OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Operations Management and Technology

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of technology in operations management. The innovation of technology is occurring at a rapid rate. This has a major influence on the enhancement of the operations of an organization. The processes include purchasing, quality control, storage, logistics and much more. Two major categories of technology are discussed in detail; information technology and process technology. A few examples are also included in the paper for a better understanding of the effects of technology on operations management.Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction1

Discussion1

Operations Management1

Technology2

Technology and Operations Management4

Conclusion9

References10

Operations Management

Introduction

Operations management is one the most important units of an organisation. Incorporating technology into the management of operations creates a way for the organisation to gain competitive advantage. The organisation is able to earn greater returns and have a better chance at earning higher returns as compared to competitors. This is contrary for firms not engaging in technological advances. There are technologies like process technology and information technology that add value to the operations management of the organisation. The combination of operations management and technology encompass the processes of the entire organization. The use of technology in operations management enhances the ability of the organization to earn higher returns.

Discussion

Operations Management

Operations management focuses on managing the various processes in an organisation. The management of operations comprises of managing those processes that pertain to production and distribution of products and services. Some of the activities that relate to operations management include management of purchasing, control of inventory, quality control, layout design, storage, logistics and process evaluations. The purpose of operations management is to ensure that the processes occur in an efficient and effective manner. Therefore, operations management requires persistent measurement and analysis of the processes. The nature of operations management depends on the type of products or services that the organisation is involved in providing. The nature of products and services decides if the organisation is retail based or manufacturing or wholesale. At times, an organisation may be dealing in multiple types of products that categorize it as a retail and wholesale or retail and manufacturing organisation.

Operations performance is the dependent variable which measures the organisations' manufacturing performance through four competitive priorities as principal components. This approach of measuring the operations performance is popular among researchers in survey studies. Some of them include partially measured operations performance variables such as only cost and quality, along with other organisational performance outcomes, as marketing and finance. Few studies can be found with the complete operations performance variable where a study about the relationship between inter-organisational information systems and operations performance is the most recent one, which was completely based on the operations performance as the dependent variable. In the present study, a similar approach is taken to measure the perceived operations performance of the organisations under each performance priority cost, quality, flexibility and speed.

Technology

According to Betz (2003, p. 9), “Technology is knowledge of the manipulation of nature for human purposes." In Merriam-Webster (2007), technology defined as “the capability given by the practical application of ...