GCSE Business studiesUNIT 10Mr Goodacre

Unit 10: Operations management

Section 1. Define the key terms

Flow production
Specialisation
Lean production
Kaizen production
Revenue
Market capitalisation
Economies of scale
Diseconomies of scale
Quality
Total Quality Management (TQM)

Section 2. State the advantages

Advantages / Disadvantages

Section 3. Read the case study’s and answer the question in essay format.

Sarah has just taken over as manager of ‘We got sole’ a shoe shop in Witham High street. The owner has left her a note asking how she plans to measure the quality of service provided by the store through:
·  Customers
·  Mystery shoppers
·  Staff
Sarah is not sure she understands, can you make some suggestions how quality of service at the store could be monitored through the about three sources.
Andy owns a small chain of music stores based in London. He prides himself on the huge range of CDs and records stocked by each store that far exceeds anything his larger rivals offer.
He achieves this by personally scouring independent wholesalers who only carry small quantities of stock. He also visits every one of the seven outlets in his chain to discuss music with the customers and staff. He believes these two factors have led to the success of his business despite retailing at a higher price than the competition.
Due to its popularity, the business has amassed significant retained profits. Andy’s family are urging him to invest these profits into growing the business. They say he has clearly got the right formula and should push out the model nationwide. Can you advise Andy of the benefits of keeping the business small?

Section 4. Answer all questions fully

What problems are associated with JIT production?
Explain two possibly problems resulting from poor quality control?
Explain why good quality would be important to a business such as Andy’s music store in the above case study.
What are the benefits of introducing TQM?
How might lean production techniques affect employees?