Introduction to Operations Management (MGT 311)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education Saudi Electronic Universityالمملكة العربية السعودية وزارة التعليم الجامعة السعودية الإلكترونية  

                          College of Administrative and Financial Sciences

Assignment 1

Introduction to Operations Management (MGT 311)

Course Name:Student’s Name:
Course Code: MGT 311Student’s ID Number:
Semester: First CRN:
Academic Year:
 

For Instructor’s Use only

Instructor’s Name:
Students’ Grade:  Marks Obtained/Out of 10Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low

General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY

  • The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated folder.
  • Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
  • Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page.
  • Students must mention question number clearly in their answer.
  • Late submission will NOT be accepted.
  • Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
  • All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
  • Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. To understand the global nature of supply chain.
  2. To explain the demand and supply side of Supply chain.
  3. To understand the completive advantage in the business.

Assignment Question(s):

Go through the case study and answer the questions that follow

The Benetton supply chain:

One of the best-known examples of how an organization can use its supply chain to achieve a competitive advantage is the Benetton Group. Founded by the Benetton family in the 1960s, the company is now one of the largest garment retailers, with stores which bear its name located in almost all parts of the world. Part of the reason for its success has been the way it has organized both the supply side and the demand side of its supply chain.

Although Benetton does manufacture much of its production itself, on its supply side the company relies heavily on ‘contractors’. Contractors are companies (many of which are owned, or part-owned, by Benetton employees) that provide services to the Benetton factories by knitting and assembling Benetton’s garments. These contractors, in turn, use the services of sub-contractors to perform some of the manufacturing tasks. Benetton’s manufacturing operations gain two advantages from this. First, its production costs for woollen items are significantly below some of its competitors because the small supply companies have lower costs themselves. Second, the arrangement allows Benetton to absorb fluctuation in demand by adjusting its supply arrangements, without itself feeling the full effect of demand fluctuations.

On the demand side of the chain, Benetton operates through a number of agents, each of whom is responsible for their own geographical area. These agents are responsible for developing the stores in their area. Indeed, many of the agents actually own some stores in their area. Products are shipped from Italy to the individual stores where they are often put directly onto the shelves. Benetton stores have always been designed with relatively limited storage space so that the garments (which, typically, are brightly coloured) can be stored in the shop itself, adding colour and ambience to the appearance of the store.

Because there is such limited space for inventory in the stores, store owners require that deliveries of garments are fast and dependable. Benetton factories achieve this partly through their famous policy of manufacturing garments, where possible, in greggio, or in grey, and then dyeing them only when demand for particular colours is evident. This is a slightly more expensive process than knitting directly from coloured yarn, but their supply-side economies allow them to absorb the cost of this extra flexibility, which in turn allows them to achieve relatively fast deliveries to the stores.

Questions:

  1. Brief your understanding about Benetton Supply Chain operations.            (3MM)      
  2. In your understanding, what is the specialty of Benetton’s contractors?       (3MM)
  3. Does this method provide Benetton competitive advantage over their competitors? Is this method sustainable in the long term?                                                  (4MM)

Note:

  • You must include at least 5 references.
  • Format your references using APA style.