BBDM2153_OM_CW GUIDE

NOTE:

If you have been discussing with some of your friends from different programmes under different tutors, there may be slight variations in the coursework specifications. Nevertheless, the important thing is that the learning objectives, as specified in the coursework brief, are achieved:

1. Discuss critically issues pertaining to organisation layout.
2. Assess the appropriate operational layout that can serve the customers/clients effectively with minimum cost and enhancement of safety issues.
3. Evaluate the importance of layout of an organisation.


Guidelines for you in doing your coursework, just in case you are still blur blur or moong cha cha!!!!

Basically, there are TWO tasks involved in your coursework:

1. Go out and do a bit of a research on the layout of an existing business, for example, 7-11 convenience store.

2. Recommend a layout for your company which your boss has assigned you to do.

So, the first thing you have to do is to go an observe, make notes, and take photos of the layout of an existing business. Aspects of the layout which you have to consider, according to the requirements of your coursework, are:

a. Utilisation of space, equipment, and people. Is it spacious? Is it too crammed? Equipment properly arranged in an easy to use and safe manner? Convenient for people, both workers and customers, to move around? Etc.

b. Flow of information and material. How do workers communicate with each other? How do supervisors communicate with workers? How do customers communicate with workers? What about flow of materials - from store to display area for a retail store? Or flow of orders from kitchen to waiter to customer for a restaurant?

c. Safety of workplace. What considerations pertaining to layout have been given to ensure safety in the workplace? Fire exits, fire extinguishers, first aid boxes, electrical wirings, position of security personnel, security cameras, etc.

d. Interaction with customers. Does the layout facilitate communication and interaction with customers? In banks, the front office layout provides desks for several public relations officers to assist customers.

e. Servicescapes. This relates to the overall environment generated by the layout. Do customers feel relaxed and happy in the premise? How is the ambience of the place? Soft music, relaxing atmosphere, or is it like a village coffeeshop?

f. Any other aspects which you deem to be appropriate.

Okay, so (a) to (f) above are to be written as FINDINGS in your report.

After FINDINGS, you are required to give your OPINION on (a) to (f). Basically, this represents your evaluation or assessment of (a) to (f) of the observed business. Do you think they have efficient utilisation of space, equipment, and people? Is there a smooth flow of information and goods? Have workplace safety and security been meticulously planned? Are there any provisions for connecting with customers? You should provide a summary of positives and negatives. The number of positives should balance the negatives. Don't be heavy on the positives and light on the negatives or vice versa.

When you come to RECOMMENDATIONS, it is the proposal that you are going to submit to your boss. Propose to him the layout of that new outlet to be opened by adopting the positives and improving on the negatives of the observed business.

SOME OTHER ISSUES

1. Photos or images are absolutely necessary. You may also wish to draw a plan of the layout - you are welcome to do so. Credit will be given for extra effort.

2. Some of you conduct interviews with customers and manager of the observed business. You are at liberty which section of your report you wish to write about the interviews. You decide. Credit will also be given for this extra effort.

3. All questions pertaining to this coursework, please put in comments at the end of this blog for everyone to read and for me to respond. If asked through other channel, example pm me in FB, there will be no response. Reason for me not responding? Everyone asks the same questions, so basically I'm repeating the answers many times.

4. If you are interviewing customers for feedback on their level of satisfaction, a satisfactory number will be 20. Your findings on these interviews should then be summarized and used to support the opinion with regard to customer interaction.

5. What to write for CONCLUSION - somebody asked. Well, you can write on one or some or all of the following:

a. The importance of a good layout design
b. The problems and challenges faced by layout planners
c. Next generation of layout designs

6. Many questions are asked by you guys in which there are no clear cut answers. The world is neither black nor white. Most of the time, it is grey. Your opinion, acceptable or unacceptable, depends on your justifications - how do you substantiate your statement? To some people, a car is a mode of transport - getting them from point A to point B. To others, a car is a thing of beauty. To some, politics is a means to get rich. To another, it is a quest for social justice. So, what about "flooring"? Does it come under "servicescapes"? Or we consider it under "safe conditions"? Please don't ask me - you have to think for yourself, form an opinion, and justify why you have come up with such thinking. Look at the "flooring" of the tutorial rooms in Block R - has it got anything to do with "servicescapes"? Does it create a "good feeling" among the students who use the rooms? I would say that it's neutral - it's just a floor for people to walk on. There is nothing to justify that it is a well-thought out part of a layout plan to create a special feeling. Go to Berjaya Times Square - children are simply happy to run and step on the musical floor tiles!! Conclusion??

BBDM2153_OM_T4

NETWORK ANALYSIS

Network Analysis refers to CPM and PERT, which are powerful tools used to schedule and plan complex projects. They act as the basis for schedule planning and resource usage.

CPM formally identifies tasks which must be completed on time in order that the whole project be completed on time. If any task that lies on the critical path is delayed, then the whole project will also be delayed.

PERT is a variation of CPM. It takes a more skeptical view of the time estimates for each activity in the project. To use it, three time estimates are performed - optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic. From the three time estimates, the expected completion time for each activity is then calculated. Whereas CPM assumes time certainty for each activity, PERT is more realistic by considering the uncertainties that is prevalent in actual working environments.

Another useful application of network analysis is that it allows for the pinpointing of activities which can be crashed in order to shorten the project completion time. Activities to be crashed are those activities that lie on the critical path. When crashing occurs, there will be an increase in cost of the activities to be crashed as more resources are used to finish the activity earlier than scheduled. In deciding which activity to crash, the guiding principle is to choose the activity in which the increase in cost is minimum.

BBDM2153_OM_T3

GANTT CHART

It is a common and popular tool, widely used in project management. It shows to management the list of activities required to be performed in order to complete a project. This list of activities is displayed against time (months, weeks, days, hours). From the chart, it can be seen the duration of activities - starting point and ending point. The various activities are arranged in the sequence that they occur - which activity comes before and which comes after. It is also possible to have overlapping activities, that is, activities which are performed at exactly or around the same time. The chart also shows to us the finishing time of the whole project.





ADVANTAGES

Gantt charts enable us to have a better understanding of a project consisting many activities. It is much easier for us to understand the complexity of a project by looking at a diagram, instead of reading a lot of notes. It helps us to organize our thoughts by breaking up a big project into many small parts, which we can see easily from the chart.

Gantt charts are very easy to design, quickly understood, and cost-efficient. With a little bit of training, anyone can be trained to draw a Gantt chart. If required, the chart can also be easily modified to reflect changes in activities or duration.

Gantt charts can be used for status reporting. The progress or work done on activities can be shown by using colours to denote uncompleted, completed or partially completed activities. This will enable those involved in the project to have a quick grasp of how well or otherwise the project is being conducted.

DISADVANTAGES

Gantt charts assume certainty in the duration of a project's activities. This differs immensely from real world situations where uncertainties are the norm. A more realistic model for project management, albeit more sophisticated, would be PERT which uses different activity duration - optimistic, most likely, pessimistic.

Gantt charts may not be suitable for use in big projects which have an excessive amount of activities. It becomes cumbersome when several project managers are involved as conflicts may arise and the whole planning process becomes jeopardized.

Gantt charts can be overly simplistic and do not show vital information, such as, critical activities, slack times, and activities which can be crashed.

Regular updating of Gantt charts may be time-consuming and thus become counter-productive.

BBDM2153_OM_T2

Central focus (main objectives) of manufacturing facility layouts

a)      To minimize the cost of processing, transporting, and storing materials throughout the production system.

·         To achieve objectives with least capital investment (minimum spending on machines and equipment. Capital investment should be minimal when finalizing different models of facility layout.)

·         To conform to site and building constraints (an example of constraints is space)

·         To provide enough production capacity

·         To allow high labor, machine, and space utilization and productivity (Optimum space utilization reduces the time in material and people movement and promotes safety).

·         To provide for volume and product flexibility (ability to produce greater quantity and variety of goods)

·         To allow for ease of supervision

·         To allow for ease of maintenance

·         To reduce material‑handling costs

b)      To provide space for restrooms, cafeterias, and other personal‑care needs of employees (focus is on well-being of employees)

·                     To provide for employee safety and health

A model facility layout should be able to provide an ideal relationship between raw material, equipment, manpower and final product at minimal cost under safe and comfortable environment. An efficient and effective facility layout can cover following objectives:

• To provide optimum space to organize equipment and facilitate movement of goods and to create safe and comfortable work environment.
• To promote order in production towards a single objective
• To reduce movement of workers, raw material and equipment
• To promote safety of plant as well as its workers
• To facilitate extension or change in the layout to accommodate new product line or technology upgradation
• To increase production capacity of the organization

An organization can achieve the above-mentioned objective by ensuring the following:

• Better training of the workers and supervisors.
• Creating awareness about of health hazard and safety standards
• Optimum utilization of workforce and equipment
• Encouraging empowerment and reducing administrative and other indirect work

Basic types of layouts

a)      Office layout – Grouping of workers, their equipment, and spaces to provide comfort, safety and movement of information.  Typically in state of flux due to frequent technological changes.




b)      Process layout – For producing a variety of custom products in relatively small batches.  Typically use general purpose machines that can be changed over rapidly to new operations for different product design.

The process layout groups together workers or departments that perform similar tasks. Goods in process (goods not yet finished) move from one workstation to another. At each position, workers use specialized equipment to perform a particular step in the production process. To better understand how this layout works, we’ll look at the production process at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. Let’s say that you just placed an order for a personalized teddy bear—a “hiker bear” with khaki shorts, a white T-shirt with your name embroidered on it, faux-leather hiking boots, and a nylon backpack with sleeping bag. Your bear begins at the fur-cutting workstation, where its honey-brown “fur” coat is cut. It then moves to the stuffing and sewing workstation to get its insides and have its sides stitched together. Next, it moves to the dressing station, where it’s outfitted with all the cool clothes and gear that you ordered. Finally, it winds up in the shipping station and starts its journey to your house. 





c)      Product layout -For producing a few standardized products in relatively large quantities.  Typically use specialized machines that are set up once to perform a specific operation for a long period of time on one product.

In a product layout, high-volume goods are produced efficiently by people, equipment, or departments arranged in an assembly line—that is, a series of workstations at which already-made parts are assembled. Just Born, a candy maker located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, makes a product called Marshmallow Peeps on an assembly line. First, the ingredients are combined and whipped in huge kettles. Then, sugar is added for color. At the next workstation, the mixture—colored warm marshmallow—is poured into baby-chick–shaped molds carried on conveyor belts. The conveyor-belt parade of candy pieces then moves forward to stations where workers add eyes or other details. When the finished candy reaches the packaging area, it’s wrapped for shipment to stores around the world.




Both product and process layouts arrange work by function. At the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, for example, the cutting function is performed in one place, the stuffing-and-sewing function in another place, and the dressing function in a third place. If you’re a cutter, you cut all day; if you’re a sewer, you sew all day: that’s your function. The same is true for the production of Marshmallow Peeps at Just Born: if your function is to decorate peeps, you stand on an assembly line and decorate all day; if your function is packing, you pack all day.

d)      Fixed-position layout – For working on a product that is very bulky, large, heavy, or fragile with workers, materials, and machines transported to and from the product.




e)      Work Cells (Cellular manufacturing) layout- Machines are grouped into cells, and the cells function somewhat like a product layout island within a larger process layout.  Cells are usually formed by taking production of parts from an existing job shop.



Arranging work by function, however, isn’t always efficient. Production lines can back up, inventories can build up, workers can get bored with repetitive jobs, and time can be wasted in transporting goods from one workstation to another. To counter some of these problems, many manufacturers have adopted a cellular layout, in which small teams of workers handle all aspects of building a component, a “family” of components, or even a finished product. Each team works in a small area, or cell, equipped with everything that it needs to function as a self-contained unit. Machines are sometimes configured in a U-shape, with people working inside the U. Because team members often share duties, they’re trained to perform several different jobs. Teams monitor both the quantity and the quality of their own output. This arrangement often results in faster completion time, lower inventory levels, improved quality, and better employee morale. Cellular manufacturing is used by large manufacturers, such as Boeing, Raytheon, and Pratt & Whitney, as well as by small companies, such as Little Enterprise, which makes components for robots.

f)       Warehouse layout- Objective is to optimize trade-offs between handling costs and costs associated with warehouse space.  Warehouse density tends to vary inversely with the number of different items stored.

g)      Retail layout- Allocates shelf space and responds to customer behavior.  The main objective is to maximize profitability per square foot of floor space.  Sales and profitability vary directly with customer exposure to products.

Objectives of facility layouts (more or less a repeat of earlier question)

• Provide enough production capacity and reduce materials handling costs.
• Conform to site and building constraints.
• Allow space for production machines and ease of movement among employees.
• Allow high labour, machine and space utilisation and productivity.
• Provide for volume and product flexibility.
• Provide spaces for restrooms, cafeterias, and other  personal-care needs of employees.
• Provide for employee safety and health.
• Allow ease of supervision and maintenance.
• Achieve objectives with least capital investment.

A service company is interested in determining a new layout to better serve its customers. They are planning to use the closeness rating scale from 1 (necessary) to 6 (undesirable) to determine where to locate the four departments.

What two departments should be located next to each other based on their closeness ratings?

Departments A and D have a closeness rating of 1

What two departments should NOT be located next to each other based on their closeness ratings?

Departments A and C have a closeness rating of 6

A large department store is about to move to a new location in a shopping mall. Management wishes to design the new store layout using operations sequence analysis. 

Which departments should be located next to each other?

 Departments A and D have the most hourly customer traffic between them (400 customers)

Which departments should be located farthest from each other?

Departments A and B have the least hourly customer traffic between them (100 customers)

 


Mansfield Manufacturing is adding a new wing to its building to manufacture a new product line with five models: A, B, C, D and E.  The plant’s management is considering two alternative layouts.  

What is the total travel distance in layout A and Layout B for the five products respectively?

              

Total travel for Layout A:

A:  20 + 50                  = 70 feet

B:  20 + 50                  = 70 feet

C:  40 + 50                  = 90 feet

D:  20 + 50 + 50         = 120 feet

E:  20 + 30 + 50         = 100 feet       

Total travel for Layout B:

A:  50 + 20                 = 70 feet

B:  30 + 50                 = 80 feet

C:  50 + 10                 = 60 feet

D:  50 + 20 + 50         = 120 feet

E:   50 + 40 + 10         = 100 feet

 What is the total distance traveled in feet in a month using Layout A if the monthly volumes are fulfilled?

 Total distance traveled  for Layout A

A:  70(1,400)               =  98,000

B:  70(200)                  =  14,000

C:  90(1,200)               =108,000

D: 120(300)                 =  36,000

E: 100(200)                 =   20,000

                        Total                     276,000 feet

What is the total distance traveled in feet in a month using Layout B if the monthly volumes are fulfilled?

Total distances traveled for Layout B

A:  70(1,400)               = 98,000

B:   80(200)                 = 16,000

C:   60(1,200)              = 72,000

D: 120(300)                 = 36,000

E: 100(200)                  = 20,000

      Total                         242,000 feet

Of the two layouts, which layout should the factory choose?

      The factory should choose Layout B because total distance traveled for Layout B is 34,000 feet

      (276,000 – 242,000) less than Layout A. 

You have many years of working experience as an Operations Manager.  On your recent appointment, you are considering a totally new layout to increase efficiency at a new factory located at Seremban. (similar to earlier questions)

Describe the objective of a layout strategy.

The objective of layout strategy is to develop an effective and efficient layout that will meet the firm’s competitive requirements.

Explain THREE (3) factors that you will consider when planning layout design in this new factory.

·         Higher utlisation of space, equipments and people.

·         Improved flow of information, materials or people.

·         Improved employee morale and safer working conditions.

·         Improved customer/client interaction.

·         Flexibility.

BBDM2153_OM_T1

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GOODS AND SERVICES

Goods

Services

Tangible product - Can be seen and touched. It is physical. Example: Mobile phone Consistent product definition - The physical characteristics of the good can be specified clearly and consistently. Every unit of the good has the same specifications. Consider the specifications of your mobile phone. Production usually separate from consumption - goods are produced now but purchased later. Its consumption can be delayed. Date of manufacturing and date of sale can be different. Long lead time - refers to the period between the ordering of the good and the actual production of the good. Is relatively long compared to services. Can be inventoried - goods produced can be stored for a period of time before being sold or disposed. Low customer interaction - there is low level or no communication between manufacturer and customer. Capital intensive - machines and equipment are used extensively in the production of goods. Quality is objectively determined - goods can be objectively measured for their quality. They can be tested scientifically through a variety of ways.

Intangible product - Cannot be seen and touched. There is no physical element. Example: Education - the transfer of knowledge and wisdom from teacher to student is not visible. Inconsistent product definition - service given may not be consistent, sometimes more intense, sometimes less. Are your teachers all same in every way? Often unique - each customer requires different attention and service level. Services provided are different to cater to different needs of customers.  Produced and consumed at same time - you are sick, doctor attend to you. The production and usage of the doctor's expertise occur together. Short lead time - Services are usually provided on order. They are not produced to stock. Frequently dispersed - meaning services can be provided anywhere. There may not be a fixed production plant. High customer interaction - there is relatively high degree of connection with customers. Often knowledge-based. Services provided are often based on the experience and knowledge of the provider, less based on technology or engineering as compared to goods. Quality is subjectively determined - it is different to measure the quality of services provided. You can say, maybe, good or bad. But cannot quantify how good or how bad.

DEFINITION OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Operations management refers to the management of an organization’s production system, which converts inputs into outputs, i.e. the organization’s products or services. It encompasses forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling, managing inventories, assuring quality, motivating employees, deciding where to locate facilities, buying material and equipment and maintaining them, and more.

WHY STUDY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT?

Operations is one of the three strategic functions of any organization. This means that it is a vital part of accomplishing the organization's strategy and ensuring its long-term survival. The other two areas of strategic importance to the organization are marketing and finance. The operations strategy should support the overall organization strategy.

Operations management is chiefly concerned with planning, organizing and supervising in the contexts of production, manufacturing or the provision of services. As such, it is delivery-focused, ensuring that an organization successfully turns inputs to outputs in an efficient manner. The inputs themselves could represent anything from materials, equipment and technology to human resources such as staff or workers.

Examples of the types of duties or specialist positions this encompasses are procurement (acquiring goods or services from external sources), managing relations with those involved in processes, and improving a company’s sustainability with regard to its use of resources.

PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT PROBLEMS

1. Precise units of measure may be lacking. How do we measure the productivity of a teacher? Shall we count the number of students who graduate? What about the teacher's involvement in developing the students' soft skills? Or the number of hours the teacher spent in counselling students? When seeking data on output, it can be very difficult to point precisely the amount and type of output produced. The output can be in many different forms.

2. Quality of the output may not be consistent. Some units of the output may be better than others.Therefore, can we just simply add them together? A graduate with CGPA 4 flat is not the same as one who barely passed. Productivity tends to measure only the physical aspect. Quality is neglected. An increase in productivity while compromising on quality may not be a good thing. We may have produced more but if quality is lowered, then we may not be able to sell as much as before.

3. Exogenous variables may affect productivity. Exogenous variables are those factors outside the control of the organization. An example is the weather. The recent haze hazard has caused farm productivity to go down. Management must be able to recognize that the cause of the reduced productivity is due to the weather and not caused by a drop in workers' performance. Therefore, workers must not be penalized for the reduced output.

DIFFICULTIES IN IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY IN THE SERVICE SECTOR

1. Many services are labor-intensive. Being labor-intensive, it is difficult to improve productivity. Vast amount of money may need to be spent to train and retrain workers without achieving the desired increase in productivity. This is unlike being capital-intensive, whereby new machines with more sophisticated technology can just be bought to replace obsolete machines, thereby increasing productivity.

2. Services are personally processed, e.g. haircut. Due to differing demands from customers, the time taken to process an order may be greatly different. Teaching weaker students is much harder than teaching good students - quality of customers are not the same. How do you improve on the number of passes (and thus, productivity) when your students do not have the desire to succeed? Your productivity is also dependent on your customers!!

3. Service industry is usually knowledge-based. Knowledge workers are those who deal with ideas. They may be responsible for creating innovations in the company. It is difficult to keep track of this kind of contribution in a busy office. There are innovations which succeed and innovations which fail. Should failed innovations be counted as productive? Or we only consider successful innovations? If we demand only success, then failure is to be punished, then nobody will want to come up with ideas. 

4. Often difficult to mechanize and automate. It is easier to increase productivity with improved technology and automation. The same cannot be said for the service industry which requires a relatively high degree of personal attention. The more personal the service to be rendered, the more difficult it is to increase productivity. This is due to the uniqueness of the demand of customers and the problems that they face.

5. Difficult to evaluate for quality. It is impossible to quantify the quality of the service given. We can rank but we cannot quantify. We can say that X provides better service than Y. We rank X higher than Y. X does a better job with your hair, but how many marks can you objectively give to him? We cannot evaluate quality objectively. If we cannot evaluate, then we cannot measure. If we cannot measure productivity, then increasing productivity is no longer relevant. In order to increase, first we must be able to measure.

FACTORS AFFECTING OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT TODAY

1. Global competition - Competition has become more intense. It has changed from domestic competition to global competition. This increased competition has made it become more difficult for organizations to get the quantity and quality of resources that they want.

2. Quality and customer service - Customers are becoming more and more difficult to satisfy. They have become more knowledgeable and they demand better and more efficient service. Operations Managers have to constantly strategize on how to improve not just the quality of their products but also the quality of the service they give to customers.

3. Cost challenges - With competition in a global market, firms have to sell their products at a competitive price. In order to remain competitive, firms try to save on cost without compromising on quality. Operations Managers are constantly looking into ways to become cost-efficient.

4. Advanced production technologies - In a world where consumers are increasingly aware of innovation and options, substantial pressure is placed on firms to respond in a creative way. Operations Managers must rapidly respond with product designs and flexible production processes that cater to the whims of consumers.

5. Service sector becomes more prominent - Operations Managers have to respond by enriching jobs and moving decision-making to the worker. As the service sector becomes increasingly more important, emphasis has to be given to increasing the knowledge, competence and quality of the human resource.

6. Scarcity of production resources - Due to the scarcity of resources, Operations Managers need to constantly look into ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Cutting-edge technology has become crucial in gaining that competitive advantage when other production resources are hard to come by.

STEPS IN FREDERICK TAYLOR'S MANAGEMENT APPROACH

• Determine the skills, strength, and learning ability for each worker

• Set standard output per worker for each task using stopwatch studies

• Use work method or tools - use instruction cards, routing sequences, and material specifications to coordinate the works

• Have selection and training for workers, esp. to promote the workers or to improve the works

• Use incentive pay systems to increase efficiency and motivate

THREE SIGNIFICANT EMPHASIZES ON OPERATIONS

• Cost focus – prior to 1980 – until mass production era

• Quality focus – 1980 – 1995 – JIT & lean production era

• Customization focus – after 1995 – mass customization era

LAKE SWAM SEAFOOD

a) Productivity before change

= Output/Input

= 500 boxes/20 hours

= 25 boxes per hour

Productivity after change

= 650 boxes/24 hours

= 27.08 boxes per hour

b) Increase in productivity

= (27.08 - 25)/25

= 0.0832

= 8.32%

c) New productivity 

= 700 boxes/24 hours

= 29.17 boxes per hour

CARBONDALE CASTING

a) Labor productivity of the line

= 160 valves/(10 x 8) labor hours

= 160 valves/80 labor hours

= 2 valves per labor hour

b) New labor productivity

= 180 valves/80 labor hours

= 2.25 valves per labor hour

c) Increase in productivity

= (2.25 - 2)/2

= 0.125

=12.5%

Business Strategy Game - Registering for the game

Before you can play the game, you need to register. TWO (2) sets of code are required for the registration process.

1. Go to the following website: http://www.bsg-online.com/

2. Click "New Students" or "Create Account" - whichever you click, you will arrive at the same page

3. Enter the Company Registration Code provided by me.

4. Tick "I accept the bsg-online.com Terms of Use

5. Click "Continue"

6. You will then be brought to the page where you have to complete the Registration Form.

7. Company letter - this is the last letter shown at the end of your Company Registration Code.

8. First Name - refer to examples below

9. Last Name - refer to examples below

Examples:

Leong Ah Kow = First Name LEONG     Last Name AH KOW

Eric Leong Ah Kow = First Name ERIC     Last Name LEONG AH KOW

Muthu a/l Ramasamy = First Name MUTHU     Last Name RAMASAMY

Rosmah binti Razak = First Name ROSMAH     Last Name RAZAK

John Dole = First Name JOHN     Last Name DOLE

10. Student ID - your student id, example: 14WBR99888

11. E-mail address - your valid email address

12. Confirm E-mail - type your valid email address again

13. Time Zone - ignore. By default, I have already set the time zone. Do not change the time zone.

14. Password - type your own password

15. Verify Password - type your own password again

16. Click "Continue Registration"

17. You will be brought to the BSG Registration page

18. Under "Pre-paid Registration", type in your Pre-Paid Access Code. This is the code that you paid the RM100 for.

19. Click "Submit Pre-Paid Access Code".

20. The registration process is now complete. Go to BSG's homepage, login using your email account and password; and you can start making decisions.

BBDM3093 COURSEWORK SEM 1 2015/16

You should have known by now that your coursework consists of THREE parts.

COURSEWORK 1 (Group-assessed)

This will carry 40 marks.

Play the Business Strategy Game over a period of 10 years, from Year 11 to Year 20. In other words, there are 10 rounds of decision-making, each round being referred to as one year in the game. Your Year-to-Date score at the end of Year 20 will determine your Coursework 1 marks. A maximum score of 110 or above (due to bonus points being awarded) will give you a maximum of 40 marks. Marks will be awarded proportionately to your score in the game. Thus if your score is 90, your marks will be (90*40)/110 = 32.7

COURSEWORK 2 (Group-assessed)

This will carry 20 marks.

This is the reflective writing part of your coursework. Maximum 2,000 words. Reflective simply means to look back to your experiences in playing the BSG and let your tutor read about what you have learnt or realized from the game. You can write with regard to the following:

a) skills required to become a competent/successful entrepreneur. For example, numerical/quantitative/financial skills to analyse various reports such as production report or financial statements. You may also bring in other skills such as communication skill, negotiation skill, conflict-solving skill, etc, because you guys are doing the coursework in a team and disagreements are bound to occur. All of these are exactly what an entrepreneur will do - analyzing all types of data, communicating with stakeholders, negotiating with financiers and suppliers, solving conflicts within the organization, etc.

b) knowledge deemed useful/beneficial/necessary to be possessed by an entrepreneur . For example, knowledge with regard to foreign exchange risks, knowledge pertaining to various distribution and promotional strategies.

Ensure that each point that you write about is justified with reference to your experience in playing the BSG. You may refer to specific sections of the game and also incidences that occur such as a conflict situation with members of your team.


COURSEWORK 3 (Individually-assessed)

This will carry 40 marks.

This part represents a presentation of how you had played the BSG in Coursework 1, what your company had achieved, and the lessons you had learnt from playing the game, with regard to entrepreneurship (a summary of Coursework 2). At this stage, your presentation marks will be awarded.

Your presentation is to be videotaped, uploaded to Youtube, and subsequently to be uploaded to Tarcbusinessreview.com. Only selected presentations are to be uploaded. Selected presentations are defined as presentations which are deemed excellent by tutors. Once uploaded to Tarcbusinessreview.com, students will pitch their videos and invite their friends to vote for the best video presentation. There are no courseworks for this stage, but the 3 best videos with the highest number of votes will be rewarded with a 3D2N stay in Resorts World Genting, courtesy of Comeyumchawithme. LOL!!!!

Business Strategy Game - Blow Water

Now that all the orders and payments are in, briefing and practices will commence within the next two weeks. That is, once the local distributor of BSG delivers the licences (prepaid codes) to us. Altogether there are 173 sub-groups plus 6 tutors playing and competing against each other - a total of 179 "companies". These 179 companies will be divided into 15 industries. 14 industries will have 12 companies each and 1 industry will have 11 companies, making a total of 179 companies.

Each company will receive a set of industry code and prepaid code. You will then have to register online via the BSG homepage. The industry code denotes the industry that your company will be competing in. The prepaid code gives you the right to play the game. Each industry will consist of companies from different programmes of study (3RAC, 3RBU, and 2RMK) and your tutors. LOL!!!! Do not worry about your tutors - just like you, they are all beginners in BSG. You will be able to beat the sh*t out of them!!!

Registering for the game will be the first step in the whole process. There will be a briefing soon (during lecture time) with regard to how to register and how to play the game. Most likely, this briefing session will be in Week 4.

The game will be played over 10 rounds of competition. Each round is known as a Year, so the game will start from Year 11 and end in Year 20. All companies in every industry will start at the same position in Year 11. Therefore, it is assumed that your company has already been in existence for 10 years (ie. Year 1 to Year 10). You will start the game by making decisions for Year 11. There will be a deadline for the decisions. For example, you start the game at 0015 hours Monday, and the deadline for decisions is 2359 hours Wednesday. You can change your decisions any number of times as long as you do it before the deadline. On the deadline, the decisions that you saved before the deadline will be deemed to be the final decisions. The system will then close and start processing all the decisions made by companies in your industry. The result will be known in about 12 to 15 minutes time. The result will show your company's performance viz-a-viz the other companies in your industry. The best company with the highest score will be ranked at the top, while the worst performing company will be at the bottom of the list. This is arguably the most exciting moment because you will very much want to know the outcome of your decisions.

There is much joy and satisfaction when you see your company at the top of the pile, and a lot of despair when your company is at the pit. I had experienced both feelings. Important thing is to rise from the depth and continue fighting. To me, it is better to have fought and lost, compared to calling it quits and not knowing if I could have won. You may not perform well in the initial years because maybe you are on the learning curve. But, if you put in the time to analyse the game, you will recover. That is why the game is played over a period of 10 Years so that you will have sufficient time to remedy your errors and to bring your company to a satisfactory score.

When I played the game, I only wanted to win. It was all or nothing for me. There were Years when my company was in deep sh*t, but the word "quit" was never in my dictionary - not then, not now. I think I'm the type who thrive on challenges and adversities. The more obstacles there are, the faster my adrenalin flows. This spirit carried me through the Years. I won the game, crowned the Industry Champion and got an A for my course. Satisfaction.

I hope you guys will possess the same spirit as I did. Play the game to the best of your ability. Be competitive because competition breeds efficiency. The more competitive it is, the more efficient you will become. You will find that if you fight to win, most likely you will end up with very high points even if you don't win the game. Fight well and you will get your A for this part of the coursework.

Cheers and have a good weekend.

Business Strategy Game - A Short Intro

The Business Strategy Game (BSG) was introduced to the Bachelor of Corporate Administration (Honours) Third Year students as part of their coursework for the course BBDM3023 Business Strategy in Practice. Due to the nature of the course, the BSG came in nicely for the students to practice and see the outcomes of their strategies.

BSG is an online exercise where class members are divided into teams and assigned the task of running an athletic footwear company in head-to-head competition against companies managed by other class members. Company operations parallel those of actual athletic footwear companies. Just as in the real-world, companies compete in a global market arena, selling branded and private-label athletic footwear in four geographic regions – Europe-Africa, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. All aspects of BSG parallel the functioning of the real-world athletic footwear market, thus allowing students to (1) think rationally and logically in deciding what to do and (2) get valuable practice in making a variety of different business decisions under circumstances that mirror real-world competitive conditions.

In the game, students craft out strategies in the areas of corporate social responsibility, production, sales, marketing, distribution and finance. They are awarded points based on (1) earnings per share (2) return on equity (3) market value of share (4) credit rating and (5) image rating. The game draws together the information and lessons of prior courses, consolidates students’ knowledge about the different aspects of running a company, builds their confidence in analysing the revenue-cost-profit economics of a business, helps students understand how the functional pieces of a business fit together, provides valuable practice in crafting profitable growth strategies, and sharpens the students’ business judgment. Students will gain some useful experience and practice in assessing business risk, analysing industry and competitive conditions, making decisions from a companywide perspective, thinking strategically about a company's market position and the kinds of actions it will take to improve it, developing strategies and revising them in light of changing conditions, and applying what they have learned in business school.

Throughout the duration of the game, where student teams competed with each other for the title of Industry Champion, we observed that there were genuine interest and enthusiasm among the students. The discussions and arguments were of an intensity not normally observed in normal tutorial classes.

Some comments from students on their Facebook group are listed below:

Kyo HuAt good experience in playing this.learn alot from this game.quite stressful but worth it.

Hong Sheng Loh Good experience , not only can apply your marketing knowledge in the game, but also learnt human behavior in business environment and develop your analysis skill . Exploit your mind to learn from mistake and draft the better strategy for next round to keep your competitors out

Elijah Ng Worth the price we pay for since it allow us to run a virtual company at a reasonable price. In the virtual business world we have to make decisions. Each decisions you made, it must be justified and it will affect other departments' decision too, so try to make as minimal mistakes as possible and take corrective actions whenever possible. Everyone definitely will make mistakes so when we made mistakes, asked yourself where does it go wrong? 

You must find out A.S.A.P otherwise you will go down very soon and even when you became one of the top performer companies, understand that it will not last forever. You need to have a clear goals of how is your company is heading through and setting strategies that can align to your goals (or concept). Most of all, you should share your experience with other experts so you get to learn more and win the game.

After ten rounds of decision-making, the Industry Champion is determined. Being the Industry Champion, the student team has won the right to be invited to compete in the Best-Strategy Invitational (BSI) hosted by the BSG’s author team. This invitational is held three times a year in May, August and September. It is in the BSI that our students can benchmark themselves against the best student teams from around the world. In the just concluded invitational, a total of 216 high-performing student teams from colleges and universities worldwide took part. Five students from TARUC participated, with FOUR of them winning in their respective industries and thus were declared Grand Champions. In winning the BSI, our students have demonstrated excellent strategic decision-making skills as well as having the right attitude and temperament to withstand the intensity of the competition over a period of two weeks. Oh yes, one last thing, our students used something extra which no other team applied – psychological warfare which put their competitors in sixes and sevens. What a great experience for the students!!