1. Being able to identify opportunities for improvement based on data and other information is a valuable professional skill. Most management and administration positions require this skill, but this can be a highly specialized employment position. This position is often referred to as a “Continuous Improvement Manager” or a slight variation of this title. The primary responsibility of this position is to drive continuous improvement in both quality and productivity while reducing cost and eliminating inefficiencies. If you were a Continuous Improvement Manager in your organization, describe some of the methodology you would apply to identify root causes. What are the tools you would use to help you achieve your primary job responsibilities?

2. Identify stakeholders and plan how manufacturing or service processes use value stream mapping. What is the benefit and why do companies do it? How would a company measure improvements?

3. Internal processes of a company contribute to the company’s overall effectiveness. Identifying ways to improve internal processes helps build a highly efficient organization. Root causes need to be identified. Methods to identify root causes may require substantial analysis or be apparent based on a major problem within the organization.

3a. Review the article, “Inside Chipotle’s Contamination Crisis: Smugness and Happy Talk About Sustainability Aren’t Working Anymore,” from Bloomberg Businessweek.

3b. Research several other sources regarding Chipotle’s food contamination crisis. Create a flowchart of the original supply chain and how Chipotle supplies each of the restaurant chains. Provide your own commentary.

3c. Create another flowchart that suggests a new way to supply the restaurant chains.

3d. Review another restaurant chain that does not currently have a major public problem but would benefit from evaluating its manufacturing process to improve competitiveness. Specifically, provide recommendations on how to improve the company’s current supply chain. Create a flowchart to illustrate your recommendations. Provide a summary of how you came to your recommendations. Include any formal strategies and informal thought processes you used to reach your conclusions. Provide rationale for either using or not using Six Sigma methodology, ISO quality benchmarking, lean supply chain processes, or TQM.

**Submit all three flowcharts and commentary for each flowchart in a single document. APA style. Provide three to five resources to support your response.