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Invaluable Career Insight for Your Students
The WSJ.com Careers section offers tips and articles to help your students get a head start on their careers.
Check it out: WSJ.com/careers. |
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Miner, Billions Over Budget, Slogs Ahead in Rural Brazil
by: John W. Miller and Paul Kiernan
Jun 10, 2013
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com
Click here to view the video on WSJ.com 
TOPICS: Supply Chain SUMMARY: Anglo American PLC is spending $8.8 billion on a massive mine project here-more than three times what it initially projected, and not a single ton of iron ore has been mined. The project, conceived by some of the best geologists and engineers in the world and currently employing 12,000, is three years behind schedule. CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Students will explore the challenges of managing a supply chain in a developing country. QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) Describe the role of transportation suppliers within the supply chain. What different product quality variables are affected by transportation suppliers?
2. (Introductory) Why can the mining efforts be classified as a project? What project management techniques could have been used to make the effort more effective and timely?
3. (Introductory) Why must a company exploring a developing country for resources be concerned with ethical standards? What ethical decisions must Anglo make in their environment?
4. (Advanced) The article describes the difficulties in transporting goods and services in a region with limited infrastructure. Imagine your company is considering expanding their market to an area with limited transportation infrastructure. What supply chain issues must you consider in order to effectively deliver your product or service?
5. (Advanced) The article describes how a supply chain's expenses can rise dramatically when one variable is altered. Describe the robustness of your supply chain. How dependent is it on transportation infrastructure? What risks exist within the transportation systems of your supply chain? What other variables pose risks in your supply chain? How could you use operations management principles to minimize these risks?
Reviewed By: Bradley Miller, The Ohio State University
Texas Blast Is Wake-Up Call
by: Daniel Gilbert
Jun 09, 2013
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com
Click here to view the video on WSJ.com
TOPICS: Operations Ethics, Safety SUMMARY: The fertilizer explosion that killed 15 people in West, Texas, has awakened communities across the U.S. to the hazards posed by stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, and spurred a debate about new regulations on the depots that store the common agricultural chemical. CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Students will discuss the importance of managing operations while protecting the local environment and communities. QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) To what lengths should companies pursue safety for their employees? For customers? For the local community? As a manager of such a company, what probability of death is acceptable (realizing that 0% probability is impossible)? What probability of minor/major injury is acceptable? Debate this issue with your classmates.
2. (Introductory) As a manager, how do you determine the "break-even" point for safety versus profits? How safe is "safe enough?" When the operations task is inherently hazardous, how does this change your decision? For these hazardous tasks (such as fire-fighting, hazardous waste handling, etc.) what role does compensation and employee benefits play?
3. (Introductory) What responsibility does a company have for maintaining a safe environment within the community in which it operates? What responsibility does the company have for communicating their safety measures?
4. (Introductory) After a safety misstep such as the situation described in the article, what is required to regain consumer confidence in business capabilities? How can such a safety violation affect the profitability of a company?
5. (Advanced) The article highlights the importance of ethical consideration of the environment and communities affected by a manufacturing organization. What is your company doing to build relationships in the community around your facility? What ethical standards does your company enforce to protect the citizens and environment around your facility?
6. (Advanced) The article highlights the importance of reinforcing safe behaviors within an organization. Describe a situation at your company where a safety violation occurred? Was a person blamed? Was the system blamed? What was the result? How would the result have been different if the other (person or system) was blamed instead? Do you feel the right decision was made?
SMALL GROUP ASSIGNMENT:
As a small group, select an industry with which you are familiar. Describe several scenarios where ethical decisions may have to be made, with regard to quality or safety. Describe how you would organize the operation. How will you choose suppliers? How will this affect your profitability? What processes will you put in place to ensure quality and safety? Reviewed By: Bradley Miller, The Ohio State University
Lies, Damn Lies and Revised Numbers
by: Joe Queenan
Jun 08, 2013
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com
TOPICS: Performance Measurement, Statistics SUMMARY: Business indices and numerical indicators are often reported and then revised at a later date. American business managers have perhaps become too accustomed to these inaccuracies. CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Students will discuss the problems caused by discrepancies in data accuracy. QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) What is the primary complaint the author describes about economic business data reporting?
2. (Introductory) Why are business numbers revised? What are the difficulties in reporting these measures both accurately and timely? What could be done to improve the measurement process?
3. (Introductory) Why is measurement necessary within a continuous improvement program? Debate the advantages and disadvantages of having a performance measurement system with multiple measurement variables. How can a manager determine the individual variables that must be measured to create data for a continuous improvement effort? How many measures are required?
4. (Advanced) Describe how your organization tracks and measures performance. What variables are included in these measures? How simple are the measures to track and understand? Do you feel that the current measures motivate your behavior? What changes would be needed to create a more robust measurement?
5. (Advanced) The article highlights the importance of being confident in the reliability of the statistics used when using data to make process improvements. Does your company use statistics in its decision making (such as confidence intervals, tests of hypothesis, design of experiments, probability analysis)? What would be the benefits of utilizing some of these statistical tools in your organization? What would be the additional costs? Do you feel these actions are cost justified? Why or why not?
Reviewed By: Bradley Miller, The Ohio State University
A Revolution in the Making
by: John Koten
Jun 10, 2013
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com
Click here to view the video on WSJ.com
TOPICS: Automation, Design of Work Systems, Quality, Technology SUMMARY: Digital technology is transforming manufacturing, making it leaner and smarter, and raising the prospect of an American industrial renaissance. CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Students will discuss the role of technology in operations management. QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) Why is automation and technology so attractive to manufacturers? To services? What benefits do they expect?
2. (Introductory) How can a manufacturer or service decide that it is time to invest in new technology? What are the challenges to implementing new technology?
3. (Introductory) Is the purchase of technology the same as a continuous improvement effort? How are they different? How are they the same?
4. (Advanced) The article describes how technology is designed to improve productivity. Describe a technology that is currently used at your company that was designed to increase productivity or replace workers. Do you use fewer workers by using this technology? Is the technology improving productivity? Could you obtain the same results using a manual system? What are the advantages and disadvantages to keeping this technology in place?
5. (Advanced) The article provides an opportunity to discuss the differences between technology purchases and continuous improvement. Does your company have a continuous improvement program? How do you determine when to purchase technology and when to improve the process? How could you strengthen your continuous improvement program to reduce the frequency with which you need to purchase new technology?
Reviewed By: Bradley Miller, The Ohio State University
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