Assignment

1. Research and Development (R&D)

a. What are the corporation's current R&D objectives, strategies, policies, and programs?

i. Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance or budgets?
ii. Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, objectives, strategies and policies and with internal and external environments?
iii. What is the role of technology in corporate performance?
iv. Is the mix of basic, applied, and engineering research appropriate given the corporate mission and strategies?
v. Does R&D provide the company with a competitive advantage?

b. What return is the corporation receiving from its investment in R&D?

c. Is the corporation competent in technology transfer? Does it use concurrent engineering and cross-functional work teams in product and process design?

d. What role does technological discontinuity play in the company's products?

e. How well does the corporation's investment in R&D compare with the investments of similar corporations? How much R&D is being outsourced? Is the corporation using value-chain alliances appropriately for innovation and competitive advantage?

f. Does R&D adjust to the conditions in each country in which the company operates?

g. Does R&D consider environmental sustainability in product development and packaging?

h. What is the role of the R&D manager in the strategic management process?

2. Operations and Logistics

a. What are the corporation's current manufacturing/service objectives, strategies, policies, and programs?

i. Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance or budgets?
ii. Are they consistent with the corporation's mission, objectives, strategies, and policies and with internal and external environments?

b. What are the type and extent of operations capabilities of the corporation? How much is done domestically versus internationally? Is the amount of outsourcing appropriate to be competitive? Is purchasing being handled appropriately? Are suppliers and distributors operating in an environmentally sustainable manner? Which products have the highest and lowest profit margins?

i. If the corporation is product oriented, consider plant facilities, type of manufacturing system (continuous mass production, intermittent job shop, or flexible manufacturing), age and type of equipment, degree and role of automation and/or robots, plant capacities and utilization, productivity ratings, and availability and type of transportation.

ii. If the corporation is service oriented, consider service facilities (hospital, theater, or school buildings), type of operations systems (continuous service over time to same clientele or intermittent service over time to varied clientele), age and type of supporting equipment, degree and role of automation and use of mass communication devices (diagnostic machinery, video machines), facility capacities and utilization rates, efficiency ratings of professional and service personnel, and availability and type of transportation to bring service staff and clientele together.

c. Are manufacturing or service facilities vulnerable to natural disasters, local or national strikes, reduction or limitation of resources from suppliers, substantial cost increases of materials, or nationalization by governments?

d. Is there an appropriate mix of people and machines (in manufacturing firms) or of support staff to professionals (in service firms)?

e. How well does the corporation perform relative to the competition? Is it balancing inventory costs (warehousing) with logistical costs (just-in-time)? Consider costs per unit of labor, material, and overhead; downtime; inventory control management and scheduling of service staff; production ratings; facility utilization percentages; and number of clients successfully treated by category (if service firm) or percentage of orders shipped on time (if product firm).

i. What trends emerge from this analysis?
ii. What impact have these trends had on past performance and how might these trends affect future performance?
iii. Does this analysis support the corporation's past and pending strategic decisions?
iv. Does operations provide the company with a competitive advantage?