Unit 5 Activity and Grading Rubric

In this activity, you will continue working on your operations management plan. As part of the continuing development of your operations management plan, you will discuss the goal of supply chain management and its application within your business.

Learning Outcome: Explain quality management, and apply quality management principles to continuous improvement in operations management.

Specifications:

2-3 page paper
Created in a Word document
Follows APA, 6th edition formatting
Includes a Reference page for cited sources

Instructions: Continuing with your operations management plan, use at least 4 scholarly sources to write a 2–3 page paper that addresses the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award–Criteria for Performance Excellence.

Leadership: Who will serve in management/leadership positions, and why? What qualities do these leaders and managers exhibit in order to enhance the business?
Strategic Planning: Give a brief overview of how you intend to use strategic planning as part of your operations management process.
Customer Focus: What demographic(s) are you intending to sell your product or service to, and why?
Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management: What training or systems (i.e. performance appraisals, drug testing, etc.) will you implement in your business to help ensure that work is being performed at the level of quality you expect?
Workforce Focus: Where do you expect to recruit a workforce from? How will you go about you recruiting process?
Operations Focus: Here, you want to offer a detailed description as to how the operations process will flow within your organization’s structure (i.e. how will you use your people, equipment, or other assets you have as your core competencies in terms of helping to ensure quality will be established and/or maintained within your organization)?
Results: This criterion will require you to make a forecast, or estimation, as you will not know how well the organization performs until it has been put into operation. This section is optional to complete.

For this paper, you are required to cover items 1-6, listed above. Focus on how your operations plan will help to create and/or generate process improvement as you manufacture your product or provide your service (i.e. what things can you do along the way to help make your operations create a better product or service?). You do not need to complete item 7 (optional, you may attempt to if you desire) of the criteria items as your plan will not provide you with measurable results at this point.

Make sure to also address the following in your paper:

Identify and assess whether or not your business will utilize continuous improvement processes or procedures. Why or why not?
Discuss any continuous process improvement techniques other organizations are using that you would use with your operations plan, and explain why.
Using the “Fishbone Diagram” as a reference, choose three elements to address in your paper. See the instructions in the reading section below for more detail.

Score your paper or have a friend score your paper using the following rubric or scoring guide. The levels will equate to the following letter grades:

4 = A; 3 = B; 2 = C; 1 = D; and 0 = F

Level	Criterion
	Research and Documentation (40%)
4	Any research sources used should come from scholarly sources (i.e. textbooks, scholarly articles, etc.). At least 4 sources are used. Any in-text citations MUST be cited in APA format using the APA Manual 6th edition. You should also include a References page, also in APA format, at the end of your paper to cite any sources used.
3	The paper uses at least three scholarly sources to support your content, but it does not meet the minimum requirement for 4 sources.
2	Three or more popular sources (i.e. newspapers, internet sites, magazines, etc.) make up a majority of the references to support your content. The paper lacks credible, scholarly sources and does not meet the minimum number of sources required.
1	The paper includes one or two sources. The paper lacks the use of credible, scholarly sources and may focus on using popular sources. The number of sources used does not meet the minimum requirement (4 sources) and the resources used may not fully support the content of your paper.
0	The paper fails to cite referenced sources, or does not include any research or sources to support ideas. The paper is based off of non-original content.
	Analysis and Argument (40%)
4	Your paper addresses the three questions in the instructions with the use of supporting evidence and specific details and explanation. You effectively address the following: Identify and assess whether or not your business will utilize continuous improvement processes or procedures. Why or why not? Discuss any continuous process improvement techniques other organizations are using that you would use with your operations plan, and explain why.
3	The content addresses only some of the questions presented in the instructions section and reflects minimal original thought and /or critical analysis relative to the business.
2	The content is vague and is weakly supported by researched evidence. The essay lacks critical analysis relative to the business.
1	The content does not address the required elements; ideas presented are not supported by research or critical analysis.
0	There is a lack of critical analysis for the operation management plan, and/or the essay does not address the business content from the Unit 1 Activity.
	Grammar/Style (15%)
4	The content contains a maximum of two grammatical, citation, and punctuation errors. The ideas are concise and presented in a logical manner that is easy for the reader to follow.
3	The content contains three or four grammatical, citation, punctuation, and/or spelling errors. The sentence structure flows in a concise, logical manner.
2	The paper contains more than four grammatical, citation, punctuation and/or spelling errors that distract the reader from the comprehension of ideas being presented.
1	The paper demonstrates poor writing skills, reflected by lack of syntax and proper grammar, which makes ideas difficult to communicate. Ideas are not presented in a logical manner that is easy to follow.
0	The paper contains numerous grammatical, citation, punctuation, and/or spelling errors.
	Format (5%)
4	The paper should properly formatted (paragraph style, margins, etc.), using the APA Manual, 6th edition. The content is typed in MS Word format, labeled with the student’s name and the activity title/unit number, and a reference section to cite any outside sources used.
3	The paper meets most of the requirements for formatting, using the APA Manual, 6th edition, though may contain some errors.
2	The paper lacks proper formatting, based on the APA Manual, 6th edition, and it may use another style of formatting (i.e. MLA, Chicago, etc.).
1	The paper is typed in a format other than MS Word. A style of formatting other than APA may be used, or there are numerous formatting errors that distract the reader’s comprehension.
0	The formatting does not comply with the APA Manual, 6th edition and is not created in MS Word.

Last modified: Wednesday, April 5, 2023, 5:54 PM