Posted: January 4th, 2023

Critically discuss a contemporary issue in strategic operations management

Strategic Operations Management.
ASSIGNMENT QUESTION AND GUIDELINES.
• Critically discuss a contemporary issue in strategic operations management.
• 6,000 words (+/- 10%) exclude reference list.
• Due 31/12/22
• What do I mean by contemporary?
• What do I mean by critically?

Suggested contemporary issues
• Lean/TQM
• Industry 4.0/big data/virtual reality/internet of things
• Risk management/operations improvement
• CSR/sustainable supply chain
• Outsourcing and insourcing
• Innovation/open innovation/regional innovation system/sustainable innovation
• Global supply network
• Service
• Public sector supply chain management. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to the efforts of a company to operate in an ethical and sustainable manner, taking into account the social and environmental impact of its operations. In the context of supply chain management, CSR can involve initiatives to improve the sustainability and responsible sourcing of materials and products, as well as efforts to improve working conditions and reduce negative impacts on local communities.

Outsourcing refers to the practice of a company contracting out certain business functions or processes to external parties, such as suppliers or service providers. This can be done in order to reduce costs, access specialized expertise, or to focus on core competencies. Insourcing, on the other hand, involves a company bringing a function or process that was previously outsourced back in-house.

Innovation refers to the development of new ideas, products, or processes that offer value to customers or create competitive advantage. Open innovation involves the collaboration of a company with external parties, such as suppliers, customers, or academic institutions, in the innovation process. A regional innovation system refers to the network of organizations and institutions in a particular geographic region that are involved in the creation and diffusion of new ideas and technologies. Sustainable innovation involves the development of products, processes, or business models that are environmentally and socially sustainable.

A global supply network refers to the interconnected network of suppliers, manufacturers, and logistics providers that work together to deliver products and services to customers around the world.

Service refers to the activities or actions that a company performs in order to meet the needs or expectations of its customers. In the context of supply chain management, this can include activities such as order processing, transportation, and customer service.

Public sector supply chain management refers to the procurement and management of goods and services by government agencies. This can include the sourcing of materials and services for public projects, as well as the management of supply chains for public sector organizations.
• Supply chain Resilience
• Risk Management
• Quality issues
• Globalisation

How to structure your assignment?
Structure refers to the order of ideas; the progression of your writing should feel smooth with similar points linked together. Structuring your work is a key aspect of good academic writing ensuring that related sections are linked together and that the ideas and arguments progress in a logical and orderly manner.

Literature review.
• To summarise, this assignment is a literature review.
• What is required is a critical overview of the literature that relates to your chosen topic.
• Literature = peer reviewed academic journals, conference proceedings and edited book chapters.
• A literature review should focus on the leading edge of a topic. This means that your sources should mostly be recent.
• You will be expected to cite a lot of sources (40 – 70).
• A literature review is all about structure.
• Good structure you should get good mark

Journals examples
• Journal of Operations Management
• International of operations and Production Management
• Production and operations management

Introduction (400-600 words).
• Between 400 and 600 words
• Open with a problem statement
• Develop a practical rationale
• Develop a theoretical rationale
• Present a research question
• State how the remainder of the essay will be structured (3 or 4 literature streams to address your research question).
• Start with problem statement strong statement that really highlights your topics , why important and why people should be interested.
• Second in the same paragraph by giving details as to why your problem statement is important and you can use media and news websites, recent publications to gather information.
• You need to explain in detail why your statement is important.
• Practical rationale : why people should care about it and why this important to organisations.
• The research question what you are trying to address by doing this assignmen
• Last part of your introduction is telling the reader what you are going to discuss.

Main body (4,800 words).
• 3 or 4 literature streams (topics) each around 1,200 – 1,600 words in length (depending on number).
• State what is known
• State how it is known
• Highlight the limitations of the current research
• End the main body with a conceptual framework.
• There is maybe literature streams that related to supply chain risk, supply chain integration and supply chain disruption. Split this section into clear subsections Explaining each point of the argument
• One paragraph, one point
• Introduce idea
• Define/explain the idea
• Offer evidence and argument
• Relate to question/brief
• Conceptual framework.

Conclusion (400-600 words)
• 400 – 600 words
• Remind the reader of the aim of the review
• Summarise what you have found
• State how this contributes to current knowledge
• Highlight areas for future research.

Harvard Referencing
You are required to use the Harvard referencing system for your assignments and dissertation
For example:-
• The work of Lewis (2006), Barker et al. (2005) and Mason-Jones et al. (1997) concluded….
• It has been argued (Forrester, 1961) that the essential……
• ….supply chain management is an enabler to collaboration (Towill and Christopher, 2001)
Note et al. signifies more than 3 authors.

Writing rules
• Write in short, simple sentences. A simple sentence contains a single clause comprising one verb and one noun, e.g. I like chocolate. Try to avoid multiple clauses in the same sentence.
• Each paragraph should start with a topic sentence (citations)
• The topic sentence is followed by supporting sentences (each with citations)
• A paragraph should explore a single topic. New topic = new paragraph.
• Make sure the paragraphs flow.
• Always write in the 3rd person
• Avoid writing in lists
• When you make a statement, back it up with appropriate citations.
• End of sentence citations are preferred over in-text citations.
• Use multiple citations to demonstrate consensus.
• Read your assignments out loud to make sure they make sense/ ask someone to proof-read your work.
• Ariel/ Times New Roman. Font size 12. 1.5 spacing. Justified margins
• Avoid quotations. You are assessed on originality.

Guidance – Marking criteria
• Knowledge – 30% of overall grade
• Addressing the assignment question. Demonstrating breadth and depth of knowledge of subject area.
• Discussion of theory – 30% of overall grade
• Wider reading incorporating practitioner and academic sources
• Application of theory – 30% of overall grade
• Demonstrating the ability to apply theory to practice
• Presentation – 10% of overall grade
• Referencing standards, structure, writing style, grammar, spelling.

Question; critically discuss a contemporary issue in strategic operations management.
Please I will like you to choose globalization or public sector supply chain management, as a contemporary issue and please any topic you choose let it link to the question and the course of study thanks for your understanding