Section: Capacity Planning & Management
1. Strategic Capacity Planning: Define "Effective Capacity" versus
"Design Capacity." Discuss the strategic implications of maintaining
a Capacity Cushion in both a high-growth manufacturing firm and a
service-oriented business like a hospital.
2. Economies of Scale vs. Diseconomies of Scale: Explain the
concept of the "Minimum Efficient Scale." Under what organizational
conditions does a plant move from economies of scale to
diseconomies of scale? Use examples to illustrate your point.
3. Capacity Expansion Strategies: Compare and contrast the
"Lead," "Lag," and "Tracking" strategies for capacity expansion. In
which market scenarios would an Operations Manager prefer a
Capacity Lag strategy over a Lead strategy?
Section: Operating Strategy (OS)
4. Operations Strategy Linkage: Discuss how a firm’s Operations
Strategy must align with its Corporate Strategy. Use the "Product-
Process Matrix" to explain what happens when there is a strategic
mismatch between market requirements and process capabilities.
5. Order Winners and Qualifiers: Define Terry Hill’s concept of
Order Winners and Order Qualifiers. Explain how these concepts
evolve over a product’s life cycle and influence the choice of
operating system.
Section: Productivity
6. Productivity Measurement Challenges: While "Total Factor
Productivity" is a robust metric, it is difficult to implement in the
service sector. Identify the primary challenges in measuring
productivity in services (e.g., healthcare or consulting) and suggest
ways to overcome them.
7. The Productivity Paradox: Discuss the impact of technology and
automation on labor productivity. Can a high-technology
environment lead to lower overall productivity? Justify your answer
with a focus on the "Learning Curve" effect.
Section: Process Selection
8. Process Types & Characteristics: Detail the characteristics,
advantages, and disadvantages of the five basic process types:
Project, Job Shop, Batch, Repetitive (Assembly Line), and
Continuous. Provide a real-world industry example for each.
9. Break-Even Analysis in Process Selection: Describe how Break-
Even Analysis is used as a tool for process selection. If a manager
must choose between a high-fixed-cost automated process and a
low-fixed-cost manual process, what qualitative factors should they
consider beyond the crossover point?
10. Mass Customization: How does a "Postponement Strategy"
(Delayed Differentiation) allow a firm to achieve the efficiency of a
continuous process while offering the variety of a batch process?
Discuss this in the context of global supply chains.
Q1. Define Operations Strategy (OS). Explain its role in achieving
competitive advantage and discuss how it integrates with corporate
strategy. Illustrate with the four competitive priorities (cost, quality,
flexibility, and delivery).
Q2. Discuss the strategic importance of capacity planning in operations
management. Explain the differences between design capacity, effective
capacity, and actual output. How does poor capacity planning affect
overall organizational performance?
Q3. What is productivity? Differentiate between single-factor productivity
(labour productivity) and multi-factor (total factor) productivity. Discuss at
least five practical strategies that operations managers can adopt to
improve productivity in a manufacturing or service organization.
Q4. Explain the concept of process selection in operations management.
Describe the process-product matrix (Hayes and Wheelwright model) and
discuss how it guides the choice of process type based on product volume
and variety.
Q5. Compare and contrast the three main capacity expansion strategies
— Lead strategy, Lag strategy, and Match (or Chase) strategy. Evaluate
the risks and benefits of each strategy with suitable industry examples.
Q6. Discuss the relationship between Operations Strategy and
Productivity. How can an organization align its OS with productivity
improvement initiatives to achieve sustainable competitive advantage?
Support your answer with relevant frameworks.
Q7. Explain the different types of production processes (project, job shop,
batch, repetitive/assembly line, and continuous flow). Discuss the
suitability of each process type for different product characteristics and
volume-variety requirements.
Q8. What are the key factors that influence capacity decisions? Discuss
economies and diseconomies of scale in the context of capacity planning
and explain how capacity cushion helps in managing uncertainty.
Q9. Elaborate on the impact of process selection on productivity and
capacity utilization. Using the concepts of process choice and layout,
explain why an inappropriate process selection can lead to lower
productivity and under-utilized capacity.
Q10. Discuss how Operations Strategy, Capacity Planning, Process
Selection, and Productivity are inter-linked in an integrated operations
framework. Provide a step-by-step reasoning on how a change in one
element (e.g., process selection) affects the other three elements, with
real-world business examples.