OPEN UNIVERSITY of MAURITIUS

Module Name: Operations Management

Lecturer’s Name: Dr Bhimsen Abacousnac

INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS - READ PROPERLY THE MODE OF SUBMISSION

Your assignment will be marked on a total of 30 marks.
Submission date:
Please note that any assignment submitted after the deadline, marks will be deducted as per
assignment submission procedure document.
Word limit: 4000 words maximum
Format: Please follow the guidelines in the document “Guide to writing assignments” available
on Moodle.
You are required to conform to Harvard referencing style.
Plagiarism will be heavily penalised and may result to non-award of marks.
Please include a bibliography at the end of your document.
Mode of submission:
Please submit one hard copy to your respective tutor on the due date during the time of the
session of that tutor and a soft copy on: assign@open.ac.mu by or before due date.
In case the hard or soft copy is received after the due date, marks will be deducted as per OU policy.
The onus is on learner to ensure that the hard or soft copy reaches before/on the due date. The
current penalty is 2% per day (weekends and public holidays included) for any assignment received
after the due date which the tutor will deduct from the final mark.
Due Date: 5 October 2019
POINTS TO REMEMBER WHEN SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
All assignments submitted should include TRIPLICATE Form (available at OUCC/Reduit)
The Open University of Mauritius will not hold itself responsible or liable for the non-award of
marks if you fail to submit the assignment as per the required mode of submission.

Assignment question:

1
 (i) Outsourcing of activities has become very popular in recent years. More and more
organisations are having recourse to this practice. The mantra is: “Concentrate on your
core activities and outsource the rest”. Some organisations even outsource core
activities. These are referred to as virtual organisations. They just have a core of
permanent workers to control the activities and the work is allotted to a group of
subcontractors,
(a) Carry out a literature review on the concept of outsourcing.
Your assignment should include (but not limited to) the following:
 An introduction to the concept of outsourcing. What is outsourcing?
 Why do organisations outsource.
 The benefits of outsourcing.
 The problems which can be caused by outsourcing activities. Limitations of outsourcing.
 What activities can be outsourced? What activities should not be outsourced?
 Why should organisations control outsourced activities?
 Conclusion

Students are expected to critically analyse the various aspects of outsourcing and not just
passively report.

Your assignment should be in font size 12 and 1.5 spacing.

The referencing should be of Harvard style referencing.
Include a list of references and a bibliography
You should refer to journal articles and not online-references. You have to write the title of
the book or journal. It can be obtained on-line.