Management

Order Description
Reducing design complexity is a principle that applies just as much to service as to manufactured products. For example, television programmes are made increasingly with a worldwide market in mind. However, most television audiences around the world have a distinct preference for programmes which respect their regional tastes, culture and of course language. The challenge facing global programme makers therefore is to try to achieve the economies which come as a result of high-volume production while allowing programmes to be customised for different markets.

For example, take the programme ‘Art Attack!’ made for the Disney Channel, a children’s TV channel shown around the world. In 2001, 216 episodes of the show were made in six different language versions. About 60% of each show is common across all versions. Shots without speaking or where the presenter’s face is not visible are shot separately. If a simple cardboard model is being made, all versions will share the scenes where the presenter’s hands only are visible. Commentary in the appropriate language is over-dubbed onto the scenes which are edited seamlessly with other shots of the appropriate presenter. The final product will have the head and shoulders of Brazilian, French, Italian, German or Spanish presenters flawlessly mixed with the same pair of (British) hands constructing the model. The result is that local viewers in each market see the show as their own. Even though presenters are flown into the UK production studios, the cost of making each episode is only about one third of producing separate programmes for each market.

(1) How does the concept of modularisation apply to this example?

In this question explain what the concept of modularisation is and then talk about how it applies to the example

(2) What do you think are the similarities between what this company did and how motor vehicle manufacturers design their products?
Talk about the similarities and use Mercedes as an example for the motor vehicle manufacturers– for example parts for 8 cylinders engines can be substituted with parts of 4 cylinders because they’re cheaper. A company can make the same parts for 4 and 8 cylinders.