Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. • • • • • • • • Evaluate two to four (2-4) weaknesses that are evident in the selected organization’s product life cycle. Generate a new product design and product selection, and then determine three (3) strategies that the organization needs in order to strengthen the operation. Provide support for the rationale. Determine the key components of supply chain management for the company you have selected. Determine three (3) major issues that could affect the structuring, sourcing, purchasing, and the supply chain of your organization. Provide a solution to each issue. Develop a total quality management tool that identifies and analyzes any future issues. Provide a rationale for developing the selected tool. Analyze three (3) advantages in employing the just-in-time philosophy in your organization. Evaluate three to five (3-5) means in which the philosophy could potentially impact quality assurance. Provide specific examples to support your response. Determine a qualitative and quantitative forecasting method for your operation. Next, create a table in which you identify the characteristics of the operation that relate to each method. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Determine the key components of supply chain management including structuring, sourcing, purchasing, and managing the supply chain. Examine how the total quality management process is a strategy for a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Identify the key elements of just-in-time manufacturing and its impact on quality assurances. Develop a forecasting method appropriate to a production or service operation. Use technology and information resources to research issues in operations management. Write clearly and concisely about operations management using proper writing mechanics. Student: Carla Randle Instructor: Dr. Phyllis Parise Date: January 12, 2018 Course: Operations Management Running head: VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, PART 1 Vice President of Operations, Part 1 Carla Randle BUS-515 January 22, 2018 Dr. Phyllis Parise 1 VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS 2 Vice President of Operations, Part 1 As the VP of Operations, I am charged with the task of assessing the Nissan Corporation’s ability to support the challenges they currently face. Nissan is a major motor company headquartered in Japan, which produces vehicles and maritime equipment. The company takes pride in its mission statement that it “provides unique and innovative automotive products and services that deliver superior measurable values to all stakeholders in alliance with Renault” (Jurevicius, 2013). Several areas can be considered in such an evaluation, including the company’s customers, products or services, technology, employees, markets, concern for their public image, integrity, and customer or product oriented. Nissans mission mentions only three areas: products, services and self-concept. This is unfortunate because the company excludes customers, concern for their public image, technologies, and markets, resulting in a mission statement that is product-focused. This type of mission statement can only result in a short life-cycle because it means that the company is more focused on their product than on their customers. Companies that focus on their products tend to be pre-occupied with producing and selling their product instead of focusing on the needs of the customer. Nissan has not done a good job of creating their mission, and could better serve their customers by including more components and value explanations in the statement. Tasks that Don’t Align with Operational Strategy Nissan’s founder had a tremendous interest in building his empire by producing automobiles. He operated without a business philosophy or any guiding principles to form a Nissan culture. As a result of his departure from the company, the task of the new president was to reform the company’s culture. This is a task that has been challenging for this company VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS 3 because of their reputation for unstable management and their lack of skilled managers. “Nissan implemented dramatic internal reforms and revitalized the company by executing the strategy laid out in the 1999 Nissan Revival Plan” (Jurevicius, 2013). The plan was to produce a car that was profitable, efficient, exciting for employees, customers, and all stakeholders. The company made some commitments regarding their profitability, operating income and debt reduction that were met in advance of their target date. Nothing in this plan focused on reforming the company’s culture. Although the expressed Nissan culture is that “the power comes from inside” (Nissan Motor Corporation, n.d.), it is not represented in any of their corporate literature. A second task for the Nissan Corporation includes strengthening their brand power. In order for this to occur, the company would need to broaden their strengths in engineering, production, marketing and customer value. Brand power is an important factor in the success of this company, so the plan is to focus on advertising, media, digital marketing, public relations, and public marketing. Although the company spent a sizeable amount of money on advertising, they failed to gain much more of a brand presence. The company has not been included in the world’s top automotive brands suggesting that they have poor advertising and marketing skills. Nissan also has the task of enhancing the quality of their products. The plan is for the company to become one of the top quality automobile producers in the world. This task was halted by their recent halt to automobile production in their Japanese market. As a result of vehicles being inspected by technicians that lacked certification, production had to be stopped for several weeks as many vehicles had to be recalled. “This misconduct has already forced Nissan to recall all 1.2 million passenger cars sold in Japan over the past three years” (Business Insider, 2017). The product recalls really hurt the company which strongly affected their ability to meet the task of enhancing the quality of their products. VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS 4 A New Operations Strategy With the existing problems faced by Nissan, it is advisable that a new strategy be developed to insure an increase in sales as well as to increase its chances of being trusted and respected by consumers. A new operations strategy would involve a focus on the need for environmental solutions by producing zero-emission, low-cost vehicles in a minimal amount of time. The use of this strategy will result in producing inexpensive automobiles that can be purchased by the average consumer who could affect overall company loyalty. Enablers Aligned with Nissan’s Long-Term Plan Nissan places their new focus on the customer, value, and profit, which they refer to as The Nissan Way. There are five different enablers including: “diversity, career design support, culture of learning, strong internal communication and building a safe workplace” (Nissan Motor Corporation, n.d.). • Diversity: The Company considers itself to be cross-cultural and being open to different ideas and views. This is represented by their creation of a Diversity Development Office and fostering diversity steering committee. There are many workshops and special training for women in their managerial training program. • Career Design Support: There are several ways that the company supports the career development of its employees. Every employee is allowed to work with their supervisor on planning their career path. Employees can apply for any position within their department or for other positions that are advertised by the company. The company also has a system where they utilize highly skilled employees to train other employees. VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS • 5 Culture of Learning: The Company has a strong passion for every possible opportunity to learn as they recognize its importance. They offer a Learning Navigation System for employees as well as a Management Institute. • Stronger Internal Communication: Clarity and simplicity are two techniques used by management to maintain their transparency. In order to include the thoughts of employees, the company conducts periodic surveys. Information is shared throughout the company via newsletters, meetings, and video broadcasts. • Building Safe Workplaces: Nissan has one set of safety standards for the entire company. Their Employee Assistance Program is a testament to their view of employees as very valuable assets. Pros and Cons of the Enablers Diversity brings together people of varying differences which can result in some conflicting viewpoints, isolation, and unproductivity. Persons with differing view may choose to separate themselves which could affect team building and ultimately affect productivity. There are some potential benefits from having a diverse company, including the possibility of more innovation because of the need to think outside of the box. Having diverse employees could affect the bottom line profit of the company because these employees would be in a good position to do business with a diverse consumer population. This diverse group of employees would bring a number of different skills and experiences to the company allowing for more specialization. Career support is typically considered a very positive benefit for employees. This has the positive effect of raising employee’s self-esteem, identifying persons with hidden skills, and adding more talented people to departments. There is also the potential that this enabler would VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS 6 result in the loss of some talented staff as they apply and are accepted for other positions. Conversely, departments could receive new staff that is not as skilled or talented as those transferring out of the department. Unfortunately, career support could result in some employees being totally dependent on this support or their esteem. When there is a culture of learning, employees increase their learning, develop their skills, and add a greater level of expertise to their department. Those persons participating in the various training programs could take time away from production. The bottom line revenue amount could be affected as the number of actual workers is reduced for a designated period of time. There is always the potential that the training program is not a quality program, resulting in a time waster for employees. Strong communication enhances relationships within the company. It helps employees feel like they are valued and respected, and it reduces errors that are made because of the lack of communication. Often employees expect everything that happens within the company to be communicated to them and when this doesn’t happen, there is some internal riffs. Sometimes communication, while having good intentions, is actually miscommunication. The final con is that there is always the danger of employees receiving too much information. When building safe workplaces, the reputation of the company is improved, employees are healthier, and production is increased. People enjoy working for a company that takes pride in the fact that they have few work-related injuries and protection for employees. There is always the chance that an employee will self-report and injury which could cost the company additional money. Employees could also loose time from work due to work-related injuries or the company could be held liable for a fatal work-related injury. VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS 7 References Business Insider. (2017, October 19). Nissan is suspending production of all cars for the Japanese market. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/r-update-1-nissan-tosuspend-domestic-production-of-cars-for-japan-market-2017-10 Jurevicius, J. (2013, September 13). Mission statement of Nissan. Retrieved from http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/mission-statements/nissan-missionstatement.html Nissan Motor Corporation. (n.d.). The power comes from inside Nissan culture. Retrieved from http://www.nissanmotor.jobs/life/culture Nissan Sustainability Report 2012. (2012). Nissan Power 88. Retrieved from http://www.global.com/en/document/pdf/sr/;2012/sr12-e-poo6.pdf
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