Strategic Quality and

Systems Management
Assessment
Assignment Brief
As part of the formal assessment for the Level 7 programme you are required to submit an
assignment for each module. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the
programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting
assignments.
After completing the module you should be able to:
LO1: Understand the role of operations management in an organisation
LO2: Understand the importance of managing quality in an organisation
LO: !e able to plan a strategic change in an organisation
LO": !e able to implement a strategic quality change in an organisation
LO#: !e able to e$aluate the outcomes of a strategic quality change in an organisation
Assignment ask
%he o$erall requirement of the assignment is that using the case study organisation& you carry out
research to de$elop a report on planning strategic change in the organisation'
(n order to meet this o$erall requirement you are to perform the follo)ing tas*s'
ask !
(t is considered that organisational ob+ecti$es need to be achie$ed efficiently and effecti$ely )hich
requires clear processes that are underta*en consistently to a high standard'
a) ,orthumbrian -ater demonstrates that strategic quality ob+ecti$es )hich add $alue can
contribute to)ards achie$ing organisational ob+ecti$es' -ith reference to the case study&
e$aluate ho) their operations management processes are successful in achie$ing strategic
organisational ob+ecti$es and e.plain )hy this is important'
/A01'1& A01'21
b) Quality can be defined as 2a distincti$e attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or
something3 /O.ford 4nglish 5ictionary online& 26111' 4.plain the importance of effecti$e
quality management' 4$aluate the quality management processes that you can identify& and
assume& ,orthumbrian -ater has in place'
/A02'1& A02'2& A0"'21
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ask "
7rom the case study and any further research underta*en& e$aluate the success of
,orthumbrian -aters strategic quality changes' 0onsider the changes in terms of meeting
organisational ob+ecti$es and ho) )ell& or other)ise the changes ha$e achie$ed this' 8o)
might they ha$e e$aluated their success or other)ise9 :i$e specific e.amples
/A0#'1& A0#'21
ask #
a) ;ou are the Quality Manager for ,orthumbrian -ater' 7rom the case study& either identify a
strategic quality change )hich is required to further impro$e their performance or consider a
change that is li*ely to ha$e ta*en place to achie$e their performance impro$ements'
Outline a plan to achie$e this change' ;ou might )ant to gi$e consideration to:
0urrent and proposed systems < process < technology
Strategic Ob+ecti$es
%argets to be achie$ed
=hysical and 8uman >esources required
%he effect of the change to sta*eholders and steps needed to be ta*en to manage this
4$aluation of change
%raining required
8o) the effecti$eness of the change )ill be e$aluated
8o) you )ould monitor the implementation of the change
b) -ith consideration to change management best practices& e.plain ho) you )ould implement
this change and embed a quality culture to ensure continuous impro$ement
/A0'1& A0'2& A0'& A0'"& A0"'1& A0"'2& A0"'1
;ou should structure your assignment by ans)ering each tas* in turn& labelling each tas* )ith the
appropriate number' %he assignment should be "666?#666 )ords in length
;ou are in$ited to submit a response to %as* 1 for formati$e feedbac* by emailing this to the tutor by
@
th
May 261"' On receipt of formati$e feedbac*& you can then de$elop tas* 1 further and )or* on
the remaining tas*s )hich )ill be handed in by the final submission date
Page 3 of 7
Assessment $riteria for Pass
%o achie$e a pass you must meet all of the assessment criteria as stated
belo)' 7ailure to co$er all of the assessment criteria )ill result in a referral
grade and you )ill be required to re?submit your assignment'
Learning outcomes Learning $riteria %et
&utcomes'
Assessment
$riteria
! (nderstand the role of operations management in an %as* 1a
organi)ation
1'1 4.plain the importance of effecti$e operations management in
achie$ing organisational ob+ecti$es
1'2 4$aluate the success of e.isting operations management
processes in meeting an organisations o$erall strategic
Page 4 of 7
management ob+ecti$es
" (nderstand the importance of managing quality in an %as* 1b
organisation
2'1 4.plain the importance of effecti$e quality management in
achie$ing organisational ob+ecti$es
2'2 4$aluate the success of e.isting quality management
processes in meeting an organisations o$erall strategic
management ob+ecti$es
# Be able to plan a strategic quality change in an %as* 2
organisation
'1 =lan a strategic quality change to impro$e organisational
performance
'1 5efine resources& tools and systems to support business
processes in a strategic quality change
'2 4$aluate the )ider implications of planned strategic quality
change in an organisation
' 5esign systems to monitor the implementation of a strategic
quality change in an organisation
* Be able to implement a strategic quality change in an %as* 2
organisation %as*
"'1 (mplement a strategic quality change in an organisation
"'2 4mbed a quality culture in an organisation to ensure
continuous monitoring and de$elopment
"' Monitor the implementation of a strategic quality change in
an organisation
+ Be able to evaluate the outcomes of a strategic quality %as* 1b
change in an organisation %as*
#'1 4$aluate the outcomes of a strategic quality change in an
organisation
#'2 >ecommend areas for impro$ement to a strategic
quality change that align )ith organisational ob+ecti$es
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