Operations with People and Technology (original) (raw)

Chapter 1: Introduction to Operations Management 1

Operations refer to the part of an organization that is responsible for producing goods and/or services. Goods are physical items inclusive of raw materials, parts, subassemblies such as the engine system used in a car, and final products such as computers and machineries. Services are activities that provide a combination of time, location form, and psychological value. There are examples of these goods and services all around you. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES: 1. Define the term operations management 2. Identify the three major functional areas of organizations and describe how they interrelate 3. Identify similarities and differences between production and service operations 4. Describe the operations function and the nature of the operations manager's job 5. Summarize the two major aspects of process management 6. Explain the key aspects of operations management decision making 7. Briefly describe the historical evolution of operations management 8. Characterize current trends in business that impact operations management Basic Functions of the Business Organization Organization Marketing-responsible for assessing consumer needs and wants, and selling and promoting the organization's goods or services. Operations-responsible for producing the goods or providing the services offered by the organization. Finance-responsible for securing financial resources at favorable prices and allocating those resources throughout the organization, as well as budgeting, analyzing investment proposals, and providing funds for operations.

Operations management and the resource based view: Another view

Journal of Operations Management, 2016

This paper evaluates the usefulness of the resource-based view (RBV) to the field of operations management. Based on the seminal RBV articles, we argue that using the RBV does not align with the objectives and activities of operations management researchers in several ways. First, the dependent variable in the RBV is sustained competitive advantage. Using sustained competitive advantage as a dependent variable implies that scholars focus on explaining the differences between the relatively few firms with sustained competitive advantage and all the other firms, ignoring performance variations within the great mass of firms. In addition, competitive advantage exists at the level of the business or the firm and does not directly translate into the normal level of operations management research. Measuring sustained competitive advantage also presents difficulties. Second, the explanatory variables in the RBV are resources that must be rare, valuable and hard or impossible to imitate. Measuring valuable resources or factors firms cannot imitate poses serious problems both in demonstrating value independent of the factor's impact on performance (i.e., avoiding tautology) and in measuring unique or nearly unique entities. Third, under the RBV, prescription is problematic; you cannot prescribe things that firms can readily implement because such things can be imitated. We present the practice-based view (PBV) as a simpler and better alternative for operations management where scholars attempt to explain the entire range of firm and unit performance based on transferable practices.

Healthcare Application of Operations Management Tools and Techniques: A Review of Literature

European Journal of Public Health Studies

This paper undertakes a review of extant literature to examine the outlets in which operations management tools and techniques have been applied for improved healthcare delivery. Just as operations management has found usefulness in many other industrial sectors, this report shows that healthcare has also recorded significant advances as the principles of operations management are continually being utilised. This is evident in areas such as the management and planning of medical capacity like bed space; management of medical inventory, equipment scheduling and assignment of doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel to patience. Moreover, operations management tools have been pivotal in making improvements in such areas as medical logistics, drugs and vaccine distribution, and the management of the health supply chain. The healthcare industry has also seen a couple of successes in implementing sustainable operations management in some aspects of healthcare logistics, ethical healt...

Five Decades of Operations Management and the Prospects Ahead

Management Science, 2004

O perations and Supply Chains is the current title for a department that has evolved through several different titles in recent years, reflecting its evolving mission from a focus on classical operations research at the time of ORSA's founding 50 years ago toward an embrace of a broader body of theory. Throughout this evolution, the focus on applied problems and the goal of improving practice through the development of suitable theory has remained constant. The Operations and Supply Chains Department promotes the theory underlying the practice of operations management, which encompasses the design and management of the transformation processes in manufacturing and service organizations that create value for society. Operations is the function that is uniquely associated with the design and management of these processes. The problem domains of concern to the department have been, and remain, the marshalling of inputs, the transformation itself, and the distribution of outputs in pursuit of this value-creating end. Over the past 50 years the department has had a variety of titles, reflecting an evolving understanding of the boundaries of the operations function. In this article we celebrate past accomplishments, identify current challenges, and anticipate a future that is as exciting and opportunity-rich as any our field has seen.

Operations Management Taxonomy

Operations management is responsible for achieving an effeclive and efficient transformation proc€ss. Changes taking place in the marketplace and in technology require the correcr positioning ofoperarions in the production of goods and services. The service rctor within our econom,v has grown tremendously , representing an ever gteater share of our gross national product. A general operations management (OM) paradigm, combining both goods and services, will help researchers as well as practitioners The operations classification schemes proposed previously have been narrower in scope and incorporated primarily manufacturing systems. The translormation proces is universai; major constraints and standard approaches need to be identified regardless of whether it is a good or service produced. This article pres€nts and defines a descriptive OM model. Sample industries and companies are positioned in the market and product/service matrix; in addirion, op€rations activities and their long-, medium-, and shon-ierm solution approaches to operations problems are identified. This operations model kels on the defrnition ofthe product/xrvice produced. The major groupings ofthe irst two dimensions ofthe model depend on (l) market requirements, and {2) whether the product/service is discrete or divisible, 6xed site or transportable. Major groupings of the operations activities, required to effectively and eftciently transform the product/s€rvica, denne the management approach and product/process iechnology used. These repres€nt the third dimension to our model. The fourth dimension is the time available to plan and implement solutions to operations problems. The four dimensionai space-time paradigm is cohesive and inclusive. and better identifies the major constraints on goods and/or sewices production. It is intended to analyze and synthesize both the similarities and differences among industries and companies positioned in matrix categories, and thus to help determine the appropriate actions of operations managen during the transformatioo process. The compleriry of the OM paradigm shows realisticaily the trade-offs that have to be made in this dynamig arca. Changing markets, lechology. management, and economics all play a part in positioning operations. Resulting cbanges in the market requirement and product/service positioning matrix can chaoge unit costs. Movement io any direction on the matrix should not be thougbt of as a nafural evolution but should be meticulously planned. Goods and sewices produccn grouped in each of nine major transtbrmation categories may be able to use similar planning implementation, and control approaches.

Operations Management: An Overview and Concept Development

Quality improvement is now recognized as essential as life for any organization's survival. New techniques are being developed to bring about an improvement in quality. These include: Continuous improvement, defect prevention, zero defects, statistical process control, reliability engineering, quality circles, and quality function deployment. The present paper seeks to unveil the mystery of operations management in simple terms. The focus of the paper is on developing conceptual framework based on review of the process. Operations Management comprises of product design, process selection, design of plants, plant location, facilities placement and quality control mechanism. A case study method is adopted for understanding of the same.

Production and Operations Management

Chapter 1 1. Define production operations management in your own words. Will your definition accommodate both manufacturing and service operations?