Management School – Undergraduate Coursework Specification 2022-23
Module Code: MGT253
Coursework Codes: X,W
Module Title: Principles of Operations Management
Date Available: 16
th of February 2024
Submission details: Friday 26
st of April 2024, 12pm (noon)
Your submission consists of two files: a MS Excel spreadsheet with the results of your simulation; and a MS Word file with your report.
Electronic submission only through Blackboard. There will be two submission points, one for the MS Excel file and the other one for your report.
You can submit your assignment multiple times to the submission link on the module Blackboard site. Each time you submit you will receive a Similarity Report. You can check this and improve your referencing before the final deadline.
After 3 submissions you will need to wait 24hrs before you receive a new report.
Please note: each new submission replaces any previous submission. It is not possible to retrieve a previous submission.
Your final submission must be made before the deadline to avoid late penalties.
You should note that the time of submission is taken from once the document has been successfully uploaded and confirmed – this may take more than five minutes during busy periods. Late penalties will be applied to any work submitted from 12.01pm on Friday 26st of April 2024 onwards. Details of how to calculate a late penalty can be found in your programme Handbook. It is your responsibility to ensure the correct document/file has uploaded successfully.
When submitting students must:
1. Include a completed cover sheet (available from Blackboard). Only for the simulation report (MS Word document).
2. Use ‘Student Number, MGTXXX-X’ (e.g. 18203206-MGT253-X) as the Excel file name and also as the Assignment Title in Turnitin.
3. Use ‘Student Number, MGTXXX-W’ (e.g. 18203206-MGT253-W) as the MS Word document name and also as the Assignment Title in Turnitin.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT THE USE OF AI: Please beware that the use of AI/GenAI is not allowed for the computational part of this coursework neither for the associated report. However, you are allowed to use AI ONLY for the Improvement of English Grammar, vocabulary or spelling. If this is done, you should acknowledge it using the Acknowledge/Describe/Evidence template available in Blackboard. You are only expected to provide one example of the use of AI as a grammar, style, or spell check tool.
Contribution to Final Mark for Module: 30%
Maximum Word Length: 1500 words
The word count is for the main body of the text and ignores the reference list and appendices. If you exceed the word length you will be penalised. For details see the Management School Handbooks.
Please note that SUMS does not have a word count tolerance - it is a stated maximum as outlined above.
Requirements:
The Theory of Constraints, introduced and popularised by the book The Goal. A Process of Ongoing Improvement. by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox, is a body of knowledge that deals with all the obstacles that limit or constraint the organisation’s ability to achieve its goals.
In this work you will use a spreadsheet to conduct a simulation to represent and evaluate the impact of bottlenecks in an industrial setting.
This work will be explained and the methodology, inspired by Goldratt’s book, will be explained and developed during tutorial sessions 1 to 3 (weeks 25 [3], 26 [5], and 29 [7], and 26 [4], 28[6], and 30 [8], depending on your tutorial group) and must be finished and submitted as an individual work by the end of Week 34 (Friday 26
st of April 2024).
The submission consists of the MS Excel file containing the simulation exercise, and a short essay answering the questions indicated in the statement of the problem.
The essay should also include:
A short description of the experiment.
A thorough reflection about the impact of bottlenecks on a company’s processes. You should show that you clearly understand what a bottleneck is in an industrial process, and how can a manager avoid and/or correct them. Your reflection should link what you observed in the simulation experiment with real life situations in industrial and service settings.
The report must include some graphic support and tables. Avoid copy and pasting your Excel spreadsheets, these will be revised and assessed together with the report. Your tables and graphics must be designed specifically for your report. Think carefully which is the information you want to summarise and report using graphic support.
Further details of the exercise are provided in a document that will be published together with this specification form.
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Assessment criteria
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<40% (Fail)
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40-44% (Pass)
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45-49% (3rd class)
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50-59% (2.2 )
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60-69% (2.1)
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70-79 % (1st class)
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80 % and above
(1st class)
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Spreadsheet (40%)
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Determined by the points allocated to each component of the simulation exercise (MS Excel file). Points are allocated exclusively depending on the accuracy of the formulas used and the consistency of the results. The numerical results, being random, cannot be evaluated. It is expected that, due to the random nature of the exercise, the results will be completely different for each submission.
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Analysis and discussion of the results (40%)
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No attempt made to present an
analysis of the
results. No attempt for answering the questions that
appear in the
statement of the problem.
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A mere and superficial
description of the
results without
analysis. Minor
attempt to answering
the specific
questions in the statement.
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Shows an attempt for analysing the numerical results of the simulation. The answers to the questions are
somehow correct but lack depth.
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Provides a more
detailed analysis of the numerical results of the simulation.
The answers to the questions are
generally correct.
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Clear and detailed analysis of the
numerical results of the
simulation. The answers to the
questions are correct.
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In depth analysis of
the simulation results. Use of graphical and statistical tools to
support the discussion and the answers to the questions.
Shows a serious attempt to deploy critical analysis.
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Excellent and well-
grounded analysis of
the simulation results. Use of graphical and
statistical tools to
support the discussion. The answer to all the
questions is correct and reflects a high level of critical analysis.
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Use of academic literature (10%)
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No attempt is made to link the exercise with the academic literature.
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Provides an informal definition of the
bottleneck in process design, but the link with the exercise is loose.
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Provides a more
formal definition of bottleneck. Shows a reasonable
understanding of the concept of
bottleneck in
industrial processes and establishes a link with the results of
the simulation. The discussion has a
weak link with
academic literature.
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Provides a formal
definition of bottleneck appropriate for the
context and shows a
better understanding of the concept of
bottleneck. Establishes
a link between
concepts and the results of the
simulation. The
discussion is grounded in academic literature. However, the
discussion is still
limited and the link
with a real case is still weak.
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Provides a formal definition of
bottleneck appropriate for the context and
shows a good
understanding of the concept of bottleneck. Establishes a stronger link between concepts and the results of the
simulation. The
discussion is grounded in academic literature.
Provides a realistic discussion of the
problem under analysis.
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Provides a critical
discussion of the
concept and impact of bottlenecks in service and industrial
processes and finds clear links with the results of the
simulation. Excellent
use of sources in
academic literature
provides practical
motivation and a sound discussion about the
available mechanisms for addressing
bottlenecks in the
presented exercise and in similar real-life
circumstances..
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Presentation, structure, and style. of the report (10%).
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Poorly formatted document. Poor grammar and
spelling errors.
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A better organised document. Some grammar and spelling errors. Notables or graphical
support.
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Well organised document. Minor grammar and
spell errors. Use of some graphical and or tabular support.
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Very well organised
and written document. Includes well designed graphical and/or
tabular support.
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Excellently written and
very well organised document with sound and informative
tabular, and graphical support.
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