Scope & Nature

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 function is vital to overall business performance as it is where a number of process come together to make the products and service to satisfy customer needs. However, operation function needs the finance function to manage the flow of

Per Satterlee, chapter eight of Organization Management and Leadership, is about operations management, which is how products or services are provided in the most efficient and effective way. “Operations management is the implementation of all the functions of management,” (Satterlee, p. 224). This includes where infrastructure may be built, where supplies and materials are obtained, production is scheduled, inventory is managed, and equipment is maintained.

In organizations today there are many factors in operating a company that requires various essential abilities and skills. Managers must have the ability to manage issues when they present themselves before resulting in a larger problem. The ability to manage cost, over see many projects, and also forward think are critical strengths a leader must have. Using project management to implement new processes, ensure life cycles of products stay relevant and management inventory levels are all key factors that will ensure financial success with an organization.

According to Investopedia ULC (2012), " Operations management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as

Organizations large or small all strive to be successful through fostering a culture of great people, great processes, great products, and great results. Typically, three main functions play into an organization, marketing, operations, and financial accountability. Marketing generates the demand through the promotion of goods and services. Operations creates the goods, handles the movement of the goods, and ensures successful final delivery of the goods or service. The financial accountability is how the organization is doing financially concerning accounts receivable and accounts payable. Of the three, operations is arguably the most important to the success of an organization and has many key components that play into this success including operations strategies, supply chain, inventory control, and cost leadership to name a few.

James, T. (2011) defines Operations Management as the management of the processes which aid production of goods and or services. This implies that all production activities must be coordinated well to ensure a lean process of resource management is adopted.

The role of operations management is vital in planning and managing the way that inputs for the business are transformed. Ultimately, operations management is trying to achieve a competitive advantage for their organisation through improved efficiencies, product quality, reduction of cost and product differentiation.

Operations Management explores the way organizations produce and distribute goods and services. Everything you wear, eat, sit on, use or read comes to you courtesy of the

Operations Management is responsible for designing, operating and improving productive systems or in layman’s terms, systems for getting work done. Operations Managers are found in all walks of life. In anything you basically do or have done there are operations managers. When you go to the store, when you buy gas, in factories, in hospitals, banks even in your government there are operation managers. They are the ones who design systems, who ensure the quality of your

Operations processes refers to the acquisition of inputs which are transformed in a business through the addition of value into outputs of goods and services. Businesses use operational processes involving inputs and transformation processes to increase efficiency and output. The operations management focuses on carefully and managing processes to produce and distribute products and services based on the nature of the business. To achieve objectives in a business, the quality of products are monitored regularly using customer services and warranties. Both Qantas and McDonalds, utilise operation process in order to gain maximum efficiency and productivity.

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.

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 is a zone of management concerned with supervising, outlining, and controlling the procedure of creation and overhauling business operations in the generation of merchandise or administrations. It includes the obligation of guaranteeing that business operations are proficient as far as utilizing as couple of assets as required, and compelling regarding meeting client necessities. It is concerned with dealing with the procedure that changes over inputs (in the types of crude materials, work, and vitality) into yields (as products and/or services). The relationship of operations management to senior management in business connections can be contrasted with the relationship of line officers to largest amount senior officers in military science. The most elevated amount officers shape the system and update it after some time, while the line officers settle on strategic choices in backing of completing

The operations function is important in implementing the strategy of an organisation because the business strategy only defines the long term plans for the company, whereas the operations function focuses on specific competitive priorities in order to meet the organisations long term plan. Prime Bank of Massachusetts had decided on a long term plan for the bank focusing on customer services and they needed the operations function to implement this long term plan through planning & control systems, workers and quality. Problems such as not having enough phone lines for the 24 hours customer service could cause customers to become irritated if they cannot get through on the phone and