Category: MBA Operations Projects

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A Study on Operational Excellence Challenges In Indian Oil and gas Industries

Problem Formulation

Operational Excellence is a volatile and dynamic phenomenon being adopted by organizations to build profitable and satisfying growth inclined. Operational excellence is a philosophy that can be achieved and maintained consistently only by continuous improvisation and it allows organizations to have a cutting-edge advantage in highly volatile and frequently changing competitive environments in terms of business.

Operational excellence mainly deals with bringing excellence in all aspects of the business including maintaining transparency and corporate governance etc. The main and core objective of operational excellence is to maintain quality, effectively utilize resources, reduce wastage and reduce defectives, accidents, etc., and build a profitable organization.

The energy sector is the sector that is playing a major role in GDP and economy across the globe and even in India, there are many private and government undertaking players who are in the energy sector. In the Indian context, the oil and gas reserves and the players in the segment, and their contribution towards the economy, etc need to be considered.

The main objective of choosing the topic for research is, there are many challenges being faced by government undertaking organizations to cope with operational excellence which is leading to frequent accidents and blowouts leaving many dead and many more severely Injured where Private organizations are far ahead in these concepts. They were able o bag new contracts.

Main Objective of this Research 

  1. To identify gaps in achieving operational excellence.
  2. To develop a framework to highlight the operational excellence to the top and senior management on how to benefit by achieving operational excellence.
  3. To disseminate the view that the use of traditional brick-and-mortar models with new technologies can create better results in terms of Achieving Operational Excellence.
  4. To establish the need for human capital management and Human Resource Business Partnering to achieve competitive advantage in getting operational excellence.
  5. To highlight the various tools and technologies available for the Oil and gas sectors to improvise quality and attain operational excellence.

Secondary Objective of this Research

 To understand the roles of Management, leadership team, and Internal and external associates in achieving operational excellence.

  • To know about tools like Khaizen, Poka Yoke, TQM and Six Sigma, etc.
  • The scope of understanding the theories like 5M, 5S, 6 Level Models, etc.
  • To study about Components and metrics of Operational excellence and how it leads organizations to build profitable and highly sustainable in competitive environments.

Problem Statement

Operational Excellence draws most of the big companies into the Increase in Profitability and productivity, since the big multinational companies are well established financially, popularly, technologically, and with high expertise. They tend to put tremendous pressure on medium-sized and government oil and gas sector firms. Since small and medium-sized firms lack the financial, technological, and expertise backing they tend to suffer in the operational competence and their survival becomes very thin.

And furthermore, India has great scope in its market size, which attracts all the world’s biggest players into the completion of the excavation, digging, and distribution. The research will be carried out in government and private sector oil digging companies and the responses and limitations and the data validity are crucial aspects that need to be concentrated and point of major focus.

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Implication of Supply Chain Management Theories to Enhance the Operational Efficiency of Business Organisations

Research Aim and Objectives

All the business organizations in the present business world are intended to improve their operational functions and their productivity to attain a key competitive advantage over other players in the same industry. The supply chain theories have several specifications, such as integration of the production and distribution functions in the organizations and making the role of intermediaries effective to improvise the speed and efficiency of the operational functions.

The prime focus of the selected research problem is to investigate, whether in practical aspects supply chain management theories are implied and effective enough to accelerate the operational efficiency of the business. In the premise of this research problem, the research study will investigate the contribution of theories of supply chain management towards the operational functions of the business. The wider objective of the research is to evaluate the contribution level of the supply chain management theories in improving the operational functions of the business and the extent to which business organizations imply them in their real operational practices.

Research Objectives

The main research objectives are defined as under:

  • To explore the key theories of supply chain management, which are proposed by different scholars
  • To explore the contribution of these theories in the operational functions of business organizations.
  • To evaluate the extent to which, the supply chain management theories have proved supportive to enhance the operational efficiency of the business organizations

Research Question

  • What are the major supply chain management theories proposed by different scholars that prove to be extremely beneficial for increasing the operational efficiency of business organizations?
  • How the implementation and adoption of supply chain management theories by business organizations have proved to be effective in increasing their operational functions?

This research question is well-defined and useful to provide a clear, direct path to the research work in order to achieve its aim and objectives in the most successful way.

Research Hypothesis

The development of a research hypothesis in research work is a very important function because a well-defined research hypothesis provides a good base for the research study to flow in the right direction. In this context, the main hypothesis for the following research study is defined and developed as under:

 H0:  Supply chain management theories have a direct implication for business organizations to enhance their operational efficiency

H1: Supply chain management theories do not have a direct implication for business organizations to enhance their operational efficiency.

These hypotheses have provided a rational approach to the research work in order to move in a specific way to address the research subject undertaken for investigation purposes.

In the present research study, the operational efficiency of the business organizations is taken as the dependent variable. Besides, the Strategic plan logistic plan of the company, the Relationship of the organization with the suppliers, the Relationship of the organization with clients and customers, and resource-based the supply chain theory significance that is used to carry out resource planning for the business are independent variables.

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Studying the effective use of SAP-SRM Tool in Automobile Companies in Hyderabad

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

The purpose of the study is to know the effective use of the SAP-Supplier Relationship Management module which draws on the wider knowledge and procurement skills that are being used in Automobile Companies. The study will also help in consolidating the vital procurement activities of the SAP Supplier Relationship Management module by procurement managers, functional experts, and key users within the  Procurement and demand management departments of the Client which will help.

The Study is undertaken to find out the effective use and application of the SAP-SRM Tool in Automobile Companies. The study will also throw light on understanding e-procurement problems and measures taken to implement SAP-SRM Tool effectively.

 Objectives of the study:

  • To study the use of  SAP-SRM Tool in Automobile Companies.
  • To assess the SAP-SRM Tool software tools used by  Automobile Companies in Hyderabad.
  • To find the problems in E-procurement activities in Automobile Companies.
  • To know the effectiveness of   SAP-SRM Tool in solving E-procurement problems in Hyderabad.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The study focuses on studying the effective use of the SAP-SRM Tool in Automobile Companies in  Hyderabad. The study will help in studying the problems associated with developing, Managing, and applying of SAP-SRM Tool.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

 1) Research Design: 

  • Sampling frame: 
  • Sample size: 
  • Sampling Method: 
  • Sample Units: The staff working in the Procurement department of five selected Automobile Companies such as Nissan, TATA Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota & Hyundai will form part of the Sampling units.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS:

  1. Primary data: Under Descriptive research design primary data was collected using a well-structured questionnaire that contains questions satisfying the objective of the Study. For this study Questionnaire was prepared.
  2. Secondary data: Under Exploratory Research, Secondary Data was collected from Journals, Textbooks, Websites, and Newspapers Articles will form part of the secondary data.

 DATA ANALYSIS:

Data collected from 100 respondents were analyzed through Tables, charts, and graphs and by using a suitable scale. 

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Consumer Attitude towards Online Retailing in Hyderabad

MOTIVE OF THE STUDY:

  • To Study the Consumer attitude towards online retailing in Hyderabad.
  •  To identify opportunities and the interest of young urban Consumers towards online retailing transactions for their daily needs.
  • To identify the potential challenges faced by online retailers in Hyderabad.
  • To develop an effective and efficient strategy for addressing the problems of Online retailing. 

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

  1. To study the consumer preference towards e-retailing in Hyderabad
  2. To know the factors that influence young urban Consumers to do e-retailing
  3. To find out the problems faced by young consumers in purchasing online retail products.
  4. To come out with suitable solutions for making e-retailing an effective tool for buyers

 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

At present, there is a lot of demand for online purchasing. The present study will focus on the purchasing behavior towards e-retailing and finding out suitable solutions to make purchasing more interesting and was a torch bearer for future researchers and e-retailing companies can benefit from the such survey. The scope of the study is limited to the young urban Consumers who do a lot of e-retailing and are restricted to Hyderabad city only by surveying 100 respondents. 

CONCLUSION

The present study was undertaken with the objective of studying the buying behavior of customers online and determining the factors influencing their buying behavior. The study aims to find out the significance of e-retailing in the current scenario and the resulting change in purchase behavior. It also brings out the major factors that make customers prefer e-retailing to traditional shopping.

The study is done in Hyderabad. The first-hand information required for the study was collected through the questionnaires which were distributed to the respondents and taken back. The entire study is based on the hypothesis that functional factors, psychological factors, and content factors have a significant relationship with the buying behavior of online customers. Charts and tables were used to analyze the data given by respondents and also to test the hypothesis.

From the study, it is found that the above-mentioned factors are significantly associated with online buying behavior. It was also found that the factors like ordering the product, paying off it online and the post-purchase services have much influence on buying behavior. Apart from these factors, the product features and the promotional offers influence the consumers a lot.

It is suggested to online sellers increase the accessibility of the products and boosts the confidence of the customers in making online transactions. Consumers are still afraid of transaction problems and the misuse of their personal details. Online sellers should put more concentration on these factors in order to increase customer traffic. Only then, they can be able to grow and compete effectively.

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Impact of Integrated Inventory Management Strategies on the Effectiveness of Business Performance

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The scope of study is divided into two different aspects, firstly the geographical scope and second is the conceptual scope. The geographical scope of the study confines to the Inventory Management mechanisms in Hyderabad business environment and conceptually it confines to the Integrated Inventory Management and their impact on Vendor satisfaction.  Geographical scope further confines to Pharmaceutical Companies in Hyderabad.

OBJECTIVES   OF THE STUDY:

The main research objectives are defined as under:

  • To understand the impact of Integrated Inventory Management strategies on the effectiveness of Business performance with special reference to Pharmaceutical Companies
  • To assess the impact of Integrated Inventory Management on the satisfaction levels of Vendors of Engineering items in   Pharmaceutical Companies
  • To explore the concepts and practices associated to Inventory Management at Pharmaceutical Companies.
  • To understand the relevance of theoretical aspects to practical implementation in improvising the productivity in an organization with regard to Inventory Management.

HYPOTHESES:

Hypothesis 1:

Null Hypothesis H0: inventory Management has a direct implication to business organizations in enhancing their operational efficiency

Alternative Hypothesis H1: inventory Management has no implication to business organizations in enhancing their operational efficiency

Here, null hypothesis is accepted.

All the variables show a significance association with overall satisfaction with Inventory management strategy and its impact on Business performance. Hence we can conclude that there is a direct implication of inventory Management on the business organization in enhancing its operational efficiency. 

Research Question

On the basis of the research objectives developed above, the main research question of this research study is developed. The research question is drafted as to what extent the Integrated Inventory Management has been supportive to enhance the operational efficiency of business organisation. The research study also seeks to provide answers to the following sub-research questions:

This research question is well defined and useful to provide a clear, direct path to the research work in order to achieve its aim and objectives in the most successful way.

Research Hypothesis

In this context, the main hypothesis for the following research study is defined and developed as under:

Null Hypothesis H0:  Integrated Inventory Management has a direct implication to business organizations in enhancing their operational efficiency

Alternative Hypothesis H1: Integrated Inventory Management has no implication to business organizations in enhancing their operational efficiency 

DATA COLLECTION

Primary Data: The primary data is collected from among the staff working in Inventory Management divisions at Pharmaceutical Companies Hyderabad with the help of questionnaire using 5 point Likert scale.

Secondary Data: The secondary data is collected from selected texts and Journals.

RESEARCH DESIGN:

 The Research design used for this study is partly descriptive in nature using secondary data and partly Exploratory in the form of primary data.

SAMPLE DESIGN:

a) Sampling Technique

Random Sampling technique and Area sampling was used for collecting data related to Integrated Inventory Management from   among the staff working in logistics and procurement division of engineering instruments in Pharmaceutical Companies.

b) Sample Size: Sample size is limited to 100 from among the employees working in Pharmaceutical Companies

c) Sample units: The staff involved in Inventory Management activities of Pharmaceutical Companies form part of the sample units.

 The staff working in Procurement department of five selected Pharmaceutical Companies such as Dr Reddy’s Lab, Mylan Pharma,Hetero Drugs, Aurbindo Pharma & MNS Laboratories Pvt Ltd  formed part of the Sampling units.

d) Sampling frame: The sampling frame is taken from Hyderabad based Pharmaceutical Companies Company.

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A Case Study of Operational issues in Retail Outlets

Retail Outlet is an retail store which has complete package of items which every house needs. Right from groceries to to electronics, cloths etc., all are available in this store. For case study I have taken few operational issues which were addressed in this assignment. MIS i.e., management information system shall be considered as dash board of all transactions which is a report. Its analytics driven reports which enables management to take right decisions at right time. Based on level of understanding, requirements, deep study, minute detailing etc., The MIS module can be customized and developed if necessary.

When it comes to Retail Outlet there are  so many analytical reports can be generated which shall enable good decision making few of the are like performance based incentives leads to employee motivation and increase in sales, Individual store performance leads to develop competitive environments with in Retail Outlet stores again leads to increase in sales, watch on new products or trends in market in line with high moving and slow moving products/ items store wise to take shall lead to taking strategic decisions which shall again enable increase in sales.

Increase in sales increase in revenues which increases profitability when organization is in profits it leads to expansions and diversifications. Hence this MIS plays vital role in decision making and therefore all cycles mentioned store wise shall be integrated store wise so that analytical reports can be generated for taking strategic decisions by the management of Retail Outlet.

Below mentioned are the competencies observed in Retail Outlets controlling Systems which were observed:

  1. Store manager was held responsible for all activities of the store.
  2. Dedicated audit team who does surprise visits to stores and audit.
  3. Multiple levels of controls and audits of financials as well as materials and products.
  4. Job allocation and well-defined operations process.
  5. The maximum sales volume happens through electronic payments mode
  6. Not technologically but through other means of communication all 30 stores are connected to each other.
  7. Store manager is getting completely occupied with administrative role and he could not focus on growth of sales, increasing customer base, customer satisfaction etc., strategic roles.
  8. Getting manpower on part time basis as and when required and their payment which is an hourly based required petty cash where as maximum sales happen through electronic payments hence managing this is becoming herculean task for store manager.
  9. The Surprise auditors strength is less and the turnaround time for surprise visit to individual store is happening at 3 months once which is less where usually it should be minimum monthly once.
  10. Manual maintenance of records and the documents.
  11. Defining exact job roles and allocating the same and the strategies like job rotation, succession planning etc., are not observed.
  12. Four step manual process of controls is again a bottle neck or the pain point for decision making and ensuring transparent transactions and record keeping.

 As the automated system is not available in Retail Outlet retail outlets there are many chances of integrity issues like difference in materials, cash, products, sales etc., the chances of employees involvement in fraudulent shall be more and the main reasons could be work pressure or due to an opportunity, or  by mistake  (Carries Minnich, 2017).

Usually this is termed as fraud triangle which consists of Opportunity, Pressure and the Rationalization are the components involved in fraud triangle. There are external factors and the Internal factors are also involved in this such as Management behaviour type, emotional, financial, etc., which are pertaining to employees working in particular organization especially Retail Outlet in this case.

Data base is the brain of the system and based on database only the major decision-making reports gets generated. Data comes from various resources but the access to data shall be structures with controls and maintain logs and documentation of the same is the key. The centralised database shall consist of data of all 30 stores which can be made available or accessible to HO and the top management and there shall be decentralized database management system which shall be part of centralised database shall be made available to respective store manager to add or access data.

The Retail Outlet has got strong controls with six strengths but they are not sufficient compared to Increasing business needs and requirements, hence there is a need for implementation of Integrated technological solution which shall enable management to address issues of Integration, Data Visualizations, report generations etc., and ensuring transparent transactions with all statutory and legal compliance. The decision making is the key and that shall happen only if there is an proper technological solution in place.

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A Study on the Impact of TQM Practices with reference to IT Sector

The present study was undertaken with the objective of getting insight into the importance and the effect of quality management in an organization. The study aims to analyze the need for managing quality across various functions of the organization. The study is done at Hyderabad in IT organizations with the employees as the respondents of the study. The sampling technique used was convenience sampling. The respondents were asked to fill out the questionnaires and thus the primary data is collected. Secondary data was collected from various sources like books, survey reports, the web, etc. The study is based on the hypothesis that the organization does not manage quality well.

From the study, it was found that the organization implements total quality management and is thus able to manage well the quality of all the processes. Further, it was found that the employees are not much aware of the TQM in their organization. However, the employees feel that the rules and policies in the organization are not comfortable and it does not support individual efforts.

It is suggested to the organization that the employees should be clearly informed of the quality management system in the organization. The employees should be actively involved in the quality circles and each employee should be communicated with the quality circle meetings, their agenda, etc. Further, the organization should revise its rules and policies in order to make the employees comfortable at work and regular feedback should be taken in order to maintain the whole system effectively

Need for the Study:

Employees are encouraged to innovate TQM links remuneration to customer satisfaction metrics. This study helps the importance of Quality circles and their impact on employee’s productivity which in turn help the organization to achieve its goals.

OBJECTIVES of the study:

  1. To find the degree of TQM implemented in the IT Companies in Hyderabad
  2. To study the level of commitment of employees towards their work in IT Companies in Hyderabad
  3. To analyze the techniques used for maintaining quality in IT Companies in Hyderabad
  4. To study the opinions of employees towards quality management of IT Companies in Hyderabad
  5. To study the impact of TQM on employee performance in IT Companies.

HYPOTHESIS: 

Hypotheses Testing: 

Hypothesis 1:

Null hypothesis: The organization does not manage quality well.

Alternative Hypothesis: The organization manages quality well. 

Hypothesis 2:

Null hypothesis: There is a relationship between quality and employee productivity.

Alternative Hypothesis: There is a relationship between quality and employee productivity.

Research Methodology:

Scope of the Study:

The study focuses on the effective use of TQM in IT Companies. The study is confined to certain factors which are described in quality management in an organization. The study explains the employee efficiency of working and it determines the employee abilities to their work. By benchmarking the performance and setting quality standards when dealing with clients of the companies. 

Research Design: The research design that was used in this research is partly exploratory (secondary data) and partly descriptive (primary Data) in nature.

  • Sampling Procedure: The Employees were randomly selected from the IT Companies.
  • Sample units: Employees of IT Companies having branches in Hyderabad form part of 100 sampling units. The Major five IT Companies taken for the study were as follows:
  1. TCS
  2. Accenture
  3. Infosys
  4. Tech Mahindra
  5. WIPRO
  • Sample size: The sample size of about 100 employees was taken for the Study and divided equally among IT Companies i.e 20 employees each from among five companies (20*5)
  • Data Collection:

Data were collected from employees from different departments in an Organization.

  • Primary Data:

The primary data was collected through a questionnaire. About 100 employees would be taken from four selected IT Companies for the Study.

  • Secondary Data:

The secondary data was collected from HR journals, magazines, textbooks on Management, websites, and other publications.

  • Data analysis
  • A statistical tool such as Cross tabulation, charts, graphs, percentages, and other suitable tools may be used to analyze the collected Data.

Period of the study:  about 45 days

 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

The following are the Limitations of the Study.

  1. The period of the study is limited to 45 days approximately
  2. As the data was collected during the working hours of the employees, they may not respond promptly.
  3. This research was limited to about 100 Employees of Selected IT Companies in Hyderabad.
  4. The Data collected may become outdated in the future as new TQM practices may be implemented in the future.

CONCLUSION

The project report on Total Quality Management was undertaken with the objective of getting an insight into the importance and the effect of quality management in an organization. The study aims to analyze the need for managing quality across various functions of the organization. The present study focuses on understanding the degree of TQM implemented and the techniques used for maintaining it in the organization. The study aims to find out the opinion of the employees towards quality management in their organization.

The study is done at Hyderabad in IT organizations with the employees as the respondents of the study. The sampling technique used was convenience sampling. The respondents were asked to fill out the questionnaires and thus the primary data is collected.

From the study, it was found that the organization implements total quality management and is thus able to manage well the quality of all the processes. Further, it was found that the employees are not much aware of the TQM in their organization. However, the employees feel that the rules and policies in the organization are not comfortable and it does not support individual efforts.

It is suggested to the organization that the employees should be clearly informed of the quality management system in the organization. The employees should be actively involved in the quality circles and each employee should be communicated with the quality circle meetings, their agenda, etc. Further, the organization should revise its rules and policies in order to make the employees comfortable at work and regular feedback should be taken in order to maintain the whole system effectively.

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A study on Online Digital Operations with reference to Engineering Colleges Libraries at Hyderabad

RATIONALE OF THE STUDY:

The present study is undertaken with the objective of knowing the digital resources available in Engineering Colleges and its impact on Students learning Methods. The study aims to analyze the need for managing quality education through the use of modern technology in the field of Library science and making Technical education more effective through access to the digital knowledge tools.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

  • To Study the scope of Digital Knowledge resources in Engineering College libraries at Hyderabad.
  • To study the use of different Knowledge resources available to the students in Engineering College libraries at Hyderabad.
  • To find out the problems faced by students in accessing and sharing of knowledge.
  • To recommend suitable measures to improve the Knowledge resources by Engineering Colleges.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The Scope of the Study is limited to Selected Engineering students to find out the available digital resources and its impact on student learning. 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 RESEARCH DESIGN:

  1. Exploratory Research: This Research will be helpful in Collecting Secondary Data.
  2. Descriptive Research: This Research will be undertaken by collecting primary data using Questionnaire and interviewing Engineering Students from selected Colleges in Hyderabad.

 SAMPLING DESIGN:

Sampling Frame: The sample frame will be taken from among the List of Engineering Colleges located in Hyderabad.

Sampling technique: Convenience sampling

Sample size: 100

Sampling Units: Students from top Engineering Colleges in Hyderabad will form part of Sampling Units. A sample of 100 students from the following Engineering colleges form the Sampling units

  • University College of Engineering, Osmania University (UCE),
  • TKR Engineering College(TKREC)
  • Chaitanya Bharthi Institute of Technology(CBIT)
  • Vasavi College of Engineering and Technology(VCET)
  • Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology (MGIT)
  • CSE department, JNTUH.

 DATA COLLECTION:

Primary data: Data to be collected using Questionnaire from among the Top Six Engineering Colleges in Hyderabad.

Secondary data: Data from journals, magazines, books, Newspaper articles, and the internet may form part of the secondary data.

Data Analysis Tools: Charts, graphs, and Tables will be used for analysis.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

  • This study is limited to 100 samples from engineering students at Hyderabad.
  • The Study is conducted in Hyderabad city only
  • The study will be limited to a period of 40-50 days approximately.
  • The opinions of the respondents may change over a period of time.

DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

The present study will be a torch bearer for upcoming research students, academicians, and Colleges because nowadays most of the top Engineering colleges are well equipped with digital resources and are playing important role in students learning with e-journals, websites, e-books, and open files.  To Engineering Students, the benefits of these developments are enormous. However, the intensity of our knowledge requirements, and the volume of information potentially available, demand still better ways of organizing and managing library information.