Manufacturing Strategies and Technologies

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INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL & MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

ASSIGNMENT #2MANUFACTURING STRATEGIES &

TECHNOLOGIES(MEM 801)

By

Waqas Ali Tunio & Saud Zafar Usmani 10/31/2011

The assignment f eatures questions in deciding manufacturing strategies and decision making process



ASSIGNMENT #2 By Saud Zafar Us

Waqas Ali Tunio

2 Institute of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, PNEC (NUST), Karachi

Q.1 How idea creation activities in organisation will influence the strategy making process

and what advantages / disadvantages it will bring?

Ans THE REQUIREMENT OF IDEA CREATION

Idea creation is a very important element in the success of a strategy making process.

Basically every strategy is based upon some ideas, these basic ideas become the basis

for a full-f ledged strategy.

If a Firm is lagging behind in a business and wants to become competitive it has to bring

some innovative ideas into practice in order to regain its competitive edge. The idea

may be based upon improvement in product / service, it may be based upon cost

reduction of its product / service or it may be based upon a vertical integration strategy

or an outsourcing strategy.

The competition between firms is high; it is highly beneficial to generate new innovative

ideas in order to maintain the competitive edge.

IDEA CREATION INFLUENCE ON STRATEGY MAKING PROCESS

The inf luence of new ideas on a strategy can be understood by observing the costumers waiting

anxiously for new designs of their favorite products like mobile phones, laptops, automobiles

etc. to arrive. For e.g how Toyota Pakistan lost its reputation for not bringing new models in

their corolla lineup back in late nineties. Whereas Honda was constantly upgrading its vehicles

line up and gained reputation. This is an example of the eff ect of innovation and new ideas on

the companys image or reputation.

If idea creation activities are accelerated then the strategy making process will become a

continuous process and will require constant revision, this will give rise to more complexity in

the strategy making process. More ideas created the more complicated the strategy making

process will become.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF IDEA CREATION ACTIVITIES

The advantages of idea creation are that it will keep an environment of innovation in the

organization, it will inculcate Risk Taking Attitude in the employees, and the employees will have

a better job satisfaction. The company will maintain its competitive edge.

The major disadvantage of idea creation is that it will increase complexity in formulating the

strategy. The risk factor will increase.



ASSIGNMENT #2 By Saud Zafar Us

Waqas Ali Tunio

3 Institute of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, PNEC (NUST), Karachi

Q.2 How competitive strategy affects corporate goals?

Ans A competitive strategy will have an eff ect that the corporate goals could be more

ambitious. If the strategy is eff ectively formulated with clear line of action and

competitive then the corporate goals could be easily decided. Moreover, the goals couldbe more ambitious ones with all the f eatures like specific, measurable, attainable and

timely.

For instance a corporation formulates a forward integration strategy for its auto parts

manufacturing plant which is highly competitive then its goal could be to acquire 60% of

distribution channels of its products in less than a year. The goal is an ambitious one

with all f eatures of S.M.A.R.T.

Q.3 What could be the reasons for failing of any corporate strategy?

Ans The reasons for failing of any corporate strategy are as under:

(1) The political instability and insecurity.

(2) Not realistic approach, the goals are not realistic e.g ADAM motors vows to gain

100% market share in 800cc car category in Pakistan in less than a year.

(3) Lack of funding.

(4) The strategy is not clear, conf licting plans within the strategy. For example, the

corporate strategy aims for a vertical integration strategy but it contains outsourcing

plans also. So it contains conf licts.

(5) Bureaucratic culture in the organization. No body is bothered to get the job done. A

lot of planning, meetings and talking being done but no fruitful work being done.(6) Lack of understanding of the prevailing environment and culture.

(7) A large power distance within the organization.

Q.4 How SWOT analysis can help decision makers in formulating strategy?

Ans Swot analysis is a very eff ective tool in knowing the company, what threats it faces,

what are the opportunities, what are its strengths and what are the weaknesses. By all

these attributes of the organization in hand, decision makers can formulate the strategy

accordingly. The decision makers know what threats and weaknesses they have to

overcome and on what strengths and opportunities they can capitalize.

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Manufacturing Strategies and Technologies