Production and Operations Management Case Studies Essay Example

laptop, she did not check the workings of the laptop at that time. On reaching home and switching on the laptop, she noticed that that LCD display had become problematic. The next day, she again went to the service centre and reported the display problem. Jyoti was aghast when she was informed that as she had signed the delivery documents, the service centre cannot take responsibility for the display problem. She was asked to fill up a fresh service requisition form to get the problem rectified and further was told that all expenses incurred in rectifying the problem had to be paid by her.

QUESTION:

a) Do you think that After Sales Service through a third party is a cause for concern? Justify.

b) There seems to be a breach of trust in the given caselet. How is breach of trust related to quality of service?

c) In the context of the given caselet, formulate a Quality Service Policy to ensure customer satisfaction.

Case 3: Conflict of Interests

The GM (Works) has problems with manufacturing budgets, meeting cost reduction targets, and dealing with new products manufacturing schedules. When an indepth interview (non-directive type) was conducted between the GM (Works)and the Chairman of the Company, the GM (Works) explained that many things are happening in the Company about which he is ignorant, particularly the preparation, new product integration, etc. He agrees to the view that the Company is interested in high-growth and high-profit, but he has never been given an opportunity to review his own scheme of things and explain to the top management. The production culture of the company

has never been assessed whereas the stringent rules are being directed by the finance and personnel departments. And sometimes, show cause notices are being served to supervisors and senior employees. The Company is introducing new products without assessing the capability of the manufacturing system and the resources.

QUESTION:

a) Under the above situation, if you are asked to work as a consultant to show the perspectives to the Board of Management, what action plans would you suggest?

b) Does Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) help in situations like these?

Case 4 : Project Delays

The Assam Gas Cracker Project conceived as part of the Assam Accord signed in 1985 is yet to see the light of the day. It has been plagued by a host of problems starting from location to economic viability. Originally planned at Tengakhat, it was later shifted to a place called Lepetkata. The project is now being implemented by GAIL (a Government of India enterprise) as the lead promoter (70% share) with another public enterprise OIL (20% share) and the Government of Assam as minor partners. GAIL had to be brought in after India’s largest private sector enterprise Reliance Industries backed out of the project saying that it was economically unviable. The land acquisition for the project (as of mid 2008) is yet to be completed and there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the availability of raw materials for production. In the meantime, the project cost has spiraled many times over to INR 50 billion, which is likely to go up further.

QUESTION :

a) Discuss the importance of Project Management in the

light of the above situation.

b) As a project manager employed with GAIL, what would be your line of action to see to it that the project is not delayed any further?

c) Why do projects suffer from time and cost overruns?