real-life examples about Recent Trends in Operation Management( Flexibility, Total Quality Management, Time Reduction, Worker Involvement, Re-engineering, Operations Strategy, Lean production, Environmental Issues, technology, corporate downsizing, supply chain management)

Resources and capabilities, such as interpersonal relations among managers and a firm's culture, that may be costly to imitate because they are beyond the ability of firms to systematically manage and influence are referred to asanswers: socially complex. causally ambiguous. path dependent. the result of unique historical conditions.

The owners of backstreets italian restaurant are considering starting a delivery service forpizza and their other italian dishes in the small college town where they are located. theycan purchase a used delivery van and have it painted with their name and logo for $21,500.they can hire part-time drivers who will work in the evenings from 5 p. m. to 10 p. m. for$8 per hour. the drivers are mostly college students who study at the restaurant when theyare not making deliveries. during the day, there are so few deliveries that the regular employeescan handle them. the owners estimate that the van will last 5 years (365 days per year)before it has to be replaced and that each delivery will cost about $1.35 in gas and othermaintenance costs (including tires, oil, scheduled service, they also estimate that onaverage each delivery order will cost $15 for direct labor and ingredients to prepare andpackage, and will generate $34 in revenue. a. how many delivery orders must backstreets make each month in order for the service to break even? b. the owners believe that if they have approximately the break-even number of deliveries during the week, they will at least double that number on fridays, saturdays, and sundays. if that’s the case, how much profit will they make, at a minimum, from their delivery service each month (4 weeks per month)?

Abank provides its customers mobile applications that significantly simplify traditional banking activities. for example, a customer can use a smartphone to take a picture of a check and electronically deposit into an account. this unique service demonstrates the bank’s desire to practice which one of porter’s strategies?