HND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

HND operations Management

HND operations Management

Task I

Purpose of Operations Management

What drives, directs, and decides the processes of production and distribution of a company? The answer is operations management. Companies that produce goods or services use operations strategies whether known or unknown to management and staff. ?Operations management provides a systematic way of looking at organizational processes. OM uses analytical thinking to deal with real-world problems. It sharpens our understanding of the world around us, whether we are talking about how to expand globally or how many lines to have at the bank teller's window. At the most fundamental level, operations management is about getting the day-to-day work done quickly, efficiently, without errors, and at low cost (Chase, Jacobs, Aquilano, 2006). Each of these is important to a business operating successfully and Britvic has taken heavy advantage of these processes.

Role in BusinessEvery business produces some type of service or good that is destined for a customer. Thus, operations management and operational strategies ensure that the production processes are executed accurately, efficiently, and in a timely manner to distribute to and supply the customer. In today's market of ever evolving technology and innovation knowledge and use of operations management and strategies is necessary. This type of change is not just for manufacturing companies but rather any company that is searching for ways to improve quality management, delivery and distribution, development and production. Every area can be improved with the implementation of operations management strategies.

Another role that operations management plays in business is as an organizational processes analyzer. The analytical style of thinking by operational managers is unique and coveted by companies. To improve current processes, make a simple or major decision, or to find where a problem started operations management uses an analytical approach to understand the situation. From this systematic analysis, a decision that is best for the company can be made.

The importance of operations management has increased dramatically in recent years. Foreign competition, shorter product and service life-cycles, better-educated and quality-conscious consumers, and the capabilities of new technology have placed increasing pressures on operations management to improve productivity while providing a broader array of high-quality products and services. With the globalization of markets, firms are recognizing the importance of operations management in strengthening their position in the market place.

Operations management is about making the right decisions for the business and an increasingly important area of consideration in making those decisions involves business ethics. A study performed by Webley & More (2002) concluded that there is strong evidence to indicate that those companies with explicit codes of business ethics outperform those companies who do not.

Among the many ethics decisions that operations management must make responsible purchasing can have far reaching effects. McDonald's Corporation purchases only a small fraction of the world's goods and services. However, they believe that they have an obligation to use their influence with suppliers to improve their practices and set an example for other companies to make the world a better, safer ...