A massive earthquake, a nuclear emergency, and a tsunami have impacted Nissan Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer. The below paper describes how proper operations management practices will help with the recovery of Nissan. “Operations Management (OM) is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs” (Heizer & Render, 2014). Nissan uses operations management functions, such as organizing, leading, planning, staffing, and controlling, which are all related to the supply chain, to generate value (Heizer et al., 2014). This management process helps correctly address operations decisions. For Nissan, the leading OM output is automobiles, but to make this company run …show more content…
This helped the company and its customers when doing business with other regions and people, specifically dealing with communication problems. Finally, distinguished from the competitors, Nissan was able to provide a simple product line. “The company adopted a build-to-stock strategy for just a few SKUs in each model and a build-to-order strategy for the rest” (Schmid et al., 2013). Management states that this strategy has allowed Nissan to pick and chose what they wanted in the vehicles, in order to fulfill the needs of their customers, which increased sales as well. Nissan’s customers feel appreciated and that their voice matters too, which builds loyalty and more sales for the company. Nissan has been able to achieve a competitive advantage using OM. A competitive advantage is “the creation of a unique advantage over competitors” (Heizer et al., 2014), which Nissan has been able to do with the operations function and keeping a focus on flexibility. “In January 2012, Nissan announced that it would increase the localized production of its cars in the America from approximately 70% to 90% by 2015. This displayed a competitive advantage against other automobile manufacturers following the impact of a massive earthquake, a nuclear emergency, and a tsunami. Since financial crises in 2008 had caused higher costs, the company used localized production to lower those costs. Nissan has actually established a competitive
Operations management is essential for the survival and success of any organization. According to Heizer & Render (2011), operations management (OM) is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. Operations managers today contend with competition, globalization, inflation, consumer demand, and consistent change in technology. Managers must focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes such as cost, dependability, distribution, flexibility, and speed. The intent of this paper is to discuss the processes and operations management of the Kroger Company.
Nissan functions using these two major components. Service and manufacturing organizations face many similar issues that affect the end result of the operation. For example, both face issues of cost control, and create mission statements and a vision for how the organization will be run and perceived by customers. They however their operations answer different questions and formulate different strategies when it comes to planning and managing the way in which an organization is run. The manufacturing operations at Nissan are in contrast to that of TPS, they leveraged a regional, decentralized supply chain structure, but still imposed a strong central control and coordination in times of global crises. Service wise they maintained a flexible organization by integrating and embracing diversity into their team. These two operations gives value to the customers and meets the organizations overall objective of customer
Operations management is defined as the design, execution, and control of operations that convert resources into desired goods and services, while implementing an organizations business strategy (Business Dictionary, 2015). Office Depot Inc. is one such organization that truly understands that solid operations is the foundation to the success they have had in recent years. In this paper, I will give the history and background of Office Depot Inc. and explain why they have been able to keep such a competitive advantage in the consumer and small business supply industry. Additionally, I will
Operations Management in an organisation is repsonsible for managing and in making decisions concerning the activities that convert inputs into outputs , that is goods and services. This covers both short term actvities as well as longer term activities to meet strategic goals. Inputs can be the raw materaials need to manufacture goods such as furniture or the computers needed to create a service like online shopping site. Operation management’s role is to make decisions to improve how operation activities function, for example, to improve the final quality of the output or to change production methods to be more efficient in terms of cost and in time.
Operations management (OM) is that phase of an organization where inputs are put into operations to acquire required output (services) without compromising on quality. In other words operations management is also described as combining and transforming various resources in the operations sub-system into value added services in line with formulated policies of the organization. (Kumar and Suresh, 2009)
This analysis delves into the company’s operation management principles to interpret its successful strategies and offer future recommendations.
Competition is good for producers but better for consumers, more competition in the market means more: ideas, channels of distribution, market stability and competitive (lower) prices for consumers. Ultimately, healthy competition forces producers to offer better products and services at lower prices. Automobiles provide people with “…aspirational value in addition to a basic mode of transportation…” (Reinhardt, Yao & Egawa, 2006) consumers make purchasing “decision based on the styling, color, and concept of the cars in addition to functions and pricing” (Reinhardt, Yao & Egawa, 2006). So far, TMC has been trying to catch up with Honda and Nissan in the ‘innovative’ department. Let’s not forget the criticism the company previously faced for offering its customers “…proliferation of look-alike cars…and following rather than setting a trend” (Reinhardt, Yao & Egawa, 2006).Since, Mr.
Operations management is concerned with all operations inside the company related to activities, which include overseeing buys, stock control, quality control, stockpiling and logistics. A great deal of center is on proficiency and effectiveness of such procedures. A case of successful operations management in retail segment is evident in Zara’s business model (Tanuwe)
Nissan uses many operation management functions in their business, which includes: planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling (Heizer, 3, 4). Nissan’s main operation management function is producing automobiles. The automobile industry is very competitive, so it takes more than just then producing automobiles to be considered a successful corporation. Nissan has shown that it understands the need to continually adjust the design of its auto line, to stay in synch with technology. Furthermore, when a catastrophic event happens, such as the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan, Nissan had pre-planned how it would handle the devastation, while avoiding severe economic losses.
Operations management focuses on managing the processes of producing and distributing products and services. Operations activities often include product creation, development, production and distribution. It deals with all operations within the organization. Related activities include managing purchases, inventory control, quality control, storage, logistics and evaluations. The nature of how operations management is carried out in an organization depends very much on the nature of products or services in the organization, for example, retail, manufacturing, wholesale, etc.
We will start the external analysis with the PESTEL analysis of the automotive sector followed by the Porter’s five forces analysis and we will end by having a look at the key competitors and competitor pricing.
Nissan focuses on maximizing its auto manufacturing operations through flexibility and efficiencies by maintaining a
Low-cost, time-efficient manufacturing of goods is a key feature of a successful production company in today’s competitive global economy. Operations management, often abbreviated in the business world as OM, is defined as “...the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs (Heizer and Render, p. 4).” Every day, factories take in raw materials and use the labor hours and skills of their employees to transform those same materials into a variety of consumer products,
Along with other Japanese manufacturers, Nissan was successfully competing on quality, reliability and fuel efficiency. By 1991, Nissan was operating very profitably, producing four of the top ten cars in the world.Nissan management throughout the 1990s, however, had displayed a tendency to emphasize short term market share growth, rather than profitability or long-term strategic success. Nissan was very well known for its advanced engineering and technology, plant productivity, and quality management. During the previous decade, Nissan’s designs had not reflected customer opinion because they assumed that most customers preferred to buy good quality cars rather than stylish, innovative cars. Instead of reinvesting in new product designs as other competitors did, Nissan managers seemed content to continue to harvest the success of proven designs. They tended to put retained earnings into equity of other companies, often suppliers, and into real-estate investments, as part of the Japanese business custom of keiretsu investing. Through these equity stakes in other companies, Ghosn’s predecessors (and Japanese business leaders in general) believed that loyalty and cooperation were fostered between members of the value chain within their keiretsu.
Operational management processes in a firm involves overseeing, formulating and reformulation of the operations of a business. The processes are meant to ensure efficiency in administering resources whilst ensuring there is effective management of client’s specifications and or directions. This is achieved by adding value to the firm’s processes. Such achievements are experienced when a firm embarks in directing its physical and or technical functions towards enhancing its development, production and manufacturing. These should be pre-determined and controlled by market opportunities if a company is to reach its ultimate production levels. Their realisation adds up to ensuring the future of a firm, offering operational