Questions from General Operations Management

Q: The ‘robot milkmaid’ can milk between 60 and 100 cows a

The ‘robot milkmaid’ can milk between 60 and 100 cows a day. Computer-controlled gates activated by transmitters around the cows’ necks allow the cows to enter. The machine then checks their health, c...

Q: The international Frozen Pizza Company (IFPC) operates in three markets

The international Frozen Pizza Company (IFPC) operates in three markets globally. Market 1 is its largest market where it sells 25,000 tons of pizza per year. In this market, it trades under the name...

Q: Process technology can impact all of the operations performance objectives (quality

Process technology can impact all of the operations performance objectives (quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost). Think through, and identify, how process technology could affect these...

Q: There have been a number of changes in medical process technology that

There have been a number of changes in medical process technology that have had a huge impact on the way healthcare operations manage themselves. In particular, telemedicine has challenged one of the...

Q: Not all surgery conforms to our preconceptions of the individual ‘super

Not all surgery conforms to our preconceptions of the individual ‘super-craftsperson’, aided by her back-up team, performing the whole operation from first incision to final stitch. Many surgical proc...

Q: Using technology for staff surveillance is clearly a controversial issue. Re

Using technology for staff surveillance is clearly a controversial issue. Re-read the ‘Operations in practice’ example that discusses using technology for surveillance and (a) draw up a list of possib...

Q: Operations managers can have a profound influence on how organizations’ implement their

Operations managers can have a profound influence on how organizations’ implement their human resource strategy (the overall long-term approach to ensuring that an organization’s human resources provi...

Q: A hotel has two wings, an east wing and a west

A hotel has two wings, an east wing and a west wing. Each wing has four ‘room service maids’ working 7-hour shifts to service the rooms each day. The east wing has 40 standard rooms, 12 deluxe rooms,...

Q: In the example above, one of the maids in the west

In the example above, one of the maids in the west wing wants to job share with his partner, each working 3 hours per day. His colleagues have agreed to support him and will guarantee to service all t...

Q: Service Adhesives Ltd. produces specialist adhesives. It has always been

Service Adhesives Ltd. produces specialist adhesives. It has always been profitable, but there had been a slowdown in the company’s profits. Several improvement initiatives had attempted to reverse th...