MNGT605 Operations Management
Coursework Assignment 2023-24
Introduction
This is an individual piece of coursework which is worth 100% of the total
grade for the module. In this assignment, you are required to study a real-world
operation, assess how well it is designed and managed and offer
recommendations for its improvement. You are asked to write a report which
addresses ALL the parts listed below under ‘Your Task’.
You may select one ‘operation’ of any type – this could be within
manufacturing or services; it could be a private or a public sector organisation.
However, the following criteria must be met when choosing such an
organisation.
1) The operations of this organisation must have been somehow
challenged or disrupted by at least one of the following global or
regional threats, either directly or indirectly:
A) Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022
B) 2023 Israeli-Palestinian escalation
C) Houthis attacking Red Sea ships since winter 2023
2) The operations of this organisation have NOT been mentioned in any
part of the taught lessons. This include:
 All the slides that are available on Moodle
 The brand names directly mentioned by the tutor (for example, I
certainly have said the name “Apple” too many times)
 Mentioned by the guest speakers
 Or any of the presentation groups (for example, on 15th of Feb we
mentioned a lot about H&M or Primark during the group
presentations).
If you (intentionally or not) use a brand or a company that has been
mentioned during any of our taught sessions, you will face a minor
penalty (see assessment critera below)
Know your capacity, because if you choose a global operation, you might need
to cover a lot of data and content presentation. It is OK to select a business
unit/department of a large business group, such as the clothing department of
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M&S, or the city store of M&S, instead of the entire Marks & Spencer brand
(however, we had mentioned M&S more than once – so be careful). You may
use this rule to avoid the penalty above – for example, we mentioned the Tube
service system in London on 14th Feb, but you can talk about the manufacturing
or mantainance of Tube carriages and you are not penalised (you still need to
prove that the operation was challenged by one of the warfares, in this specific
example).
You will then need to collect some secondary data based on open sources.
Please also note that the sources of your data should be acknowledged via
standard academic procedure. If you have to make any assumptions
because of unavailable evidence, you must explicate those in the report.
Your Task
Having selected a specific operation that you wish to study, you are required to
write an academic report to analyse and discuss the case company’s
operations and supply chain management. You will follow a specifc instruction
of the following structure:
1. Introduction (200 words)
2. Recent challenges (300 words)
This will include, but are not limited to, the global/regional warfare
threats mentioned above.
3. Analysis of operations and supply chains (700 words)
4. Discussions, opportunities, and solutions (500 words)
5. Summary (300 words)
6. Reference (excluded in word counts. Must include all your data sources
and five or more academic papers)
You will need to draw on credible sources of evidence to back up your analysis
and assessment in all part. Refer to taught materials as well as academic
literatures (especially journal articles) to explain OM challenges and emerging
opportunities.
Submission requirements
 The assignment should not exceed 2,000 words in length. This word count
limit excludes figures, tables, references and any appendices used. Any
submissions that exceed this upper limit by 10% may be penalised.
 Please present your analysis and assessment in a concise manner. Make use
of tables, figures and appendices whenever possible. All of these must be
numbered using the Arabic system (e.g. Figure 1, Table 1).
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 Use the Harvard system of referencing for in-text citations as well as for
producing a list of references at the end of your manuscript.
 Please note that plagiarism is taken very seriously as an academic offence
and is penalised according to the Programme’s existing rules and regulations.
 DO NOT use another language to write the report first and then translate
them into English. Most of the current available service use AI to power the
process. If you do so, it is very risky that your work might be identified as “not
written by your own”.
 You should submit your coursework online via Moodle (see coursework
submission link).
 Please get in touch with me if you have any queries or require any
clarifications. DO NOT contact me only to ask whether your choices of
company will face certain penalties - I will not answer them. In other words,
if you are not 100% sure whether a specific company has been mentioned or
not, you should give it up and find a better case.
Coursework assessment criteria
The following criteria apply for grading the report:
 Quality and depth of analysis and discussion, e.g. clear links between your
data and theoretical concepts or tools/techniques (from the course) used to
analyse and assess the operation. Try to embody critical reflections regarding
any differences between taught concepts and the data or facts you collect.
 Well-motivated recommendations for improvement – in particular, there
should be clear links among collected data, your analysis, and the offered
recommendations for operations improvement.
 Research efforts, e.g. the accuracy and depth of secondary data sources
used, and the academic literature involved that are useful to critically debate
the taught concepts and/or the company/industry involved in your report.
 Report structure and presentation e.g. addressing all aspects specified in the
assignment, flow of argumentation, consistence and coherence, level of
English language (grammar and syntax), quality of tables/figures and
appendices, and appropriate academic referencing.
 Penalties of inappropriate case selection: -10 if the selected company has
been mentioned in any of the taught lessons.
Dr Lingxuan Liu
Feb 2024