. As we have seen, supply chain shortcomings have regularly made headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addressing the following questions, support your response with specific references to this week’s course materials.

Locate and post a link to a news story from the last six months published in The Wall Street Journal or other reputable source about an inventory or supply chain issue. This need not be directly related to COVID-19.

Briefly summarize the issue including what went wrong and the impact this had on customers.

What steps did the organization and/or its supply chain/logistics partners take to address the issue? What was the outcome?

Given the information available at the time, what could have been done differently to mitigate the impact on the supply chain?

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 7 Discussion

Why Quality Matters

Option 1

There are a number of resources for both industry professionals and consumers that analyze and publish quality metrics. Examples include: Hospital Compare - published through Medicare.gov, J.D. Power - well known for its car reviews, and Quality Magazine and Quality Digest are two resources used by OM professionals.

Locate and post a link to a quality review resource that is used in your industry (select one that is different from what has already been posted by your peers).

What information do these resources provide about how they collect and analyze data, and develop reports and (if applicable) rankings?

Which metrics are most frequently used in assessing quality failures and the impact these failures have on costs?

How can this resource be used by OM professionals to support quality improvement initiatives?

OR

Option 2

Quality failures have impacts that go beyond costs. Quality failures can erode an organization's competitive advantage.

Locate and post a news story from the last six months published in The Wall Street Journal or other reputable source about an internal or external quality failure.

Briefly summarize the issue including what went wrong and whether it was a performance quality or conformance quality issue.

What was the impact on costs to the organization and/or its customers?

How did the organization address the issue?  What steps did they take to either  the problem or provide a resolution to customers?  Were these reasonable and fair? Explain.

What steps could have been taken to reduce or prevent this failure?

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 8 Discussion

Applying Six Sigma

Six Sigma projects are widely used to improve the quality, cost, and time performance of processes, products, and services.

Watch the Six Sigma Foundations course and answer the following questions:

Provide an example of variation in the products or services in your industry and explain how this variation impacts customers.

Select one specific Six Sigma concept or tool seen in the Six Sigma Foundations course in LinkedIn Learning that you found to be most useful.

Explain why you selected this particular concept or tool. How easy or difficult would it be to apply this in your industry?

Support your responses with specific references to the Six Sigma Foundations course.

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 9 Discussion

Product and Service Design

This week’s course materials present examples of how integrating product and service design into your pursuit of operational excellence can be an effective strategy to increase your organization’s competitive advantage. Support your response to the prompts below with specific references to this week's course materials.

Identify two articles or videos from this week's materials that you found to be most useful. What were your takeaways from these? Why?

Select any product or service that you are familiar with, either as a provider or as a consumer. Describe how effective its design is in meeting customer needs.

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 10 Discussion

Lessons Learned in Operational Excellence

What are your key takeaways from this course?

What are your favorite tools that you studied in this course? What do you like most about them?

When answering this question, consider: ease of implementation, application to your particular organization, receptivity by your colleagues, etc.

How have you applied, or how will you apply, these tools? If applicable, what results were achieved?

What impact has this course had on your professional performance?