Managing Operations Across the Supply Chain: Questions 1 and 4

1) The companies that have stayed on top throughout this period are General Electric, Southwest, Berkshire Hathaway, and Proctor and Gamble. UPS and Coca Cola were some of the companies that disappeared. The companies that were able to stay at the top of the list were the ones able to deal with major changes in the industry easily. In order to stay afloat in harder times, they were managed by people who understood operations management; they had a winning value proposition that was continually revitalized by the introduction of new products and services. The companies that did not stay at the top unable to make the necessary changes so easily; perhaps their operations management was not at the caliber of the other companies able to stay at the top of the list.
4) (a) Enrolling in classes: Classes must be scheduled so that students can enroll in them, students communicate with the advisor about necessary classes, students sign onto website and find suitable classes that fit together into schedule for each semester. The inputs of this process are the students and administrators time and problem solving effort. The activities are decision making, communicating, and scheduling so that everyone has a chance to take the classes they want each semester. The output is the student’s schedule and enrollment into classes. The student’s schedule is being transformed. The customer is the student, the stakeholders are the professors who get paid to teach the courses and the businesses that would like to hire students once they complete their courses. The supplier is the university. (b) Taking a class: The process and activities of taking a class entail making it to class on time every session, studying before class to be able to follow along and participate, arriving with the correct materials in order take notes and complete activities in class, and completing homework before it’s due. The inputs are the knowledge of the professor and information contained in course