John Conner free essay sample

John Conner, marketing manager from Lawn King, looked over the beautiful countryside as he drove to the corporate headquarters in Moline, Illinois. John had asked his boss, Kathy Wayne, the general manager of Lawn King, to call a meeting in order to review the latest forecast figures of fiscal year 2002. 1 When he arrived at the plant, the meeting was ready to begin. Others in attendance at the meeting were James Fairday, plant manager; Joan Peterson, controller; and Harold Pinter, personnel officer. John started the meeting by reviewing the latest situation: â€Å"I’ve just returned from our annual sales meeting and I think we lost more sales last year than we thought, due to back-order conditions at the factory. We have also reviewed the forecast for next year and feel that sales will be 110, 000 units in fiscal year 2002. The marketing department feels this forecast is realistic and could be exceeded if all goes well. We will write a custom essay sample on John Conner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † At his point, James Fairday interrupted by saying, â€Å"John, you’ve got to be kidding. Just three months ago we all sat in this same room and you predicted sales of 98,000 units for fiscal ’02. Now you’ve raised the forecast by 12 percent. How can we do a reasonable job of production planning when we have a moving target to shoot at? † Kathy interjected, â€Å"Jim, I appreciate your concern, but we have to be responsive to changing market conditions. Here we are in September and we still haven’t got a firm plan for fiscal ’02, which has just stated. I want to use the new forecast and develop an aggregate plan for next year as soon as possible. John added, â€Å"We’ve been talking to our best customers and they’re complaining about back orders during the peak selling season. A few have threatened to drop our product line if they don’t get better service next year. We have to produce not only enough product but also the right models to service the customer. † Guidelines: 1. Develop a forecast to use as a basis for aggregate production planning. 2. Develop an aggregate production plan by month for fiscal ’02. Consider the use of several different production strategies. Which strategy do you recommend? Use of Excel will greatly save time in making these plans.

Quality Management in Operation Management

Quality Management in Operation Management Definition Operations management is a comprehensive function in an organization that ensure successful processing of goods from receipt of raw materials to delivery of final goods and services to consumers. Precisely, it aligns production efficiency and optimal use of raw materials in the creation of final goods and services that are of quality.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Quality Management in Operation Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Reflectively, it looks at the design of the output, internal processes, and internal checks to improve on the quality of the goods (Collier Evans, 2011). Operations management in an organization focuses on ensuring efficiency in use of resources to generate quality output. Further, it ensures adequate control of internal processes which converts input to output. This results in efficiency. Finally, it focuses on effective delivery of goods to customers. Role Operations management plays a significant role in an organization. Success in operations management ensures the success of an organization. Efficient management of input to generate output ensures that an organization earns profits. Through operation management, an organization is able to manage costs efficiently. Management of internal processes ensures that the organization produces quality output consistently. This promotes customer satisfaction by ensuring the production of quality goods consistently. Further, operations management gives managers the opportunity to influence value provided to shareholders, customers, employees, investors, and the community. Apart from ensuring the provision of high quality good, operations management also assists in creating a safe working environment for the employees. It also motivates employees to focus on their skills and knowledge (Collier Evans, 2011). Applicability Application of operations management varies from one company to another. It depends on the nature of output produced by a company. However, the ultimate goal is to ensure efficiency, cost reduction and creation of quality goods and services. At Ford company, the management focuses on ten key strategic areas. These are, design of good and services, quality management, process and capacity design, location, layout design, human resource and job designs, supply chain management , inventory, material requirement planning, intermediate short term scheduling and maintenance. These ten strategic decision making points are integral part of the operational management at the company. At the design stage, the company uses product layout for the manufacturing processes. The manufacturing plant is arranged in such a way that there is a sequential flow of work. The manufacturing area is divided into several areas these are body build, paint shop, trim lines, final line, pre-delivery area, and shipment.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The production layout ensures efficiency in the internal production process thus reducing time wastage and cost. Other than product design, operation management also focuses on material management function. The company makes use of material requirement planning system to calculate necessary supplies, volumes and specific materials required for production. Further, under material management, the company uses Just-In-Time inventory management for controlling supply of inputs. It  helps in reducing the costs and risks associated with storage. In addition, the company makes use of electronic data interchange to order for input from suppliers. There is also a quality management under operations. Quality management facilitates ongoing improvement of production in the organization. Further, the quality management function takes into consideration the changes in the market. The company focuses on producing cars wh ich are customer driven. Further, checks are carried out in the pre delivery area to verify that the output meets the needs of the customers and various safety standards. Feedback from quality management is incorporated at the design stage. Finally, the company makes use of new technology in most of the internal processes. Effective operations management has enabled the company increase market share and to have a competitive advantage in the market (United Nations Global Compact, 2012). References Collier, S. Evans, R. (2011). OM3. Mason, USA: South Western Cengage Learning. United Nations Global Compact. (2012). Ford Motor Company: The Ford purchasing structure. Retrieved from http://supply-chain.unglobalcompact.org/site/index

Bioethics across Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bioethics across Cultures - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that there are moral concerns over the involvement of the surrogate mother with the born baby after the pregnancy term elapses. Since it’s evident that the surrogate mother will not be the ultimate primary caretaker of the baby, several legal concerns arise in terms of the implications which may accrue as a result of actions underpinned by the surrogate mother to the born baby prior to the submission of the baby to the secondary mother.As the study highlights moral concerns arise with regard to the identity of the born baby. In this context, an ethical dilemma arises as to whether the secondary mother should inform the born baby of the â€Å"actual† surrogate mother who indeed carried the entire pregnancy or not since unravelling this secret could spell a dismantled self-identity to the child. There is an ethical question of how far we should stretch our humane autonomy and what implications may be imposed on our overall self-respect as a res ult of embracing and promoting surrogacy. Surrogacy seems to devalue and or degrade the humane self-respect bestowed by the creator. In the near future, surrogacy may paint the idea that human embryo or fetus can be interchanged. It may also portray that wombs are simply organs for hire and so forth. According to the divine command theory, our actions as humans should reflect God’s immutable nature.