SYSTEMS/OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Systems and Operations Management - Critical Evaluation of Relevant Issues



Systems and Operations Management - Critical Evaluation of Relevant Issues

Please choose a manufacturing, service-based or virtual organization you know well, identify its current operational areas (product and service design, supply chain management, capacity planning, inventory control, resources planning, quality management) and critically analyze those key processes within the operational areas that can better contribute to the competitive advantage of the organization.

Supply chain management affects all factors of the shareholder value of a company which includes cost, customer service, productivity and revenues. In addition to the Strategic Planning, Supply Chain Management is the most popular methods for several operations of firms. Nowadays, companies share the various tasks in the value chain, and around the globe. Despite huge tracks that cover the partial products, the companies jointly produce more and cheaper than a company that does the job alone (Chase, Jacobs, et al, 2001, p. 63). This happens because the dependence of firms rises with each other and due to the need for ever closer cooperation and more intensive exchange of information. The extreme strategic importance of supply chain management for the competitiveness of businesses is evident in all sectors. At the same time, the gap between the average companies and leading companies such as Wal-Mart, Toyota, and Tesco becomes greater with the passage of time. The best are getting better and faster in almost all industries (Chase, Jacobs, et al, 2001, p. 63).

Tesco

Tesco is a Distribution Group UK operates internationally. This is the first distribution group in the country, with more than two thousand retail outlets and one of the largest in Europe. Tesco activities are based on three poles: distribution in the United Kingdom, international distribution and financial services (Simms, Andrew, 2007, p. 37-45).

Operational Areas (Supply Chain Management)

The supply chain management strategy of an organization should be determined by the strategic goals and objectives of that organization. In return, the SCM strategy finds out the manner in which the supply chain will execute with respect to effectiveness and efficiency. There are four primary drivers of supply chain that Tesco is utilizing that include:

Facilities.

Inventories.

Transportation.

Information (Simms, Andrew, 2007, p. 37-45).

Tesco uses the above mentioned four drivers in varying measure to push it toward either a supply chain strategy that focuses on the effectiveness or a supply chain strategy that focuses on efficiency (Simms, Andrew, 2007, p. 37-45). The organization must decide on the trade-off ft desires between efficiency and effectiveness for each driver. The selected, combined impact of the various drivers then determines the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire supply chain (Simms, Andrew, 2007, p. 37-45).

Facilities Driver

A facility transforms or processes inventory into another product, or it stocks up the inventory before delivering it to the closest facility. There are three primary components that Tesco should consider when determining its facilities strategy:

Location.

Capacity.

Operational design (Nash, Bethany, 2006, p. 58).

Location

Tesco must determine where it will locate its facilities, an important decision that constitutes a large part of its supply chain ...