Reference no: EM132223180

Dahlia, a self-made business person, owns and manages a custom woodworking business. Her business specializes in making custom furnishings for commercial offices, buildings desks the way the customer wants the desk built. The business is proud of its high-quality image and flexible product designs. Business has been pretty good, but Dahlia's commercial sales representative thinks it could be better if certain niches were exploited. The sales rep, Yvonne Truce, believes that there is a real market opportunity for custom-styled office furnishings at low-to-moderate prices. Yvonne believes that this could be done by designing a standard desk skeletonover which custom features could be fit. The skeleton could be made to stock in batches. The customer could then specify how the desk is to be finished (choice of top, cut-outs for special work-station devices, drawer style, knobs and pulls, and so on). Yvonne believes they could cut price, appeal to broader market, deliver faster, and increase output. On the basis of above information, please answer the following questions:

a) At present, what seem to be firm’s order-winning criteria? Are there any order qualifiers? What role do these order-winning and order qualifying criteria play in the formulation of operations strategy as well as the integration of marketing and operations?

b) What are the manufacturing tasks for the above order-winning criteria?

c) What operations strategy is dictated by the above operations tasks?

d) What shifts is Ms. Peg recommending in these order-winning and order qual- ifier criteria? Why?

e) What is your evaluation of the feasibility of Ms. Peg’s idea, including market- ing, financial, and operations management considerations, both from strategic and tactical considerations? Why?

f) Assuming Ms. Peg’s ideas are accepted, what steps will you take in formulating a new operations strategy for the firm? Please be specific and complete in describing the process you will use.