Write a 3000 (± 10%) word business report based on the Vitner (2019) paper “Improving productivity of hospital operating rooms (ORs): the case of a public hospital”
The article outlines how hospitals go about scheduling Operating Rooms (ORs). The assessment requires you to outline the challenge of scheduling ORs in terms of the 4Vs and the effect that scheduling can have on operational performance measures. Also identify stakeholders in the scheduling procedure and develop five operational performance measures that address at least two different groups of stakeholders needs.
The report should address the following areas:
a) Summarise the operations of the operating rooms in terms of operations strategy, associated performance measures and the 4Vs. (25% approx. words 600)
b) Summarise the literature on scheduling ORs. (20% approx. words 1000)
c) Identify groups of stakeholders and how they will relate to the use of the OR in operational terms such as service quality. (20% approx. words 500)
d) Develop five operational performance measures including data source, frequency, formulae and rationale. The measures should address at least two different stakeholder groups. (25% approx. words 500)
10% of marks are for correct referencing – structure, coherence and figures. The guidelines for word count are approximate and so do not use all 3000 words to allow you some flexibility
Advice and Guidance:
Ensure you write in a business report style – guidance on Blackboard.
Make sure you reference theory and frameworks from the lectures
Use the cases we have studies to support your arguments where relevant
Ensure your recommendations are practical, especially in resource terms
Do your own independent literature research in relevant areas
In a business report diagrams, figures and tables should appear in the text rather than in an appendix. Materials in an appendix will not be marked.
Words in the diagrams, figures and tables do count towards the word count
Words in the reference or bibliography section do not count towards the word count Hand in date 18th July via Blackboard
Writing a Report
The purpose of a business report is to provide business information in a well-structured and digestible form. It differs from an essay in that it has a more visible structure and suits the use of diagrams, tables and graphs. This format is commonly used in organizations to convey information.
The main elements are as follows;
Title Page This contains; The title of your assignment Your course number (MNxxxx) Your registration Number Your name Date of submission
Summary. Up to about 300 words summarizing your research and its findings
Contents page. You need to list of sections the report and add the page numbers. The sections should be numbered sequentially and can include subsections. Microsoft Word can generate this automatically if you set up your document correctly.
Introduction. This may be quite short, half a page, or longer if required. Its purpose is to set the scene and introduce back ground material such the nature of the organization you are studying and why you are studying it. Quite often it will also outline the structure of the report
Main body – this is usually divided into numbered sections with their own titles (don’t use the words main body). The sections that form the main body present the data you want to convey. The sections are numbered and may have subtitles, graphs, tables and figures. All graphs, tables and figures should have:
Have a title, a number and a source e.g. figure 21. Graph of costs from 1987 to 2005 (Dane 2006). Sometimes the source is from you the author, in which case state “complied by the author” and you may want include sources if you have used them.
Be referred to in the text e.g. Figure 2.1 demonstrates how costs have decreased from 1987 to 1998 then doubled from 1998 to 2005
6. Conclusions and recommendations. These sections should contain no new materials but you may want to cross reference back to evidence you have researched and used (and referenced) earlier in your report.
7. References. These should be organized under authorship in alphabetical order as per Harvard method of referencing and usually includes books, journals, official publications, company reports, websites and newspaper reports. Some organizations use methods of referencing other than Harvard
8. Appendixes. Any additional data you would like to add – such as raw data from surveys, sample responses from interviews, interview schedules etc.
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