QUESTION 1

You are the Operations Manager of the American-based "Burger King" fast food chain. The board of directors have decided to expand globally and have requested you to determine the operations strategy for your market entry. Operations strategies are developed to ensure that organisations deliver goods or services that are better, cheaper and more responsive to customer needs

(a) Critically discuss the operations strategies of expanding the fast food chain in a new market

(b) The quality cost system concept can be applied to improve productivity. Discuss the implication of cost of quality for this fast food chain when expanding in a new market. Use relevant examples to support your arguments

(c) Location is always considered of particular importance in operations. Critically discuss four of the factors that will affect your fast food location decision

QUESTION 2

(a) In any organization the factors that define customer requirements are referred to as competitive factors which are influenced by the operations function at the performance objectives. Explain using examples, the different types of performance objectives in a particular industry of your choice

(b) Briefly discuss the three possible types of layout in an organisation of your choice

QUESTION 3

(a) Just-in-time (JIT) or lean approaches to operations management emphasise the ideal to meet demand instantaneously, with perfect quality and no waste. Explain the Just-In-Time (JIT) philosophy of operations. Support your answer with examples from a manufacturing or service operations of your choice

(b) The customer is the focal point of the quality system and hence it is essential to ascertain their perceptions of the quality service they receive. Using the service delivery system gap analysis model, discuss how a service-based organisation of your choice can use the model to manage its customer satisfaction

QUESTION 4

(a) Critically discuss five main elements of Total Quality Management, and explain how an organisation might introduce these elements into its processes, drawing particular attention to any difficulties they might encounter

(b) The key to a successful supply chain structure and operation depends upon a customer/supplier relationship based on partnership principles. Critically examine and appraise this statement