Individual Assignment: Trade Offs
After reading the text, all course materials and participating in discussion threads assigned to date you are to develop a two to three-page paper that explains the trade-offs that occur in operations and supply chain in the context of a recent purchase.
Content of the paper.
Consider either a product or service that you have purchased recently. If you need more information on products and a services: https://www.archives.gov/preservation/products/definitions/products-services.html
Research the company where you purchased either a product or service. Go to their website (and cite, probably in the introduction of your paper). Think about that product or service in the context of what you are learning in this class. Remember all companies want to deliver the best quality product, at the fastest possible speed that is delivered reliably at a low cost. However, companies have to decide which of these four will be the main focus of their supply chain. Decide if the product or service that you purchased was focused more which of the following desirability’s: quality, delivery speed, delivery reliability, or low cost. In this paper your opinion counts, so after reading the course materials, and the company website you can make your opinion clear. Remember each supply chain is designed differently and is primarily focused on delivering either quality, delivery speed, delivery reliability or low cost.
In the context of your recent purchase give examples of how an operation cannot offer a product or a service with equal primary focus on all four of these desirability’s. While you are focused on one of these desirability’s explain why you think that company made the choice to focus on one desirability more than the others. Consider the industry and doing some research (and citing) information on the companies industry might help as often competition within industries often creates conformity within industries. This Website will give you some information on the industry: https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag_index_alpha.htm
Give examples of how an operation cannot offer a product or a service with equal focus on all four of these desirability’s: quality, delivery speed, delivery reliability, and low cost and use your recent purchase to explain.
Remember the purpose of this paper is for you to explain that it is impossible to have a supply chain that equally primarily serves all four desirability’s (quality, delivery speed, deliverability reliability, and low cost). You are to use a recent purchase of a product or service to explain why each supply chain is designed to focus primarily on one of the four desirability’s.