INS2023 – Operations Management

FINAL EXAMINATION
 Final Examination Instruction: Case Study Analysis

The final exam is a group essay on case analysis, 02 - 04 students each group. The essay should follow an
argumentative format, addressing the critical managerial issue of the selected case study. In the essay, you
should situate, construct, and clarify your point of view with sound arguments. You might use the Toulmin
argument structure as a scaffold to construct strong and persuasive arguments. Please note that an essay
merely presenting facts, data, or information without demonstrating competence in analyzing, evaluating,
and interpreting these inputs will not be appreciated due to lacking critical thinking and originality. Please
refer to the specific requirements outlined in the following section.

Requirements:
Theoretical relevance: appropriate theories, comprehensive undearstanding of theoretical
frameworks and lexicon;
Organization: good connection of ideas, appropriate use of variety of cohesive devices
Language: accurate and appropriate use of vocabulary, structures, and register; concise and clear
expression of ideas
Writing style: objective, concrete and organized facts; appropriate use of reference conventions;
Layout and presentation: attractive and appropriate use of paragraphing, headings, numberings,
spacing and illustrations

Your answer will be graded based on content, correct spelling, and mechanics. The most important
criterion is 'theoretical relevance”.

Your group are allowed to research the internet or other sources for writing up the case analysis; however,
please be careful: (1) stick closely to provided information or data in the case study – its situation and
timing; (2) acknowledge information source from internet or database properly, following the APA
referencing style to avoid plagiarism.

Format:
Words: in total 4.500 – 6.000 words, including everything: title page, body text, references,
table, and so on; not include report team members contribution section.
Font: Arial or Time New Roman, size 12, 1.15 spacing
Don’t cheat, don’t steal, don’t lie, and don’t let others do that.

Submission information:
Deadline: TBA (usually 2-3 weeks, after the last lecture)
File format: *docx or *pdf (preferred);
File name: INS2023-{Class Code} – Final Exam – Group {Your group number}
Via email: anhngocnguyen@vnu.edu.vn (C/c all your team members)
Subject title: INS2023-XX – Final Exam – Group XX; Example: INS2023-01 – Final Exam –
Group 08

(Big Assignment)

FINAL EXAMINATION: THE ESSAY STRUCTURE

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Department of Economics and Management, VNU International School
Your final examination involves choosing a single case study and preparing a comprehensive
case analysis report. Please refer the proposed structure of an essay as follows:

Executive Summary (5%)

Section I: Introduction (20%)

1.1. Case Synopsis (5%)
- To synthesize key facts/information of the case study
1.2. Problem Formulation (15%)
- To define the business/managerial problems of the case study: What are the
problems, why do they exist?, and so on.
Section II: Case Critical Analysis (45%)
Depending on the nature of the business/managerial problems in your selected case study,
please formulate your own investigative questions and aim to critically analyze the case study
based on relevant academic literature.
2.1. Critical Case Study Analysis (20%)
- To define only relevant investigative questions or topics related to the
operations management topics, for example: operations strategy, product
design and process selection, supply chain management, Total Quality
Management, JIT and Lean systems, forecasting and capacity planning, facility
location and layout, work systems, inventory management, resource planning,
project management.
- To analyze and present extracted information from the case study to address
your own investigative questions or topics.
2.2. Critical Literature Analysis (25%)
- To critically review the relevant academic literature related to key issues or
topics in the critical case analysis section above.
- To discuss the usefulness of the relevant literature for addressing the key issues
or topics in the critical case analysis section above.
Section III: Recommendation, Conclusion, and Reflections (30%)
3.1. Discussion (5%)
- To discuss the findings of the analyses performed in Task II;
3.2. Recommendation (15%)
- To provide recommendations or suggestions for practitioners - managers,
consultants - in relation to the specific conclusions and lessons learned that
were discussed.
3.3. Reflections (10%)

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Faculty of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 - To address reflective questions: “What have you learned from the case
study?”; “What are the implications of the lesson learned for your future career
development and advancement?”

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Department of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 FINAL EXAMINATION
Kindly choose a single case study and prepare a comprehensive case analysis report. The full
texts of the case studies and the report template will be made available on MS Teams.

#01 | LEGO (A): The Crisis (Product #: 9-713-478, Harvard Business School, Harvard
University, Boston, USA)
Discussion Questions:
1. What has led the LEGO Group to the edge of bankruptcy?
2. What is your assessment of management moves during “the growth period that
wasn’t” (1993-98) and “the fix that wasn’t” (1999-2004)?
3. As Jørgen Knudstorp, what would you do throughout the LEGO Group in order to
turn the company around? Be specific.

#02 | STARBUCKS (Product #: 9A98M006, Ivey Business School, University of Western

Ontario, Canada)
Discussion Questions:
1. What is Starbucks’ strategy?
2. Given your assessment of its competitive premise, how should it leverage its resources
and capabilities to achieve its growth objective?
3. How will you respond to McDonald’s offer?

#03 | Apple INC.: Should it diversify its supply chain outside of China? (Product #:
W31842, Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, Canada)
Discussion Questions:
1. What demand and supply factors are impacting the market share of Apple in the
Chinese smartphone market? List demand and supply factors separately.
2. Identify the market structure for Apple in the Chinese smartphone market. Provide an
economic rationale for your answer.
3. Should Apple exit the Chinese smartphone market? Provide an economic rationale for
your answer and support your rationale with a diagrammatic presentation of Apple’s
cost and demand conditions.
4. Should Apple pursue a major shift in its supply chain location? If yes, which country
should it select for geographic diversification?

#04 | Porcini’s Pronto: “Great Italian cuisine without the wait!” (Product #: 4277,
Harvard Business School, Harvard University, US)
Discussion Questions:
1. How has Porcini’s maintained high product and service quality, and how does it plan
to do so for its new Pronto concept?

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Faculty of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 2. What does the proposed customer questionnaire system tell you about Porcini’s
approach to quality? What are the system’s strengths and weaknesses? Can you
suggest ways to supplement this tool?
3. How well or poorly do the various elements of the Pronto concept—its menu choices,
HR system, quality measures, etc.—support the goal of “Great Italian cuisine without
the wait?”
4. If you were a member of Porcini’s top management, which of the available growth
options for Pronto would you choose? Why?
5. What are the implications of your choice (Q4) for profitability, return on investment
(ROI), product and service quality, and the quality image of the Porcini’s brand?
6. Does Pronto have any sustainable competitive advantages? Why or why not?

#05 | Implementing LEAN Operations at Caesars Casinos (Product #: A11-14-0014,

Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, Arizona, US)
Discussion Questions:
1. What are the most important elements of the improvement approach pursued at
Tunica? What benefits were derived from this approach?
2. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of adopting an expert-driven
approach to process improvement at the Metropolis facility, in contrast to the
employee-centered approach used at Tunica? Which approach would you recommend
for Metropolis, and why?
3. Assume Hirsch has decided to follow a high-involvement approach similar to the one
he led at Tunica. What challenges and risks do you anticipate Hirsh will face in
moving forward at Metropolis, and how should he be prepared to respond?
4. Assume service scores for the area you manage, Harrah’s Metropolis hotel
housekeeping, have declined over the past year. As part of the LEAN rollout at
Metropolis, you and some of your front-line employees will participate in a kaizen
event focused on improving guest-room housekeeping operations. What KPIs (key
performance indicators) would you propose to track to determine whether the changes
implemented through the kaizen effort actually improve performance?
5. Hirsch has been given 20 minutes at an upcoming meeting to pitch his idea for a
process-improvement program to the rest of the Metropolis leadership team. What
should he do before he gives the pitch? How should Hirsch organize this pitch and
what information should he include?

#06 | New Balance Athletic Shoes (Product #: 9-680-110, Harvard Business School,
Harvard University, Boston, US)
Discussion Questions:
1. What are goals of New Balance (NB)? How does NB compete? How will NB compete
in the future?
2. What is the problem NB face? What does NB need in short-term? And in the long
term?

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Department of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 3. What is your evaluation of the options Davis has? What is important in making the
decision?
4. Which option would you recommend Davis to take? What will be the timing? What is
the plan for managing risks?

#07 | Haidilao 2018: Demystifying Restaurant Employee Motivation (Product #:

TU0102, China Business Case Center, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua
University, Beijing, PRC)
Discussion Questions:
1. What was HDL’s growth strategy and core competency during each phase?
2. What are some advantages and challenges of the mentor–protégé mechanism?
3. If you were responsible for exploring an overseas market—the North American
market, for example—what strategy would you recommend to Zhang Yong?
4. Do you think unmanned kitchens can solve food safety problems? Would you choose
to roll them out to all HDL restaurants?

#08 | Tektronix, Inc.: Global ERP Implementation (Product #: 5-602-073, Harvard

Business School, Harvard University, Boston, USA)
Discussion Questions:
1. Why did Tektronix implement ERP in stages? How should a company decide between
implementing in stages or going big-bang?
2. How did Tektronix manage the risks of ERP implementation?
3. What is your overall assessment of the Tektronix ERP project?

#09 | Harley Davidson Motor Company: Enterprise Software Selection (Product #: 9-

600-006, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, USA)
Discussion Questions:
1. Consider Exhibit 10 on page 21 of the case; does it include the factors you consider
most important in the selection process? Which factors would you be inclined to
weight most heavily?
2. Based on the information in the case, which provider would you select (and why)?
How would you summarize for senior executives the reasons for your choice (in 2
minutes or less)?
3. What is your overall assessment of Harley’s approach to enterprise software selection?
What (if anything) would you have done differently?

#10 | The Boeing 767: From Concept to Production (A) (Product #: 9-688-040, Harvard
Business School, Harvard University, Boston, USA)
Discussion Questions:

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Faculty of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 1. How would you describe Boeing’s approach to project management? What are its
basic elements? Its strengths and weaknesses?
2. What is your evaluation of the company’s parametric estimating technique?
3. How does Boeing manage risk? (Please consider all of the following: financial risk,
market risk, technological risk, and production risk.)
4. Which method should Boeing use to convert the first 30 767s from three-person to
two-person cockpits? Why?

#11 | Amazon.com: Supply Chain Management (Product #: W18452, Ivey School of

Business, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada)
Discussion Questions:
1. Is Amazon a retailer, a logistics company, or a technology company?
2. Why does Amazon allow third-party sellers to distribute products through its site?
3. How profitable is the Amazon.com operation?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Amazon Prime?
5. Can Amazon continue its dominance in e-commerce? What are the major threats to its
business model?
6. What services can brick-and-mortar retailers provide customers that Amazon cannot
provide?
7. What challenges does Amazon have with respect to handling customer returns?
8. Would you invest in Amazon stock? Why or why not?

#12 | Piaggio (A) (Product #: UV1607, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia,
Virginia, US)
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you think Piaggio should build the engine plant? Why or why not?
2. Is the decision to build the plant strategic?
3. Does the decision to build the plant affect Piaggio’s ability to compete globally?
4. How do the players in the market compete with each other and how do their business
models differ?
5. Describe how the decision relates to Piaggio’s strategy/business model.

#13 | Marks & Spencer and Zara: Process Competition in the Textile Apparel Industry
(Product #: INS849, INSEAD - Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires,
Fontainebleau, France)
Discussion Questions:

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Department of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 1. What is innovative about Zara? What are the major differences in Zara’s supply chain
when compared with that of M&S? What role does “postponement” play in Zara’s
supply chain?
2. Why is it so difficult for M&S to start playing the “fashion” game? What do you think
of the programs launched by Peter Salsbury in response to the troubles at M&S?
3. If you were on the Board of Directors of M&S, what questions would you ask of the
new Chairman and Chief Executive, Luc Vandevelde? What, if any, guidance would
you offer for turning M&S around? Compare M&S’s approach to that of Inditex,
Zara’s parent company?

#14 | Quantum Corporation – Business and Product Teams (Product #: 9-692-023,

Harvard Business School, Harvard University, US)
Discussion Questions:
1. What is required to be successful in the Winchester disk drive industry? What do you
think accounts for Quantum's success?
2. What is your evaluation of Quantum's progress to-date in developing and applying
team concepts?
3. How effective have the major teams been? What accounts for their primary
differences in effectiveness?
4. How would you recommend that Dave Brown address the team-related issues raised at
the end of the case? Why? Are there other team issues that you would add as high
priority on his list?
5. Develop an overall plan of action for addressing these issues. How should they be
linked to other aspects of Quantum's management approach? How should they
measure and track their progress in implementing that plan? (Be specific as to actions
to be taken, their timing, and the results expected.)

#15 | The Walt Disney Company: Mickey Mouse Visits Shanghai (Product #: UVA-OM-
1545, Darden Business School, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA)
Discussion Questions:
1. How does the Walt Disney Company (DIS) compete? What are its advantages relative
to other theme parks?
2. What challenges does DIS face as it grows in the global market? How are the
operational challenges different for different Disneyland locations? What factors are
“flat”? What factors are “lumpy”?
3. Are DIS’s customers around the world alike or different? How has DIS dealt with
this?
4. What are the employee management issues facing Shanghai Disneyland (SDL)? How
can it address these issues?
5. What are the customer management issues facing SDL? How can it address these
issues?

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Faculty of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 6. What are the challenges that DIS faces for the launch of SDL? What are your
recommendations? Do you think SDL will be successful? Why or why not?

#16 | Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis (Product #: A09-10-0011, Thunderbird School of

Global Management, Arizona State University, Arizona, US)
Discussion Questions:
1. What were the drivers of Toyota’s accelerator recall? Why was Toyota facing a recall
crisis?
2. Michael Porter claims that operational effectiveness is not a strategy. Why was
operational effectiveness such a focus at Toyota? What are the downsides of lean
manufacturing?
3. Has Toyota successfully enacted the principles espoused in the Toyota Way? What did
they do well, and where is there room for improvement?
4. In pursuing its aggressive global expansion, what tradeoffs did Toyota make? How
effectively did they manage the tension between global standardization and local
responsiveness? Did they manage their value chain activities effectively?
5. How well are Toyota’s management, employees, and external stakeholders aligned to
support their corporate brand?
6. Has Toyota effectively managed public relations in the U.S.? Who should be
accountable for this activity? How could Toyota’s crisis management be improved?
7. What should Akio Toyoda do now to restore Toyota’s reputation and position Toyota
for sustainable competitive advantage?
8. What lessons can other companies take from Toyota’s crisis?

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Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Department of Economics and Management, VNU International School
 Group Work Etiquettes
(Two cents from Dr. Walter vom Saal, Professor of Psychology at SUNY Oneonta, USA)

Have respect for each other.

- Respect each other’s ideas
- Respect the other group members
- Don’t interrupt each other
- Everyone’s opinion should count
- Be (intellectually) honest with each other
All group members should do an equal amount of work.
- Everyone should share the responsibility for the tasks
- Don’t take over and don’t let others take over
Your group should have a common understanding of the goals that need to be
achieved.
- Help each other to understand all concepts
Be open to compromise.
- Be willing to cooperate with others on their ideas
- Keep an open mind
- Vote on disagreements
Effective communication.
- Make sure everyone is able to be vocal about their ideas and problems
- Give ideas no matter how “off” you may think they are
- Listen effectively
- Don’t be critical
Time management.
- Attend and arrive on time to all group meetings
- Be flexible about meeting times
- Keep on task (limit talk about non-related events)
Be happy in the group you are in.

11

Prepared by Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Ph.D.

Faculty of Economics and Management, VNU International School