Section A: Question

Cross-Functional Map of The Process of Servicing a Bicycle

P-bicycle specializes in the service and manufacture of custom bicycles in Ashmore. With booming business, P-bicycle is experiencing business process challenges that have resulted in delayed deliveries of orders. Figure 1 shows a cross-functional map that illustrates the business process at the company. Different departments and the processes that they conduct and how they are interdependent.

Figure 1: P-bicycle functional map of the process of servicing a bicycle

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Figure 1 shows the workflow at P-bicycle for the service of a bicycle. The process begins with the placement of an order by a customer. The service work with the placement of an order with the sales team and specifications by the customer. The sales team prepares a work order that is forwarded to the service section or engineering department, where the order is verified with the order and specifications are verified. Additionally, the service section confirms that all the parts required for the service are available in the inventory, prepares a job schedule, and proceeds to begin servicing the bicycle. Suppose some parts are not available in the inventory. In that case, the service section informs the purchasing department that proceeds to coordinate with the suppliers as service of the bicycle proceeds to be serviced.

The service section proceeds with the work despite missing some parts using the concurrent-engineering approach. If some critical parts are not available and limit the ability to proceed with the work, the bicycles are set apart to continue once they are available in the inventory. Once a bicycle in service is complete, the distribution department is informed then contacts the customer for a pickup or delivery. After the customer verifies the product, an invoice is prepared, and when payment is made in full, the bicycle is made available for collection by the customer

The improvements made on the cross-functional map were the addition of the direct inquiry for services with the service section and the customer. The improvement aims to prevent customers from failing to confirm the service once complete and notified for collection. This improvement aims to alleviate the return of the product for more service to meet the needs of the customer. Notably, the sales team may not be familiar with the technical requirements required by customers, and giving the engineers an option to address these differences makes it possible to lower the time spent servicing a bicycle. The elimination of the distribution department and allocation of the responsibilities for collecting the fee charged and the notification of customers for collection to the sales department is essential since the company only works with customers orders using a just-in-time production approach. It will also eliminate the time taken with the reorientation in the clint-company relationship with the customer already established by the sales department. Figure 2: Improved P-bicycle functional map of the process of servicing a bicycle

Question 2

In the purchases department, the firm could potentially source materials of a lower quality than the customers needs for the companys gain by saving on service costs. This could create a challenge of customer dissatisfaction with the company services and seek services with another company, ultimately lowering the demand for P-bicycle services. The Moral standpoint would be to be fair to the customers and uphold the ethical precepts in the interest of the long-term benefit to the organizations with growing demand.

Figure 3: Challenges in the lack of fairness to customers when ordering parts

The case stated where the organization sources cheap bicycle parts and charges a fee for standard parts would be considered immoral management. Immoral managerial ethics are informed by the selfish approach by the management to maximize the benefit of the organization but at the expense of the other stakeholders in the company. The core facets of organizational ethics are a code of ethics, ethics training, availability of situational ethical guidance, and confidential reporting systems. The intrinsic organizational rewards for adopting national immoral organizational ethics are saving on costs and charging for standard prices to increase the organizations profit margins.

The lack of the ethical foundation elements that are informative on the employees and other stakeholders conduct facilitates the realization of higher margins. In an immoral approach to organizational ethics, rules are perceived as an obstacle the organization has to overcome to accomplish its goals. The strategic approach is to exploit its customers for company profit. The managements decisions, actions, and behaviors imply a positive opposition to what is typically moral or ethical. Consequently, the management decisions are...…use of data-driven decisions makes it possible to forecast the changes in the market and prepare for changes in trends in the market in advance. For example, the use of integrated information systems helps organizations predict changes in demand trends and adjust the sources of their material in advance to accommodate the expected changes. As such, value chains are critical in the organization of companies in a manner that limits the degree to which businesses are affected by unforeseen events in the business environment.

Strategic long-term agreements are also a core element of value chains, leading to more stability and consistency in business operations. As established, establishing a value chain focuses on the generation of value across the production activities. As a result, getting into long-term with strategic partners alleviates the challenges business encounters with frequent contracts with new partners. For example, restaurants require a steady supply of materials that are out of season. Consequently, in developing a value chain, such companies get into long-term agreements with trusted suppliers to offer products of a specified quality standard and offer a competitive offer compared to current industry standards to sustain the agreement (Ma, 2021). However, such agreements result in the eradication of unpredictability in the supply chain and focus on other areas, such as the optimization of products and innovation in the business process. Long-term agreements with different stakeholders create predictability that is not common in the industry, giving a firm a competitive advantage over its competitors who do not have certainty in such areas.

The adoption of the value chain in the devlopment of business processes helps transform the industry structure. Competition in different industries is determined by the five competitive forces that determine the profitability of an industry. The port five forces are buyers purchasing power, the threat of new entrants, the suppliers bargaining power, the threat of alternative products, and the rivalry among competitors. Developing complex information systems and rendering insights for decision-making create a competitive advantage since they form a barrier to entering the industry or rivalry with competitors who do not have resources to acquire similar infrastructure (Porter & Millar, 2016). Consequently, value chains alleviate challenges that are prominent in the traditional supply chain and render business agility, consistency, and a competitive advantage…