02 Jan An explanation of

Capella MBA6022 Unit 1 Discussion 1 & 2

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Discussion Posting Expectations

Before starting your first discussion, please review the following discussion posting expectations for the course:

Participate actively in discussions, beginning with your initial substantive post for each of the discussion topics. This post should demonstrate your achievement of the participation criteria.
Respond to the posts of at least two of your fellow learners for each discussion question per week, unless the discussion instructions state otherwise.
Write substantive response posts to other learners that contribute to the conversation by asking questions, respectfully debating positions, and presenting supporting information relevant to the topic.
Respond to any follow-up questions the instructor directs to you in the discussion area.
In summary, each week you are responsible for:

One initial post for each discussion question.
Two response posts to other learners for each discussion question.
Instructions

In your assignments throughout this course, you will build an OIP based on the real-world example of the Toyota Motor Corporation’s recent product failure crisis. For this discussion, use the research you have conducted on the Toyota accelerator crisis and this unit’s readings to address the following questions:

What was this crisis about?
What made this crisis challenging for Toyota?
As you complete this discussion board post and respond to colleagues, please consider this a sounding boardfor ideas you might incorporate in your assignment this week. You will notice that these questions are very similar to one part of your instructions for the Process Identification assignment in this unit. You are encouraged to re-use your own writing from this discussion, even word-for-word, in that assignment. Attribute any ideas you have borrowed from peers to the person who generated them.

Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

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Because you are identifying processes that you might focus on for your OIP for this course, it is a good time to evaluate the situation using a formative strategy in the field, W. Edwards Deming’s 14 Points for Management. Following the Second World War, Deming traveled to Japan and motivated several prominent Japanese businesses toward process changes that brought them remarkable success. These companies cut expenses, increased productivity and gained market share by improving the quality of their products. By the 1970s, many American and European organizations adopted a similar strategy in order to stay competitive. Using Deming’s 1987 article, “Transformation of Today’s Management,” address the following:

Explain how you think some or all the principles proposed in his 14 Points for Management apply to the candidate processes you identified for your assignment in this unit. Explain why.
What additional information would you need to better understand the process?
As with the first discussion board, and whenever possible in this course, please use this as an opportunity to sound out ideas you will use in your upcoming assignment.

Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 2 Discussion 1 & 2

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In this discussion, please refer to the case study from the Unit 1 readings, “Unintended Acceleration: Toyota’s Recall Crisis,” by Austen-Smith, Diermeier, and Zemel. Respond to the following questions:

What is the best outcome Toyota could have expected from this crisis?
How might Toyota have improved its response to this crisis?
To what extent should Toyota be considered at faultfor these incidents?
At present, what further steps might Toyota take to improve its reputation following this crisis?
Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

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One requirement of this unit’s assignment includes the development of a problem statement for your OIP. An important step in this development is to clearly identify the problem.

For this discussion, consider problem statements as you respond to the following:

In the development of a problem statement, what are some components you consider important as you identify the real causes of a problem?
How would you describe a problem in a way that is clear to the management team that will be evaluating the OIP?
Why is it important to keep your audience in mind as you determine what level of information and detail is appropriate?
What role does the cost-benefit relationship play as you frame the problem and proposed opportunity?
Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 3 Discussion 1 & 2

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For this discussion, review the following readings:

Mishina’s 1995 case study, “Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.”
Baker Library’s 2015 case study, “Case Flash Forward: Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (1995).”
Cole’s 2011 article, “What Really Happened to Toyota?”
After your review, respond to the following questions, which will serve as a chance to try out ideas you might use in your assignment for this unit:

If you were Doug Friesen, manager of assembly at the company’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant, what would you do to address the seat problem? Where would you focus your attention and solution efforts?
What options exist? What would you recommend? Why?
What is the real problem facing Doug Friesen?
Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

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For this discussion, analyze the features of a flowchart that helped you understand the process you are addressing in your course project. In addition, explain how you intend to use these features to support your process improvement objectives. Remember that Chapter 6 of your Operations and Supply Chain Managementtextbook provides examples of flowcharts created with different software. If you so choose, you may also use the textbook’s student companion Web site, linked in the Resources, to find more information on flowcharting.

Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 4 Discussion 1 & 2

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For this discussion, respond to the following:

1. Describe three strategies for expanding capacity. What are the advantages and disadvantages of incremental versus one-step expansion?

2. Review the 2011 case study, “Southwest Airlines.” Describe Southwest Airlines’ strategy and process, and then respond to the following questions in view of your knowledge about expanding capacity:

o Is the United States airline industry attractive?

o Why is Southwest successful?

o How easy would it be to imitate this airline’s strategy?

o Is their strategy sustainable?

o Should Southwest become an international airline?

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of two peers. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

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Deming (1987) states that, in terms of companies in transformation, one of the seven deadly diseases that can afflict them is using only visible figures as an input to management. With this idea in mind, respond to the following:

How do you think this concept could affect your selection of data and measurement strategies?
When historical data are not available and the product or service is new, how would you go about arriving at a reasonable forecast?
Explain this as it relates to your job or personal experience.
Reference

Deming, W. E. (1987). Transformation of today’s management. Leadership Excellence, 4(12), 8.

Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 5 Discussion

For this discussion, refer to Chapter 13 of your Operations and Supply Chain Managementtextbook and review Wheelwright and Schmidt’s 2011 case study, “Scientific Glass, Inc.: Inventory Management.” Respond to the following questions:

Identify the two basic decisions addressed by inventory management, and discuss why the responses to these decisions differ for continuous and periodic inventory systems.
What were the problems facing Scientific Glass, Inc. in January 2010?
How do Scientific Glass, Inc.’s problems illustrate the relationship between the number of warehouses and inventory levels?
What alternatives are available for dealing with the inventory problems? How would you evaluate the alternatives?
Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 6 Discussion 1 & 2

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Based on the course materials and activities, as well as your own experience, respond to the following:

Describe the implications of operations improvement for international operations and how these differ from domestic applications.
Analyze the potential differences between the operations improvement process for the service and the manufacturing sectors, both internationally and domestically.
Describe how ISO certification might affect the operations improvement process in the international and domestic realm.
Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

dq 2

For this discussion, reflect on the knowledge and skills you have developed over the past six weeks. Address the following questions in your post:

How has your ability to perform these skills and apply this knowledge evolved?
What concepts, skills, or insights were most relevant to you?
How have you grown in your academic and professional goals? Have you made progress on any items in the action plan you developed during first course?
Response Guidelines

Read the posts of your peers and respond to at least two. When responding to others, seek clarification, share your personal experiences that relate to their experiences, and provide feedback on their posts.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 1 Assignment 1

Objectives

This assignment helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

Develop innovative and sustainable solutions to strategic and global operations management challenges.
Apply theories, models, and practices of global operations management to address business problems.
Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Overview

In your assignments throughout this course, you will build an operations improvement plan (OIP) based on the real-world example of the Toyota Motor Corporation’s recent product failure crisis. You will imagine, when writing your OIP, that it is the fourth quarter of 2009. For this unit’s assignment, you will begin this project by identifying two organizational processes that you believe would be worth addressing. If you have not already done so, take some time now to read all of the assignments for this course. Each of the first five assignments represent a component of a typical OIP. For the concluding assignment of this course, you will improve, revise, and compile your work to deliver a finalized OIP, incorporating updates and focusing on the message you want to deliver to the organizational leaders; in this case, the organizational leaders are the leaders at Toyota Motor Corporation.

Note that several case studies and library resources that address the Toyota accelerator crisis have been assigned throughout the course. Use the NBC Learn videos and case studies, introduced in this unit’s study activity, to inform this assignment, as well as your subsequent assignments. These materials should give you a starting point for your research, but it will be necessary for you to conduct further independent research on the subject in order to build your OIP. The Capella Library is a recommended source of scholarly and professional information on the subject.

Instructions

For this assignment, complete the following:

Using your preliminary research, identify at least two of Toyota’s existing organizational processes at the time of the accelerator crisis. You will develop an OIP that would replace one or more of these processes.
For each process you identify, write a short summary addressing the following specific topics. Your analyses should be as thorough as possible. Be sure to cite your resources for this information.
Importance:What is the importance of the process to the Toyota organization?
Goals:Supposing that it is 2009, and that you have been hired by Toyota to create an OIP: what are opportunities for innovation or improvement that you might focus on?
Scope:What is the scope of this process? What is the breadth of its reach?
Parties involved:What customers, as well as internal and external suppliers, are affected by this process?
Priority:What is the timeliness or urgency for resolving the issues involved in this process?
Benefits:What is the overall impact or benefit for Toyota in improving this process?
Cost:What are the costs to Toyota if the process is not improved?
Submission Requirements

Written communication:Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting:Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
Resources:Minimum of two sources required.
Font and font size:Times New Roman, 12 point.
Refer to the assignment scoring guide to ensure that you meet the grading criteria for this assignment.

Note:Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 2 Assignment 1

Objectives

This assignment helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

Apply theories, models, and practices of global operations management to address business problems.
Integrate operations management analyses into general business management planning and decision making.
Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Instructions

Based on the information you gathered in your process identification assignment in Unit 1, you selected a process to carry forward through the remainder of your OIP project. The process selected should lend itself to an in-depth analysis and should be important to Toyota.

In this assignment, write a report analyzing the organizational problem and the process you have identified for your OIP. Outline your process improvement idea, including the following elements:

Problem statement:What exactly needs to be improved? Use problem framing and cause-and-effect analysis to develop a brief, preliminary problem statement. Note:You will expand your problem statement in the Unit 3 assignment.
Background of the issue:Detail relevant historical data, including the duration of the problem and the cost to the organization. Note:You are not expected to provide specific data results at this early stage of your investigation.
Implications:What could happen if the problem continues as it is? What could happen if the process is improved? Outline both tangible and intangible positives and negatives for improving the issue or ignoring it. Identify some potential general business results and impacts on business relationships.
Desired outcome:How will your new process be different from the old? What competitive advantages will it yield? How will it impact stakeholders? Consider the cost-benefits of the process improvement; estimate how much will it cost the organization and outline how costs will be offset by the benefits derived.
Submission Requirements

Written communication:Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting:Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
Resources:Minimum of one source required.
Font and font size:Times New Roman, 12 point.
Review the assignment scoring guide to ensure you have met all of the criteria of this assignment.

Note:Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 3 Assignment 1

Objectives

This assignment helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

Develop innovative and sustainable solutions to strategic and global operations management challenges.
Apply theories, models, and practices of global operations management to address business problems.
Integrate operations management analyses into general business management planning and decision making.
Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Instructions

You have examined and broadly identified the organizational problem you will address in your OIP and have begun to identify the new process you would propose to address it. The next critical step is to refine your problem statement by defining and demonstrating the problem and process in detail. There are a number of tools you can use to do this. Two of the most useful are the cause-and-effect diagram and the process flowchart. Representations of these tools can be found in Chapter 2 of your Operations and Supply Chain Managementtext.

For this assignment, complete the following:

Create a cause-and-effect diagram to identify, analyze, and graphically depict all potential causes related to the problem, in order to uncover its root causes.
Create a graphic flowchart that briefly details all of the steps you will need to implement in your new process, over time. Identify what this flowchart reveals about the following:
Previously unidentified yet important steps.
Products or services that should have been undergoing quality checks but were not.
Instances in the old process when critical information was not shared among all involved people and functions.
Create a before-and-after flowchart that illustrates the process that was used before your proposed improvements and what it might look like after your recommendations are incorporated.
Based on the preliminary problem statement you developed in Unit 2, briefly describe the scope of your process improvement objective. For this assignment, focus on only one of the contributing causes of the problem.
Write a refined version of your problem statement based on what you have learned about your objective by using the diagram and flowchart tools.
Submission Requirements

Written communication:Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting:Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
Font and font size:Times New Roman, 12 point.
Review the assignment scoring guide to ensure you have met all of the criteria of this assignment.

Note:Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 4 Assignment 1

Objectives

This assignment helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

Develop innovative and sustainable solutions to strategic and global operations management challenges.
Apply theories, models, and practices of global operations management to address business problems.
Integrate operations management analyses into general business management planning and decision making.
Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Instructions

There are two parts to this assignment.

Part A:Continue your analysis of the organizational problem and the process you will propose in your OIP by researching, collecting, and verifying further data. Complete the following:

1. Address the following questions, as well as any other new questions you encounter in your research:

o Does any information from the cause-and-effect diagram or the flowcharts you created in Unit 3 seem to point to a particular cause?

o Does your cause-and-effect diagram conflict with your flowchart? If so, how?

o Does the cause-and-effect diagram reveal any process steps that were not previously documented?

o Do you need to do further research on any causes identified in the cause-and-effect diagram?

o Is there a key stakeholder who might have additional or updated feedback for the process flowchart? If so, identify the position or role of the stakeholder and describe what he or she might say.

o Does any of this information change or impact your problem statement?

2. Update the before-and-after flowchart you initially created in Unit 3, changing the information based on your new findings, focused on the causes of the organizational problem. Write a summary describing your revisions to the flowchart. Describe how, if at all, your problem statement is impacted by the revisions. Include copies of both the original flowchart and the revised version within the text of your paper.

Part B:The tool that you use to measure the effectiveness of your new process will make a difference in defining and quantifying your outcomes. For this part of your assignment, complete the following:

1. Research various measurement strategies that you might use for your OIP.

2. Develop a measurement strategy that enables you to measure the improvements your proposed process will offer. Your measurement strategy should help you determine whether the results are actually positive and ensure that your process does not have an unanticipated negative impact elsewhere. Note that you may need to revise your measurement strategy as more historical data is gathered.

3. Identify what types of quantitative or qualitative measures you will employ in your measurement strategy, including the following:

o An analysis of potential quantitative and qualitative measurement strategies that would apply to your OIP.

o A description of the qualitative or quantitative measure or measures you have chosen.

o A description of how often the improvement results are measured when using this strategy.

Submission Requirements

Your completed Management Strategy assignment should include:

Part A’s written response and updated flowchart, plus summary of revisions to the flowchart.
Part B’s written response.
This assignment should also meet the following communication requirements:

Written communication:Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting:Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
Resources:Minimum of two sources required.
Font and font size:Times New Roman, 12 point.
Review the scoring guide to ensure you have met all of the criteria of this assignment.

Note:Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 5 Assignment 1

Objectives

This assignment helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

Apply theories, models, and practices of global operations management to address business problems.
Integrate operations management analyses into general business management planning and decision making.
Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Instructions

In this assignment, you will build support for your OIP by collecting and evaluating data. Then you will update the completed portions of your OIP based on your results. Complete the following to prepare for this assignment:

1. Start by researching and identifying data collection tools that would be appropriate for your OIP.

2. Select one appropriate tool and use it to collect your data. It may not be possible to collect actual data for your OIP within the time constraints and scope of this course. Instead, you may need to make assumptions about the data you would expect to collect.

3. Evaluate the data to draw relevant information from your results.

4. Analyze how your results enhance, support, or change the portions of the OIP you have already developed, including the problem statement, flowchart, measurement strategy, and anticipated recommendations.

After completing these steps, write a paper that includes the following:

A brief evaluation of the most appropriate tools and techniques for collecting real or anticipated data for your OIP.
An explanation of why the data collection tool you have chosen is best suited for your OIP. Include the following as appendices to your paper:
A prototype or template of the tool proposed.
A realistic data sample, either real or simulated, using your collection tool.
A description of your data collection process. If you are using a simulated data collection, describe the process you would have used.
A summary describing how the data results enhance, support, or change the following:
The problem statement.
The flowchart.
The measurement strategy.
Your anticipated recommendations.
Submission Requirements

Written communication:Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting:Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
Resources:Minimum of two sources required.
Font and font size:Times New Roman, 12 point.
Review the scoring guide to ensure you have met all of the criteria of this assignment.

Note:Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.

Capella MBA6022 Unit 6 Assignment 1

Objectives

This assignment helps you develop the skills to master the following course competencies:

Develop innovative and sustainable solutions to strategic and global operations management challenges.
Apply theories, models, and practices of global operations management to address business problems.
Integrate operations management analyses into general business management planning and decision making.
Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.
Instructions

In this assignment, you will submit your completed operations improvement plan. Your final OIP should be divided into five basic components:

Process identification.
Process improvement.
Defining the problem statement.
Measurement strategy.
Data collection and evaluation tools.
You have developed each of these components as individual assignments and you have updated them as your OIP has developed. Take into consideration all of the research and groundwork you have completed thus far. Incorporate feedback from previous assignments as well as the tools, techniques, and methodologies you have examined throughout the course. Finalize your comprehensive OIP as if you were to present it as a formal recommendation to the organizational leaders of the Toyota Motor Corporation. Focus your writing appropriately for that audience.

As you complete this last assignment of the course, you are encouraged to review your own discussion board posts and previous assignments for material you might incorporate here. Also, as always, please consider the scoring guide.

Your completed OIP should include the following elements:

A problem statement, including an overview of the Toyota recall crisis, with a brief history and description of the situation.
A description of the key challenge or problem you have chosen to address in Toyota’s organizational processes, and an analysis of its organizational impact, based on theories and models of global operations management.
An executive summary of the collected and processed data, including actual data, if possible, or assumed data, if necessary.
A cost-benefit analysis based on your data.
A description of your innovative and sustainable solution that reflects strategic global operations management concepts and practices.
Your recommendations for supporting the improvement of the selected process, based on practices of global operations management.
An explanation of the data or findings that validates your recommendations.
The visuals, diagrams, and flowcharts you have developed to support and integrate your analysis into general business management planning and decision-making processes.
A conclusion.
A comprehensive reference list.
Submission Requirements

Written communication:Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting:Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
Resources:Minimum of four sources required.
Length of paper:5–10 typed, double-spaced pages.
Font and font size:Times New Roman, 12 point.
Note:Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.