Reference no: EM133117650

Question 1 (Tieara)

A chase strategy as defined by Collier and Evans (2019) must match the production rate and demand period by period, making it hard to be applied completely to a service providing organization due to the nature of its uncertain and fluctuating levels of demand. The airline call center would have varying demand such as for summer travel and major holidays. Inaccurate forecasting could wreak havoc with regard to staff capacity and scheduling decisions. In some situations, equipment capacity may not be adequate during periods of peak demand. However, there are certain instances where a chase strategy can be strategically applied. The airline call center can minimize costs as management changes the workforce levels and skillsets are different due to the use of both full-and part-time associates, while trying to maintain service levels (Collier& Evans, 2019). Disadvantages include radical changes in workforce capacity and could diminish customer service levels as well as associate morale. Hiring and layoff costs increase as we change labor to meet varying demand. (Collier & Evans, 2019).

This means that the call center will have to continually keep a pool of qualified candidates to stay adequately staffed at this time that is nearly impossible. Everyone, everywhere is hiring and no one is fully staffed currently. With that being said, I would not adopt the chase strategy within my call center. I have worked for companies that require ramping up staffing when the hiring need is seasonal and that can prove challenging. Knowing that we would need to hire for the summer months when millions of people are vacationing including those that we would need to hire as well as at Christmas time would prove too challenging. I would rather just have my regular staff and overstaff or hire seasonally once we have figured out the trends of the business.

QUESTION 2 (Dennis)

The adoption of business strategy in business operations depends on numerous factors, including determining what is suitable for the firm to achieve the set goals. Another point of adopting the design is the nature of products and services associated with the company and its risks. One of the strategies that companies use to penetrate the market is the chase strategy, which entails companies strategically attempting to match the market's demands (Leonard, 2019). Nonetheless, considering the principle behind adopting this strategy, an airline company does not meet the modelling for adopting the system.

First, the chase strategy is for companies that deal in perishable products. The primary motive behind adopting this operation model is to achieve lean operations and reduce the possibility of carrying leftover products (Collier & Evans, 2020). Therefore, such a strategy would be more sensible for companies that deal primarily in products than the airline company that is a service-oriented companies. Consequently, it is unwise for an airline company to adopt the chase strategy as it is incompatible with its nature of operations.

Second, the chase model would not work considering that it does not work to address the risks associated with the airline company. More specifically, the impetus of the chase model is to reduce the possibility of leftovers, which is the risk it intends to mitigate (Collier & Evans, 2020). For service delivery, such risks are non-existent, which implies that they can put out more services regardless of the demand in the market. They do not face any concerning risk as they can streamline the operations depending on the changes they realize in the market.

Overall, the chase model is not suitable for the call center of the airline company. The industry is not product-oriented, which is a requirement for the chase strategy, and more so, the type of services is risk free as there are no spillovers. Consequently, the company is more inclined to use a corresponding strategy that matches their model instead of the chase strategy.

QUESTION 3 (Yvonne)

Collier states the organization must use different tools to create a lean organization such as the 5Ss (2019). The 5Ss basically create an organized work environment. The 5Ss consist of sort, set, shine, standardize, and sustain (Collier, 2019). They create a workplace which is organized, clean, consistent, and continuous. An organization I am familiar with in which I can identify some waste would be a current company I have worked for. I have worked in the hospitality industry a few years now and it is a very wasteful industry. When people are not properly trained, it leads to waste. For example, at a place I have worked there are a lot of young people who have never had another job or don't take the job too seriously. I have seen management post about people leaving trays of food out overnight on a day the restaurant was close, therefore the food going to waste as it was left out for a few days. I have also seen kegs go bad due to being left out in warm temperatures too long rather than leaving them in the coolers. If they allow keg gets to get too warm, it changes the taste and will also foam up if not cool enough leading to waste of beer. If proper training on these protocols is done or even having opening/mid/closing lists to guide closers etc. avoidance of these types of things could potentially be avoided.

QUESTION 4 (David Wallace)

For years, McDonald's has been an active player in the fast-food market. The company has been through ups and downs, particularly with other restaurants outlets spearheaded tough competition. Even though the company has managed to penetrate the corridors of competition, particular types of waste ought to be addressed. First, overproduction remains a colossal waste that the company has yet to address in its entirety. Initially, the restaurant prepared burgers and sandwiches, which they placed in warming bins to wait for consumers. Although they partly resolved it, it is yet to be completely sorted. Additionally, research finds that nearly 12% of orders turn out to be incorrect, much to customers' displeasure.

The organization, as mentioned above waste requires appropriate lean strategies to address them. McDonald's should adopt a chase strategy to see a customer placing an order before preparing it. It is noteworthy that the move would increase the waiting time in the event of multiple orders simultaneously (Nugraha et al., 2020). However, to eliminate overproduction and waiting time, McDonald's should adopt modern technology, particularly equipment for cooking, to reduce the waiting time. Besides that, the company's status validates it to hire high skilled professionals who are conversant with preparing quality meals within a short time.

Additionally, incorrect orders are one of the wastes that McDonald's that have since inconvenienced customers. McDonald's should have an automated system that verifies orders before dispatching them as a recognized institution. Increased complaints about incorrect orders compromise the company's reputation (Matthews, 2021). Thus, the automated system will be significant to insulate itself from banters and trolls.