Reference no: EM132283626

Assignment

Case Study: Stock Planning for Specialty Goods at Zegema Retail

Word limit: 3000 words inclusive of everything except for appendices. Do not write more than 3,000 words. You should aim to write 2,500-3,000 words.

Read the Case Study "Stock Planning for Specialty Goods at Zegema Retail". Your assignment will be based on this case.

Using the information in the case and your own academic research, answer the following questions:

1. What is the main operational issue that Zegema is facing? What were operational causes of this issue and which were the most significant?

2. What were the benefits and disadvantages of concentrating on the large format stores for the operational issue you identified? What are the alternatives identified in the case? Analyse the data provided to compare the benefits versus the disadvantages of the large format stores and the alternatives you identified. The advantages/disadvantages you identify should be both financial and operational.

3. Identify the best option from your comparison of the advantages and disadvantages in question 2 and identify how the disadvantages can be minimised.

4. Provide further recommendations, which the case does not identify including store size selection, that you believe could reduce their stock-out problems for the specialty items in the future.

5. How would you measure success for the implementation of your recommendations?

Purpose

The purpose of this assessment task is to develop your skills in:

• Critical thinking and problem solving

• Company operations management analysis, particularly concerning a global sustainability challenge

• Collaborative group work

• Preparation of a business report

How much time?

You should expect to spend around 30 working hours each on the report, meeting and discussing with your group, doing background research, collecting and analysing material and completing the assignment.

Putting the "group" into the group assignment: an explanation One of the objectives of this unit is to provide you with an opportunity to work with others to achieve identified objectives, which will require the group to organize and assign tasks to meet your responsibilities. Consequently, this assignment is designed to facilitate the achievement of the above objective and the enhancement of your teamwork skills.

Ideally, we would prefer you to get teams of three to work on your report and everyone takes equal responsibility for the result. This has worked in past offerings of this unit. However, in some special cases we may allow different sized groups providing the circumstances warrant this.

Recommended steps for completing the assignment

A. Form a group

Given this is a collaborative group assignment, this step of forming a group is an important one. Posting messages on the MPM792 CloudDeakin site is your first step in group formation. Your group should have no more than three members. Choose people with different areas of expertise and with whom you think you can work.

Students not in groups by the end of Week 3 should notify me directly and I will allocate you to a group.

B. "Perform" as a group - recommended actions

1. Spend some time discussing how your group should work. For example, you may want to agree on (and document) what is expected of group members if they wish to have their name on the final assignment. It would be helpful if each member of the group reads the Student Resource on Group Work. This is available online from the Student Study Support website.

Hopefully, this will assist your group start with a common understanding of the process and its importance, and allow you to work through issues that arise.

2. Agree on how you are going to communicate.

3. In your scheduling, allow enough time before the due date to swap sections and to jointly work on the executive summary and the summary and conclusions. These sections must reflect the contributions of all group members.

CHECK LIST

1. Have you all read the Student Life article: Working in Groups?

2. Have you exchanged contact details (incl. Student IDs) with all members of your group?

3. Have you agreed on who will do each section of the assignment?

4. Have you agreed on a schedule of meetings?

5. Have you agreed on a timetable for completing the assignment?

6. Have you agreed on a procedure for resolving differences of opinion?

7. Have you discussed your goals for the assignment in terms of the grade you wish to achieve?

8. Have you agreed on who will proof read and make the final submission of the report?