1. Why study operations management?
Operations management is found everywhere. We encounter various goods and services produced by the transformation of inputs to outputs under the control of operations managers. Operations is a basic function along with finance and marketing. Through excellent operations wealth can be created, productivity improved and standard of living raised.
2. What is the difference between operations management and supply chain management?
The difference between supply chain and operations management is:
Operations management is involved with the interflow of departmental efficiencies within the business. The supply chain management is more involved with the interflow between the suppliers, production, and customers
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Their mission is to reach the patients as soon as possible to provide care while in route to the hospital
• Supply chain strategies Would be the services based on location, or hierarchy based on medical needs called in by 911.
Production of hybrid automobile batteries
• Operation strategy: A lean operation that supports products to market in a timely manner. Their strategy is lower costs or longer warranties as compared to other brands.
5. Describe Michael Porter’s three generic strategies.
• Cost leadership, in which the firm strives to be the low cost producer in the industry
• Differentiation, the company attempts to find a unique product or service
• Focus, where the firm seeks out specific niches in the market
6. Explain the Five Forces of Competition.
• Rivalry among competing sellers
• Potential new entrants
• Firms in other industries offering a substitute product
• Bargaining power of suppliers
• Bargaining power of buyers
7. What is the distinctive competence of the following companies? If you’re unsure of the distinctive competence, check their
According to Investopedia ULC (2012), " Operations management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as
Porter’s 3 generic strategies in the book have a few similarities to that of the 3 value disciplines from the paper “Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines”. The generic strategies are overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The value disciplines include operational excellence, customer intimacy, and product leadership.
Operations Management focuses on the design and management of products, processes, services and supply chains (Diemond, 2014). It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that firms need to deliver the goods and services their clients want (Diemond 2014). Operations Management consists of many topics which are applied on a daily basis at the company I work for. Some of the topics include process control, lean manufacturing, six sigma, and supply chain management. It is the process that controls how inputs (raw materials, labor, and energy) get converted into outputs (finished goods or services).
The cost leadership strategy seeks to improve profit margins by bringing down the costs of producing while enabling the organization to still charge market prices. They also focus on increasing the market shares through lower pricing, enabling the organization to continue to reach profits because of reduced costs. As with any organization the goal is to minimize cost directly to the organization providing the delivery of products or services. According to Barney (2007) low cost leadership strategy takes pride in initiating its costs advantage abilities to charge lower prices while reaping the rewards of higher profits.
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.
An operations strategy is all about harmonising the features of the operations function with the requirements of the market in order to fulfil the needs of the business. A full appreciation of this process requires not merely an understanding of the ideas and methods used to develop an operations strategy but also knowledge of the techniques and principles involved in its implementation or execution thereof. Implementation requires knowledge of operations systems and polices including those that relate to resource planning and activity control, quality, plant management, motivation and organisation of people, performance metrics and continuous improvement.
In cost leadership a firm will set out to become a low cost producer in its industry. A low cost producer must find and exploit all sources of cost advantage. If a firm can achieve and sustain overall cost leadership then it will become an above average performer within its industry. The sources of cost advantage are varied and depend upon the
The organizations that endeavour to wind up the least cost makers in an industry can be alluded to as those taking after a low cost procedure. The organization with the least expenses would gain the most elevated benefits in the occasion when the contending items are basically undifferentiated, and offering at a standard business market cost. Organizations taking after this methodology place accentuation on cost diminishment in each action in the value chain. Note that an organization may be a cost pioneer however that does not inexorably infer that the organization 's items would have a low cost. In specific occurrences, the organization can for occasion charge a normal cost while applying the low cost leadership strategy and put the earnings made back into the business
A successful cost leadership strategy usually provides the entire firm with high efficiency, low overhead, limited perks, intolerance of waste, intensive screening of budget requests, and wide span of control efforts. However, some risks of pursuing this strategy are that competitors might imitate the strategy, thus, driving overall industry profits down; that technology breakthroughs in the industry may make the strategy ineffective; or that buyer’s interest may swing to other differentiating features besides price.
Operations management refers to all levels of an organisation and how best to efficiently convene, fund, maintain and maximise its services and/or operations, both internal and external. The core goal/objective of operations management it to maximise outputs while reducing and minimising the inputs required to achieve the desired results.
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)
Introduction: In this assignment I will be providing apprentices and readers with an understanding of the role and importance of operations management in the efficient and effective production of goods and services.
The effectiveness of organizational performance depends on the capability of the organization to cooperate and direct the activities of its various functional units to eliminate discrepancies and maximize efficiency. Marketing and operations management are two main functions within any organization. Both of them are responsible for providing goods and services that satisfy the customer needs. This essay will point out the role of marketing and operations management within business. The essay shall also explore how the absence of coordination between marketing and operations management create quality gap. Eventually, the essay will also mention the importance of coordination between marketing and operation management.
Operations management is generally described as the planning, arrangement, and control of activities that change raw materials or an organization's input into finished products and services. The overall activities covered by operations management include the creation, development, manufacture, and distribution of products. The concept also relates to various activities such as inventory control, controlling purchases, quality control, logistics, storage, and evaluation ("Operations Management in McDonalds", n.d.). Since operations management covers the entire operations in an organization, it mainly focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness of the firm's processes.
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.