Touchstone 3

Touchstone 3: Redesign a Job

OVERVIEW: You will demonstrate an understanding of job design and how it interacts with organizational structure and employee motivation.

Your organization has reused this job description for several years. The job has high turnover and usually does not attract a competitive pool of candidates despite a competitive wage for a job that requires no experience.

You will redesign the job, applying the principles of job design to attract more applicants. Because you are designing a job, not just writing a job description, your description will also show elements of employee engagement.

download

Download the

---

A. ASSIGNMENT

STEP 1: Redesign the job.

Redesign the job description, and the job itself, by revising the text below. You will make it more appealing to candidates and more enjoyable for the person who ends up filling the job by applying the principles from the tutorials listed below:

Because you are redesigning the job, not just writing the description, you can make decisions about what the job will be like in terms of job characteristics as described in the tutorial on effective job design.

download

Download the

The Current Job Description:
Job Title: Machine Operator
Job Description:

• Operate assigned machinery according to established procedures.
• Monitor machine operations to detect malfunctions.
• Perform basic maintenance tasks such as oiling and cleaning machines.
• Record production data and report any issues to the supervisor.
• Follow safety guidelines and maintain a tidy work area.

Requirements:

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Basic understanding of machine operations.
• Ability to perform repetitive tasks with minimal supervision.
• Must be able to stand for long periods of time and lift up to 50 pounds.
• Good attention to detail.

Benefits:

• Hourly wage.
• Basic health insurance.
• Paid breaks.

STEP 2: Explanation.

Write 23 paragraphs explaining the changes you made and how they align with the concepts of job design covered in the tutorial.

STEP 3: Submit your Touchstone.

Once you have completed the template and reviewed your work to make sure it is clear, complete, and correct, it is time to submit your document.

Please only submit work entered directly into the template provided.

---

B. Requirements

1. All content must be original, created for this assignment, and appropriate for an academic audience.
2. Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited, including the use of AI-generated content.
3. Submission must include your name, the date, and the title of your paper.
4. The choice of formatting decisions like font size are up to you, but make sure it is easy to read and consistently formatted.
5. Include all of the assignment components in a single .doc or .docx file.

---

C. RUBRIC

	Advanced (100%)	Proficient (85%)	Acceptable (75%)	Needs Improvement (50%)	Non-Performance (0%)
Coherence Student answers all questions clearly, completely, and with internal consistency. (40%)	Job description addresses important elements in the redesign that include variety, autonomy, contributions, feedback and measurement, communication, relationships, and value of the job to the company.	Job description mostly addresses important elements but may be missing addressing one item in the redesign that may include: variety, autonomy, contributions, feedback and measurement, communication, relationships, and value of the job to the company.	Job description mostly addresses important elements but is missing two items in the redesign that may include: variety, autonomy, contributions, feedback and measurement, communication, relationships, and value of the job to the company.	Job description mostly addresses important elements but is missing three or more items in the redesign that may include: variety, autonomy, contributions, feedback and measurement, communication, relationships, and value of the job to the company.	So little work is evident in the Touchstone, no credit can be given.
Concepts Touchstone applies at least three job design concepts from the tutorials, and job description is realistic and consistent with the tutorial information. (40%)	Touchstone applies at least three job design concepts from the tutorials, and job description is realistic and consistent with the tutorial information.	Touchstone applies at least two job design concepts from the tutorials, and job description is realistic and consistent with the tutorial information.	Touchstone applies at least one job design concept from the tutorials, and job description is realistic and consistent with the tutorial information.	Touchstone does not apply job design concepts from the tutorials.	So little work is evident in the Touchstone, no credit can be given.
Conventions Includes virtually no minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. (20%)	Includes virtually no minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes fewer than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes more than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.

Touchstone 4: Write a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP)

OVERVIEW: You will act as an operations consultant and will outline a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) for a small company. The QIP will apply concepts learned in the tutorials to help PhonePro resolve issues in efficiency, supply chain flow, and remaining viable in a competitive field. Your QIP will include recommendations based concepts learned in the class.

BACKGROUND: PhonePro is a company that designs and manufactures phone cases. Their biggest differentiator is in utility design, such as combining phone cases with other storage to replace wallets or handbags, and rugged cases for hiking and climbing. While their cases were popular for several years, they have noticed declining sales and an increase in customer returns, citing the fact the cases do not last more than a few months and are unable to handle extensive usage, which is particularly a problem since durability is a key selling point and is backed by a generous warranty.

• PhonePro is offered in dozens of colors, many of which do not sell well, resulting in a lot of unsold inventory. This is further complicated by the attempt by the company to have each style available for all popular phones and stay up to date with the specific sizes of Apple and Android models. At the same time, there is often a shortage of the most popular sizes and colors.
• Although they manufacture their products in Montana, they are dependent upon suppliers from Malaysia and Thailand for rubber and suppliers in China for high-quality silicone. Unreliability of these suppliers has disrupted production schedules. There is also varied quality of materials from these suppliers, leading to the variability in quality of the phone cases that has in turn led to many customer returns.
• PhonePro sells most of their phones through distributors, particularly a few high-volume chain retail stores like Walmart and Target and online retailers like Amazon. Regardless of the retailer, the phone cases sell at $24 each; PhonePro gets $16 per order with the rest going to the retailer.
• They have been inefficient in filling orders when they are placed, often lagging several days behind the order, and getting the phone cases to the distribution centers around the country. This is further affected by the extreme weather in Montana, where heavy snowfall can close roads and delivery routes for days.
• They position themselves as a green company but have a high amount of waste from their production process.
• Workers have a great deal of autonomy and task variability but are disorganized.

Further problems that are caused by the operations problems:

• Negative online reviews from customers, due to quality issues
• High employee turnover due to low morale

Helpful Links:

---

A. ASSIGNMENT

Address each of these operational elements for PhonePro below. Each major element should be a level one heading in your paper, with 23 paragraphs analyzing the problem and making your recommendations.

Part One: The Supply Chain

• How can PhonePro make their procurement of materials more reliable?
• How can PhonePro maintain and improve distribution?
• What inventory optimization strategies can improve efficiency during the manufacturing process?
• Name at least one recommendation in these areas that will solve a problem identified in the scenario, using the concepts in the tutorials and performing calculations when necessary.

See .

Part Two: Production Efficiency

What are the utilization and efficiency of PhonePro, based on these figures?

• Their average is 25,00030,000 units per month.
• Operating at full capacity around the clock, their facilities are capable of producing 40,000 units per month.
• Based on staffing hours, maintenance needs, and other mitigating factors, they can realistically produce 32,000 units per month. If they could solve other logistical problems, they feel they could sell that many without either backlog of inventory or unmet demand.

What factors from the scenario may be leading to the inefficiency?

What measures could they take to anticipate and meet demand given the challenges of the market? Recommend one or more manufacturing models or concepts from the tutorials, such as Lean, Six Sigma, and TQM. Give specific aspects of any model you recommend and how it will help with the specific problems identified above.

In all, there should be three specific recommendations of changes to their process; these may be all part of one model or taken from different models, as long as there are three specific recommendations that would work well together.

See Challenge 3.1, Manufacturing Models, and Challenge 4.1, Methods of Quality Control.

Part Three: Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis

Based on the information below, calculate the variable and fixed costs at their current location. See for detailed instruction and an example.

• Remember that PhonePro sells between 25,00030,000 units a month at a retail price of $24. The retailer gets $8 of this, and PhonePro collects $16.
• Materials cost 30% of the retail cost, or an average of $7.20 per unit.
• They have 1820 workers on the factory floor who are paid hourly, dependent on production. These workers make an average of $13/hour, and the facilities are in operation 10 hours a day, 6 days a week; the company thus pays between $58,000 and $69,000 a month. You can calculate this as $2.32 per unit.
• There are four full-time managerial staff (CEO, COO, CFO, and HR Manager) who make a combined $37,500 a month in salary and benefits.
• PhonePro pays an additional $24,000 a month in insurance for the workers, who do not get any other benefits; this only covers on-site accidents.
• Rent, taxes, and insurance for the facilities is $7,000 a month.
• Utilities are $1,000$1,200 a month depending on how busy they are. You can calculate this as $0.04 per unit.
• Packaging and shipping cost $50,000$60,000 per month depending on production. You can calculate this at $2.00 per unit.

Based on the costs you calculated above, calculate the following for 25,000 units sold:

• The variable costs per unit
• The fixed costs per month
• The contribution margin per unit and total contribution margin
• The net operating income
• The break-even point (round up to the nearest 100)
• The margin of safety

hint

Use the spreadsheet provided to help with these calculations. This is provided as an aid only and will not be returned to us as part of your Touchstone.

Part Four: Location Selection

PhonePro is considering moving facilities out of Montana so they can be closer to suppliers and distributors. You have already completed a cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis for Billings, Montana. Perform a similar analysis for the locations below to help PhonePro make this decision.

Cupertino, California

• The company projects they will be able to sell more units, between 32,00040,000, due to having immediate access to a much larger population.
• Materials will be cheaper due to lower shipping costs and proximity to the Pacific trade routes. These will now be 25% of the retail cost, or an average of $6 per unit.
• The salary expectations in California are higher, even with higher unemployment; these will be an average of $17.50/hour.
• They will need a bigger team of 2224 people to handle the higher production, for an approximate total of $87,000$110,000 per month. You can calculate this as $2.73 per unit.
• The managerial staff (CEO, COO, CFO, and HR Manager) will receive a cost-of-living increase, bringing their salary and benefits to $50,000/month.
• PhonePro will pay $28,800 a month in insurance for workers, due to the higher number of staff.
• Rent, taxes, and insurance for the facilities will be $10,000 a month.
• Utilities are expected to be about $1,300$1,600, but still $0.04 per unit.
• Packaging and shipping will be cheaper due to better transportation routes. You can calculate this at $1.80 per unit.

Walla Walla, Washington

• The company anticipates they will be able to sell more units, but not as many as they would in California, estimating sales at 28,00032,000 per month.
• Materials will be similar to Cupertino, at $6 per unit.
• The salary expectations are also the same, at $17.50/hour, due to a high state minimum wage. The team will be 2022 people. You can calculate labor as $2.73 per unit.
• The managerial staff (CEO, COO, CFO, and HR Manager) will receive a smaller cost-of-living increase, bringing their salary and benefits to $40,000/month.
• PhonePro will pay $24,400 a month in insurance for workers.
• Rent, taxes, and insurance for the facilities will be $8,000 a month.
• Utilities are the same, at $0.04 per unit.
• Packaging and shipping will be the same as Cupertino, at $1.80 per unit.
• Washington State has a Green Energy Incentive Credit for small businesses that follow ISO guidelines. PhonePro believes they could meet these standards, which would save them $500/month.

hint

Use the spreadsheet provided to help with these calculations. It is the same spreadsheet you used in step 3. This is provided as an aid only and will not be returned to us as part of your Touchstone.

Based on your calculations, make a conclusion on the economics of different facility locations based on variable costs, contribution margin, net operating income, and break-even analysis for all three locations.

hint

Create a table in your report to help readers visualize this information.

Also, do additional research on quality-of-life factors to further guide your recommendations. Only the four high-ranking managers of PhonePro would make the move, and they are all very interested in issues beyond the economics of the company, such as the quality of life in the community, the cost of living, the ranking of public schools, and access to recreational activities. Make a final recommendation on location based on all the considerations and CVP analysis and be sure to justify your rationale.

Part Five: Performance

Explain some of the potential reasons for high turnover and create a human resource strategy to manage these challenges. Make two specific recommendations on topics like job design, performance management, and motivation. Your recommendations should address problems described in the scenario and apply concepts from the tutorials. For the purposes of these recommendations, assume that the issues and solutions will be the same at the new location, unless you discover reasons in your research that they may be different.

---

B. Requirements

1. All content must be original, created for this assignment, and appropriate for an academic audience.
2. Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited, including the use of AI-generated content.
3. Submission must include your name, the date, and the title of your paper.
4. The choice of formatting decisions like font size are up to you, but make sure it is easy to read and consistently formatted.
5. Include all of the assignment components in a single .doc or .docx file.

---

B. RUBRIC

	Advanced (100%)	Proficient (85%)	Acceptable (75%)	Needs Improvement (50%)	Non-Performance (0%)
Overall Report Structure Paper is clearly presented following the recommended structure with fully developed introduction and conclusion and connectivity and coherence between each set of recommendations. (15%)	Introduction provides an overview of the papers major sections. The sections are connected by transitional language and synthesis of concepts. The conclusion summarizes the recommendations in a clear and succinct way.	The introduction provides an overview but may not include all major sections in the right order. Sections are usually connected with transitional language and synthesis of concepts. The conclusion provides a summary of the recommendations but may not include all the recommendations.	The introduction provides an overview but does not outline the major sections in the right order. Sections are not connected with transitional language or synthesis of concepts and recommendations. The conclusion provides a summary but does not list the recommendations.	Either the introduction or conclusion is missing, overly brief, or so off-topic that it does not serve its purpose. The other may provide an adequate or limited overview of the paper. Sections are not connected, and recommendations may have contradictions.	So little work is evident in introducing, connecting, and summarizing ideas, no credit can be given.
The Supply Chain Paper applies concepts from the tutorial to propose solutions and explanations that resolve procurement and distribution issues described in the scenario. (15%)	The paper demonstrates a thorough understanding of supply chain and production and how it pertains to PhonePro. The recommendations are feasible for PhonePro and consistent with the tutorials.	The paper mostly demonstrates an understanding of supply chain and production and how it pertains to PhonePro. There may be small inconsistencies or gaps with the scenario or the tutorials.	The paper generally demonstrates an understanding of supply chain and production and how it pertains to PhonePro. There may be major inconsistencies or gaps with the scenario or the tutorials.	The paper only demonstrates a partial understanding of supply chain and production and does not make any recommendations appropriate to PhonePro.	So little work is evident in the section, no credit can be given.
Production Efficiency Paper applies concepts from the tutorial to propose solutions and explanations that resolve efficiency issues described in the scenario. (15%)	The paper shows a thorough understanding of production challenges described in the scenario and recommends at least three strategies from the tutorials, all from the tutorials on manufacturing models and/or quality control.	The paper shows a good understanding of production challenges described in the scenario and recommends at least two strategies from the tutorials, preferably the tutorials on manufacturing models and/or quality control.	The paper shows some understanding of production challenges described in the scenario and recommends at least one strategy from the tutorials, preferably the tutorials on manufacturing models and/or quality control.	The paper may only describe the production challenges in the scenario without applying concepts from the tutorials or describes content in the tutorials without applying them to the scenario.	So little work is evident in the section, no credit can be given.
CVP Analysis Paper shows understanding of the CVP formula and use of the spreadsheet provided to accurately report the net revenue, break-even point, and margin of safety. (15%)	The paper shows a thorough understanding of cost-volume-profit analysis and how it pertains to PhonePro. Students perform the analysis and answer the questions correctly, distinguishing between fixed costs and variable costs to correctly predict net income, the break-even point, and the margin of safety.	The paper shows some understanding of a cost-volume-profit analysis and how it pertains to PhonePro. Students perform the analysis and mostly answer the questions correctly to correctly (or closely) predict at least two of the following: net income, the break-even point, and the margin of safety.	The paper shows a fair understanding of a cost-volume-profit analysis and how it pertains to PhonePro. Students perform the analysis and answer the questions but may arrive at incorrect answers to the net income, break-even point, and margin of safety either due to mathematical errors or inconsistency in following the formulas and figures provided.	The paper shows a limited or poor understanding of a cost-volume-profit analysis. The student may not use the tool provided or fails to use it correctly, arriving at numbers that are inaccurate and unrealistic for a business the size of PhonePro.	So little work is evident in the section, no credit can be given.
Location Selection Paper applies concepts from the tutorials and uses the spreadsheet provided to arrive at a cogent analysis of the three locations and make a recommendation that includes economic and other factors. (15%)	The paper shows a thorough understanding of location selection and how it pertains to PhonePro. Students use a cross-CVP analysis to compare the three locations and provide an economic analysis, as well as describing other quality-of-life issues for each location which are supported by research.	The paper shows a good understanding of location selection and how it pertains to PhonePro. Students use a cross-CVP analysis to compare the three locations and provide an economic analysis; the response may fail to include other factors in each community that would impact the decision or reveal small mistakes or misunderstandings in the economic comparison.	The paper shows some understanding of location selection and how it pertains to PhonePro. Students use a cross-CVP analysis to compare the three locations and provide an economic analysis; the response may fail to include other factors in each community that would impact the decision or reveal small mistakes or misunderstandings in the economic comparison.	The paper shows a limited or poor understanding of location selection and how it pertains to PhonePro. Students fail to correctly use a cross-CVP analysis to compare the three locations and provide and economic analysis, as well as describing other quality-of-life issues for each location which are supported by research.	So little work is evident in the section, no credit can be given.
Performance Applies concepts from the tutorial to address personnel issues described in the scenario. (15%)	The paper analyzes the performance problems as given in the scenario and makes at least two recommendations. The recommendations apply concepts from the tutorials that respond to the challenges of high turnover and low motivation.	The paper analyzes the performance problems as given in the scenario and makes at least one recommendation. The recommendation applies a concept from the tutorials that responds to the challenges of high turnover or low motivation.	The paper analyzes the performance problems as given in the scenario but fails to make an appropriate recommendation, or the recommendation is inconsistent with the tutorials or the scenario.	The paper analyzes the performance problems as given in the scenario but fails to make any recommendations or describes concepts in the tutorials but does not apply them to the scenario.	So little work is evident in the section, no credit can be given.
Conventions (10%) Minimize errors in standard English grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Follows APA formatting.	Includes virtually no minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Any outside references are cited correctly in the paper with a complete reference at the end.	Includes fewer than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes more than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage, or so little work is present, no credit can be given.

WRITE MY PAPER