Case 1

Case 1: Product Development Risks
You have the opportunity to invest INR 100 billion for your company to develop a jet
engine for commercial aircrafts. Development will span 5 years. The final product costing Rs.
500 million / unit could reach a sales potential, eventually of Rs. 2500 billion. The new engine
can be placed in service 5 years from now, but only if it qualifies four years from now for
certification clearing commercial use and only if it meets Americas Federal Aviation
Administrations (FAA) ever tightening standards for noise reduction. Certification also has to be
obtained from Indias Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). There is competition from
world-class manufacturers like Pratt and Whitney and Rolls Royce who are developing
competing engines. If you decide to proceed with the project, you must also determine where the
new engines will be produced and develop the manufacturing facilities. If you decline to
proceed, your company could invest its resources elsewhere and based on its track record, get
attractive returns.
(a) What would be your line of action?
My line of action would be to decline the project. Besides I could still invest my
resources elsewhere and get attractive returns. Pushing through with the development of
a jet engine for commercial aircrafts can be a threat for my company. If I would just look
to the potential sales which is 2500 billion, surely I will proceed with the project, since
2500 billion is a big sum of money. But there are lots of drawbacks with this project.
What if the engine wont pass the certifications needed? The 5 years development and
long product design will just go to waste. There are possible what ifs in this project so
Ill definitely decline.
(b) In case of lengthy product design and development time, what kinds of risks are there?
The kinds of risks that might arise in case of lengthy product design and
development time are: event risk, exchange-rate risk, and tax risk. Due to the prolonged
process just to development the project, the chance that a totally unexpected event will
have a significant effect on the engine.
Case 2: Conflict of Interests

The GM (Works) has problems with manufacturing budgets, meeting cost reduction
targets, and dealing with new products manufacturing schedules. When an in depth interview
(non-directive type) was conducted between the GM (Works) and the Chairman of the Company,
the GM (Works) explained that many things are happening in the Company about which he is
ignorant, particularly the preparation, new product integration, etc. He agrees to the view that the
Company is interested in high-growth and high-profit, but he has never been given an
opportunity to review his own scheme of things and explain to the top management. The
production culture of the company has never been assessed whereas the stringent rules are being
directed by the finance and personnel departments. And sometimes, notices are being served to
supervisors and senior employees. The Company is introducing new products without assessing
the capability of the manufacturing system and the resources.
(a) Under the above situation, if you are asked to work as a consultant to show the
perspectives to the Board of Management, what action plans would you suggest?
If I were asked to work as a consultant to show the perspectives to the Board of
Management, the action plan Ill suggest would be proper evaluation of production
culture of the company. Strict rules being implemented now wont help the problems with
manufacturing budgets, meeting cost reduction targets, and dealing with new products
manufacturing schedules. Listening to others suggestion with the problem would be a
great help to the company.
(b) Does Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) help in situations like these?
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) can be a great help in situations like this,
but for me solving first the problem with the top management will start the change in the
company. Since the top management gives the directives to the company, they must be the
ones to take the initiative.
Case 3: Project Delays
The Assam Gas Cracker Project conceived as part of the Assam Accord signed in 1985 is
yet to see the light of the day. It has been plagued by a host of problems starting from location to
economic viability. Originally planned at Tengakhat, it was later shifted to a place called
Lepetkata. The project is now being implemented by GAIL (a Government of India enterprise) as
the lead promoter (70% share) with another public enterprise OIL (20% share) and the
Government of Assam as minor partners. GAIL had to be brought in after Indias largest private
sector enterprise Reliance Industries backed out of the project saying that it was economically
unviable. The land acquisition for the project (as of mid-2008) is yet to be completed and there is
still a lot of uncertainty regarding the availability of raw materials for production. In the
meantime, the project cost has spiraled many times over to INR 50 billion, which is likely to go
up further.
(a) Discuss the importance of Project Management in the light of the above situation.
(b) As a project manager employed with GAIL, what would be your line of action to see to it that
the project is not delayed any further?
(c) Why do projects suffer from time and cost overruns?
Case 4: JIT in Action

A new phenomenon called Apparel on Demand is slowly making its presence felt. It is
an extension of JIT linking retailers and manufacturers for a just-in-time responsiveness. NaaR
Clothing Inc., promoted by a young management graduate has recently ventured into the
business of making reasonably priced custom jeans for women. It has partnered with many stores
selling women garments. In the stores, women are electronically measured and information like
color, fabric, style, etc., are recorded. The information reaches the NaaR manufacturing facility
at Ahmedabad almost immediately through a state-of-the-art information system.NaaR
guarantees delivery of the custom jeans within 10 days. With the growing acceptance of jeans
among the women in India, especially in the urban areas, the market for womens jeans is
growing at a fast pace. NaaR with its unique business model hopes to garner a significant share
of this market. The promoter of NaaR along with her top executives is confident that their
concept of JIT jeans would work.
(a) Do you think NaaRs strategy would work? Why or why not? What is the importance of
retailers in its business strategy?
(b) Will customers wait for 10 days to have the jeans delivered? What can NaaR do to compete
on customer service if delivery takes this much time?
(c) Comment on the necessity of a robust supply chain in the context of NaaR Clothing Inc.
Case 5: Service Blues!

Jyoti had given her branded laptop for servicing to an authorized service center to repair a
damaged USB port. The laptop was to be given the next day, but when she went to take it that
day, she was told that it was not ready. Jyoti had to wait for four more days before she was
finally given her laptop. Because she was in a hurry while receiving the repaired laptop, she did
not check the workings of the laptop at that time. On reaching home and switching on the laptop,
she noticed that that LCD display had become problematic. The next day, she again went to the
service center and reported the display problem. Jyoti was aghast when she was informed that as
she had signed the delivery documents, the service center cannot take responsibility for the
display problem. She was asked to fill up a fresh service requisition form to get the problem
rectified and further was told that all expenses incurred in rectifying the problem had to be paid
by her.
(a) Do you think that After Sales Service through a third party is a cause for concern? Justify.
(b) There seems to be a breach of trust in the given case let. How is breach of trust related to
quality of service?
(c) In the context of the given case let, formulate a Quality Service Policy to ensure customer
satisfaction.
References:
1. Production and Operations Management: Manufacturing and Services, Richard B.
Chase, Nicholas J. Aquilano, F. Robert Jacobs, McGraw Hill
2. Advanced Operations Management, R P Mohanty, S G Deshmukh, Pearson Education
3. Production and Operations Management Concepts, Models and Behavior, Everette E

Adam, Jr., Ronald J Ebert, PHI

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Case 1

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Case 1: Product Development Risks

Case 2: Conflict of Interests

Case 3: Project Delays

Case 4: JIT in Action

Case 5: Service Blues!

3. Production and Operations Management Concepts, Models and Behavior, Everette E

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