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B200B TMA
SPRING 2011
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“Atlanta International Airport” Short Case:

Atlanta International Airport employs over 10000 people, and it has staff from 300
organizations based at the airport to cater to the needs of their customers. There are
200 retail shops and restaurants. The airport handles around 80 million passengers
per year and about 1 million flights. Atlanta International Airport is recognized as
one of the most efficient and well-managed airports in the world.

The ground crews are loading and unloading aircraft, putting meals on board, filling
the fuel tanks and cleaning the airplanes. The baggage handling operation is sorting,
checking and dispatching bags to the many departing flights. The airlines’ ticketing
staff is dealing with lines of passengers, each of whom may have a different
destination. The information desk deals with the many queries, such as people
wanting to know if their plane is delayed, the location of a hotel, or trying to work out
how to get by road or plane to their final destination. Passengers flow through the
lounges, passport control and security checks, and use duty free shops and restaurants,
all of which have to always be kept clean and fully stocked. All of these activities,
and more, are coordinated by the airport’s Director of Operations.

According to the Operations Director, the secret of managing operations is to make

sure you have very good processes and procedures. Everything has to be well planned
and tested. Atlanta International Airport is the busiest airport in the world. Therefore,
it should continually try to improve all the processes and operations happening on its
premises.

QUESTION

After defining what is a transformation model and what is an operation or

process, identify the micro-operations to be found at the airport and clarify the
difference between transformed resources and transforming resources. Also
summarize the job of the operations director (and his/her priorities), and discuss
an example of a business you know that has successful operations.

(100 marks)
NOTES TO STUDENTS

Cut-off date: Submit this assignment no later than 9 May 2011.

Word count: Discuss the above statement in no more than 1700 words.
Referencing: You must acknowledge all your sources of information using full
Harvard Style Referencing (in-text referencing plus list of references at the end).
E-library: Use EBSCO to get journal articles.
Plagiarism: It is very important to use your own words, Plagiarism will lead to a loss
of marks and extensive plagiarism could mean that you failed your TMA.
Answering: Your response to the question should take the form of a full essay format
divided into a number of paragraphs with introduction and conclusion without
subheadings and bullet points. Use B200 ‘reader three’ chapters (Processes), the
above case, E-Library, and examples from your own country.
This TMA is 20% of B200B Grade.

Essay Guidance:
• Discuss concepts that you have learned from B200 module 3: Processes
(especially chapters 1, 2, and 5). Discuss also the short case given in this
TMA.
• Review each chapter's learning outcomes in the B200 study guide, module
three.
• Plan what you will write, and have a well organized outline.
• Select and group topics and decide the order in which you intend to write
about them.
• While answering the question, you should avoid descriptive writing, you are
asked to discuss a statement relying on B200 topics.
• You should support your discussion by using examples from module three
chapters and study guide, as well as examples from your own country or your
own experience.