Operations MGMT

The following case study is from Hillier & Hillier, “Management Science”.

Mark Lawrence has been pursuing a vision for more than two years. This pursuit began when he became frustrated in his role as director of Human Resources at Cutting Edge, a large company manufacturing computers and computer peripherals.  At that time, the Human Resources Department under his direction provided records and benefits administration to the 60,000 Cutting Edge employees throughout the United States.  35 separate records and benefits administration centers existed across the country.  Employees contacted these records and benefits centers to obtain information about dental plans and stock options, change tax forms and personal information, and process leaves of absence and retirements.  The decentralization of these administration centers caused numerous headaches for Mark.  He had to deal with employee complaints often since each center interpreted company policies differently – communicating inconsistent and sometimes inaccurate answers to employees.  His department also suffered high operating costs since operating 35 separate centers created inefficiency.