The document provides guidance for an assignment analyzing a company's processes and strategies. Students are asked to: 1) Analyze a company's supply chain processes, key inputs, value added at each step, and performance metrics. 2) Create a plan to improve three supply chain elements by enhancing speed, quality, efficiency and productivity. 3) Explain how the improvements will enhance the company's products/services, value proposition, and capabilities for continuous improvement.

1. Assignment 1: Discussion—Process Design
Differing strategies and business models deliver products and
services, using diverse operating strategies and models. These
varied operating models reflect optimal solutions tailored to the
uniqueness of those industries, products, and customers.
An effective operating strategy links product/services decisions
with investment, market share, and product/service life cycle
and defines the breadth of the product line/service. Its main
goal is to meet the demands of the marketplace with a
competitive advantage. A successful outcome of this process
can result in the formation of seemingly unique businesses by
combining tools and techniques that are widely available in a
very peculiar and unique way.
Using the module readings, University online library resources,
and the Internet, research these tools and techniques. Based on
your research respond to the following:
What are the various process strategies, and under what
circumstances are they best used?
Which strategies are used in your business or a business you
would like to work in? What process analysis and design tools
are used? For example, a matrix may be a valuable tool for most
businesses.
Write your initial response in approximately 300–500 words.
Apply APA standards to citation of sources.
Assignment 1 Grading Criteria
Appropriately explained the application of at least two process
strategies and showed in-depth analysis of business
environment.
Analyzed the selected business to identify the process
strategies, process analysis, and design tools used.
Assignment 2: LASA 2—Company Analysis Report
Review the following scenario:
Assume that you have recently been hired as the director of

2. continuous improvement of a company. You are an outside hire
with limited history of the firm and personal capital at the firm,
and you are responsible for lean production, total quality
management (TQM), six sigma, and best practice
implementation.
Lean production means doing more with less, such as less
inventory, fewer workers, or less space. A recent trade in
quality management is lean six sigma (also known as lean
sigma) that integrates six sigma and lean production.
The capacity for which you were hired has existed for three
years with a direct line of report to the vice-president of
operations and dotted line of report to the head of information
technology (IT), the chief information officer (CIO), and the
director of internal controls and audit. You are the second
person to fill in this position. You have a team of internal
consultants; half of your team has six sigma black belt or
equivalent capabilities with the remainder having a solid
understanding of operations and IT. You also have a budget for
two external vendor resources.
You have taken six months to familiarize yourself with the
organization and its people, mission, goals, strategy, and
structure. In this time, you have also evaluated current
operations. At the end of this period, you are assigned to deliver
a report identifying the three most promising avenues for
achieving best practices within the company. You have already
been told that the company suffers from both aging and complex
information systems and that your recommendation must
include a major upgrade of those systems. The executive
officers anticipate major investments in IT over the next several
years. Your best practice implementations, coupled with new
technology, must be measurable in terms of speed, quality,
productivity, and efficiency or other key performance indicators
that you identify in your report.
For this assignment, you will choose a company with which you
are familiar. You are encouraged to choose a company for
which you currently work or have worked, but you may choose

3. some other firm if you believe it will be a compelling analysis.
You may choose one area of the company, such as a
manufacturing plant or product design, to focus on if you can
make a strong case. Your recommendations should have the
following features.
Repeatable: If you “fix” three things in a manufacturing plant,
you should be able to tackle the “next” three in iteration.
Scalable: If they work in one plant, they should work in all of
them.
Replicable: Your process for improvement should be repeatable
in different, disparate parts of the organization.
This is a key initiative at the “C” level, and your
recommendation will reach the board of directors.
Your paper must include the following sections:
Strategic Overview
: (1 page)
Provide a brief description of the following elements:
The company, including its products or services
Marketing strategy: target market segments, value proposition,
market position, and source of competitive differentiation
Organizational structure
Any other relevant facts
Analysis of the Supply Chain
: (4 pages)
Analyze the supply chain for your identified company by
explaining the following key elements of the supply chain:
Identify key inputs, including less tangible assets, such as
human resources and information. How are these key inputs
sourced, reconfigured into a product or service, and delivered to
your customers?
Identify the key processes that add value, and evaluate the
supply chain performance relative to the competition. What are
the key inputs for each process? How are these inputs processed
or configured into the final offering for your customers?
What is the value added at each step?

4. What is the role of information technology and e-commerce in
serving your customers?
What are the key performance measures for evaluating your
supply chain?
Research online sources to explain how the performance on
these measures compares to that of your competitors?
Plan to Improve Operating Processes
: (3 pages)
Create a plan for improving the performance of three specific
operating processes in your company. Your plan should address
the following:
Identify three elements of the supply chain that you recommend
as targets for improvement.
State the performance improvement opportunity for each
element, and indicate how it will improve process speed,
quality, efficiency, and productivity.
Explain what specific action or change you recommend for each
supply chain element selected.
Explanation of the Results of Performance Improvements
Regarding Product or Service
: (2 pages)
Explain the following:
How will your product or service be improved as a result of
these changes to the supply chain activities?
How are you altering the specific features or attributes of your
product or service?
Why are these specific changes important to your customers?
How do these changes enhance the value proposition and
competitive position of your company?
What lasting capabilities and improvement are you introducing
into your company through these changes?
How will you measure the scope and impact of your
improvements? What are your key performance indicators?
Assessment of the Impact on Human Resources
: (1–2 pages)

5. Detail how your plan impacts your company’s HR and human
capital strategy by explaining how the organization’s structure
supports the new process configuration you are recommending.
Your response should address the following questions:
Are the roles and responsibilities in your organization properly
defined and aligned to enable these changes? Who will perform
these new/modified process activities, and what changes to their
jobs do you anticipate?
Is decision-making authority assigned so that the process
changes you propose can be implemented and properly managed
under the current structure? Who will own the process and the
results? Based on the current structure, will they have the
authority to make changes as necessary?
Are the individuals with the right skills in place to implement
these changes? If not, how will you attract the talent necessary
to implement your changes? How will you retrain the existing
employee base? How will you handle attrition? How will you
reduce the risk of impacted protected classes?
Changes
:
Explain changes to the compensation and incentives at your
company that are necessary to reinforce your recommendations
and increase efforts for continuous improvement throughout the
organization. Explain how your plan motivates employees,
customers, and suppliers better.
Write a 10-page paper in Word format. You may rearrange the
above sections if it improves the quality of your paper.
LASA 2—Company Analysis Report Rubric
NOTE:
If a component is absent, student receives a
zero
for that component
Exemplary
90–100%
(A- to A)

6. .
Synthesis includes clear discussion of company’s specific
products and services; in-depth discussion of marketing
strategy; and a detailed organizational structure. Discussion is
supported by additional relevant facts and examples regarding
the company’s structure and services. Scholarly evidence is
used to support ideas throughout.
Analysis of the supply chain examines all its key inputs
including source, reconfiguration, and delivery to the customer.
For each step, several processes that add value, relative to the
competition, are identified and compared. Synthesis examines
and analyzes the role of info-technology and ecommerce in
meeting customer needs. The key performance criteria used for
evaluating the supply chain are accurate, measureable, and are
evaluated against what many other competitors utilize for
measurement. Scholarly evidence is used to support ideas
throughout.
Performance improvement plan diagnoses current supply chain
and isolates three or more elements in need of improvement.
Several innovative improvement opportunities are explained and
justified. Explanation includes multiple details regarding
process speed, quality, efficiency, etc. Scholarly evidence is
used to support ideas throughout.
Synthesis outlines performance results in detail based on
improvement recommendations.
Related changes to the product or service are discussed
including how these changes meet customer needs. A logical
and detailed justification for how these changes will enhance
the value proposition and competitive positioning is included.
Many logical and effective means for measurement are outlined
that include key performance indicators for success.
Scholarly evidence is used to support ideas throughout.
Synthesis utilizes research and data to analyze how the plan
affects the company’s HR and human capital strategy.
The analysis includes several details and examples regarding

7. alignment with roles, decision-making authority, existing
employee talent, and compensation.
Writing is clear, concise, and well organized. It demonstrates
ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of
sources and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and
punctuation.