Midterm Exam
The midterm is a position paper, which compares, contrasts and critiques Georgia’s Equity Plan in relationship to another state’s Plan. Candidates have the option to select any state Plan of their choosing.

DIRECTIONS:

Using the enclosed rubric develop a position paper contrasting the GA Equity Plan with that of another state of your choosing.

Appendix B: Midterm Exam Rubric – Position Paper on GA Equity Plan
ELEMENTS
Missing or Unacceptable
0 – 2    Developing
3    Accomplished
4 – 5
APA FORMAT and GRAMMAR & SYNTAX    No APA format or minimal attempt at presenting paper in APA format. Grammar and syntax throughout the majority (more than 50%) of the paper is challenged.    The rules of the APA format are almost met throughout the paper or the rules from the later editions are followed. Grammar and syntax throughout half of the paper 30% – 50% of paper is challenged.    The rules of APA formatting are adhered to in an appropriate manner. The grammar and syntax meet are not challenged and meet the expectations of a graduate candidate in the Department of Educational Leadership.
SUMMARY    No summary or overview of the key elements (history, social, economic, political and cultural context) of the GA Equity Plan or the other state Equity Plan. Or summary gives minimal details of key elements/components.    Summary provides detail on one or two (or some portion) of the key elements or provides minimal information on all five key elements/components.    Summary provides detail on all (or the majority) of the key elements.
CONTRAST    No contrast or no comparison of state Equity Plans; or an attempt is made to compare Plans, but the comparison observes minimal components of the Plans in question    The contrast of the two Plans only rises to the level of addressing comparative elements. There is no comprehensive deconstruction of all the component pieces of the state Equity Plans.    All (or most) of the key elements/components of the state Equity Plans are exhaustively deconstructed through a means of intense juxtaposition.
CRITIQUE    There is no critique of either state Equity Plan or the opinion/perspective is not well informed.    There is an informed opinion of one Plan but not of the other plan or vice versa.    The critique or critical view juxtaposes all or most of the key elements of both Plans and as a result arrives at a scrupulously researched perspective/position (otherwise known as a well informed opinion).

Rather than posting the (16 approved) State Equity Plans to the course shell I have decided to just provide you with the link (http://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/resources.html) to access the Plans. Georgia’s Plan, however, is available in the Files. The sixteen approved state plans are: Maine, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Kentucky, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Rhode Island, Nevada, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Note: Georgia’s (draft) has not yet been approved by the US Department of Education. Consequently, you are not obligated to use Georgia, BUT you must choose from the list of 16.

Required Textbook(s)

Rothstein, R. (2004). Class and schools: Using social, economic and educational reform to close the Black-White Achievement gap. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.
Tryack, D. B. (1974). The one best system: A history of American urban education. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wilson, W. J. (2012). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass and public policy, (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Wilson, W. J. (2009). More than just race: Being black and poor in the inner city. New York, NY: W. M. Norton & Company Publishing.

Midterm Exam
Operations Management
QSO 600 Operations Management

The mid-term exam consists of two parts. Both parts shall completed using the midterm examination template. The completed examination shall be submitted via Blackboard for grading. The first part consists of five (5) research-based case study questions. Be sure to cite any appropriate reference material. The second part of the examination shall consist of five (5)problem from the material covered during Modules 1-5 inclusive. Students must show their work for full credit. Answer all the questions.

Case Study Questions:
There is no set length for answers; students may be as verbose or brief as they feel necessary to cover the question. Use this same exam document for your answers, placing them below each question. This portion of the exam is worth 75 points.

Problem Questions:
Make sure to show all your work to get full credit. The instructor needs to know the formulas and calculations you used to get to your final answer.  You can do part of the exam in Excel and Paste your Excel work into this document. This portion of the exam is worth 75 points.

File Convention:
File name for the exam attachment to be
studentlastname-finalexam (Be sure there are no spaces)
Be sure to put your name on the exam paper.

Note:You may use the text and any other materials. You are NOT to work with anyone else including other students in completing the exam nor discuss it with them.

QSO 600 Midterm Exam Essay Questions

Question 1: You are designing a grocery delivery business. Via the internet, your company will offer staples and frozen foods in a large metropolitan area and then deliver them within a customer-defined window of time. You plan to partner with two major food stores in the area. What should your competitive priorities be and what capabilities do you want to develop in your own core and support processes?

Is it possible for a project to have more than one critical path? Discuss the implications of such a situation with respect to each of the following aspects:

a.    Project risk
b.    Total available slack
c.    Resource dependencies
d.    Responsibilities of the project manager

Question 2: A flowchart helps us see all of the steps in a process, which in turn helps us improve the process. It also helps us identify and eliminate any redundant steps in a process. Using Word tools (SmartArt under the Insert tab), design a process flow chart for the grocery delivery business in Question 1 above. In the discussion element of your response, clearly define the steps within the process and provide a rationale for each step. Include all elements that you feel are necessary and appropriate to the process of a singular customer. The assumption is that the process is repeatable for every customer using the service. Think of the elements that you will be addressing or answering in the succeeding questions.

Question 3: For the grocery delivery business addressed in Question 1, the grocery chains that you are planning to partner with use differing inventory control models. Company A utilizes the Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory control model and Company B uses an Economic Order Quantity model. In reviewing your business plan, the bank loan officer has noticed this. As the loan officer is not overly familiar with either model, a request has been made of you to provide a description of each model and an explanation of why partnering with these companies would or would not create a conflict within your operations. Provide a detailed analysis of the situation in your business model.
Question 4: A Quality Assurance (QA) Program is essential to the success of any business.In establishing your grocery delivery business, what are some of the Quality Control (QC) processes that you envision employing? Why? Provide examples of potential metrics. Justify your choices.

Question 5: Efficiency is a critical element both in terms of individuals and machinery in any business. Describe some efficiency measures that you would implement in your grocery delivery business. What are the analysis tools that you would utilize to determine the effectiveness of these efficiency measures?

QSO 600 Midterm Exam Problem Questions

Problem 1.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects input and output data from various countries for comparison purposes. Labor hours are the standard measure of input. Calculate the output per hour from the following data. Which country is most productive?
Labor Hours    Units of Output
United States    89.5    136
Germany    83.6    100
Japan    72.7    102

Problem 2.
Construct a network from the information in the following table and identify all the paths in the network, compute the length of each, and indicate the critical path. Determine the earliest start and finish times, latest start and finish times, and slack for each activity. Indicate how the critical path would be determined from this information.
Activity    Activity Predecessor    Time (weeks)
1    —     7
2    —    10
3    1     6
4    2     5
5    2     4
6    3, 4     3
7    5, 6     2

Problem 3.
Burger Doodle is a fast-food restaurant that processes an average of 680 food orders each day. The average cost of each order is $6.15. Four percent of the orders are incorrect, and only 10% of the defective orders can be corrected with additional food items at an average cost of $1.75. The remaining defective orders have to be thrown out.
a.    Compute the average product cost.
b.    In order to reduce the number of wrong orders, Burger Doodle is going to invest in a computerized ordering and cash register system. The cost of the system will increase the average order cost by $0.05 and will reduce defective orders to 1%. What is the annual net effect of this quality improvement initiative?
c.    What other indirect effects on quality might be realized by the new computerized order system?

Problem 4.
A firm is faced with the attractive situation in which it can obtain immediate delivery of an item it stocks for retail sale. The firm has therefore not bothered to order the item in any systematic way. However, recently profits have been squeezed due to increasing competitive pressures, and the firm has retained a management consultant to study its inventory management. The consultant has determined that the various costs associated with making an order for the item stocked are approximately $70 per order. She has also determined that the costs of carrying the item in inventory amount to approximately $27 per unit per year (primarily direct storage costs and forgone profit on investment in inventory). Demand for the item is reasonably constant over time, and the forecast is for 16,500 units per year. When an order is placed for the item, the entire order is immediately delivered to the firm by the supplier. The firm operates 6 days a week plus a few Sundays, or approximately 320 days per year. Determine the following:

a. Optimal order quantity per order
b. Total annual inventory costs
c. Optimal number of orders to place per year
d. Number of operating days between orders, based on the optimal ordering.

Problem 5.
The Commonwealth Banking Corporation issues a national credit card through its various bank branches in five southeastern states. The bank credit card business is highly competitive and interest rates do not vary substantially, so the company decided to attempt to retain its customers by improving customer service through a reduction in billing errors. The credit card division monitored its billing department process by taking daily samples of 200 customer bills for 30 days and checking their accuracy. The sample results are as follows:
Sample    Number of Defectives    Sample    Number of Defectives
1     7    16    10
2    12    17    12
3     9    18    14
4     6    19    16
5     5    20    15
6     8    21    13
7    10    22     9
8    11    23    10
9    14    24    12
10    10    25    15
11     9    26    14
12     6    27    16
13     3    28    12
14     2    29    15
15     8    30    14

Develop a  -chart for the billing process using  control limits and indicate if the process is out of control.

Midterm Exam
Operations Management
QSO 600 Operations Management

The mid-term exam consists of two parts. Both parts shall completed using the midterm examination template. The completed examination shall be submitted via Blackboard for grading. The first part consists of five (5) research-based case study questions. Be sure to cite any appropriate reference material. The second part of the examination shall consist of five (5)problem from the material covered during Modules 1-5 inclusive. Students must show their work for full credit. Answer all the questions.

Case Study Questions:
There is no set length for answers; students may be as verbose or brief as they feel necessary to cover the question. Use this same exam document for your answers, placing them below each question. This portion of the exam is worth 75 points.

Problem Questions:
Make sure to show all your work to get full credit. The instructor needs to know the formulas and calculations you used to get to your final answer.  You can do part of the exam in Excel and Paste your Excel work into this document. This portion of the exam is worth 75 points.

File Convention:
File name for the exam attachment to be
studentlastname-finalexam (Be sure there are no spaces)
Be sure to put your name on the exam paper.

Note:You may use the text and any other materials. You are NOT to work with anyone else including other students in completing the exam nor discuss it with them.

QSO 600 Midterm Exam Essay Questions

Question 1: You are designing a grocery delivery business. Via the internet, your company will offer staples and frozen foods in a large metropolitan area and then deliver them within a customer-defined window of time. You plan to partner with two major food stores in the area. What should your competitive priorities be and what capabilities do you want to develop in your own core and support processes?

Is it possible for a project to have more than one critical path? Discuss the implications of such a situation with respect to each of the following aspects:

a.    Project risk
b.    Total available slack
c.    Resource dependencies
d.    Responsibilities of the project manager

Question 2: A flowchart helps us see all of the steps in a process, which in turn helps us improve the process. It also helps us identify and eliminate any redundant steps in a process. Using Word tools (SmartArt under the Insert tab), design a process flow chart for the grocery delivery business in Question 1 above. In the discussion element of your response, clearly define the steps within the process and provide a rationale for each step. Include all elements that you feel are necessary and appropriate to the process of a singular customer. The assumption is that the process is repeatable for every customer using the service. Think of the elements that you will be addressing or answering in the succeeding questions.

Question 3: For the grocery delivery business addressed in Question 1, the grocery chains that you are planning to partner with use differing inventory control models. Company A utilizes the Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory control model and Company B uses an Economic Order Quantity model. In reviewing your business plan, the bank loan officer has noticed this. As the loan officer is not overly familiar with either model, a request has been made of you to provide a description of each model and an explanation of why partnering with these companies would or would not create a conflict within your operations. Provide a detailed analysis of the situation in your business model.
Question 4: A Quality Assurance (QA) Program is essential to the success of any business.In establishing your grocery delivery business, what are some of the Quality Control (QC) processes that you envision employing? Why? Provide examples of potential metrics. Justify your choices.

Question 5: Efficiency is a critical element both in terms of individuals and machinery in any business. Describe some efficiency measures that you would implement in your grocery delivery business. What are the analysis tools that you would utilize to determine the effectiveness of these efficiency measures?

QSO 600 Midterm Exam Problem Questions

Problem 1.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects input and output data from various countries for comparison purposes. Labor hours are the standard measure of input. Calculate the output per hour from the following data. Which country is most productive?
Labor Hours    Units of Output
United States    89.5    136
Germany    83.6    100
Japan    72.7    102

Problem 2.
Construct a network from the information in the following table and identify all the paths in the network, compute the length of each, and indicate the critical path. Determine the earliest start and finish times, latest start and finish times, and slack for each activity. Indicate how the critical path would be determined from this information.
Activity    Activity Predecessor    Time (weeks)
1    —     7
2    —    10
3    1     6
4    2     5
5    2     4
6    3, 4     3
7    5, 6     2

Problem 3.
Burger Doodle is a fast-food restaurant that processes an average of 680 food orders each day. The average cost of each order is $6.15. Four percent of the orders are incorrect, and only 10% of the defective orders can be corrected with additional food items at an average cost of $1.75. The remaining defective orders have to be thrown out.
a.    Compute the average product cost.
b.    In order to reduce the number of wrong orders, Burger Doodle is going to invest in a computerized ordering and cash register system. The cost of the system will increase the average order cost by $0.05 and will reduce defective orders to 1%. What is the annual net effect of this quality improvement initiative?
c.    What other indirect effects on quality might be realized by the new computerized order system?

Problem 4.
A firm is faced with the attractive situation in which it can obtain immediate delivery of an item it stocks for retail sale. The firm has therefore not bothered to order the item in any systematic way. However, recently profits have been squeezed due to increasing competitive pressures, and the firm has retained a management consultant to study its inventory management. The consultant has determined that the various costs associated with making an order for the item stocked are approximately $70 per order. She has also determined that the costs of carrying the item in inventory amount to approximately $27 per unit per year (primarily direct storage costs and forgone profit on investment in inventory). Demand for the item is reasonably constant over time, and the forecast is for 16,500 units per year. When an order is placed for the item, the entire order is immediately delivered to the firm by the supplier. The firm operates 6 days a week plus a few Sundays, or approximately 320 days per year. Determine the following:

a. Optimal order quantity per order
b. Total annual inventory costs
c. Optimal number of orders to place per year
d. Number of operating days between orders, based on the optimal ordering.

Problem 5.
The Commonwealth Banking Corporation issues a national credit card through its various bank branches in five southeastern states. The bank credit card business is highly competitive and interest rates do not vary substantially, so the company decided to attempt to retain its customers by improving customer service through a reduction in billing errors. The credit card division monitored its billing department process by taking daily samples of 200 customer bills for 30 days and checking their accuracy. The sample results are as follows:
Sample    Number of Defectives    Sample    Number of Defectives
1     7    16    10
2    12    17    12
3     9    18    14
4     6    19    16
5     5    20    15
6     8    21    13
7    10    22     9
8    11    23    10
9    14    24    12
10    10    25    15
11     9    26    14
12     6    27    16
13     3    28    12
14     2    29    15
15     8    30    14

Develop a  -chart for the billing process using  control limits and indicate if the process is out of control.