Directions: Please provide responses to the questions below. If necessary, please use examples or information from the textbook; however, please be sure to not copy any information directly from the text, the Module 8 Lecture Notes, or the Internet. Please use proper APA citations for any resources that you use. For concise APA formatting guidelines, please visit the Academic Resource Center (ARC). Your responses should be at least 100 words in length for each question.
1. How can a manager determine whether his or her firm needs improvement in control? If improvement is needed, how can the manager tell what type of control needs improvement, e.g., operations, financial, structural, or strategic? Describe some steps a manager can take to improve each of these types of control.
2. Describe the differences between bureaucratic and decentralized control. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
3. Why do some people resist control? How can managers help overcome this resistance?
4. Describe three basic decisions that must be addressed in the design of operations systems. What information do managers need to make each decision?
5. What is total quality management? What are the major characteristics of total quality management?
PART II: Case Study
Directions: Read the case, "Amazon Rekindles Its Flair for Technology," on page 460 of your textbook. Amazon.com is an Internet retailing phenomenon. It has revolutionized the industry ever since its inception in 1995. As the case describes, Amazon uses a variety of operations techniques to allow their customers to order on the Internet and deliver the products to their doorstep. It has made good use of its software expertise to automate a number of processes, so much so that it offers software consulting to other organizations. The case also describes Amazon's newest product, Kindle, which enables users to read books electronically.
The purpose of responding to this case study is to summarize all the knowledge you have gained in this course. As you answer the questions in the essay below, go back to the Table of Contents in the textbook and refresh your memory about all the learning concepts. Ensure that you use the language and terminology that you learned in the textbook as you analyze Amazon's strategic management practices. The bulk of your paper should be based on evidence from the case study and the textbook. Please save your opinions for the conclusion. Please utilize the information you learned in the Required Web Resource found in the Module 8 Lecture Notes.
After you have read the case, please provide detailed and elaborate responses to the following questions. You will write an essay that is at least two to three pages in length and includes at least two in-text references to the textbook.
Please ensure that your essay contains the following components:
- Introductory paragraph that has a general topic sentence
- Five subtopics (each of the questions below will constitute one of your main points)
- Conclusion
Body Paragraph #1: What types of decisions common to manufacturing firms does Amazon make? Think about all the choices that Amazon has had to make since it began in 1995. It has had many changes since then. How has Amazon managed to stay on top in online retailing? Think about the decisions that it had to make when it introduced the new Kindle product. What decisions does it make when it is providing service? What types of decisions does it make when it provides products? What types of decisions are common to service firms? How do both types of decisions relate to the marketing of Kindle? Find at least one sentence from the textbook that supports your premise. Be sure that you cite it appropriately.
Body Paragraph #2: Describe Amazon's entire supply chain. From which activities in this supply chain does Amazon make money? At what points in the supply chain does Amazon outsource or contract activities to outsiders?
Body Paragraph #3: Go online to Amazon.com and select an item that comes from Amazon itself rather than from a drop shipper. What product did you choose? What kind of purchasing decisions were necessary to make this product available at Amazon's price? What kind of inventory control decisions?
Body Paragraph #4: What facets of Amazon's operations allow it to offer a high-quality shopping experience to customers?
Body Paragraph #5: Provide three or four examples of ways in which Amazon's operations contribute to high productivity. Explain Amazon's planning process and identify possible organizational goals.