1. Discuss some reasons for unethical behavior by business people. Find an example of unethical behavior in a corporation and discuss why the behavior was unethical and what damage was done.
2. There are five possible reasons for the shift towards a focus on improvement in professional operations managers’ activities:
There is a perceived increase in the intensity of competitive pressures (or ‘value for money’ in not-for-profit or public sector operations).
The nature of world trade is changing. Economies such as China, India and Brazil are emerging as both producers and consumers of products and services.
New technology has both introduced opportunities to improve operations practice and disrupt existing markets.
The interest in operations improvement has resulted in the development of many new ideas and approaches to improving operations which have, in turn, focused attention on improvement.
The scope of operations Management has widened from a subject associated largely with manufacturing to one that embraces all types of enterprise and processes in all functions of the enterprise.