OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Operations Management

Name of Writer

Name of Institution

Operations Management

Q1. a. Factors affecting Operations Management Today

1. Reality of global competition

± Changing nature of world business

?Spending power

?Communication

?Trade policies (Free Trade Agreements)

± International companies

± Fluctuation of international financial conditions

2. Quality, customer service, & cost challenges

Perfect product & service quality (US vs. Japan cars)

± Outsource

? Cheap labour, raw materials

3. Rapid expansion of advanced technologies

± Initial cost

± Product/service quality

± Scrap & materials cost

± Faster response to customers

± Faster introduction of new product

4. Continued growth of the service sector

± Service company exist coz manufacturing sector buys their services

5. Scarcity of operations resources

± Scarcity of funds, employees, raw materials, like titanium, coal, petroleum products, water

6. Social-responsibility issues

6a. Environmental Impact

a. Ozone layer depletion, rain forest depletion

b. Global warming & acid rain

c. Radioactive waste disposal

d. Pollution.

e. Energy conservation

f. Recycling

6b. Safety Impact

a. Product safety [Nokia mobile battery, Lenovo, Bridgestone]

6c. Employee Impact

a. Fair treatment of employees

b. Employee safety & health programs

c. No discrimination [age, sex, color, race etc.]

d. Benefit programs

Q1. b. Prevention costs are associated with actions taken to ensure that a procedure supplys top quality goods and solutions, evaluation expenses are associated with measuring the top quality accomplished by the procedure, and failure expenses are suffered to correct top quality in goods and solutions before (internal) or after (external) delivery to the customer. Prevention costs are those associated with avoiding problems before they happen. This is a practical approach to problem prevention rather than problem modification and eliminates the idea of top quality initiatives essentially being sensitive in initiatives to "put out shoots." Prevention costs involve investments aimed at getting work done right the first time and avoiding top quality problems from ever coming up, as far as it is possible. It is long-term strategy implemented by the organization for the ongoing improvement in their processes.

Q3. a. Operational strategies refers to the methods organizations use to reach their objectives. By creating operational strategies, an organization can examine and implement efficient and efficient systems for using sources, personnel and the work process. Service-oriented organizations also use basic operational strategies to link long- and short-term company choices and make an efficient management team.

Corporate Strategy

Corporate strategies involve seeing a organization as a system of connected parts. Just as the muscles of the heart depend on brain functions in a system, each department in a organization depends on the others to keep in good health and achieve desired outcomes. The additional primary strategies that a organization uses should assistance the company technique and use cross-operational communications.

Customer-driven Strategies

Operational strategies should consist of customer-driven approaches to meet the needs and desires of a target audience. To do so, a organization must make strategies that evaluate and adapt to changing surroundings, continuously enhance primary expertise and make new strong points on an ongoing basis. When analyzing surroundings, a organization should monitor industry trends to take advantage of new opportunities and avoid possible risks.

Developing Core Competencies

Core competencies are the strong points and sources within a organization. While primary ...