project3000 words

Important information

A penalty of FIVE marks will be deducted for late submissions that are made up to and including the first hour of the deadline. Submissions that are more than one hour late but within the first 24 hours of the deadline will incur a penalty of TEN marks. After the first 24 hours have passed, 10 marks will be deducted for every 24 hours (or part thereof) that the submission is late for a total of 5 days. After 5 days it is treated as a non-submission and given a mark of zero. The consequences of non-submission are serious and can include de-registration from the University.

If you are unable to complete your open assessment by the submission date indicated above because of Exceptional Circumstances you can apply for an extension. If unforeseeable and exceptional circumstances do occur, you must seek support and provide evidence as soon as possible at the time of the occurrence. Applications must be made before the deadline to be considered.

Full details of the Exceptional Circumstances Policy and claim form can be found here: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/progress/exceptional-circumstances 

If you submit your open assessment on time but feel that your performance has been affected by Exceptional Circumstances you may submit an Exceptional Circumstances Affecting Assessment claim form by 11am, Tuesday 28th April 2020. If you do not submit by the deadline indicated without good reason your claim will not be considered.

Please take proper precautions to safeguard your work and remember to make backup copies of your data. The University provides all its students with storage space on the University server and you should save and back up any work in progress on this server on a regular basis. Computer failure and theft of your equipment or storage media are not considered exceptional circumstances and extensions cannot be granted for work lost for these reasons.

Word count requirements

The word count for this assignment is 3000 words.

You must state on the front of your assignment the number of words used and this will be checked.

The main text for this assignment must be word-processed in Arial, font 12, double spacing, minimum 2cm margins all around.

You must observe the word count specified in this assignment brief. The School has a policy of accepting variations to the recommended word count of plus or minus 10%.

What does this mean for you?

Markers will mark your work up to the word count maximum plus 10% and then will stop marking; therefore all words which are in excess of the word count plus 10% will not be marked.

Where your word count is more than 10% below that specified, it is likely that this will result in a lack of analytical depth or relevant content, which will be reflected in the mark assigned.

What is in the word count?

The word count includes:

- the main text, including in-text reference citations and quotations.

The word count does not include:

-       Appendices.

These may be used to include supporting data, which may be too detailed or complex to include as a Table. They are not a device to incorporate material, which would otherwise cause you to exceed the word limit.

-       Title page

-       Contents page

-       Abstract/executive summary

-       Tables, figures, legends

-       Reference lists

-       Acknowledgements

Margins:

2.54 all the way round – TOP, LEFT, BOTTOM and RIGHT.

Font:

Please use Arial, which is a plain, evenly spaced sans serif font. Font size should be 12.

Headings and Emphasis:

Avoid underling and italics. Use bold instead.

AVOID TEXT IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

For headings, you can use a larger font size in bold, lower case.

Layout:

Use left-justified with ragged right edge.

Line spacing: single.

Use bullet points and numbering rather than continuous prose.

· Bullet point is set 1cm from margin. Text is 1cm from bullet point.

Numbering format:

1. Tab 1cm.

a. Tab 1cm.

i. Tab 1cm.

Assignment Content

In this assignment, you are to write a research report of a comparative study on the operation management practices of two supermarkets, Sainsbury’s (Foss Bank, YO31 7JB) and ASDA (77 Layerthorpe, YO31 7UZ). You will need to include the following discussions in the report.

Remarks: You should visit both supermarkets to complete the evaluation tasks.

You should include relevant literature to support your arguments.

Task 1

What are the major differences in operation management practices between these two supermarkets? You will need to consider the key aspects of operation topics such as layout and flow, process management (draw process mapping of one selected product), inventory management, and lean management. You only need to focus on two selected aspects in your discussion.

[35 marks]

Task 2

Analyse and discuss the differences in operation strategies between the two supermarkets, and how their operations strategies influence the operation settings of both supermarkets.

[25 marks]

Task 3

The managers of both supermarkets would like to implement quality management techniques to improve the operations. Select one of the supermarkets (either Sainsbury’s or ASDA) and discuss the feasibility and potential benefits of applying the following quality management techniques. You only need to focus on two selected quality management techniques in your discussion.

· Gap analysis

· Statistical process control

· David Garvin’s 8 quality dimensions

· Fishbone

· 5 why’s

[40 marks]