Excel Templates

CONTENTS

Preface

This Instructor’s Manual accompanies Operations Management: An Asian Perspective by William J. Stevenson and Sum Chee Chuong. The Instructor’s Manual has two main parts—References, and Teaching Notes and Solutions.

References

Excel Templates

This part provides a brief description of how to use the Excel templates and contains chapter-by-chapter listings of Excel templates.

Summary of Changes

This section includes a summary of the changes between the eighth and ninth editions of the U.S. text Operations Management, on which Operations Management: An Asian Perspective is based. This section indicates the changes in the discussion and review questions, as well as the problems and is useful to users of the eighth edition.

Teaching Notes and Solutions

This is the main section of the Instructor’s Manual. For each chapter and supplement in the textbook, this section provides the instructor with teaching notes, answers to questions in readings, answers to discussion and review questions, solutions to problems, and solutions to cases. In addition, selected chapters will contain enrichment modules designed to enhance the coverage of material. Here’s a brief overview of the content.

Teaching Notes: This section will provide a short description of the purpose of the chapter, highlight the important concepts of the chapter and/or indicate how the first author personally uses the chapter in teaching at ValparaisoUniversity.

Answers to Questions for Readings: There are many current readings that are used to place the topic in the context of an actual business setting. Each reading comes with questions which help facilitate classroom discussion and assess students’ understanding of the main ideas. These readings should assist you in demonstrating the relevance of a topical area to students as well as the application of the methods covered in the textbook. Answers for selected readings are found in the Instructor’s Manual.

Answers to Discussion and Review Questions: This section contains answers to each of the discussion and review questions given at the end of each chapter. The questions cover the key points contained in the chapter and can be assigned either as homework or as examination questions.

Answers to Critical Thinking Exercises: These exercises require the students to apply their understanding of key concepts to real situations or experiences.

Solutions to Problems: All of the quantitative chapters include numerical end-of-chapter problems. The textbook contains a rich variety of problems of different lengths and difficulty levels. There is at least one problem and often multiple problems for each quantitative method or technique covered. Many of the solutions include graphical output to clarify the results. These problems are appropriate for both homework and examination purposes.

Solutions/Answers to Case Problems: The length and difficulty of the cases as well as the length of the solutions/answers vary. Some of the cases require quantitative solutions, others require a qualitative answer, and some have both quantitative and qualitative components.

Enrichment Modules: Due to the space limitations or other considerations, certain topics are not covered in the textbook. However, an explanation of selected topics, related exercises, problems and their complete solutions are provided in several of the enrichment modules in this Instructor’s Manual to give you additional topical flexibility and to provide depth or breadth to the coverage of the material in various chapters.

It is hoped that instructors who are teaching an introductory course in operations management will find this manual a useful supplement to the textbook. We would like to thank Wanda Zeman, Senior Development Editor and Richard Hercher, Executive Editor at McGraw-Hill for their support and assistance in preparing this Instructor’s Manual.

William J. Stevenson

Rochester Institute of Technology

SumCheeChuong
NationalUniversity of Singapore

Operations Management and the ASSOCIATION TO ADVANCE COLLEGIATE SCHOOLS OF BUSINESS (AACSB)

While AACSB standards do “not require any specific courses in the curriculum” and charges individual schools with establishing their own mission and measuring their own performance against that mission, the normal curriculum process will result in management-specific knowledge and skills including

“creation of value through the integrated production

and distribution of goods, services and information”

AACSB’s Recommended Areas of Learning

For the consideration of faculty, the six areas of learning experience recommended by the AACSB are listed below, along with content or teaching tools within the text which are supportive of each.

Communication Abilities

Operations Management includes Discussion and Review questions, Taking Stock questions, questions afterReadings, Operations Tours, and Cases all providing assignment opportunities for required writing.

Ethical Understanding and Reasoning Abilities

While theyare normally a bigger focus in courses on organizational design, general management, or strategy, ethics concepts are included in this edition, wherever appropriate, including an increased focus on topics such as recycling, consideration of environmental issues in manufacturing, and the primary consideration of human resources. Quality gurus such as Crosby and Deming would argue that “maximizing” an operations system requires maximization of customer satisfaction, and the safety and well being of society as a whole, which in turn implies that no system can be optimal unless it is ethical.

Analytic Skills

This edition, as all previous editions, provides the foremost coverage of analytic tools for examining operations systems examples than any other standard core course text. In fact,the U.S. text has been the most widely used in AACSB accredited business schools in the United States.primarily because of its effective explanation and application of those analytics. The coverage of analytic topics from forecasting methods through project management is very comprehensive.

Use of Information Technology

The use of IT is a major sub-text within this edition. Topics such as competitiveness and strategy, ERP and MRP, supply chain management, and project management all include significant discussion of the critical connection between “production” and “information.” Besides that, this edition includes significant built in “related” technology, such as Microsoft Suite-based study tools and support and web-based study and research support at the OnlineLearningCenter.

Multicultural and Diversity Understanding

This edition is global and diverse. Global competitiveness and supply chain management are featured as an overriding theme, with emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region in the Newsclips and Readings.

Reflective Thinking Skills

Along with the Newsclips, Readings, Cases, andTaking Stockquestions in the teaching package, all of which encourage reflective thinking, the new Experiential Exercises provide an opportunity to encourage student application of ideas outside of the textbook. In these, students are encouraged to think while using observation and analytical skills, and to draw conclusions and make interpretation.

AACSB Assurance of Learning Standards

According to the AACSB

“ ..the school must develop a list of the learning goals for which it will demonstrate assurance of learning. This list of learning goals derives form, or is consonant with, the school’s mission. The mission and objectives set out the intentions of the school, and the learning goals say how the degree programs demonstrate the mission. That is, the learning goals describe the desired educational accomplishments of the degree programs.”

“There is no intention of the AACSB accreditation process that schools should have the same definitions of learning goals, or that they should assess accomplishment of learning goals in the same way. To the contrary, the standards expect for faculty members of each school to determine the proper definitions and measurement for their situation.”

While these statements from the AACSB leave content coverage and assessment clearly within the realm and control of individual schools, the mission of the school, and the faculty within the school, the AACSB does also charge schools with the obligation of doing assessment. While the text and teaching package make no claim of any specific AACSB qualification or evaluation, we have, within the Test Bank, highlighted selected questions which,in our editorial estimation, canserve as an operations assessment or “benchmark” from term to term. The selected questions broadly cover the field of operations, and, as labeled, generally match the six general skill areas above. There are of course, many more within the Test Bank, the text, and the teaching package which might be used as a “standard” for your course. However, the labeled questions are suggested for your consideration.

Description of Excel Template Workbooks

The Excel templates are saved in Excel workbooks (or files), e.g., Chap2.XLT—Chap2 is the name of the workbook (or file) and .XLT is the extension for a template workbook.The only real difference between a template workbook and a “normal” Excel workbook (with a .xls extension) occurs when you save a template workbook—a digit will be added to the name, e.g., Chap4S.XLT will be saved as Chap4S1.xls.

There is a student workbook for each chapter, or chapter supplement, and each workbook contains a table of contents (on the first worksheet) and one or more individual templates (each on a separate worksheet).For example, Chap2.XLT is the student workbook for Chapter 2 and it contains one template—Productivity.The complete list of templates is shown in the Index worksheet of this workbook.In addition to the table of contents and individual templates, each student workbook contains a worksheet with the copies of the examples in the text and a worksheet with copies of the solved problems in the text.The copies show the data and results but do not contain formulas, buttons, or graphs, and cannot be manipulated.The data may be copied from these worksheets and pasted into the appropriate template.

There is also an instructor workbook for each chapter or chapter supplement.For example, Chap2Instructor.XLT is the instructor workbook for Chapter 2.Each instructor workbook also contains a table of contents and individual templates.But unlike the student workbooks, each example and solved problem is in the instructor workbook as an actual template instead of as a copy.As a template, each example and solved problem is ready for use in classroom demonstrationswith a computer and projector.Note that an example or solved problem template is just a “repeat” of an individual template with the data already entered.Each instructor workbook also contains one worksheet with lecture suggestions and one or more worksheets with copies of the end-of-chapter problems.If you want to manipulate an end-of-chapter problem in a template, you must enter the data into the appropriate template, either by typing or by copying and pasting.

Excel Templates

General Instructions

Software Requirements

Although these templates are written for Excel 2003, they can be used with earlier versions of Excel with a few features disabled.

Display Resolution

These templates were created for a display resolution setting of 1024 x 768 pixels but can be used with other settings. Use View/Zoom in Excel to fit a template to the screen size for a different resolution.

Setting Macro Security

Most templates contain macro instructions; to run these macro instructions, you must setmacro security medium (use the command Tools/Macro/Security/Medium in Excel).

Using the Templates

The templates are contained in Excel workbooks, one workbook for each chapter or chaptersupplement (e.g., Chap8S.xlt contains the templates for the Supplement to Chapter 8). To use aspecific template, open the workbook for the appropriate chapter and select the templatein the index (first worksheet) or on the worksheet tab (at the bottom of the Excel screen).

Entering Data

You can enter formulas and cell references with an equal sign (e.g., = 5*.243/12 or = H3) and you can link a template with another worksheet by using a cell reference to the other worksheet (e.g., =Sheet1!H3).

Deleting Data

To remove data from shaded cells, select the cell(s) and press delete, do not enter a space orzero because many templates will distinguish between a blank cell and a cell containing the spacecharacter or zero. Many templates have a Clear button which will delete all input data.

Copying/Pasting Data

If you copy data to put it into the input (i.e., shaded) area of a template, you should use Paste Special Values to avoid changing the formatting in the template. You can copy any part (i.e., data or results) or all of a template and paste it into another worksheet.

Programmed Buttons

You may also enter data into the parameter (“x” in these examples) directly without using thespinner button.

After pressing a programmed button, you may have to select any cell in the worksheet to re-activate the worksheet (check it out on one of the buttons above).

Notes

Making a Copy of a Template

You can copy an entire template by right-clicking on the worksheet tab and selecting Move or Copy… You can put the copy into the same workbook or a different workbook. If you check Create Copy to copy rather than move the template, the resulting copy will function exactly like the original template, including the programmed buttons.

Inserting a Blank Worksheet

You can insert a blank worksheet into a template workbook by right-clicking on the worksheet tab of a template and selecting Insert… The blank worksheet can be used, for example, to perform intermediate calculations or to link templates. You can also enter formulas (e.g., intermediate calculations) in the template worksheet itself, using cells to the right or below the template calculations.

Printing a Template

You may print a template by pressing the Print task button or using the File Print command.

Examples and Solved Problems

Data for the examples and solved problems in the text are provided in the student workbook for eachchapter. You must enter the data into the shaded area of the appropriate template, either by typing or by clicking on Copyand Paste Special Values.

Saving a Template file

These templates are saved as Excel template (.xlt) files, so if you make changes and save yourfile, a number will be added to the end of the file name and your file will be a workbook file (e.g., Chap4S.xlt becomes Chap4S1.xls).

Using Trial and Error or Goal Seek

Some problems may require trial and error (e.g., changing the smoothing constant to achieve thelowest MAD), and spinner buttons are frequently provided to facilitate such trial and error exercises.

Other problems are solved “backwards” (e.g., what service level results from a reorder point of 125?).While trial and error will work, using the Excel command Tools Goal Seek will often give a moreaccurate solution faster. To use Goal Seek, first enter values for all parameters that you know,enter a reasonable guess for the parameter you don’t know (e.g., service level), and then use thecommand Tools Goal Seek to set the goal (e.g., reorder point to 125) by changing the cell (e.g.,service level).

Using Solver

Some templates (e.g., Transportation in Chap8S) use theExcel Add In Solver. You must use the Tools Add-Ins command to add in Solver before usingthese templates. You may solve (i.e., optimize) the problem by pressing the Solve button orusing the Tools Solver command. See notes at the bottom of these templates.

Round Off

There are several waysto round off. First, a digital computer represents numbers as digitalnumbers of fixed length, and may introduce a computer round off error, but this error is extremely small and itwould be extremely unlikely to notice it in these templates. Second, the Solver Add-In has a setprecision which also results in an extremely small round off error (e.g., 1.234E–10) and thesenumbers may be treated as zero. Third, the templates do not round off numbers, but the textbookdoes (e.g., probabilities for the normal distribution are rounded off to 4 places), this will result insmall but noticeable differences between results in templates and the textbook.