SOE11157 Business Operations for Leaders Assessment 2 Specifications 2024-25 | ENU

SOE11157 Assessment 2

Assessment 2 is an individual piece of work. You will be writing a report based on the Panasonic case study. The case study is about how Panasonic incorporates AI, a cutting-edge technology, into its warehouse operations via its initiative, Panasonic Connect Co., Ltd., as part of the Panasonic Group.

The task is: Evaluate the AI-based warehouse task optimisation technology unveiled by Panasonic Connect through discussing operational benefits, application challenges, and overall threats to Panasonic’s supply chain and operations.

Deadline for report submission on Moodle is 11:59 pm, April 20th 2025. Late submissions will be subject to the relevant penalties outlined earlier in the Module Handbook.

Overview

Individually, you will prepare a report which should include the following:

Brief overview of Panasonic Connect and its AI-based warehouse task optimisation technology.

A critical analysis of the implications of current and emerging digital technologies as constraints, opportunities, and threats in the business operations of the industry in which Panasonic operates, through a critical review of key literature on innovative process technology tools in supply chain and operations management.

A clear and critical argument of the given task, followed by the below sub-tasks – the above point is a general discussion, whereas this one should be the main focus of your report.

• Identify whether this is a product or service; consider also other technology tools that are mentioned.
• Relevant framework/ model application is a MUST (min of 2, no upper limit). E.g. Lecture 5.. You are not limited to the Lecture 5 content. It is also important to be able to synthesise other relevant topics.
• Based on your critical evaluations that you will write, if you were the CEO of Panasonic Connect, what would be your next initiative?

A structured and well-presented report. (Napier House Style report format is required)

Appendices, if available.

References in text and also end-list, which should include mainly academic peer-reviewed journals!

Success Factors

There are four main criteria for success:

Understanding - Your reports should demonstrate an understanding of OM issues. You can best demonstrate understanding by applying concepts from the course to the case study organisation(s).

Substantiation - The reports should be underpinned by course material, concepts/theory, and references. Work earning higher marks will show evidence of additional reading around the topic chosen and tools employed. Additional reading means going to the library – or online equivalents – and reading articles from OM journals. What you learn is then applied explicitly in your analysis.

Insight - Your work must demonstrate critical evaluation and insight into the operation and relevant theory.

Presentation - The reports should be well-structured and presented.

Report Specifications

Your report should be a maximum of 2000 words, excluding title page and references. Sticking to a strict word limit is difficult and an important skill for you to acquire, so make sure that you write in a concise and focused manner. It should be typed in font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing and must be presented in portrait format, not landscape.

An essential feature of the report is to illustrate how theoretical constructs or models can help to explain the actions of organisations in practice. You are therefore advised to read widely. Unless you have read and referenced a minimum of 15-20 discrete academic references, it is unlikely that you have done sufficient reading. Multiple versions of the same book or referencing individual chapters will not count as multiple sources. Beware of sources from the Internet (no Wikipedia or blogs): apart from reputable and academic references that can be downloaded through the Internet, most Internet references are not considered reliable for an academic piece of work. Academic journals generally offer a better source than textbooks.

APA referencing system is the requirement in The Business School. This requires you to state the surname of the author(s) in the text of your report, followed by a comma and year of publication e.g.: “Kraljic (1983) states that…” If you use direct quotes, then the page number should follow, e.g., Kraljic (1983: 112) states that “The profit impact of a given supply item can be defined in terms of volume purchased, percentage of total purchase cost or impact on product quality or business growth”. Failure to reference properly constitutes a violation of university regulations, i.e. plagiarism, and is a serious offence.

Plagiarism Is not acceptable! Students’ work must be their work. Other authors’ work (journals, books, white papers) must be acknowledged when it appears in your submission. Plagiarism is academic misconduct, and appropriate action will be taken against students submitting plagiarised work. See the referencing guidelines contained within the assessment folder, which provide full details of not only how to reference in the required style but also discuss plagiarism.