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SMU MBA SEM 2 WINTER 2015 ASSIGNMENTS
MB 0044 - PRODUCTION AND OPERATION MANAGEMENT
1. What is value engineering? List the main benefits of value engineering?
A Definition and explanation of Value Engineering(VE)
 Definition
 Example/s
 Where is it used?
 Why is it used?
 How is it helps the organisation?
Listing of the main benefits(any four):
 Cost reduction
 Overall cost consciousness
 Culture of effecting savings across organisations
 Streamlining of administration
 Development of reliable suppliers
2. Case study: SABMiller revamps supply chain management
SABMilller, the $24bn global brewing giant, is revamping its supply chain management system to
reduce stock-outs caused by an increasingly complex and hard to predict market. The firm is
developing and testing the new system in South Africa with an eye on rolling it out to group
companies worldwide, says SABMiller programme manager Rudi van Schoor. The trigger for the
revamp came when the company's customers ran out of stocks of popular SABMiller brands during
peak periods in two consecutive years, 2007 and 2008. The shortfall on some brands was as high as
22%. "That had a direct impact on the bottom line," Van Schoor says.
Given SABMiller's ambition to be the world's most efficient producer, such a gap was never going to
be tolerated. But instead of addressing the symptom, it called in management consultancy
McKinsey to look at the entire supply chain system to see where it could be improved and future
stock-outs avoided.
The study revealed a complex situation, one that wasn't susceptible to a "quick fix", Van Schoor
says.
Demand factors
The ethnically and demographically diverse South African market is one of the world's most
complex and fast-changing. Van Schoor cites economic growth, more disposable income in new
hands, changing and upgrading tastes, new product development and new routes to market among
the factors that influence demand for SABMiller's products.
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Add to that big events such as the British Lions tour and the 2010 World Cup, and climate change,
and the picture becomes more complex.
"Our brands are the same as any other brand, especially those at the luxury end," says Van Schoor.
"If the customer comes into the shop and can't find our product, he or she has the disposable
income and self-confidence to substitute our brand for our competitors'. That's dangerous."
Van Scoor says the group has a average stock availability target of 98%. "But for some premium
brands the target is 100%," he says. That means it will live with excess stocks of some products, just
to ensure that a thirsty customer can get his or her favourite drink, every time.
Maximise profitability
But SABMiller also wants to maxmise its profitability. To do all this it must integrate information
from a lot of sources. These include sales forecasts for about 2,600 SKU locations or depots for the
brewing division and 3,100 for the soft drinks division, as well as planned promotions data from
the marketing and promotions division, as well as cost and production data, among others.
These data must then be converted into raw material purchases, manufacturing scheduling,
distribution and stockholding plans for 12 factories (seven breweries and five soft drink plants)
and three tiers of distributors, broken down into between 70 and 80 stock-keeping units (skus) for
the brewing division and around 270 for soft drinks.
And all this must be optimised for profit.
"There is inherent volatilty of demand in the soft drinks business because of seasonal change, but
less in the beer market," Van Schoor says.
Even so, improving the accuracy of demand forecasts and schedules and integrating them to boost
profitability was too complex for SABMillers's demand forecast and supply system. The inhouse
system, developed over years, had most of the usual problems associated with legacy systems: it
was inflexible, complex, hard to communicate with, and hard to integrate with newer systems, Van
Schoor says.
Integration with SAP system
After a global search, SABMiller settled on Infor's advanced supply chain management system, in
particular Infor's demand forecasting system. This takes information from modules of SABMiller's
SAP enterprise resource management system, integrates them with sales forecasts from the field,
and feeds back to the manufacturing resource planning system and financial systems to generate
production schedules, raw materials orders and volume and financial forecasts.
This will let SABMiller make any of its products in the most cost-effective location, given the local
demand, manufacturing, transport and inventory costs.
It will also increase its flexibility in responding to changes in demand. Products will no longer be
made only in a single plant to optimise production runs, but, based on more holistic data, in the
plants that optimise overall profitability.
This flexibility also gives the company greater cover to handle factory downtime and to meet rapid
changes in demand.
But some parts of the legacy system will still be around. "We are keeping it to manage the return
and reuse of empty bottles," Van Schoor says.
But even that data will go into the Infor system so that it can create production schedules down to
tank, line and minute accuracy.
This attention to detail is part of the SABMiller ethos. Measurement and numbers are integral to the
company culture. Van Schoor says the Infor system will be tested in three ways: on its "theoretical"
answers, against actual results, and against causal factors that may have influenced demand and
supply.
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Van Schoor says the $1.2m the firm spent on Infor licences was about 60% of the total project cost.
But this could be a drop in the ocean if the company adopts it worldwide. And interest from group
firms is high.
"We have used expertise from all around the group," Van Schoor says. "One of the best people on
the project came from our European division, and we have lots of others keen to know how we do."
(Source:
http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Case-study-SABMiller-revamps-supplychainmanagement)
Why did SABMilller revamp its supply chain? Describe the domain application used for SCM
integration?
 Analysis of the major and minor issues for revamping the supply chain with evidence
 Description of the SAP system, why it was used and the benefits from using the system
3 Write short notes on:
 Ingredients of a business process
 Acceptance sampling
 Work Breakdown Structure
 Productivity
[Ingredients of a business process
 Acceptance sampling
 Work Breakdown Structure
 Productivity]
4 Collaborative Forecasting Running Smoothly at Brooks Sports
Brooks Sports designs and develops high-performance running footwear, apparel and accessories
which are sold in 80 countries worldwide. In 2001, when the company shifted from a broad product
line to focus on high-performance products targeted at serious runners, it was clear that the
forecasting process needed to change to support the strategic direction of the company. The
existing forecasting process, based entirely on the judgment of the sales team, was limiting the
company’s ability to grow.
The strategy shift created a number of forecasting challenges for Brooks including:
♦ Inconsistent style growth: the new line of products experience growth rates anywhere from 0 to
50 percent annually.
♦ Long production planning horizon coupled with short product life: production and capacity
decisions are typically made 18 months before a style is launched, average lead time for a style is 6
months and the product life of Brooks’ styles range from 6 to 24 months. This means that planners
must sometimes set the entire demand plan for a style prior to ever receiving a customer order,
underscoring the importance of accurate forecasts.
♦ Increasing “at-once” orders: “at once” orders, which are placed for immediate shipment,
historically accounted for less than 20 percent of total sales. Since 2001, however, “at once” orders
have increased to nearly 50 percent of total sales.
♦ Evolving size curves: with its new focus on serious runners, the standard footwear size curve
would not adequately reflect distribution of sales by sizes.
♦ No exposure to retail sell-through: the high-performance products are sold primarily through
independent specialty stores who don’t have the capability to share sales data with vendors.
With a corporate mandate from senior management emphasizing the importance of creating
accurate and timely forecasts, Brooks completely revamped its forecasting process. An independent
forecasting group, reporting directly to the COO and CFO, was established to coordinate input from
various groups—sales, marketing, product development and production— and to remove bias from
the forecasting process.
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The forecasting group established a collaborative forecasting process with three primary steps:
Step 1: Produce monthly statistical forecasts at the SKU level to capture level, trend, seasonality and
the impact of events based on historical data. Brooks chose Forecast Pro to create these forecasts
due to a number of features available in the software:
♦ Ability to create accurate forecasts
♦ Flexibility to choose forecast models or let software automatically select models
♦ Capability to model events (particularly important for predicting spikes in demand with new
product launches)
♦ Support for multiple-level models to produce consistent forecasts at all levels of aggregation
♦ Powerful override facility to enable collaborative forecasting
“Forecast Pro has been a great solution for Brooks,” says Tom Ross, Financial Analyst.
“Implementing Forecast Pro’s event modeling is very simple, which is an essential feature for us
because of our moving product launches. We also use event models to address the challenge of
forecasting events that don’t occur on a regular basis—such as races—which can have a dramatic
impact on the sales of specific products. Another powerful feature of Forecast Pro is the ability to
forecast a product hierarchy. This helps us to serve our multiple constituents within Brooks—we
review higher-level forecasts with management and easily generate detailed forecasts at the SKU
level for demand planning.”
Step 2: On a quarterly basis, get sales management and sales reps to forecast sales for a 12- month
horizon, focusing on major accounts. This input is gathered via the Web and then aggregated by the
forecasting group.
Step 3: Compare the statistical and judgmental forecasts, and make adjustments to create the final
monthly forecast. Ninety percent of the final forecasts are the same as the statistical forecasts—
changes are most commonly made to the forecasts for new styles where the sales organization has
important knowledge to add. These final forecasts are then automatically fed into Brooks’ ERP
system. “Forecast Pro allows us to easily apply judgmental overrides, which is critical for us,” notes
Ross. “We now can systematically track changes, giving us a better understanding of our forecasting
performance.”
The commitment to forecasting has paid off at Brooks. Forecast accuracy has improved on average
by 40 percent, unfulfilled demand has been lowered from approximately 20 percent to less than 5
percent, and closeouts have been reduced by more than 60 percent. The improved forecasting has
also helped to smooth out production, resulting in lowered costs and better margins.
Source: http://www.forecastpro.com/pdfs/Success%20Story-Brooks%20Sports.pdf
What is the main issue of the case study? Analyse the forecasting solution
[Description of the main issue(forecasting process needed to change), forecasting Challenges
 Evaluation of the collaborative forecasting process
 Evaluation
 Conclusion on whether the solution could be improved or not]
5. Explain the risk management and its various components
A Definition of risk management and what it entails
Description of the four components of risk management
 Risk assessment
 Risk control
 Risk prioritising
 Risk mitigation
6 Why redesign of layouts may be necessary? List the differences between product and process
layout.
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[Listing of reasons why resdesigning of existing layout is required
Listing of any five differences]
MB0045- FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
1 Capitalisation of a firm refers to the composition of its long –term funds debt and equity.
Discuss the theories of capitalization.
Explain each theory of capitalisation
2 A) The share of Megha Ltd is sold at Rs 500 a share. The dividend likely to be declared by the
company after one year is Rs 25 per share. Hence, the price after one year is expected to be Rs 550.
What is the return at the end of the year on the basis of likely dividend and price per share?
B) A bond of face value of Rs 1000 and a maturity of 3 years pays 15% interest annually. What is the
market price of the bond if YTM is also 15 %.
A Problem
B problem
3 Discuss the sources of capital of a company. Analyse the factors that affect the capital structure.
a) Sources
b) Factors that affect the capital structure
4 A project costs Rs 50,000. It is expected to generate cash inflows as shown in table. If the risk free
rate is 10%, compute NPV.
Year
Cash inflows
Certainty equivalent
1
32000
0.9
2
27000
0.6
3
20000
0.5
4
10000
0.3
Compute NPV
5 a) Annual demand of a company is 30,000 units. The ordering cost per order is Rs 20 (fixed) along
with a carrying cost og Rs 10 per unit per anum. The purchase cost per unit i.e., price per unit is Rs
32 per unit. Determine EOQ, total number of orders in a year and the time gap between two orders.
a) EOQ
b) total number of orders in a year and
c) the time gap between two orders.
6 Discuss the dividend policy of Dabur India Ltd for the last three years. Analyse the dividend policy
of Dabur India Ltd. For three years
Comment on dividend policy
MB0046- Marketing Management
1 Explain the steps in Business Buying process.
Characteristics of Organisational Buyer
Steps in business buying process
2 A brand is a composite set of beliefs and associations in the mind of consumers. In brand
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development, as a part of branding strategy decision, the brand manager can decide to create
new brand elements for the new products, apply some of the existing brand elements to the new
product, or use a combination of existing and new brand elements to the existing and new
products. Explain the different branding strategies used by the companies for their range of
products.
Definition of Brand
Advantages of Brand
Explanation of different branding strategies adopted by companies
3. Explain the classification of market based on nature of Competition and area.
Definition of market
Classification of market based on nature of Competition and area
4 Personal selling focuses in on ‘personal’ or ‘one to one’ selling. It involves an individual
salesman or a sales team establishing and building a profitable relationship with customers over
a period of time through a series of steps. Explain the steps in the personal selling process
which helps in the successful sales.
Definition of Personal Selling
Explanation of steps in the Personal selling process
5. Describe the stages in consumer decision making process.
Explanation of the stages in consumer decision making process
6. Do you think the argument of some theorists that the traditional Ps are not enough for
services marketing? Give suitable examples to prove your point.
Define Service Marketing
Explanation of 4p’s
Explanation of Additional 3 p’s
MB0047 – MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
1 Explain some of the essential features of modern organisation
Listing the features and Explaining each of them in brief 10 10
2 a. Explain First-order and second-order effects
b. Distinguish between hierarchy and matrix organisational structures
a. Explaining First-order and second-order effects 5
b. Distinguish between hierarchy and matrix organisational structures
3 How to use information system to support competitive strategy? With an example explain each
strategy
5 strategy and use of information system 7
Examples for each of the strategy 3 10
4 Briefly explain the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. What are the various
facilities created by CRM ?
Explaining CRM Systems 4
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Examples of various facilities created by CRM 6 10
5 Briefly explain the different aspects of the need for database systems.
Explaining any eight aspects of the need for database systems
6 Write short notes on
a. Centralised IT management
b. Decentralised IT management
a. Explaining Centralised IT management 5 10
a. Explaining Decentralised IT management 5
MB0048 OPERATIONS RESEARCH
1 Describe the framework of Operations Research
List the seven stages of Operations Research
Briefly explain seven stages of Operations Research
2 a. Explain the graphical method of solving Linear Programming Problem.
b. A paper mill produces two grades of paper viz., X and Y. Because of raw material restrictions, it
cannot produce more than 400 tons of grade X paper and 300 tons of grade Y paper in a week.
There are 160 production hours in a week. It requires 0.20 and 0.40 hours to produce a ton of grade
X and Y papers. The mill earns a profit of Rs. 200 and Rs. 500 per ton of grade X and Y paper
respectively. Formulate this as a Linear Programming Problem.
[Meaning of Linear programming problem
Explanation of graphical method of solving Linear Programming Problem
Formulation of LPP (Objective function & Constraints)]
3 a. Explain some of the important terms of the transportation problem.
b. Explain the steps of MODI (Modified Distribution) method.
a. List and briefly explain some of the important terms of the transportation problem
b. Describe the procedure of MODI method
4 a. Explain the steps involved in Hungarian method of solving Assignment problems.
b. Find an optimal solution to an assignment problem with the following cost matrix:
JI
J2
J3
J4
10
9
7
8
5
8
7
7
5
4
6
5
2
3
4
5
a. Steps in Hungarian method
b. Computation/Solution to the problem
5 a. Write a short note on Monte Carlo Simulation.
b. Hindustan Bakery is popular for its delicious fruit cakes. The table below shows the daily demand
for the bakery’s cakes.
Daily
0
15
25
35
45
50
demand
Probability 0.01
0.15
0.2
0.5
0.12
0.02
Simulate the demand for cakes for 10 days using the following sequence of random numbers:
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22, 26, 48, 53, 93, 89, 42, 91, 25, 20
If 35 cakes are baked every day in Hindustan Bakery, determine the inventory stock. In addition,
estimate the daily average demand for cakes on the basis of simulated data.
a. Explanation of Monte Carlo Simulation
b. Calculation/ Solution to the problem
6 a. State the assumptions of game theory.
b. What are the characteristics of Markov chain?
c. What are the rules for prioritising jobs?
a.List the assumptions of game theory
b.List the characteristics of Markov chain
c.List and briefly explain the rules for prioritising jobs
MB 0049 - PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1 Explain the phases of project management life cycle.
Explanation of the 5 phases of project management
2 Write short notes on:
Economic feasibility of a project
Need for project planning
Diversity management
Rules for network construction
3 What are the key steps for effective risk management?
Explain any FIVE risk identification techniques.
Outline of the steps in risk management
Description of any FIVE risk identification techniques
4 Write short notes on
Parametric estimating tool of cost estimating
Procurement process
Project team’s responsibilities in project execution
Project termination
5 What is Quality planning? Explain the inputs, tools and techniques and outcomes of quality
planning.
Definition of quality planning
Description of the inputs to quality planning
Description of the tools and techniques to quality planning
Description of the outputs from quality planning
6 Describe the various types of project performance evaluation techniques. List any FOUR benefits
of performance measurement and evaluation.
Description of the 4 types of project performance evaluation techniques
Listing of any 4 benefits performance measurement and evaluation
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GET SOLVED ASSIGNMENTS AT Rs.150 per subject or
Rs.700 per semester
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