Details on Assignments
1. Case Assignments
General
For
each case assignment, your job will be to investigate the firms problem(s) as
they relate to Service Operations and prepare a written paper for each case.
The format of your paper should be as follows and contain a minimum of 5 pages
(Either 2 or 1.5 spaces between lines) excluding the Appendices section:

Executive summary a couple of short paragraphs which summarize the
remainder of the report

Background use this section to lead in to your Problem
Statement; identify symptoms, critical and causal factors leading to the
current state

Problem Statement a succinct statement of the problem/dilemma/issue,
preferably in a single declarative sentence; be careful to identify thereal
problem andnot thesymptoms of the problem or retell
the story.

Analysis apply operational models, course content, and
outside research to support your position; logically discuss options,
implications and tradeoffs, you can make inferences if data is missing. If the
case contains numbers like financial statements, then analyze them! If the case
does not supply enough numbers, you may make reasonable inferences and say what
these are.

Recommendations and Conclusions these should beyour recommendations regarding how
the organization should deal with the problem; they should be fully supported
by the Analysis section. Do think about unintended consequences of our
recommendation.

Appendices References and Charts does not count towards the 5
pages

Citations
must be referenced according to APA style.

Appropriate references: This is a library research paper and you must
use at least 3 different sources, not including textbooks. These sources should
be company websites, industry sources, periodicals, such as the Wall Street
Journal, Business Week, and so on, and governmental sources such as the SEC.
Wikipedia and other similar sources are not to be used in this course.

With
respect to the Porcini case, the following are guidance comments:
The final individual case is called
Porcinis Pronto, dealing with an Italian restaurants expansion potential.
Depending on your background and interest, there are several ways to approach
this case. One could focus on HR and service quality and the measurement of it
via questionnaires, or you could question the whole Pronto business concept.
The
most obvious problems are the merits of eitherfranchising,
syndication or full ownership, as this restaurant grows. To
handle that issue please take a closer look at Exhibits 4 and 5 inside your
case. What I would like you to do is to calculate the ROI for each option,
where
ROI
(return on investment) = NPV
of pre-tax profit
NPV of
invested capital

NPV or
NP means net present value and you find that inside Excel, (Formula, Finance,
NPV). You should not overlook the fact that each option carries its
unique interest rate. The
ownership option, for example, requires you to select a 6 percent interest
rate. Your text book does not include a net present value calculation
assuming it to be basic knowledge. If you need a refresher you can read

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_present_value

Details on Assignments1. Case AssignmentsGeneralFor
each case assignment, your job will be to investigate the firms problem(s) as
they relate to Service Operations and prepare a written paper for each case.
The format of your paper should be as follows and contain a minimum of 5 pages
(Either 2 or 1.5 spaces between lines) excluding the Appendices section:Executive summary a couple of short paragraphs which summarize the
remainder of the reportBackground use this section to lead in to your Problem
Statement; identify symptoms, critical and causal factors leading to the
current stateProblem Statement a succinct statement of the problem/dilemma/issue,
preferably in a single declarative sentence; be careful to identify thereal
problem andnot thesymptoms of the problem or retell
the story.Analysis apply operational models, course content, and
outside research to support your position; logically discuss options,
implications and tradeoffs, you can make inferences if data is missing. If the
case contains numbers like financial statements, then analyze them! If the case
does not supply enough numbers, you may make reasonable inferences and say what
these are.Recommendations and Conclusions these should beyour recommendations regarding how
the organization should deal with the problem; they should be fully supported
by the Analysis section. Do think about unintended consequences of our
recommendation.Appendices References and Charts does not count towards the 5
pagesCitations
must be referenced according to APA style.
Appropriate references: This is a library research paper and you must
use at least 3 different sources, not including textbooks. These sources should
be company websites, industry sources, periodicals, such as the Wall Street
Journal, Business Week, and so on, and governmental sources such as the SEC.
Wikipedia and other similar sources are not to be used in this course.With
respect to the Porcini case, the following are guidance comments:The final individual case is called
Porcinis Pronto, dealing with an Italian restaurants expansion potential.
Depending on your background and interest, there are several ways to approach
this case. One could focus on HR and service quality and the measurement of it
via questionnaires, or you could question the whole Pronto business concept.The
most obvious problems are the merits of eitherfranchising,
syndication or full ownership, as this restaurant grows. To
handle that issue please take a closer look at Exhibits 4 and 5 inside your
case. What I would like you to do is to calculate the ROI for each option,
whereROI
(return on investment) = NPV
of pre-tax profit NPV of
invested capitalNPV or
NP means net present value and you find that inside Excel, (Formula, Finance,
NPV). You should not overlook the fact that each option carries its
unique interest rate. The
ownership option, for example, requires you to select a 6 percent interest
rate. Your text book does not include a net present value calculation
assuming it to be basic knowledge. If you need a refresher you can read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_present_value