Dr Hartanto Wong
Semesters 1 and 2 Coursework
“On the use of appropriate operations management logic and tools”
Through the coursework, you will examine the above topic in more detail. There are two main components to the coursework:
• Part 1 – a seminar paper of 2,500 words
• Part 2 – a report of 2,500 words
In total, this piece of coursework will account for 40% of your total module mark with each part of the coursework contributing equally (20% of the total module mark).
The primary basis for the coursework is the following research paper:
De Treville, S., Smith, I., Rolli, A. and Arnold, V. (2006) Applying operations management logic and tools to save lives: A case study of the world health organization’s global drug facility. Journal of Operations Management, 24, 397-406.
Part 1 - Seminar Paper
For the seminar paper you are asked to critically review the above paper. In doing your critical review, you should aim to answer the following questions:
• What problem/issue is the paper trying to address?
• Why is this important?
• Which operations management tools or techniques have been used in the research?
• Are you in line with the authors in the use of the tools? Would you also recommend the authors to use some other tools to achieve the main objective of the research?
• What are the main findings from the research?
• Are there any limitations that arise from the research? How could the research be improved?
You are not expected to simply rewrite what the authors have put in their paper, but to think about their research and provide your critical comments. Credit will be given for any independent research you carry out to find other relevant papers supporting your arguments. Any additional references must be correctly cited and listed at the end of the paper.
Part 2 – Queueing and Simulation Study Report
The report does not have to be written in ‘essay’ style, but can just be each question followed by 1-2 paragraphs of text.
Task 1 – Queueing analysis
You are asked to describe the queueing system studied in the paper with as much details as possible. Your description should at least addresses the main elements of queueing system:
- The input or arrival process
- The output or service process
- The queue discipline
Task 2 – Simulation proposal
Suppose you work for an operations management consulting firm specialised in simulation. Do you think that simulation can also be used to achieve the objective set in the paper? Please explain why.
You are to prepare a draft for a simulation project. In preparing the project proposal, you can focus on answering the following questions:
- What are the project objectives?
- Why do you think simulation is better in comparison to the analytical model as currently used in the paper?
- What data are relevant? Which ones are probabilistic?
- Could you summarise some ideas on how you are going to develop your simulation model?
- What scenarios are you going to propose in the experiment or ‘what-if’ analysis phase?
Submission www.ukassignment.org and assessment
The submission date for the coursework is Wednesday 11th March 2009. All coursework must be submitted before 10 a.m. on the date of submission via the secure postbox on the door of room P28. Any late submissions will receive a ZERO mark. On the front page, students should include:
• Name
• Student number
• Title of coursework
• Module code and title
• Year of study
• Name of lecturer
Plagiarism Notice:
Work submitted by you in this assignment must be your own. If you try to pass off the work of others as your own you will be guilty of plagiarism. An act of Plagiarism will be considered to have occurred if you copy any work of others, whether published or not. This includes the work of other candidates. Any quotation from the published or unpublished works of other persons, including other candidates, must be clearly identified as such, being placed inside quotation marks and a full reference to their sources must be provided in proper form. Evidence of plagiarism will be dealt with in line with University policy on the subject.
15012858052
153688106
