Mark Hepburn e-Portfolio

OPMT2171 Pacific Northwest Bank

2009-02-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

The most critical success factor for any project is its planning documentation. A project could have perfect execution, but could completely miss what the client actually wanted. For example, an engineering consulting firm was not paid by the City of West Vancouver after presenting its final report even though the City's management commended the quality of the report. Why? The end report did satisfy the City's requirements as agreed to on the Terms of Reference.

The purpose for this assignment was to construct a Terms of Reference (TOR) for the initial phase of Pacific Northwest Bank's plans to implement an e-procurement system. The goal of this system is to allow its supply management department to provide more value-added tasks necessary to become a strategic unit within the corporation.

The TOR is composed of the following sections:

Problem/Opportunity Statement
Goal Statement
Project Scope (Also includes what is NOT in scope->very important)
Project Objectives (Deliverables, Milestones, Methodology)
Constraints
Success Criteria
Resource Requirements
Risks (Response through mitigation).

Click here to view the full TOR.

Completing this TOR really helped in developing the TOR for my team's Directed Studies project for Central 1 Credit Union. Directed Studies is a capstone course for my program where we take on an industry project for a local company. My team will be starting work on the project after spring break over a duration of 9 weeks.

OPMT2171 Jose's Mexican Restaurante

2009-02-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

The course name for OPMT2171 is Applied Management Engineering, however the core focus is Project Management. This course has taught me all of the essential skills of managing a project from planning to closing.

In addition to acquiring skills in project management, I also applied learned theory on process improvement in the case study: Jose's Mexican Restaurante. The main problem the restaurant faced was that customers were not being served in a reasonable time. In order to develop a feasible solution to this problem, several of Six Sigma's quality tools were used including Pareto diagrams and flowchart as exhibiting below:

Through the analysis, it was clear that the waiters were spending a significant portion of their time helping the chef in the kitchen instead of waiting on tables. Thus, the recommended solution was to hire a full-time assistant cook which would definitely increase table turnover, customer satisfaction, and decrease wait times during peak periods.

To view the whole report, please click here:

BSYS3100 Quails' Gate Estate Winery Database

2009-02-15T23:51:00.000-08:00

This is the 2nd project I've done based on Quails' Gate Estate Winery. For those of you who haven't yet tried their wine, I highly recommend doing so!

BSYS3100, Database Applications, taught me how both the theory and hands-on skills required to build simple databases using Microsoft Access 2007. There are many aspects to a database including Tables, Queries, Forms, & Reports. Tables are the foundation of a database and ensuring the relationships between tables are properly configured is crucial.

Before touching Access, written plans had to be completed. This included the Business Requirements document which outlined specifically what the client wanted out of the database. From this document, the fields for each table were identified.

The next step was the technical design in Access. There were many steps to building this database, but I would like to highlight one form we created as shown below:

This simple Order Entry form allows a CSR to enter an order, as well as check on the status of existing orders. Other forms included Products and Customers. To make the database easy-to-use, we designed a switchboard menu that utilized macros to open windows. This makes it unnecessary for a user to know how to use access.

BLAW3100 Employment Law Case Presentation

2009-02-14T20:51:00.000-08:00

For BLAW3100, Canadian Business Law, I was to analyze several cases found on CanLII and make a presentation to my class that incorporated debate and discussion from the audience.

The focus for the two cases selected for this presentation was Employment Law, specifically human rights & harassment.

Before presenting the details of the case, relevant law concepts are explained to ensure the audience is given a proper background.

The first case was Roy v. Maksteel Inc. The plaintiff sued his employer claiming wrongful dismissal and discrimination because of his incarceration. The court decided in favour of the plaintiff and awarded loss wages and moral damages totalling $50,000. However, this decision was appealed and the Court of Appeal reversed this decision in the favour of the employer citing the termination was valid as being incarcerated is not an excuse for not showing up to work.

The second case was Mottu v. MacLeod. The plaintiff sued her employer for discrimination based on sex, sexual harrassment, and forced resignation. Mottu was a bartender at a New Westminster nightclub and the case centres around a BCIT student party that had a hawaiian theme. The employer made it mandatory for all female staff to wear a bikini top and skirt, where the male staff could wear shirt and shorts. The case went to the BC Human Rights Tribunal which awarded Mottu $3000 in damages.

To view the full powerpoint, click here.

BUSA3800 Hidden Adventures Travel Ltd.

2009-02-12T22:47:00.000-08:00

As a major component of BUSA3800, Entrepreneurship & E-business, we were to apply the course concepts by developing a full business plan for a small business.

In brainstorming business ideas, we were advised to try to take something we enjoy doing, such as a hobby. As mentioned in some of my previous posts, I am an avid traveler with six countries under my traveling belt. Based on this, I decided on creating a plan for an adventure travel tour company and chose to name it Hidden Adventures Travel. The name stems from my mission to provide customers with 'hidden gems' of each destination, not just the typical tourist destinations.

Before writing the full business plan, I completed a feasibility study to ensure that my business idea was indeed worth pursuing. In doing this, I utilized the following analysis models: SWOT, Buskirk's, and Porter's. This study is also considered to be a marketing plan for a business as a full market research is required.

The full business plan essentially builds upon the feasibility study, with more detail, especially in regard to financial pro-forma statements.

In completing this project, I enjoyed learning about how to start up my own company and maximize the chances of success and selling my business idea to an investor.

To view a copy of my business plan, please click here.

By the way, if you are curious about what animal is shown above, it is the Tarsier monkey, the world's smallest monkey. I got the chance to hold a live Tarsier when I was in Bohol, Philippines.

MKTG 2334 - Sliced Tomatoes

2008-11-27T00:28:00.000-08:00

This marketing course focuses on Applied Marketing and Professional Sales. One large component was to assess the marketing strategy of a Vancouver-based B2C (Business to Consumer) company. My team of four selected Sliced Tomatoes, a ready-to-cook meal delivery service. This innovative company was started by a SFU Business graduate who came up with the business idea from Japan, where it is a multi-billion dollar industry.

After an in-depth analysis of Sliced Tomatoes as a company and its current marketing strategy, a new strategy was developed. My team focused on refining the company's target market and increasing brand awareness to that target through unique, guerrilla-tactic promotion.

Both a written report and powerpoint presentation were created. Click below to view.

Report
Powerpoint

I am very pleased with the end product of this project. I would like to give much deserved credit to my team members: Izobel, Aleana, and Ashley. You guys are awesome!

BMGT Year 1 Done!

2008-05-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

After a brutal last week of six exams in just four days, my first year at BCIT has come to an end. It is hard to believe that it has been nine months since orientation. My expectations have been met in terms of the practicality of BCIT's applied polytechnic education.

On May 28th I will be flying to Shanghai, China for a summer internship. Being an avid traveler, I am very excited to explore all of China, a country with over 5000 years of history. I've always aspired to have a career that involved international travel and I feel this experience will enhance my marketability in the increasingly global economic environment. I hope everyone has a great summer!

TDMT1353 International Business Country Risk Assessment - The Philippines

2008-05-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

The group project component of my international business course was an in-depth risk assessment of a foreign country.The purpose of this report was to strategically assess the risks of doing business in the Philippines. Through this assessment, strategies were formulated from identified business opportunities. The ultimate goal is to discover profitable ventures in the Philippines as global entrepreneurs.

Click here to view this report.

Before investing in a foreign country, all elements the operating environment must be throughly examined. These elements are:

Physical Environment
Business Culture
Economy Environment
Financial Environment
Political Environment
Legal Environment
Technology and Infrastructure.

These elements are almost always interdependent, making the environment complex as before considering a strategy, one must examine if other elements would cause any conflict, etc. To ensure the data used was not government-biased, we used the databases of OECD, World Bank, CIA, Asian Development Bank, as well as numerous news sources.

I was the project manager for this assignment. I oversaw the research of five team members and formulated the business implications and strategies. I was also the sole person in charge the financial environment. This report ended with 80+ pages and was completed within the 9 week duration of the course. My team and I are particularly proud of this report as it is largest one we have completed at BCIT. The skills and knowledge of International Business learned through this project are very valuable in today's global economy. I give my highest recommendations to my instructor, Steve Turnbull, for his amazing expertise and his teaching ability.

TDMT1353 International Business Journal

2008-05-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

For my international business course, our individual assignment was to write four analysis journals on news articles from The Globe & Mai l, all of which had to be related to international business and presented viable opportunities. Were were to approach our analysis with the mindset of a raving capitalist, who will do anything to make a buck. Through using economic indicators and trade data between the involved countries, I learned how to identify the business implications of the news story and formulate business strategies that would take advantage of the situation. The four articles I wrote about were:

China and Tibet Crisis
China and New Zealand Free Trade Agreement
Cuba Reforms Economy
China and Taiwan Landmark Talks

Click here to see my journal.

COMM2200 Persuasive Presentation

2008-05-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

As part of my Business Communications II course, I had to present a topic to my class persuading them to work abroad after graduation. This presentation enabled me to improve my selling and presenting skills. Also, a large part of my evaluation was how effectively I answered questions and objections to my topic. It is definitely challenging but since I believed in my idea, I responded well.

Click here to view my presentation.

I chose this topic because this summer I will be working in Shanghai, China. In addition, I love traveling and have been to six countries. My goal is to have a career that involves traveling internationally, whether it be for a large multi-national or my own company.

An interesting fact that I discovered while researching for this project was that according to Statistics Canada's 2006 Census, workers aged 25-29 earned 14% less than those of the same age in 1980. Despite media reports of Canada experiencing a labour shortage, the problem lies in a Catch 22 of post-secondary graduates. Graduates are being educated at much higher levels, but since they lack in work experience, they typically land $13/hr jobs after graduation and take many years before moving up the corporate ladder. Granted some degrees still pay such as nursing, engineering, and many skilled trades. Though as a business student and after looking at job postings, good job opportunities are very hard to qualify for, especially in BC. Also there is the baby boomer effect. The baby boomer's continue to work well past 65, preventing young graduates to enter the workplace at a decent level.

Thus why I am headed to China this summer. After apply for only a dozen listings online, I received two job offers in just four days. One as a Business Development Manager and the second as an Business Communications Instructor for a large commercial real estate firm. Both of which I could never land in Vancouver. If this situation for young workers in Canada continues, Canada will suffer brain-drain as more graduates wake up and see the immense opportunities the rest of the world is offering.

BUSA2100 - Management Report

2008-02-29T00:09:00.000-08:00

As part of my BUSA2100 (Introduction to Management) course, we had to produce a 30+ page report detailing all aspects of management of two exemplary companies. In my team of eight members, we chose to focus on the hotel industry and chose Marriott Hotels and Fairmont Hotels as the subjects of our study. Through extensive secondary research and an interview with the Resident Manager of the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel Vancouver (we were unsuccessful in obtaining an interview with Fairmont Hotel Vancouver), we analyzed the following for each company:

Overview and History
Ownership and Corporate Structure
Organizational Culture
External Environment
Social Responsibility
Organizational Structure and Design
Strategic Planning

Click here to download a copy of our final report.

OPMT1100 Project - Wikipedia Style Article

2008-02-26T15:20:00.000-08:00

As part of my OPMT1100 (Intro to Operations Management) course, we were to write an article on an OPMT topic in Wikipedia format and post it to the web using Blogger. The topic I chose was RFID's Use in Inventory Management. I chose this topic due to my previous position at C-Pac of Canada Ltd., a distributor of paper and computer products. As purchaser, I gained valuable knowledge in the area of inventory management among a host of other purchasing-related skills.

RFID stand for Radio-frequency identification. It is an automatic identification process which relies on storing and accessing data using RFID tags or labels. In the past few years, the RFID industry has created quite the buzz with large companies such as Walmart and Procter & Gamble adopting the technology into their supply chains.

Below is the link to my article. My grade for this assignment was 100%.
http://rfidandinventorymanagement.blogspot.com/

OPMT1100 Group Project - Quails' Gate Estate Winery

2008-02-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

Part of my OPMT100 - Introduction to Operations Management course required a team project that analyzed an inefficient process of a real company. We identified Quails' Gate's inventory system to be the focus of our study. Due to this inefficient process, Quails' Gate was losing about $24,000/yr in lost inventory. The alternative that I discovered was a RFID implanted wine cork called Smartcorq, pictured below.

Although my alternative turned out to be too costly, my instructor and classmates were intrigued by this product. My group's recommended solution was to install Sage Accpac's WMS (Warehouse Management Software) to the existing Accpac ERP system. In addition, we suggested Quails' Gate implement a Mobile Inventory Count system that uses PocketPcs to do inventory counts. We estimated this solution would decrease inventory loss by 70% or $16800/year.

We received a grade of 95% overall.
Below are links to the powerpoint and written report.
Powerpoint Presentation
Written Report

Welcome!

2008-02-21T17:19:00.001-08:00

Welcome to my e-portfolio. I will be showcasing some of my projects, as well as my resume and skills overview. I am currently studying in the Business Management program at BCIT and will be graduating in June 2009.