Trends in Operations Management

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.

Frederick W. Taylor worked across the United States in the first 15 years of the 20th century looking to solve production problems (Owens & Valesky, 2011, p. 67). He was an engineer in steel manufacturing and studied developed what what is now known as the four principles of scientific management. These principles spell out what both managers and workers are to do. Two important principles include having the management set goals, plan, and supervise workers, and the workers perform the work, and that organizations should establish the standard where management “sets the objectives and the workers cooperate in achieving them” (p. 67). Taylor’s principles are still used today by some organizational leaders who fight the movement that management should work as a team with the workers (pp. 67-68). Taylor’s principles have led to things such as strict discipline, the idea that workers must focus on their task with little or no interaction with colleagues, and the idea of incentive

Scientific management evolved into Fordism, which was established by the American entrepreneur Henry Ford. It basically involved mass production and an assembly line. Workers were attracted and motivated by higher wages, paid daily, which resulted in reduced staff turnover and productivity increase. Scientific management had many disadvantages, especially for the worker. Workers felt socially isolated, the work was exhausting, monotonous and stressful. As a result, in the 1930s, a movement, opposing Scientific management was created- the Human Relations movement. It emphasized on the cooperation of workers by treating them humanely and shifted the emphasis from utilitarian to normative control. Yet, it developed from Scientific management's principles. Post Tayloristic ideas influenced modern HRM, which unlike Taylorism, emphasizes on the commitment and individuality of

Russell, R. S., & Taylor III, B. W. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value along the Supply Chain 7th edition. Retrieved November 18, 2011, from Wiley.com: http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&itemId=0470525908&bcsId=5869

Consider a firm with a daily demand of 100 units, a production rate per day of 500 units, a setup cost of $200, and an annual holding cost per unit of $10. Suppose that the firm operates 300 days per year. How many units of inventory must their storage area be able to hold?

Gioe Melaney is the general director of Southern Toro – a subsidiary company included in the distribution system of Toron Coporation in Galveston, Taxas.

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.

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)

3.1 For each hotel, what is the role of technology and the role of operations

Managers throughout history have been interested in studying ways to increase productivity. For example, Frederick Taylor began the movement of scientific management in the 1880’s. Scientific management looked to improve productivity through means of scientific analysis of worker’s tasks and work processes rather than the old “rule of thumb” (Taylor, 1914). Taylor believed that he could maximize worker efficiency and productivity through focusing on workers specific hand motions and patterns. After this period, beginning in about the 1930’s, managers looked to take productivity to yet another level by studying worker physiology and motivation. This new movement came to be known as the human relations movement.

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.

There are a number of management theories that have changed the management business environment in the twentieth century. The theories have assisted managers to come up with better ways of management and organization of people. Managers have been able to increase profits, reduce costs and maximize efficiency. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the contributions of scientific management and the human relations movement to the modern management. This essay will use Frederick Winslow Taylor’s theory on scientific management and Elton Mayo’s human relations theory. These two movements have been proven to increase productivity in the workplace (Mullins, 2005).

As I entered the remaining classes in my concentration, Operations Management, I realized how each particular class subject had all come together, and how each was interrelated. Each class, each subject became more important to me as I realized their importance in the role of an operations manager.

Tools and parts were standardized to allow for those efficiencies and price reduction. Frederick Winslow Taylor, efficiency engineer, began this movement and is known as the “father of scientific management”. (Stevenson, 2012) Taylor reviewed work methods to find the best overall method to complete the job at hand and works to maximize outputs. The Scientific Management era also included pioneers: Frank Gilbreth, Henry Gantt, Harrington Emerson, and Henry Ford. Most of us have heard about Henry Ford and his invention of mass production facilities that allow for higher production for standardized goods. (Stevenson, 2012) Interchangeable parts and the idea of division of labor allowed for lower paid workers to handle simplified tasks with little to no skills needed. Both Taylor and Ford were reviled by workers for caring more about the overall productivity than the employees that handle said products.