B207A - THE Final - Questions 2020-2021-Summer - Version A

Take Home Exam for Final Assignment
2020-2021/Summer- Version A
B207A: Shaping Business Opportunities I
Cut-Off Date : Tuesday 27 July 2021 Cut off Time : 6:05PM Total Marks :100
Contents:
Warnings and Declaration…………………………………………………………….……………………………….…………………………….... 1

Case study: Operations Management at Tesla...……………………….……….…………………………….………………………..…. 2
Question 1 …...……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………….…..….
3
Question 2 ………….………...……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3
Question 3……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3
Please note that your answers must be on the answers’ form that you can download it from your LMS
account for every course
Plagiarism Warning:
As per AOU rules and regulations, all students are required to submit their own THE-Final work and avoid plagiarism. The
AOU has implemented sophisticated techniques for plagiarism detection. You will be penalized for any act of plagiarism
as per the AOU's rules and regulations.
Declaration of No Plagiarism by Student:

I hereby declare that the submitted THE-Final work is a result of my own efforts and I have not plagiarized
any other person's work.
My submission through the official forms and channels are considered as confirmation and approval on what
is mentioned earlier regarding plagiarism.
B207A/ THE-Final 1 of 3 2020-2021/Summer

Operations Management at Tesla
Tesla is an American electric vehicle and clean energy company. It was founded in 2003 by a group of
engineers who wanted to prove that people didn’t need to compromise to drive electric – that electric
vehicles can be better, quicker and more fun to drive than gasoline cars.
Tesla addresses its objectives in a number of strategic decisions for optimal productivity in all areas of the
automotive and maintain best practices to ensure streamlining, operational effectiveness and high
productivity in the organization. Tesla’s global expansion plans depend on the success of these practices
in optimizing productivity and overall performance. Some of Tesla’s strategic decisions are the following:
Design of Goods and Services: in this strategic decision area, operations managers focus on how the
organization’s products influence costs, quality objectives and resources. It is notable that the company
focuses on electric vehicles. In order to ensure productivity in manufacturing advanced electric vehicles,
the company continuously innovates its products and supply chain systems.
Quality Management: Satisfying customers’ quality expectations is the main objective in this strategic
decision area of operations management. Tesla Inc. addresses this strategic objective through regular
quality checks, quality improvement initiatives, and research on the automotive/transportation and energy
solutions market. In addition, the company continues to enhance its products and processes to satisfy high
standards for quality and productivity. For example, Tesla’s operations managers regularly conduct
quality reviews of, and implement enhancements to manufacturing processes. Moreover, in response to
quality issues with suppliers of automobile parts, Elon Musk shifted the company toward manufacturing
more of its own vehicle parts instead of sourcing from parts manufacturers. This shift increases
managerial workload, but improves quality control and overall product quality.
Process and Capacity Design: This operations management decision area focuses on business processes,
along with related investments, resources, and standards. Tesla, Inc. integrates automation for this
concern. For example, the company automates manufacturing processes combined with human
intervention. This condition helps Tesla achieve high productivity through operational efficiency in the
automotive and energy solutions business.
Supply Chain Management: In this strategic decision area, operations managers focus on adequate
supply and an effective and efficient supply chain. Tesla has a global supply chain aimed at supporting its
manufacturing processes. For example, high productivity of the company’s manufacturing plants in the
U.S. benefits from timely shipment of materials from overseas.
Job Design and Human Resources. Adequacy of effective human resources is the objective in this
strategic decision area of operations management. Tesla, Inc. satisfies this objective through a competitive
compensation strategy to attract effective and competent workers. This approach is especially important in
the market, where many companies compete for high quality human resources.
Excerpt from: http://panmore.com/tesla-motors-inc-operations-management-10-decisions-areas-

productivity

Students are expected to answer the below questions by using the above excerpt about Tesla,
B207A course material and information search from legible Internet sources from the AOU E-
library. Students should only use the Tesla example as application on these questions.
Question 1: Operations’ five performance objectives (35 marks, 300 words)

Discuss any five of the performance objectives at Tesla.
Question 2: New product development (30 marks, 300 words)

Without any new development, products and services can become obsolete, increasing the likelihood
that customers may switch to competitor’s products. New product development can be categorized in
three categories as seen in B207A course material. Discuss these three categories in relation to Tesla.
Question 3: Outsourcing (35 marks, 300 words)

What is outsourcing? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing to Tesla in relation to
the following statement:
“In response to quality issues with suppliers of automobile parts, Elon Musk shifted the company
toward manufacturing more of its own vehicle parts instead of sourcing from parts manufacturers.”
End of Assessment

B207A - THE Final - Questions 2020-2021-Summer - Version A

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

B207A - THE Final - Questions 2020-2021-Summer - Version A

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

B207A - THE Final - Questions 2020-2021-Summer - Version A

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Take Home Exam for Final Assignment

B207A: Shaping Business Opportunities I

Warnings and Declaration…………………………………………………………….……………………………….…………………………….... 1

Declaration of No Plagiarism by Student:

B207A/ THE-Final 1 of 3 2020-2021/Summer

Excerpt from: http://panmore.com/tesla-motors-inc-operations-management-10-decisions-areas-

B207A/ THE-Final 2 of 3 2020-2021/Summer

Question 1: Operations’ five performance objectives (35 marks, 300 words)

Question 2: New product development (30 marks, 300 words)

Question 3: Outsourcing (35 marks, 300 words)

B207A/ THE-Final 3 of 3 2020-2021/Summer

You might also like