Operations Managementtopics Persuasive Essay Example

in organizational running is overseen, managed and all the various facets coordinated by the operations manager.

However, as a title, Operations Manager is not restrictive to manufacturing. It involves;

PLANNING: Setting standards, targets and goals for a business organization and its operational activities is the path of operations management. So that as an organization ,we know from scratch which customer needs or market segments we would want to satisfy or have the capability of satisfying.

Once that is identified or established; the necessary decisions on how to make it happen, what designs to make, decisions on assortment (colours, sizes, shapes etc) planning as to which technology to use, capacity of manufacturing plant to set up, human resource available and even more importantly, the time scale within which all these plans should span constitutes the planning feature of operations.

It forms a very important part of the operations management process because it is an established fact that "Failing to plan is planning to fail. "

ORGANIZING:Organizing or making things follow in an orderly manner is also part of operations management.

This is also happens to be a vital part of the continuous process because though every plan is important in its own context, there are priorities in every given situation. Thus organizing operations involves sequencing all operational activities from; location for citing of manufacturing plant, distance from sources of raw materials, technology required and technology to be introduced at a later time.

Capacity of machines, lay out of machinery and the entire factory edifice influences efficiency in production and faster production output.Your distribution network and strategy to adopt (ie retail/wholesale/selective/mass), layout and design of outlets should be well planned in order to bring

the customer and organization, convenience and total satisfaction of processes.

STAFFING: This is crucial in the process of operations management because the best and detailed planning of an organization will all come to naught if operations management fails or commits an oversight of finding the right and qualified human resource requisite for carrying out and seeing the various stages operations through.

Hiring a train driver to pilot a Boeing 757 airline is a well planned disaster just as giving a psychopath an automatic gun filled with live bullets in a crowded shopping mall. Such decision really reveals without stress the sort of operations manager an organization has. The right people must always be sought, hired, and trained for the job at hand and all its technicalities. More so, having the right professional staff does not end there but goes beyond that to include continuous training and capacity building so that staff would be updated on current trends in the ever changing technological environment.

DIRECTING: After the right people are sought and employed for the job at hand, they should always be given direction and guidelines through out the various stages to ensure that their responsibilities are well communicated to them. This promotes efficiency and prudent use of available resources as with management carrying continuous briefing of staff, new developments and decisions would be quickly communicated to ensure that the right things are done and at the right time.

It also facilitates the process of getting workers to put up the right attitudes towards work.

MOTIVATION: Operations management also has the role of motivating staff, providing for them and encouraging them to give of their best as part owners and stakeholders

of the organization. This can boost their morale and get them to give off their very best and also make them act responsibly. They should also be motivated and encouraged to be daring in the interest of the organization and thus take guided and calculated risks that might bring innovations and breakthroughs in business.Staff should be well motivated to go all out in the interest of the organization and to be innovative and loyal to the business entity. In all these, management should make sure that well deserved remuneration that is commensurate to work done is given to deserving staff.

ALLOCATION: Logistics and resources should be available at every stage of the operations process and in their right quantities. Proper stock control measures and mechanisms should be outlined and instituted to suit the particular organization’s needs.Minimum order levels, Maximum order levels and Re-order levels should be outlined in order for the necessary stocking of raw materials to be done as and when required.

Materials requisition and Supply procedures should also be well documented as a means of monitoring and measuring usage levels so that a situation where stock and other requisite logistics for operations is depleted would not arise or curtail the smooth flow of process and production output.

MONITORING: Is everything moving on the desired course? Are we (organization) moving in the desired path and pace? as is said “Acceleration does not always mean that you get to your destination faster especially if you are on the wrong track”, monitoring is thus the best and effective way of checking progress made, making an assessment of progress and effecting the corrective changes or adjustments.

In monitoring, operations management takes

a look at where are we heading towards or what is our ultimate goal? , where are we now or what is our actual performance? , where should we have been now or what is our planned target or budget? and finally why are we not there yet? These questions when answered then help or provide management with the needed information to make them either stop and take a holistic look at the whole operations process to make the necessary adjustments and corrections. It is only in monitoring that operations management gets a vivid picture of the organization's actual performance as compared to targeted projections.

CONTROLLING: This feature of operations management makes sure that; the various departments within the organization conduct their activities and effectively play their various roles in a well coordinated manner to ensure that eventually, the organization targets are met.The control mechanisms are put in place to streamline the various aspects of operations thereby propelling the organization towards its goal of satisfying customer needs and wants with the desired products or services at a reasonable profit. A vehicle that is set to move in a particular direction or path needs to be controlled in order to get to its destination otherwise, it might veer off its lane into an undesired lane and bring undesired results. It is in this light that operations management needs to control and in other words synchronize the activities of the various departments so that the long-run visions of the organization are met.

Operations management control measures seek to put in place the necessary checks and balance through the various stages of the production and transformation process into finished goods

and services so that by so doing, there is a continuous and sustainable drive towards company goals with the needed deviations seen and quickly rectified. Control also seeks to guard against delays in production output and work to be done by the various departments thereby ensuring that the targets and visions set for the organization are not only met, but met within the specified time frame projections of the organization.

INFORMATION: Decisions that are taken and all the various analysis and assessments that are done from the beginning of the production process to the end are all based on quality information. Operations management should work with a very vibrant information department.

Operations management collates raw data from all the various departments as well as from their potential markets and sift through all of the data gathered so that right data needed for analysis and final decision taking is categorized. It is also necessary that there is always a free flow of information and feedback.Stakeholders always need to be informed about the developments going on in the organization. Transparency and adequate availability of information therefore ensures trust and loyalty on the part of staff. When members of staff are constantly briefed on new developments and decisions taken by management they readily adjust and work in the light of such new policy directions and mistakes and loss is reduced.

In the same way customers and other stakeholders benefit from well and effectively managed information. This can be used to increase loyalty, increase demand and also, identify new customer needs, wants and market patterns. “Lack of knowledge my people perish”). A well managed operations information desk can get staff, clients, management,

Board of Directors and all other stakeholders, all the knowledge they need by keeping them informed of the progress or retrogress of the organization so that the needed steps and actions are quickly effected for a sustained existence and growth of the business entity.

There is always an evident bit of consistency in operations management in that, the basic and core functions of operations management are almost the same in all the various industries and sectors of business.The differences in operations management processes generally arise out of the complexity or nature of the finished products/service; the volume of demand of the product/service, variations in demand, variety of products/services (i. e. how standard or customized the finished output should be), levels of customer or client contact with the producer and the balance between product/service (i. e. is the finished output more of a product or more of a service).

Below are some of the similarities and disparities of the operations management process as is present in the various sectors of industry,Inputs to the transformation process The inputs to an operation can be conveniently classified as either transformed resources or transforming resources. The transformed resources are the ways that materials are used by the institution and processed into information and given to customers but Transforming resources is the process, the facilities, the process technology of operations and all the people in the operations process . The outputs from the transformation process are goods and services, which are generally seen as being different.

The output form most types of operations is a mixture of goods and services. It is a useful reminder to all parts of the operations process that, by

meeting their internal customers with the same degree of care that they exercise on their external customers, the effectiveness of the whole operations can be drastically improved.

Similarities in Operations;

1. Entails customer satisfaction as a key measure of effectiveness and includes the common measures of customer satisfaction (quality of output, speed in process and pricing of output).
2. Requires demand forecasting and planning. Requires design of both the finished product and process of production/transformation
3. Requires maintenance and sometimes upgrade of equipments, tools, skills etc.
4. Are shaped by an operations strategy dovetailing with business strategy
5. Involves getting raw materials, supplies etc.

The inputs to an operation can be conveniently classified as either transformed resources or transforming resources -It is a useful reminder to all parts of the operation that, by meeting their internal customers with the same degree of care that they exercise on their external customers, the effectiveness of the whole operation can be improved.

Differences in Operations;

• Goods can/may be stored but Services are consumed during and upon delivery.
• Goods get transformed from other goods; in services, sometimes it’s the client that is transformed
• Customer contact in manufacturing operations is limited as compared to that of services where there is normally direct contact with customers.
• Goods can have a level of standardization but service quality may not be standard in most situations. What Operations Managers do? )They translate the strategic policy directions of an organization into operational action.

They design the various operations.

This means not only the design of the products and services themselves, but the systems or processes which produce them.

They plan and control the activities of the operation by deciding when and where activities will take place

and detecting and responding to any deviations from the plan Operations of Operations Management

1. Understanding the operation strategy objectives.
2. Designing the operation strategy for the organization.
3. Planning and controlling the operation.
4. Improving the performance of the operation.

The general model of operations management and operation strategy are categorized into input-transformation –output model, and the categorization of operations management which the design, planning and control, improvement activities which leads to operations. Competitive role and position which gives an output of goods and services. Importance of Operations Management

Effective Operations Management improves productivity

1. effective control of the conversion process of inputs into outputs (fewer defective output, leads to more output per unit time.
2. It ensures satisfaction of customers which help in the growth/retention of customers generally.
3. It also leads to higher profit, as it improves the ability to higher profit, as it improves the ability to meet customer needs and services at reasonable prices. (not just cheap output)
4. Enables the company provides service to our target customers better than our competitors. )

Meeting customer needs is crucial to long term survival of the firm. It assures availability of sufficient goods to satisfy demand, strengthening the organizations to keep customers satisfied.

Operations Management Priorities

1. In order for a firm to survive, operations management strategy OPM must meet customer requirementcompetitive priorities, most of which are;
2. High quality- demand characteristics of domestic customer (e. g. Quality U. S. A/Japan. )
3. Low cost of production and thus low prices of outputs (e. g. or rural low income customers. )
4. Operations management objectives must aim at giving a firm operational-based competitive advantage by emphasizing specific areas of operations that can enable it to meet customer needs.

Operational-Based Competitive Advantage Operational based competitive advantage can be achieved by:

Doing things right the first time - Quality advantage;

1. defect free output, lower costs, improved competitiveness, can even lead to higher prices (e. . , Sony, Toyota, etc).

Doing things cost effectively - Cost advantage;

1. Cost efficiency leads to price competitiveness and decent profits
2. Lack of cost competitiveness can lead to large-scale retrenchments.

Do things fast:

1. Speed advantage; can lose sales if slow
2. Reputation for speed is important

Change things quickly:

Adaptability-advantage (ability to switch from making Tea to Coffee) when such a switch is easy, the organization has a competitive edge over others.

1. Change operations to meet customer demand for variety or change in taste/preferences.
2.  Small/Medium Enterprise Furniture manufacturer can vary the production of furniture and alternate output. (beds, chairs, tables, sofa)

Do things right every time:

1. Reliability-advantage
2. Offer error-free products or services to customers EVERY time

Do things better:

1. Service-advantage and continuous improvement (e. g. , TQM – all aspects of business important in delivering quality service to customer).