It appears that residents have a perception of poor quality of service at the Roundal Wright retirement home.
A) Starting from theoretical approaches to “quality”, explain how quality might be defined at the Roundal Wright Retirement Home?
B) Which quality assessment tools would you use to analyse the situation at the home and why?
2. What quality improvement models would you recommend, and how would you apply them to improve service quality and what specifications might these involve?
Consider the resource implications of your recommendations for service improvements (both financial and in other areas).
Coursework Assignment Brief
| Module Title | Logistics and Operations Management |
| Module Leader | |
| Assessment Task | Roundel Wright Retirement Homes |
| Assessment format | Word Report |
| Word limit
|
2,000 |
| Learning outcomes to be examined in this assessment | · Critically evaluate methods of planning and organising efficient operations and networking.
• Analyse the problems of controlling component activities and of controlling quality. • Critically discuss methods of project evaluation and of scheduling resources |
| Assessment criteria | Explanatory comments on the assessment criteria | Maximum marks for each section |
| Content, style, relevance, originality | Feature rich practical solutions | |
| Format, referencing, bibliography | Well structured, use Harvard Reference System | |
| Constructive critical analysis, introduction, conclusion | Consideration of the major benefits of IT systems |
|
Students should conform to the conventions of the above assessment format in the preparation of their assignments. The relevant assessment criteria have been stated to enable and guide students in the preparation of their work. Achievement of the learning outcomes and the application of relevant theories to the assessment task should be demonstrated.
Roundal Wright Retirement Homes
Sandy wondered what she might find when she arrived at work today. So far her placement at the Roundal Wright Retirement Home had been much more varied than she had expected. As assistant to the housekeeper Mavis Long some days she found herself dealing with the home’s suppliers and other dealing with some of the residents.
The retirement home was a purpose built complex comprising 55 self-contained flats for either singles or couples. Residents ranged in age from 55 to 85. Sandy had noticed that many seemed quite fit and active while others had quite complex mobility difficulties. The housekeeper, Mavis, was responsible for ensuring that all the communal areas, corridors, lift, sitting rooms and dining room were kept immaculately clean. The extensive grounds were a pleasant outlook for the residents who also enjoyed sitting out therein fine weather. Although the complex was designed for retired people who wanted to live independently, there was a dining hall which residents could access for lunchtimes and evening meals.
Mavis announces that the Area Manager will be visiting the complex in a fortnight and asks Sandy to get some good views of the retirement home from residents to quote.
At the end of the following day Sandy reviews what she has discovered from the residents. As well as the verbal comments made to her she has discovered a bundle of written complaints made to Mavis but which seem to have been ignored. She feels a bit overwhelmed by the number of complaints which have been made.
Thinking back to her operations management lectures, Sandy decides to tabulate all the complaints that she had managed to identify to date.
| Week | Grounds | Parking | Tenant issues | Electrical/ Plumbing | Dining Hall |
| 1 | *** | * | *** | ** | |
| 2 | * | *** | ** | * | *** |
| 3 | ** | **** | ** | * | |
| 4 | ** | ** | *** | **** | |
| 5 | * | **** | **** | ||
| 6 | ***** | ** | * | * | |
| 7 | * | ** | * | *** | |
| 8 | ** | *** | * | ***** |
Parking seemed to be a big problem. Residents felt that there were not enough reserved spaces for each of their cars let alone sufficient for the number of visitors who came each weekend. A particular source of resentment seemed to be that Mavis had her own reserved space. There were also complaints about poor parking on the part of some residents who ended up taking up two spaces.
Complaints were made about the time spent queuing at the counter in the dining hall. Open-ended comments made included:
Toilets were not clean
Not enough variety in the menu
My stew was cold!
Not enough activities are planned for the communal areas in the evenings Lift is not big enough for me in my wheelchair and my partner
Frequently the main menu choice is not available when I go for my meal Central heating is erratic
The electrician never comes when you report a problem
It’s ridiculous how long we have to queue for our dinner
Parking is a disaster
Not enough spaces for residents
The grounds are a disaster – why isn’t weeding carried out?
Everything is fine
The cost of the meals is extortionate
Half of the shrubs are dying out because they’ve been put in the wrong place.
The queues at mealtimes are ridiculous
I’m too old to queue up; I want waitress service
Sandy decides to speak to the cook about how the dining hall is organized. The cook used to work in the school meals service and has 10 years experience.
Meat and poultry are purchased for the restaurant from the meat market every week. Vegetables, fruit and salad ingredients are purchased from the local street market which operates on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The cook used to do all his own purchasing and had certain stalls he patronized regularly but recently Mavis the housekeeper has announced that she will take over all purchasing. The cook feels that she has little experience or interest in food purchasing but is keen to prove to area office that she can make cost savings on the purchasing budget. Other materials used in the home are purchased from a local wholesaler called Macros on a monthly basis. The cook claims that the quality of meat and vegetables purchased has declined since Mavis started buying them.
“There is a standard menu suggested by Roundal Wright area office but the cook and the housekeeper can vary that to suit local needs. The cook tells Sandy that he would love to introduce more variety into the menu but he has to be able to cost meals at £3.00. He is not allowed to go outside that price framework. The cook notes that there has been quite a turnover among residents in the last 12 months, perhaps the menu agreed with an earlier group is no longer to this group’s taste. He has noted that some dishes rarely get as Red for while others get sold out very quickly. He tells Sandy that since Mavis has taken over the purchasing there are days when he does not have the necessary quantities of the ingredients he needs for that day’s menu.
“Queues well what do you expect when they all come in to eat at the same time. There’s only one of me, after all”. The cook explained to Sandy that most residents who are using the dining hall tend to come in together at 5.30. This bunching of customers caused difficulties in that only one of the dishes on the menu was prepared in advance, the others were cooked to order, This meant that there was less waste in the kitchen but residents had to wait while it was cooked for them, The cook acknowledged that he too had heard complaints about the queuing.
Assignment Questions
It appears that residents have a perception of poor quality of service at the Roundal Wright retirement home.
A) Starting from theoretical approaches to “quality”, explain how quality might be defined at the Roundal Wright Retirement Home?
B) Which quality assessment tools would you use to analyse the situation at the home and why?
What quality improvement models would you recommend, and how would you apply them to improve service quality and what specifications might these involve?
Consider the resource implications of your recommendations for service improvements (both financial and in other areas).
How to structure the assignment report
Title Page
Assignment title, module code, full name and student code, as well as submission date.
Table of Contents
A list all the chapters, sections, headings and sub-headings. Appendices and Figures should be provided as well as all page numbers as clearly as possible.
Introduction
This should show that you have fully understood the brief and that you are going to cover everything required.
Findings and Analysis
This is the substance of your report. The structure will vary depending on the material being presented. Headings and sub-headings should be used to indicate clearly the different sections.
The following headings may help to add structure: situation; problem; solution; evaluation. It is not sufficient simply to describe a situation. Analysis and a critical approach are essential.
Charts, diagrams and tables can be used to reinforce your arguments, although it may be better to include the more complex ones as an appendix.
Conclusions
These draw out the implications of your findings. Deductions are based on the facts described in the findings and analysis. Remember not to include any new material here.
Recommendations
Indicate what you think should be done to improve or develop the situation in specific ways. Highlight the steps for action.
References
This is a record of all the named sources you have quoted from or reproduced in your report. Please use The Harvard System for all references. Details as follows:
The order is:
Author(s), editor(s) or the institution responsible for writing the book
Date of publication (in brackets)
Title and subtitle (if any) underlined, highlighted or in Italics but be consistent throughout
Series and individual volume number (if any)
Edition (if not the first)
Place of publication (if known)
Publisher
For example:
Spence, B. ed. (1993) Secondary school management in the 1990s: challenge and change. Aspects of Education Series, 48. London, Independent Publishers
or
Mohr, L.B. (1996) Impact analysis for program evaluation. 2nd ed. London, Sage
If you have visited a website, then you are required to put the full address and the date on which you visited the website.
Bibliography
It contains all reading you have conducted in preparation for writing the report but have not used in reference. It allows the reader to assess whether the background reading undertaken was balanced and a variety of courses utilised.
Appendices
Detailed documentation of points made in the findings. Examples include: technical data, questionnaires, letters sent, tables, charts or leaflets. An appendix contains supplementary information that you consider to be too long, complicated or not quite relevant to include in the main section of the report, but is still relevant to your reader. Each appendix should be referred to in your text. You should not include something as an appendix if it is not discussed in the report.
