Personal Reflections of My Experience as Operational Manager

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.

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.

Chase, R. B., Jacobs, F. R., Aquilano, N.J. Operations management for competitive advantage (11th ed). New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.

Chase, R.B., Jacobs, F. R., & Aquilano, N.J. (2006) Operations management for competitive advantage (11th ed). New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin

Heizer, J. H., & Render, B. (2010). Operations management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

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.

Vertical integration is a system where an organization grows its business operations into various steps on a similar creation way, such as when a manufacturer owns its supplier or distributor. Vertical integration can help organizations lessen costs and enhance efficiencies by diminishing transportation costs and decreasing turnaround time, among different favorable circumstances (Clara, 2016). Notwithstanding, in some cases it is more viable for an organization to depend on the set up mastery and economies of scale of different sellers as opposed to attempting to wind up vertically integrated. It can be a forward integration or backward integration or a combination (Berkowitz, 2011). For example, acquiring a supplier or distributor in the

Several companies are using vertical integration as a way of reducing costs and increase efficiency, which leading to increased competitiveness. Companies engaged in two kinds of vertical integration: Forward integration and Backward integration. Forward integration is a theory to achieve vertical integration in the company will gain ownership of the distributors. Backward integration is a theory to achieve vertical integration in the company will gain ownership of their suppliers. Companies may use integration strategy forward or backward, or it may use a mix of both, known as a balanced integration strategy.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

It is at first hand not understandable why many companies proceed in such an irrational way although their goal should be profit-maximization especially today where most markets are commodity markets and cost advantages are low (Christopher, Ch.1). Companies in the pre-outsourcing time used to be very successful in profit terms and the change in strategic policy must have more reasons than just an increased flexibility to compensate the “abdicated” advantages.

“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

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,

Business Operations Managers do many important jobs, however their main priority is to make sure the company is well organized and efficient by keeping a constant eye on production and evaluate what needs to be changed or kept the same according to monitored results. (“business Operations Manager 's Job Overview.”) Until the end of the 18th century, agriculture was the predominant industry, but agriculture soon evolved into industry, creating a position for operations managers almost everywhere, especially in car factories and similar settings where the work has to be fast and efficient. (“Operations Management.”) By the early 1960s Operations Management had become a professional field that mostly existed in big business and helped to organize work as well as maximize profit. (“Operations Management.”) In this essay I will provide information for the background of the career, career requirements and qualifications, working conditions and salary, the typical day, future needs for the career, my interest in the career, and a personal interview with the operations manager of B.C. Clark Jewelers.

The report entails the importance of Operations Management. As researched for the strategies already achievable within Sara Lee Corporation, the report explains and describes operations management strategies with the support of case material of other business both global and international. The strategies assessed within the report include; Performance objectives, Supply chain management, Technology, Quality management and Global factors. These are supported by the operations examples from Aldi, Australia Post, Coca Cola Amatil and McDonalds.

A written assignment where you demonstrate your understanding of Operations Management principle, tools and techniques through critical analysis of contemporary literature