Curtin Business School, School of Management

310929 MANAGING OPERATIONS MTM300 Study Period 4 (SP4) 2012

Assessment 2
Operations Case Study Worth: 30% Due: Week 11 Assessment 2 submitted to the OUA Office Week 11, Monday 04 February 2013 Assessment 2 is a case study exercise. Students are required to read the nominated case study from their text (Samson & Singh, 2008), and then address the seven questions provided at the end of each case study. Additional reading and research, to support your text and notes, will be required to provide information relating the context of the case and the content of the case. You are expected to use at least EIGHT (8) different academic sources to support your discussions (in addition to relevant texts, internet sources Google Scholar is useful, business periodicals etc); use your text and the cited references from eReserve to start your reference list, and then search through the academic databases to research additional material to support your discussions. Remember to access the relevant companys website and also use this as a source to assist in answering the case questions. Avoid internet sources that do not have the authors name as well as the publisher. Note: Wikipedia is NOT allowed.

1] Case Study CS 1 Innovation in the Biotechnology Sector: The case of IDT Australia. John Morgan. (see Samson & Singh, 2008: 409) IDT Australias website: http://www.idtaus.com.au This site provides a range of information, take time to make yourself familiar with this to assist you when answering the case questions. The information provided includes company, Board of Directors, Management, News, brochure; their services, nancial information annual reports, ASX announcements, Current share price, corporate governance. Referencing Style th For this unit, students are to use the Chicago referencing style (16 edition) when preparing assignments. More information can be found on this style from the Library web site: http:// libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/data/files7/202792/Chicago_Author-Date_16th_ed_.pdf Submitting assignment Assessment submission details: http://elearn.curtin.edu.au/oua/study/assignment.cfm

Case Study Notes: 1] Case Study CS 1 Innovation in the Biotechnology Sector: The case of IDT Australia. John Morgan. (Samson & Singh, 2008: 409) Below are some pointers to assist you when answering the case study questions as listed in Samson & Singh, 2008: 418. Answer ALL 7 questions. The overall word count of your

assessment should be between 2000-2500 words to fully address these questions. You will also need to provide a reference list that you have used to support your answers. Curtin University academic databases can be found at: http://library.curtin.edu.au/find-books-andresources/databases/index.cfm , everyone has their own favourite databases - I personally find Business Source, Emerald Management and Science Direct useful; however students also find ProQuest relevant for this topic and easy to use. If you are not familiar with searching databases, take some time to explore, there are self-study tutorials available on the site, contact the library for assistance or contact Tanya for assistance.

Question 1 Review the IDT website, it contains quite a lot of information regarding their capabilities. After your general introduction, outline how each of these areas of capability is developed, namely: technological capability manufacturing capability commercialising capability partnering capability. This case can be used to discuss innovation, apply the seven major tests that a new product must pass in order to be successful from a business perspective directly to this case: First is the functionality test: does the new product, service, technology or process provide benefits in a manner that is clearly superior to existing services or methods? Can you articulate the value proposition of what is new and why it is better in terms that customers or clients can appreciate? The mass production test is next: will the concept be able to be mass-produced in volumes and with the consistent quality to its specification in order to satisfy the market need? There have been many ideas that made it to prototype, but when it came to scale-up, failed to be mass-producible or proved to be prohibitive from a cost perspective. Third is the marketing test: have you determined or assessed demand and do you have a channel to the client or consumer base? Many inventors have ended up with a garage or warehouse full of their products because they did not do their homework on the marketing test. The whole marketing mix must be planned as part of the commercialisation process. This includes design, branding, pricing, distribution, sales, and other factors. The intellectual property control test involves being able to make decisions with and either buy, own or licence-in the core technologies involved. The leadership test is next. Do the people involved in this initiative have the knowledge, skills, experience and courage to take it through to fruition? The ROI (return on investment) test represents the financial bottom line of the innovation. Will it pay? The new concept must generate enough profit margin to make it worth going forward, including accounting for risk and the time discounted value of money. Finally, more and more, new concepts must pass the corporate social responsibility test. This is also sometimes referred to as the sustainable development or sustainability test, and it refers to the environmental sustainability of the initiative and also the social/community outcomes. Products, services and technologies must now at least not harm the environment and community, and where possible are advantaged by producing positive bottom line outcomes on these dimensions. Question 2 Define strategy/strategic focus and then answer the question from your case study information and company website, supported by additional reading.

Question 3 Go to the IDT website to download IDT's latest financial performance figures. These numbers and the details that lie between them are publicly reported and students should be encouraged to examine the financial performance of IDT and explain their meaning in relation to the question. Question 4 This question, about the extent of IDTs dependence on intellectual property of other companies, creates useful debate on the subject of outsourcing and its sustainability and profitability. Some questions to prompt you (you may consider when answering this question) include the following: To what extent is it a sustainable and competitive business model to be a company that at least in part relies on licensing in technology that is owned by other companies? Is this a high-risk strategy? You may also provide examples from other companies to support your discussions. You may provide your own opinions here, however support your opinions with valid discussion and references. Question 5 This question, about Dr Blackmans departure, is an interesting one and requires examination of a number of key issues within the company. Thus, the aim of this question is to get students to examine the operations and business maturity of a company. Question 6 Provide a range of suggestions to answer this question. Students should be encouraged to undertake a swot analysis on each of your suggestions above, and possibly other options from growth. What are the operations management implications of each of these growth strategies? Question 7 Respond with your answers, fully supported by appropriate references to this question.