❖ Introduction to Operations Management (Chap 1)
o OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
▪ Operations Management ➔ Business function responsible for planning,
coordinating, and controlling resources needed to produce a company’s GaS
o Characteristics
▪ Management function
▪ Organization’s core function
▪ In every organization (small/large, service/manufacturing, for-profit/not-for-profit)
o Typical Organization Chart
▪ All businesses are managed through 3 major functions
• Finance
• Marketing
• Operations management (management function)
▪ Other business functions support these 3 major functions
(Accounting, Purchasing, Human Resources, Engineering)
o Role of OM
▪ OM transforms inputs to outputs (Transformation Process)
• Inputs → HR, facilities and processes, materials, technology, information
• Outputs → Finished goods and services (FG)
▪ Transformation Process
• Value added process
▪ Net increase of value btw output product and input material
▪ The greater the value added → The more productive the business is
• Efficient transformation
▪ Efficiency ➔ Performing activities well and at lowest possible cost
o MANUFACTURING vs SERVICE ORANIZATIONS
o Manufacturers vs Services
o Remarks
▪ Manufacturing can provide services
▪ Services can provide tangible goods
▪ Companies can be blend of service/manufacturing/quasi-manufacturing
• Quasi-manufacturing
▪ Low customer contact
▪ Capital intensive
▪ 80% of jobs are in Service producing
▪ 20% of jobs are in Goods producing
1
,Frédéric Kröger Operations Management - Summary
o DECISIONS BY OPERATIONS MANAGERS
o All organizations follow a similar path when making decisions
▪ Strategic decisions → Tactical decisions (They must align)
o Strategic and Tactical Decisions Relationship
Strategic decisions give
a direction
Tactical decisions
provide feedback
o MAJOR HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
▪ Product used to be unique and was created by a single craftsman
o Historical Milestones
▪ Industrial Revolution – Late 1700s
• Steam engine, Division of labor, Interchangeable parts
▪ Scientific management (Taylorism) – Early 1900s
• Moving assembly line → Mass production (Henry Ford)
▪ Human Relations management – 1930s
• Hawthorne effect ➔ Productivity increases if workers are given attention
• Factors other than money contribute to productivity
▪ Job enlargement ➔ Doing a larger portion of total task
▪ Job enrichment ➔ Having a greater role in the planning
▪ Management Science
• Quantitative decision-making tools (Ex. Inventory models, forecasting models,
scheduling, statistical quality control)
• Developed to support military logistics during World War 2
o Trends since 1980s
▪ Just-in-time philosophy (JIT)
• Achieve high-volume production with minimal inventory through
elimination of waste and continuous process improvement
▪ Total Quality management (TQM)
• Improve quality by eliminating causes of product defects and making
quality a responsibility of everyone
▪ Economic Globalization
• Increasing international movement of GaS, capital, technology, and info
o Trends since 1990s
▪ Business process Reengineering (BPR)
• Redesigning the processes to increase efficiency, quality, and reduce costs
▪ Responding to changing demand and customer expectations
• Competition based on flexibility (Ex. Mass customization) and time
▪ Supply Chain management (SCM)
• Managing flow of materials and info from suppliers and buyers of raw
materials (RM) to final customer
o Trends since 2000s
▪ Sustainability
• Reduce waste, recycle and reuse products and parts
▪ E-commerce
• Use of Internet for conducting business activities
▪ Outsourcing
• Focus on core activities, obtain other GaS from external provider
2
, Frédéric Kröger Operations Management - Summary
❖ Strategy and Productivity (Chap 2)
o ROLE OF OPERATIONS STRATEGY
o Business Strategy ➔ Long-range plan, based on understanding of the marketplace,
which defines how a company intends to differentiate itself from competitors
▪ Derive your business strategy from
• Environmental Scanning ➔ Trends, threats, and opportunities
• Mission Statement ➔ What, Who, and How
• Core Competencies ➔ Strengths able to win the market
o Translation to Business Functions
o Operations Strategy vs Operations Efficiency
▪ Operations Strategy ➔ Ensures tasks performed are right ones to compete
▪ Operations Efficiency ➔ Means that all tasks are performed well
o DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS STRATEGY
▪ Operations strategy focuses on specific capabilities to create advantage
o Competitive Priorities
▪ Costs
• High-volume products, Limited product range, Efficient processes, High
productivity, Automation, …
Four key operations priorities
• Low cost does not imply low quality
▪ Quality
• Definition of quality is subjective
• Two major quality dimensions
▪ High-performance design ➔ Product Quality
Ex. Superior features, High durability, Customer service
▪ Product and service consistency ➔ Process Quality
Ex. Error-free products, close tolerance, design specifications
▪ Time
• Rapid delivery
• On-time delivery (Deliver exactly when expected)
▪ Flexibility
• Product flexibility
▪ Easily switch production from one item to another
▪ Easily customize products or services to meet specific requirements
• Volume flexibility
▪ Ability to ramp production up and down to match market demands
▪ Innovation and Sustainability
o Tradeoff btw these priorities should be made (Focus on order qualifiers & order winners)
R/ Today’s order winners
▪ Order qualifiers ➔ Competitive priorities a company has to meet in order to
may become order qualifiers survive in a particular market (features shared by all competitors in market)
in the future ▪ Order winners ➔ Competitive priorities that create a competitive advantage
o Translating Competitive Priorities into Production Requirements
▪ Structure Decisions ➔ Related to the production process
Ex. Facilities used, Selection of appropriate technology, Flow of GaS
▪ Infrastructure Decisions ➔ Related to planning and control systems
Ex. Organization of operations function, Skill/pay of workers, Quality control methods
3
, Frédéric Kröger Operations Management - Summary
o STRATEGIC ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
▪ Technology = Strategic decision
• Support competitive priorities
• Requires changes to strategic plans and operations strategy
• Requires large investments + Risk of overestimating the benefits
o Three types of technology applications
▪ Product technology ➔ New technology
▪ Process technology ➔ Improve process
▪ Information technology ➔ Enables communication, processing, info storage
o PRODUCTIVITY AND MEASURES OF PRODUCTIVITY
o Productivity ➔ Measure of how efficiently inputs are converted to outputs
Productivity = Outputs / Inputs
▪ Total productivity ➔ Ratio of outputs to all inputs
▪ Partial productivity ➔ Ratio of outputs to a single input
▪ Multifactor productivity ➔ Ratio of outputs to multiple (not all) inputs
4
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller frdrickrger. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $5.82. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.