Operation Management
Operations management refers to the complex set of management activities involved in planning organizing leading, and controlling an organization’s operations. At one time, operations management was considered the backwater of management activities – a dirty, drab necessity. This view has changed in recent years, as more and more managers realize how operations can be a “beehive” of activity with major financial consequences for any organization. For instance, to support the work of Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, the facilities department each year handles more than 40,000 work orders, oversees hundreds of construction projects, and manages an annual capital budget nearing $200 million. Operations management also includes something seemingly as mundane as mailing. Many, many companies spend millions annually on mailing costs. With rising Postal Service rates and widening global business operations, managers pay very close attention to mailing costs and alternatives. Indeed, a whole new industry has emerged in competition with the Postal Service as managers take mailing operations. Some prominent players in that industry are United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express.
Operations management is important to an organization’s managers for at least two reasons. First, it can improve productivity, which improves an organization’s financial health. Second, it can help organizations meet customers’ competitive priorities.
To improve productivity: A measure of efficiency
Productivity, the ratio of output to input, is a measure of a manager’s or an employee’s efficiency in using the organization’s scarce resources to produce goods and services. The higher the numerical value of this ratio, the greater the efficiency. Ernst & Young managers use “hoteling” to affect to affect both parts of this ratio. They seek to cut inputs (space cost) and to boost the output of traveling accountants.
A total Quality approach to operations improvement:
The quality
Operations management is important to an organization’s managers for at least two reasons. First, it can improve productivity, which improves an organization’s financial health. Second, it can help organizations meet customers’ competitive priorities.
To improve productivity: A measure of efficiency
Productivity, the ratio of output to input, is a measure of a manager’s or an employee’s efficiency in using the organization’s scarce resources to produce goods and services. The higher the numerical value of this ratio, the greater the efficiency. Ernst & Young managers use “hoteling” to affect to affect both parts of this ratio. They seek to cut inputs (space cost) and to boost the output of traveling accountants.
A total Quality approach to operations improvement:
The quality
References: • "Manager 's Guide to Operations Management"; John Kamauff; 2009