Operations Management

The purpose of this assignment is to apply the main theories within operations management to summaries and critically evaluate the main issues facing Sofas within the following strategic and operational contexts: l. Globalization and International management II. Environmental management Ill Social responsibility lb. Technology v. Knowledge Management Figure 1 The Operations Strategy and Management model (Slack, N. , Chambers, S. , Johnston, R. , 2007) 1 Sofas Background Information The name Sofas comes from the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, founded in Britain in 1942 during Second World War.

Sofas International was formed in 1995 by a group of independent non-governmental organizations. Sofas is an independent organization affiliated to Sofas International, a global confederation of 14 independent Sofa’s (www. Spam. Org). In 2010 Sofas was working in 99 countries. Sofas works directly with communities to find and influence solutions to poverty and injustice (www. Sofas. Org). Sofas are working on development programs, emergency work and research. In 1948 Sofas opened its first charity shop. Sofa’s current network of more than 830 charity shops are run by about 22000 volunteers and are a key source of income.

Orders can be made by mail or over the Internet. Sofas teamed up with Yahoo! (Carroll, 2010) Sofas has an annual expenditure of US $700 million and employs around 1300 staff, of whom around 700 are based in Oxford, I-J, ND the others, together with about 1 500 locally recruited staff, work overseas. Sofas is best known for its work in emergency situations providing humanitarian aid where it is needed. However much of Sofa’s work continues after the initial response. Sofa’s Strategic plan 2007/10 underlines five main objectives (www. Sofas. Erg): The right to a sustainable livelihood The right to basic social services The right to life and security The right to be heard The right to equity (gender and diversity) The above describes Sofa’s mission statement “A world without poverty and equal human rights for all people”. The Although all operations are similar, they all transform input resources into output products and services, they do differ (Slack, 2007). The Four Vs. – Volume, Variety, Variation and Visibility, have implications for the cost of product, or in case of Sofas service, to its beneficiaries.

As Sofas is a non profit organization and the interest is provide improvement of lives and fast response to natural and political disasters in Third World Countries, it could be said that their success could be measured in how well tenet support Ana Involvement rennet’s on loveliness AT tense teen are knelling o. The Volume for Sofas is measured by the improvement of living conditions, by how many people have an access to clear water or how many lives are saved after a natural disaster. Sofas is involved in many projects therefore the Variety should be seen as high.

However due to the nature of the work Sofas does and the help they provide, the variety demands high level of flexibility from Sofas, its employees and volunteers. In the case of a charity the Variation should be relatively low. And many charity organizations are concentrating on to one issue only. However Sofas is known for heir involvement in many projects and can offer help in various situations, natural disasters, political rows in countries of the third world, where many people are being denied a decent living.

As well as providing safe water projects around the world, building schools and many others. Sofa’s Variation is therefore higher than many other charities but still would not be consider high as in a profit organization. Due to the nature of raising money for their operations via their shops, appeals and various projects, the Visibility of Sofas and its people is high. The argument could be hat Sofas has more back office staff than front office and therefore the visibility is not as high. However such an argument can be dismissed based on the overall focus on Sofas.

The contact with people is necessary for the nature of the business. Sofa’s 4 Vs. summarizes in Figure 2. [pick] Figure 2 The 4 ‘v”s module in relation to Sofa’s operations Operations performance objectives There are five basic performance objectives which apply to all type of organizations (Slack, 2007). These objectives specifically relates to a basic tasks of satisfying customer requirements. Every organization has stakeholders who have a high interest in its operations. As per Slack Sofa’s stakeholder groups can overlap.

Sofa’s volunteers who work in charity shops could also be employees as well as customers. Therefore a not for profit organizations who are influenced by more complex factors which they can not affect such as natural disasters, has to even more so define its operation’s role, position and operation strategic objectives to show their stakeholders how they perform. The five objectives are quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. Sofas aims to deliver high quality in each situation and project they are involved in.

The quality s measured by the satisfaction of customers however in Sofa’s case the satisfaction is not going to be reflected the same way as satisfaction with product or service of companies who produce these for profit. Sofa’s customers are in many cases highly satisfied with a bare minimum of life standards and the help they receive. However quality coo a De considered Trot ten way AT Improvements AT humans’ lives and livelihoods and its sustainability. Speed is something that is of a very high importance for Sofas. To respond fast to natural and other disasters is number one priority.

The speed of the response could mean the difference between life and death. However improvement of women’s rights and Sofas project of bringing education to all is anything but a speedy as the importance is to stabilize the changes first to make sure they are going to be permanent improvements to their lives. For Sofas stakeholders dependability is a very important factor. For the people who receiving the help and support it is important to know that the support will be there and it is not Just a promise. For the volunteers and people who donated it is important to see that changes are being made and support is being given.

Flexibility is the highest priority. Sofas is not only involved in various projects around the world but also needs to be able to change their plans and actions to respond fast to many situations such as political changes within the country where they providing their support. Or in the case of natural disaster, Sofas needs to be ready to respond fast, to provide basic supplies for humanitarian support. Their employees and volunteers need to be flexible to react quickly to safe lives and livelihood. Operations have to change at short notice.

Even the charity shops which are mostly stable operations have to be flexible and sometimes change their operations to respond to situation in the world. In the case of natural disasters the nature of donations needs to change, not only cash donations are required but food, clothes or blankets. Cost is a very difficult measurement for a charity organization. It is important to keep its costs down to achieve more with the money raised however in many situations it is not about keeping the cost low but about saving lives, providing fast response and help when its needed and this can drive cost up.

With natural disaster it is not important the amount invested in to the help but the help that is provided. When people loose everything even a little amount of help and support is highly appreciated and therefore the cost is not of a high importance. Figure 3 Sofa’s Polar Diagram The role of operations Operations management can make or break any business (Slack, 2007). Hayes and Wheelwright’s four stages of operations contribution evaluate the role and contribution of the operations function (Slack, 2007). Sofa’s operations are at stage 4.

Sofas does compete with other charities for donations and volunteers. However, where other charities offering food and money, Sofas offers lives stock, seeds, smelter, coeducation anon T s well as money winner teen are name (www. Sofas. Org). Sofas gets involved in peoples live for longer to assure long term improvements in their livelihoods. Figure 4 The four stage model of operations contribution. Operations Strategy Operations strategy concerns the pattern of strategic decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of the operations (Slack, 2007).

Sofa’s operation strategy is to reduce and eliminate the causes of poverty and suffering (www. Sofas. Org). As an objective the Sofa’s 5 Aims are used to build the operations strategy, the top down perspectives. The bottom up perspective is reflected in improvement for the next project Sofas gets involved as the knowledge management aspects will affect how the next operation is managed. Market requirements are reflected in the numbers of people Sofas has helped to rebuild their lives. However for a not for profit organization the strategy is more complex and is affected by The Operations Challenge.

Figure 5 The four perspectives on operations strategy The Operations Challenge Although operations management is seen by some as being concerned largely with the routine aspects of business, it is in fact at the very forefront of almost all equines challenges (Slack, 2007). There are many changes that the operations management needs to understand, be concerned with and adjust to. The challenges and changes in the world can be seen as a positive change which helps with Sofa’s 5 Aims detailed in section 1. 1 and in appendix 1 .

These are highly affected by many challenges and operations managers should be familiar with Sofa’s Aims and developments to be able to apply appropriate strategies. 1 Globalization With opening of new international market were opened many new opportunities for operations managers to develop supplier relationships (Slack, 2007). Important for Sofas as the need to have a fast and affordable access to supplies all around the world, to be able to respond fast is high on their operations strategies. The Ethical globalization affects Sofa’s political affluence and it works well with ethical approaches.

Acknowledging shared responsibilities for addressing global challenges and affirming that our common humanity does not stop at national borders (Slack, 2 Corporate Social Responsibility In a modern business there is more and more pressure on to the general well-being of society. Economic development on a global level cannot be separated from questions of social Justice and from ecological stability (Discarding, cited in Walleye, 2008). It is a nature of Sofas business to assure that all humans are being treated with respect and as equals.

As per Sofas, nobody should compromise on their human rights. Sofas provides assistance and protection to ordinary men, women and children caught up in conflict or natural disasters (www. Sofas. Org). It is Sofa’s believe that all people have social, economic, political and civil rights as well as rights under humanitarian law (www. Sofas. Org). Not only Sofas provides provisions of eater, sanitation and hygiene promotion they also lobby governments and the international community to live up to their responsibilities to protect civilians (www. Sofas. Org).

However it needs to be considered that what might be unremarkable in one country ethical framework could be regarded as highly dubious in another’s (Slack, 2007). 3 Environmental Responsibility Environmental Responsibility is getting on to an agenda of any organization. Sofas is highly involved in campaigning for Climate Change. During 2010 over 1. 5 million people in 35 countries attended Climate Hearings organizes by Sofas and its ratters (www. Sofas. Org). These are organizes by Sofas to voice directly to global policy environments the reality of Global warming and its effects on to those living in poverty.

Sofas is committed to reduce their carbon footprint by setting and delivering yearly targets (www. Sofas. Org). 4 Technology Technology has impact of some sort in almost every area of operations management (Slack, 2007). Internet has the biggest impact on how the business operates. Sofas improved their engagement with their supporters due to internet and other digital communications (www. Sofas. Org). This has resulted in to increase in online donations to over E. Mm in 2010. Sofas therefore invests more of their resources in to improvement of their website.

Technology is also changing the ways Sofas International works. Introduction of Single Management Structure is a big step which wouldn’t be possible without constant changes in technology. Supply network is also more simple and faster due to new technologies. Technology has a huge impact on to Sofas operations and the speed they can reach people in need. 5 Knowledge Management Knowledge is rich, interpretative and often value-laden. In very complex operations recesses, It may De almost Impossible to make ten totality AT Knowledge concerning processes fully and entirely explicit (Slack, 2007).

Sofa’s operations the explicit knowledge is not possible. Sofas knowledge management is build over time and is a result of Sofas experience in various projects and responses to different situations. Sofas therefore employs the Tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge may be observed and accumulated over time (Slack, 2007). Sofa’s strategies are changing based on their understanding of how the world is changing for poor people and what the best response to it would be (www. Sofas. Erg). Sofas needs to understand these changes and react with agility and effectiveness to maximize their impact on to poor people.

By improving knowledge management Sofas improves disaster preparedness and response the main purpose of their business. Being an international organization that responds to human needs anywhere in the world it is highly important for Sofas to have a local knowledge. Supplies, its availability and access to it, are a need for Sofas and the knowledge of local suppliers is strategically important. Sofas is building team of trainers and experts to implement their new system around the oral (www. Sofas. Org).

Security of their aid workers a knowledge of political situations and predictions in many parts of Third World countries is necessity. Supply Network Every operation is a part of a larger and interconnected network of other operations. Supply network will include suppliers and customers (Slack, 2007). As Sofas works all around the world and has to be able to respond fast to a natural disaster it has to consider many ways of supply. Design decisions of Sofas supply network are important agenda for its operations and supply managers. Sofas supply planning is very unpredictable.

They have a network of suppliers they working with to make sure they are able to react fast to any natural disaster. However to work with the affected community in a longer term they need to be able to find new suppliers in a very short time period who are closer to the area of disaster and can supply the needs of the situation. Attachment 1 states Sofa’s supply policy in detail. In the policy Sofas is not only concentrating on to its supply and demands but also concentrate on to the operations challenges as described in section 4 of this assignment.

The nature of Sofa’s work means inventory problems. It is not cost efficient to keep a large amount of supply on hold in case of an emergency. Keeping too much could resolve in high cost related to storage. Keeping too little could mean that when there is a natural disaster and speedy response is needed, there is not enough of basic supplies such as water, food and blankets. In 2009/10 Sofas has rolled out new software tool knows as Hellos (www. Sofas. Org) to help with delivering the right supplies, in the appropriate amount, at the best cost, on time to the people who need it the most.

It will provide a real time overview of what Sofas has, where it is and owe efficiently it can be moved to where it is needed. Conclusions It can De concluded Tanat even tone oxtail Is a not Tort pronto organization teen 00 understand the importance of operational management and strategies and acting upon it. Sofas sets clear strategies and reviews them every year. It acts upon the need of updating their operation strategies. The core business of Sofas operations is help to people who are in a need of help and support. Its 5 aims are stated and in their Annual report Sofas clearly states percentage of charitable expenditure.

However looking closely on everything that Sofas was involved in over the 2010 eroded, it is clear that the greater the need the faster the response and the less important the money involved in the initial response are. Sofas has set projects over the period of time and with regards to these it is easy to apply operational strategies and management. It is when a natural or political disaster happen that Sofa’s operations change in priority. Sofas has to be highly flexible to be able to fulfill its promises to all its stakeholders. The five performance objectives and its importance are changing. They are affected by outside forces.

There is a need of constantly improving its services and overview its operations strategies to avoid failure in delivering its promise. Sofas works in constantly changing world therefore the operations within Sofas are not only important to keep its cost down but are important for the delivery and action of Sofas motto together we will end poverty. Recommendations Sofas has dedicated supply policy. However their policy does not specify how Sofas improves on smoothness of their supply and costs involved with it. In 2009 Sofas has introduced a system that unites all its international organizations.

What Is the overlap between operations, marketing and product/service development at Acme Whistles? The simple answer to this question Is, There Is a very significant overlap between these functions’. The underlying question is Why? Partly, the reason is size. As Simon Ottoman says in the example, small companies cannot afford specialist functions so at a managerial level everyone does everything to some extent. This becomes especially true when the boss of the company Is also the owner, It Is literally his own money that Is being spent when creating any new managerial oleos.

Partly also the tradition and competitive stance of the company has an influence. This is a company that competes on quality and innovation. Both these things rely on informal communications within the organization and a fast moving, agile ability to checkout and Implement new Ideas. Oxford 1 What are the main issues facing Sofa’s operations managers? Broadly, Oxford will have the same issues as any other operation. They must define their strategic objectives, design appropriate processes that deliver appropriate services, plan and intro those processes, and continually adapt and improve how they deliver their services.

But they also have some particularly difficult challenges because of their status as an emergency and caring organization. They must provide a global service. By deflation, Sofa’s scope of operations Is global. Anywhere a disaster Is likely to strike could receive the attention of the charity. However, much of Sofa’s work Is not concerned with the high profile disaster relief side of its business, but rather the ongoing community development projects it undertakes. Most of these projects will e in the poorer, less developed parts of the world.

The Implication of this is that, from an operations point of view, services must be delivered without an assumed level of infrastructural support. The ability to adapt development methodologies to such circumstances would be a key operations task. Another aspect of globalization for Oxford concerns the coordination of expertise. Experts, either in development or disaster relief, may be located anywhere In the world. The task of understanding and coordinating this pool of potential help must be a major operations task. It will rely on maintaining a database of expertise and on the ability to deploy it, sometimes at short notice.

They must be environmentally ethical. To Oxford, the concept of environmental management must be tackled at two levels. The most obvious one Is that environmental awareness is an ‘output’ from the charity operations. In other words, environmental management, to some extent, is one of the operation’s products’. It will engage in lobbying governments and non-governmental agencies to achieve Its alms of greater environmental sustainability. However, there Is also another related Issue. Sofa’s operations themselves must also be environmentally sound.

Agricultural projects, for example, must be managed to ensure that there is 1 OFF local pressures to do so. They must be socially responsible. Again, this is one of those issues, which is both an output from the operation and an objective for the way it runs its own operations. A key issue here must be the way in which the ‘on the ground’ managers of development projects tackle some of the particularly sensitive cultural issues. For example, ‘gender issues’ are one of Sofa’s campaigning points; forever, appropriate gender roles are seen in very different ways in different parts of the world.

Pursuing its own ends in terms of, say girls’ education, must be balanced against traditional ideas of women’s role. Whereas this difficulty may be relatively straightforward to reconcile at a strategic level back in the charity Oxford headquarters, its success depends on how local operations managers deal with the issue at a day-to-day level. Prt A Manger What are the advantages and disadvantages of Prt A Manger organizing itself so that the individual shops make the sandwiches that they sell? There are a number of advantages in this type of organization. The load on the staff in the shop is equalized throughout the day.

The demand from customers for purchasing the sandwiches occurs mainly in the middle of the day. If the staff only sold sandwiches, they would be busy in the middle part of the day and unoccupied at other times. The way Prt a Manger organize their processes, the staff can occupy themselves making sandwiches in the early part of the day, then, as the day progresses, staff will progressively move from making to selling. As demand then reduces towards the end f the day, staff will move onto general cleaning and tidying activities as well as making ready for the same cycle of activities to repeat itself the next day.

There is clear and direct responsibility for quality, customer service and cost. If there are any problems with quality and availability of sandwiches, it is the same staff who caused the problems who receive customer complaints (In fact, Prt a Manger get very few complaints). Similarly, the effectiveness of cost control can be clearly associated with the staff in the shop. It is a more interesting Job that has a number of different activities (making, selling, cleaning, etc. ) than one where an individual will specialize in Just one of these tasks.

It is easier to engender a sense of pride in the high quality and wholesome nature of the products when they are made on the premises. It should be pointed out that there also disadvantages. The main one is that the cost of making sandwiches in a sandwich factory (the way the vast majority of sandwiches are made) is very significantly cheaper because of the higher volume. How can effective operations management at Prt A Manger contribute significantly to its success? And what would the consequences of poor operations management be in this kind of organization?

By developing a culture within each store that takes pride in the products themselves, the way they are made and the way customers are served. By listening to customers so that customers’ reactions and comments can inform the design of new products. By not wasting materials through poor control, which would increase the cost of running the operation. By developing a sense of fun as well as a sense of commitment in the staff so that customers sense a friendly and laced atmosphere. Two very different hotels in delivering an appropriate level of service?

For Formula 1, technology is harnessed in the manufacture of the self-contained bedroom units in the factory prior to assembly on the site. Because of the standardization, conventional factory automation can be used to some extent. More obviously, during the running of normal operations at the hotel, technology, in the form of the automatic ‘booking in’ machine at the door, allows the hotel to remain ‘open’ even while it is unstained for much of the day. This saves labor. Similarly, labor is saved by the use of automatic cleaning in the washrooms.

This also ensures that high standards of cleanliness are maintained throughout the day, even when the hotel is not staffed. Although not mentioned in the text, Formula 1 hotels also have automatic drinks and snack dispensers, which would allow guests to stave off hunger and thirst even though the hotel does not provide food in a conventional restaurant setting. At the Magus Safari Lodge, very little technology is used. The attraction of the hotel lies in its location and in how their staff treat the guests.

Staff must not only be informative and courteous, they will also need to protect and reassure those guests who are anxious in their surroundings and create a sense of adventure (but not too much adventure). 2 What are the main differences in the operations management challenges facing the two hotels? The main difference is the degree of standardization in the operation’s processes. For Formula 1, the main use of standardization is in the manufacture of the individual room units. All room units are exactly the same size. Because they all have the same fitting, these fittings can be artsy installed at the factory.

This allows the company to buy furniture, curtains, and carpets in high volumes, keeping costs down. The standardized nature of the units also allows the hotel to be constructed quickly (which itself saves costs) using standardized methods of construction that are cheaper than building entirely different hotels at each site. Standardization of rooms also allows a standardized procedure to be adopted for cleaning and maintenance, so staff can be easily trained using a standardized training package. Finally, standardization of the room units, radically, allows all Formula 1 hotels to adapt to the geography of the site.

By putting the standard units together, like children’s building blocks, they can use unusually shaped pieces of land, which tend to be cheaper than regularly shaped sites. By contrast, the Magus Safari Lodge provides experiences ‘customized for every visitor’s requirements and abilities’. Also, the Magus Safari Lodge must be able to cope with fluctuations in demand through the year. However, Formula 1 try to choose locations that capture the business traveler market during the week and leisure travelers at the weekend.

Introduction and Organizational Background Methodology Limitations of Research Literature Review Motivation and Culture Employee Reward Conclusion Recommendations References Need for Strategic Human Resource Procedures for Effectiveness Operation Management in Lead Way Business Group International.

This report Is an evaluation of Lead Way Business Group International (ALIBI) a general business multinational servicing firms, human resource practices to see if it effective and follows best international best practices, in relation to its rewarding employees performance and what system sand strategies it uses to engage its staff towards achieving Its goals and objectives as a business. The challenges that ALIBI face is that of its operation management in its call centre department.

Recent changes in its management structure of the centre has led to a decline In profits. It needs to adopt a strategic Human Resource strategy to be able to maintain its customer base and ultimately its profits. To achieve get a holistic view of its Human resource policies and practices a robust examinations was undertaking o identify the level of motivation and the attitudinal disposition of the staff of the at different level from the Executive team to the newest recruit to the company .

As with most companies in its industry Lead Way aim and drive for doing business 1 org that its clientele demand and also the in order to fulfill its obligation as a whole Lead Way has a relatively highly motivated team of employees this may be as a result of its qualities of leaders and managers in the Human Capital division however some variances occur in the level of enthusiasm in all the other parts of the company this s due to an ongoing reposition and change management process being implanted in the company.

On paper it strategy to encourage performance is effective as it uses regular appraisal tools to assess the performance of its staff to meet the need its business targets This submission of the evaluation of Lead Ways has highlighted minored for the company to meet is business target and save cost and deliver on quality it most lay emphasis on its staff training and human capital development and change the over culture to one that it becomes a learning organization which is considers employee involvement and engagement is paramount to ensure improvement in service delivery.

Managing the Operations at Lead Way employee is the role of the managers who have the task of doing it effectively by making it a fundamental part of its operations by emphasis development and progression in career and also recognition for outstanding performance. In order to achieve its Organizational goals and business targets its Operations management policies must work hand in hand with its human resource objectives too. 1.

Introduction and Organizational Background Lead Way Business Group International is in a highly competitive service based industry that demand innovation , creativity , service delivery excellence which are all dependent upon the performance of employees in its organization. As a result it need to have start performing at optimal level in the next ray in line with is change management agenda to transform the firm to expand and begin to expand to other international territories . Arrives to its client from Office supplies, Sales Outsourcing, International Freight services to business management Consultancy it employees over 100 employees in 3 different cities and seeks to expand to it forth in Africa The heart of the business is error in its slogan called “Servicing Your Business Needs Efficiently’. It business target is to be a leader in providing business services of Medium and Large cooperation’s in the areas it is situated also providing global business insights due to its international presence.

Efficiency being at the heart of Lead Ways business ethos demands that performance of its staff is at optimal level all the time in-order to also meet its business targets. Lead Way Business Service is a new generation sustainable social enterprise whose profits are reinvested in it, how its aim is to serve small start- p entrepreneurs and medium scale business to grow them to foster economic development.

So its business with a heart as a result. Its main objective is not profit making but rather have to do with more socio political Issues which are influenced but changing technology, environmental and legal issues and also governmental policy changes (Slack et al,1995) As Lead Way is an international group and runs diverse services, to underpin its success it has a very elaborate human resource system that caters for the need of its employees.

It is very effective and supports the rest of the organization in reaching TTS business objectives through various human capital development plans and procedure and people management strategies. Peculiar to its multicultural and multi-location set up it has HER challenges always arising from miscommunication and due to language barriers and personal relation problems, employee motivation staff welfare and attendance takes a lot of its productive time.

There need to be a shift from such elementary but important issues to much more strategic and pro- growth and developmental issues that HER can contribute too , to ensure that the company tests its growth and service objectives In order to have a clear picture of the company’s performance and how the employee engagement and motivation contribute to it, an in-depth look at its performance management practices is essential. There are a range of services provided by Lead Way delivered by both skilled and unskilled staff and there are key performance indices that are used to asses performance.

Everyone employed manual staff, volunteers, part time and full time start are all appraised and the Performance Management Framework is the basis of this report. Terms of Reference This report aims to establish and asses the following The Management of Operations in the call centre of ALIBI The effect and influence of HER polices and procedures on Operations in LABS! The Strategies for employee motivation and engagement within the company 1. In order to get a god understanding of the organizational culture in relations to performance of the Operations management framework a simple research was undertake of different types of employees ranging from the skilled to the unskilled managers to the new entry staff and they were asked to give their own view of the HER raciest and how it impacted them from different point of views Things that were sought after where the level of staff motivation and their attitude toward their work and how it affected communication, relationships and the culture of and within the organizations.

It is essential to find out the relationship that exist if any of staff attitude/motivation, Strategic Human resource management and the overall Performance management Strategy for the organization and to achieve this both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed. 1. 2 Limitations of Research Some of the limitations face during this research had to do with the different actions of the staff as some were office based and others where site based so the working culture couldn’t be duly ascertained holistically Also the samples size of the employees form various levels was limited.

And due to the fact that the CEO of the organization was not physically present during the research and it was not commissioned by the organization. They were reluctant in provide all the support to reach a more conclusive and deductive results, Limited time and space was giving. Sam Lewis & Thrill (2007) view of methods of data collection formed t the basis of nagging valuable insight that involve data collection and triangulation will assist in seeing if the figures and data match up with the perception and reality of the employees. 2.

Literature Review – Operations Management According to Joseph G . Monks (2004. ) Operations Management is governed by polices that are stipulated by the management of an organizations It governs the predefined flow of resources in a systematic manner in a controlled environment to create a valuable service or product that meets the consumers’ needs and the organizations objectives Source http://www. Mandarin. Com/operation/ 27370849x_IPPP . PDF Two things are paramount which are the resources and systems. Resources which may include but are not limited to human I. E. He use of intellectual knowledge in planning and coordination of the process, capital I. E. Cash , stocks , store values etc. And material I. E. Physical inventories, supplies, plants etc. That are injection in the production process. Systems relate to components of management for the achievement of the objectives of the organization as a whole. For there to be efficiency there has to be a systematic approach to everything from problem solving o achieving goals Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization.

Operations management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. Performance is important, and the optimization of the performance of employees and seeks to address, for there to be a harmonies operation of system and people a comprehensive Human Resource policy and procedure my in place to oil the wheels of efficiency. Pawpaw (2005) research looks at effect of HARM on Performance management and the focus should not be on policy creation to drive performance alone but also in addition to that their implementation.

In relations to other internal and external environmental factors. The question now is how do you measure performance? Performance Management is as Newly (1998) is about evaluation the of past action because past action is always a good determinate of present performance. It also involves picking, defining and applying of key bench marks for performances, factors which are used to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Fine & Sender (1999). Len any organization the main objective are quality, flexibility, dependability, cost and Speed .

And a good reflection of if the company of meeting this objectives will be measured in its financial performance Self-Assessment Model of Performance Measurement Jackson, Zaire & Whammy (1998) describe the self-assessment model as a tool that is foundational to effectiveness of any company business or organizations, because it gives full and clear view of activities and it also facilitates constant improvements. This is because it links organization performance with customer satisfaction, financial reference sphere headed by strategic planning.

For there to be strategic planning a concrete HARM strategy must be employed The management must be cognizance of these factors and as a result create systems in the operation management process that would engage employees and keep them motivated to undertake the work at hand. So what is good Human Resource management in relation to operation management? Janssen and Stewart (2008) see human resource management as a set of social and cultural practices in every organization in to effectively manage the human capital taking into consideration the level and skill of employees, motivation , etc.

They also say that it is easy to assume that employee and employers are working together toward a specified goal but in reality this must be subjected it the individual Interpretation and engagement with the HARM practices and how it motivates, engages or disengages them. Best HARM practice where explored by Thereof, Programs and Catalogue (2007). And it was discover that knowledge management and organizational learning are important contributors, they also suggest that HARM best practice leads to the effective running of and organization and that in turn performance of operations management.

So there is a link between best HARM practices and peak performing Operation Management Systems in organizations. However these HARM policies and procedures must be continually monitored and buttressed to ensure they meet their specified objectives. Strategic HARM should always compliment Strategic Operations Management which aims at playing an active role working towards constant improvement to move to the next level of service delivery and empowering other sectors of the company play an active role in the overall strategy There are three main types of strategy employed Corporate, business ND functional level strategy.

Slack & Lewis (2001) see strategic operation as decision objectives taking into consideration it resources and its ability to meet ever growing market. Demands The Hayes and Wheelwright Model (1998) can be used to identify how effective the organization is as a whole and how operations affect this from a strategic stand point It has 4 stages I-Internal neutrality (being unable to contribute to effectiveness) & 2-External neutrality (comparisons with external companies) 3- Internally supportive (employing best practices for credible effective operations) & 4- Externally supportive (looking how operation can be a driver of cooperate strategy).

For the purpose of this study we are going to be looking at the operation management of the office supply department of Lead Way Business service and in particular we would be looking at how it effective the operation are managed in its customer service department of its office supplies division In recent time there have been a lot of complaints from customers about the poor level of service delivery of the customer service team and this intern has affected the performance of the company as people are now taking their business somewhere else Last year in an attempt to save cost company outsource it s customer service operation to India and were able to save a lot off money .

In the initial stage the initial stage the Indian company Tolerance India which they part own having substantial amount of shares in seem to be dependable and delivered on quality and it seemed their business approach was quite innovative compared to their competitors at the moment as they were also offering online chat support service for customers who order their services online. But in recent time there has been a drop in the quality of service. They had a new management team come in and changed most of the way he company operates and has also cut down lots off staff as a they have lost the advantage of flexibility and they are unable to meet the growing demand in calls and the online response time has slowed down drastically and the average call waiting time is minutes instead of the 4 minutes last year and 2 minutes average when it was based in the ask.

Customers have been posting negative reviews and feedback on the internet and this has drastically affected their office supplies business services There is also the issue of language barrier that man Britons and English people say hey have difficulty understanding the ascents of the Indian employees and in some recent cases their English is very bad and as a result communication is gravely impaired. Discussion and Analysis of the HER strategies for Effect operations management in ALIBI This report would be assessing how the operations quality of service can be improved The major problem not uncommon to LABS managers is staffing level. A times demand falls and they need lest staff and a times it rises and they need more staff How can they maintain cost and quality and also be flexible in the staffing need to meet their consumers expectations dependably.

They need to be able do an efficient long-tern forecast of demand for services to be able to avoid problems so they would have a good number of agents at all times. This must be done several week and even months in ahead and in conjunction with HER department to be able to operation management process. These are the inputs into the system and selection of adequately trained staff with the necessary skill is essential for the running of an internal call centre and how do y Characteristic of call centers is high turnover rate and also seasonal workers. How do you balance cost of training staff that would eventually leave the company and the emend for service from the customers.

Please refer interested instructors to TIE for access to the teaching notes. Introduction students have been introduced to revenue management. Have previously assigned the case in advance of class and then spent from 30 minutes to one hour of class time discussing the students’ solutions. When using all three cases, have assigned the (A) and (B) Cases in advance of class and asked the students to submit spreadsheets with solutions to both cases before class begins. During the 90- minute class we would devote approximately 40 minutes to discussing the (A) Case, 20 minutes on the (B) Case, and the remaining 30 minutes working through the

Case together in class (students are told in advance to bring their laptops to class). Usually ask students to pair up, and I try to match a student with relatively little simulation experience with one who is more comfortable with the material. I tell pairs that the weaker student should be the one with hands on the keyboard. Finally, a note on timing: have used this full plan for Cases (A)-(C) only once, in an elective on service operations management. The schedule was a bit tight and we had to rush the discussion of the spiral-down effect in the (C) Case.

In the future may spread the material over more than one class period. These cases focus on the revenue management of a single flight leg with two fare classes and uncertain demand. The (A) Case asks the students to forecast high-fare demand and implement a simple booking’s policy. The (B) Case uses simulation to establish booking limits in the presence of buy-up behavior and cancellations. The (C) Case focuses on the spiral-down effect, which occurs when there is a mismatch between the revenue management optimization model and actual customer behavior.

This Teach ins Note first describes the logistics for using the cases: the order of the cases, choosing assignments, and the timing of class discussions. Then the note summarizes each case, describes potential solutions, and provides guidelines for class discussions. The last section describes technical background, extensions, and additional reference material. The final section may be particularly useful for instructors without a strong background in revenue management as the section or its references may provide answers to students’ questions about the implementation of revenue management systems.

The final section also explains how the models in this case may be adapted to handle multiple itineraries in an airline Nortek, as scribed in the Bluesy Airlines: Network Revenue Management Case Series. Single-Leg Revenue Management (A) This case provides students with the opportunity to build a statistical forecasting model and to use the output from this model in a simple revenue management decision. This section describes how the data were generated, potential solutions to the problem, and provides some guidance on how the case can be discussed in class.

There are a couple of problems in the fruitvale including ineffective incentive system, incorrect prioritizing of requests, increase in shift to newer policies, bottlenecks in operation, pending work not considered on a territory basis and increased turn around time etc. These problems have resulted in loss of almost half of renewal business for Manzana-Fruitvale. Some of the recommendations by which the Fruitvale can be pulled up are pooling together of underwriting teams and catering to any requests received from any of the agents of the branch.

Also RERUNS should not be discriminated against because they are actually more profitable both in terms of value and the time they take to be processed. Fruitvale has to streamline its processes and will have to compete on the basis of services in this highly competitive scenario where insurance rates and commission schedules are nearly identical among competitors. Increase in commission of agents for RERUNS policies can also be looked into. MANZANA INSURANCE We at Manzana Insurance deal in commercial insurance with branches at California, Oregon, and Washington.

This case refers to one of our branches at Fruitvale, which has consistently been loosing business to Golden Gate, a new player in the Insurance industry. Golden Gate has been performing significantly better than our Fruitvale branch on various measures like the total number of requests for new policies, endorsements, and renewals processed. Most importantly, Fruitvale is plagued by a very high turnaround time resulting in late renewals and increased renewal loss rate. The following exhibit chalks out the current process plan followed at Fruitvale

REPORT FOR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE DISCUSSION

Observations and Hypotheses 1. Ineffective incentive system: Our incentive scheme is probably doing more harm than good. As the incentives to the senior employees are based on the number of requests processed over their existing quota. However they get incentive based on the premium on the policy. Hence they give priority to RUNs, which happen to have higher premiums than RERUNs. 2. Incorrect prioritising of requests: RERUNs are being given last priority in the order of requests taken-up based on a false assumption that RUNs and RAPs are more important and generate more revenue than RERUNs.

Based on our profitability analysis of each type of request, it can be seen that RERUNS have a higher contribution net of commissions and expenses than RUNs 3. Standard Completion Time (SCT) usage. We have been calculating Turn Around Time (TAT) based on Standard Completion Time for pending items at the beginning of the week. SCT is defined as the time to finish 95 percentile of all the requests. However, using SCT to calculate TAT does not seem reasonable and the estimate of TAT is on the higher side.

Pending work not considered on a territory basis: The backlog for Underwriting Team is not taken on a territory basis. This leads to using the same TAT across all territories. This is an incorrect estimate because TAT for Underwriting Team1 (Which handles territory 1) must have higher TAT as it handles more number of requests per day. Accordingly, it will have a higher backlog also. 5. Increased losses may be due to shift in mix to newer policies * Adverse Selection: New policies may be initiated by clients “anticipating a loss”

To get PLUS bonus, the Underwriters may be too lenient in their assessment of risk  Due to poor service, Manzana may be getting only the new policies that other insurers don’t want! 6. Bottleneck in operation flow: Underwriting of Territory 1 requests: Underwriting is done by each team on territory basis. Territory 1 has the highest capacity utilisation amongst all territories. This estimate is based on steady state of operations but in reality, due to fluctuations in requests, it will not be sufficient.

The average variation in the requests per day is 16.7 (from the data in case exhibit 6), which the system will definitely not be able to handle. We also note that the renewal loss rate associated with territory 1 is the highest. Hence Territory 1 is a major source of bottleneck. SOLUTION ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The analysis of the case and the corresponding recommendations have been provided based on the following points which can be implemented without any compromise on the quality of the work: ; The underwriting teams need to be pooled together and they will perform the requests received from any of the agents of the branch.

This has been recommended to ensure that the capacity is utilized to the fullest across the underwriting teams. The pooling together of the teams will ensure that all of them work together to reduce the turnaround times. However, the agents have got used to being serviced by a particular set of team who cater to their needs. Thus, initially it needs to be ensured that as regards any queries from the agents, full support will be provided by the earlier teams irrespective of the fact as to which team processes their requests.

The branch needs to service all the requests from the customers and agents at the lowest turnaround times. The provision of RAP is an important starting point to acquiring new business and hence the first experience of the customers needs to be as good as that of the customer getting a new commercial policy (RUN). Thus, the two complement each other and play an equally important role in getting incremental business. Also, considering the loss of the renewal policy business, it is equally important to service them with equal efficiency.

Therefore, for the branch to be able to serve its customers better and improve its perception, it needs to ensure that the turnaround times are improved for all the products. Alternatively, the processing of request can be scheduled on the basis of the product offering highest revenue per minute of the labor time. But this option is not being considered for the reasons mentioned above. The recommendations based on the above can be summarized as below: ; The pooled system should be followed for distribution of the work amongst the different underwriting teams.

Based the data available for the second quarter of 1991 and the respective means for each process, the turnaround can be reduced to 2. 86 days for all the products (Refer Exhibit I) ; It is recommended that the work should be evenly divided amongst the various processes namely distribution, underwriting, rating and policy writing. This has been computed to ensure that the turnaround time is same for all the products. (Refer Exhibit II) It can be observed that the two employees for the distribution activities need to be recruited and two employees from the rating activity should be transferred to comprise an underwriting team.

As a result, the turnaround time for each activity will average around . 625 days. This will not only lead to the efficient utilization of all the available resources but also result in reduction in the total turnaround to 2. 49 days (Refer Exhibit II) ; Our agents receive a commission of only 7% on RERUNS. This is substantially lower than the amount they receive for RUNS, and hence acts as an incentive for agents to divert this business to our competitor. An increase in the commission rate should be effective in tackling this problem.

We should not discriminate against RERUNS as a secondary priority, because they are actually more profitable both in terms of value and the time they take to be processed. We need to implement the policy of first in first out regardless of the policy that is being processed. ; We have lost out on a large number of renewals to the fact that the policy reaches the holder for renewal only after the due date is over. It is recommended that the process of RERUN initiation should start at least one week before the due date. This would result in the policies reaching in time, and hence a significantly higher rate of renewal.

‘Operations Management as the procedure whereby resources, fluxing within a defined system, are combined and transformed by a controlled mode to add value in conformity with policies communicated by direction – Joseph G.Monks

What is Operations Management?

Operations direction is the concern map that is responsible for pull offing and organizing the resources needed to bring forth a company ‘s merchandises and services. All types of organisation must transport out operations direction because all organisations produce some mixture of merchandises and services. Operations direction is an of import factor in any organisation. The determinations that the administration makes will hold a major impact on the cost of the merchandises and/or services, and its bringing which consequences in the gross coming into the organisation, whether it is fabricating, retail or services sectors such as IT, finance logistics, transit, wellness attention or public public-service corporation or educational, the service bringing grapevines must be carefully designed, resourced and managed efficaciously and expeditiously. The effectivity of the system is determined by the success with which assorted subsystems and constituents interact with each other and with the environment in which the organisation operates.

The nucleus aim of a successful direction is the ability to pull upon the resources of many subjects and integrate relevant rules and background information in order to specify and analyse a job. Once defined, the director must place alternate possible solutions, measure these in footings of the broader ends and values of the organisation, implement the seemingly dominant solution, and eventually, assess the existent effects of the solution for the effectivity in the organisation.

Operations direction focal points on pull offing the procedures that produce / distribute merchandises and services. Operations direction relates to all relevant operations within the organisation. Related activities includes the followers:

Pull offing purchases

Inventory control

Quality control

Manufacturing

Logisticss and Evaluations

Customer Servicess

By analysing the above mentioned activities, we can state that Operations direction involves the systematic way and control of the procedures that transform resources ( inputs ) into finished goods or services for clients or clients ( end products ) .

History of Operations Management

The beginnings of operations direction can be traced back through cultural alterations of the 18th, 19th and twentieth centuries. By the terminal of eighteenth century, agribusiness was the active and cardinal component in every state. The innovation of the steam engine and Eli Whitney ‘s construct of standardised parts paved the manner for the Industrial Revolution with its big fabrication installations powered by steam or H2O. As a consequence figure of states evolved from an agricultural economic system to an industrial economic system. But for a clip, fabrication was more of an art than a scientific discipline. The Industrial Revolution advanced further with the development of the gasolene engine and electricity in the 1800s.Other industries emerged and along with them new mills came into being..

The debut of Taylor ‘s method of scientific direction and Henry Ford ‘s traveling assembly line brought the universe into an age where direction was preponderantly centered on the production of goods. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the one component that was losing was a direction – the ability to develop and utilize the bing installations to bring forth on a big graduated table to run into monolithic markets of today.

Duties of an Operations Manager

Operations Manager ‘s programs, form, take and command the production and bringing of merchandises and services every bit needed to maintain external paying clients satisfied. The duties of operations directors can be classified into the followers:

Direct Responsibilities – the activities which are straight related to bring forthing and presenting merchandises and services like pull offing the operations procedure, encompassing design, planning, control, public presentation betterment, and operations scheme

Indirect Responsibilities – the activities involved in interfacing with other parts of the organisation such as interacting with those directors in other functional countries within the organisation whose functions have an impact on operations. Indirect responsibilities besides include other maps like selling, finance, accounting, forces and technology.

Broad Responsibilities – a wider set of undertakings that involve scanning the concern, societal and political environment in which the organisation exits in order to understand its context.

Decision devising is a cardinal function of all operations directors. Decisions need to be made in:

planing the operations system

pull offing the operations system

Bettering the operations system.

The five chief sorts of determination in each of these relate to:

the procedures by which goods and services are produced

the quality of goods or services

the measure of goods or services ( the capacity of operations )

the stock of stuffs ( stock list ) needed to bring forth goods or services

The direction of human resources.

Operations Management Issue – Hewlett-Packard

HP is a engineering company that operates in more than 170 states worldwide. HP explores how engineering and services can assist people and companies address their jobs and challenges, with the realisation of the possibilities that HP can supply, which will successfully recognize their aspirations and demands. HP applies new believing and new thoughts to make simpler, valuable and trusted experiences with engineering, continuously bettering the manner our clients live and work.

The Hewlett-Packard Company ( HP ) was founded in 1939 by William Hewlett and David Packard. Today, the company ‘s mission is to make information merchandises that accelerate the promotion of cognition and basically better effectivity of people and organisation. The company ‘s first merchandise, built in a Palo Alto garage, was an audio oscillator -an electronic trial instrument used by sound applied scientists. One of HP ‘s first clients for this was Walt Disney Studios, who purchased eight oscillators to develop and prove an advanced sound system for the film Fantasia. HP becomes a major participant in the computing machine industry in the eightiess with a full scope of computing machines, from desktop machines to portables to powerful minicomputers. HP besides made its entry into the pressman market with the launch of inkjet pressmans and optical maser pressmans that connect to personal computing machines. The quality and dependability of HP ‘s pressmans make HP a extremely recognizable trade name by both consumers and concerns.

Operational Issue of HP – Toner Cartridge Problem

Hewlett-Packard is proud of its repute for high-quality merchandises and services. In the 1990 ‘s, the Hewlett Packard toner and ink cartridges division was sing a job with the figure of defective faulty toner cartridges being returned by clients. About 2000 of these were being returned every month. The operations squad decided to look into the issue and handed over the instance to the UK Hewlett Packard quality section. The squad suspected that non all the returns were really the consequence of a defective merchandise, which is why the squad decided to look into the job. The Hewlett Packard squad decided to utilize cause-effect diagrams to seek and place the beginning of the job. Three major operational jobs were identified.

First, some users were non every bit familiar as they should hold been with the right method of lading the cartridge into the pressman, or in being able to work out their ain minor printing jobs.

Second, some of the HP Business Resellers were besides incognizant of how to screen out minor jobs as they were missing in proficient expertness and preparation. As a consequence, they were unable to offer the client the degree of support needed to decide any minor jobs.

Third, there was clearly some maltreatment of Hewlett-Packard ‘s ‘no-questions-asked ‘ returns policy. Empty toner cartridges were being sent to unauthorised replenishment companies who would sell the refilled cartridges at decreased monetary values. Some cartridges were being refilled up to five times and were intelligibly have oning out. Furthermore, the toner in the refilled cartridges was non up to Hewlett-Packard ‘s high quality criterions.

Theoretical Approach of Analyzing HP Toner Cartridge Problem:

Fishbone Theory

Fishbone theory ( cause consequence diagram ) is a entire quality direction tool, widely used to analyse and work out an operation direction job or consequence in an organisation. Fishbone is considered as one of the seven basic tools of entire quality direction tool. It is a ocular presentational tool which resembles the skeleton of a fish which shows all the causes and its bomber causes taking to a peculiar job. Using fishbone theory, job and its causes can be diagrammatically represented, which will assist to place and analyse the of import causes and its consequence can be solved

Model of a Fishbone Diagram

History of Fishbone Theory

Kaoru Ishikawa, a Nipponese University Professor and a good known quality direction pioneer, invented the cause and consequence diagram in 1943, the theory became celebrated tool and was foremost used in 1960s and Nipponese companies like Mazda, Kawazaki used to analyse and better their auto fabrication procedures

ADVANTAGES OF USING CAUSE EFFECT DIAGRAM

An operational direction job and its causes can be visually presented so that each and every causes can be considered which helps to find the root cause of the job in a structured attack. In other words, it helps to set up the job ( Effect )

Fishbone can be used by persons, squads and most efficaciously by groups which could guarantee engagement of all in a group and helps to use all possible and executable thought of the procedure and its grounds

Different procedure of an operating system can be identified even if it is outside the range of procedure.

All executable informations can be collected for farther analysis and its causes and sub causes can be evaluated.

From the above HP Toner Cause Effect Diagram, we can sort that the Cartridge Returns is the Effect of the diagram and the causes can be sub divided into the followers:

Man Power

Customers and Traders: – The HP Investigation squad discovered that some clients were holding troubles in the right interpolation of the cartridge into the pressman organic structure. It is universally considered that non all clients are technically sound and as a consequence of this, merchandise malfunction could ensue while seeking to infix the toners/cartridges. Customers who purchased the cartridges from traders instead than straight from HP were non technically qualified to decide minor issues which would hold prevented the stock from being returned to HP for replacing. Owner ‘s Manual was non easy to read and had no bit-by-bit instructions. About 90-95 % of toner consumers, do non read the proprietor ‘s manual.

Traders were non able to supply the clients with the professional degree of support needed and frequently blamed the merchandise as faulty. This was due to the fact that HP did non supply sufficient merchandise preparation and support to its concern resellers

Training: – Horsepower should hold provided the traders with adequate merchandise support and preparation so that minor issues can be eradicated at the start. Failure in supplying the traders with merchandise preparation could adversely impact the good will of HP. A merchandise can be solved successfully merely if the gross revenues and after gross revenues support is maintained in a professional mode.

Interior designers: – Merchandise interior decorators should take into consideration the clients and traders excessively as planing a complicated merchandise ( cartridge/toner ) will do merchandise installing complicated and if the company lacks resources for supplying merchandise preparation, it will do merchandise gross revenues to drop. The design of the toner cartridges was ne’er thought from an end-user position. The toner cartridges was ne’er tested with existent people before the launch. The deficiency of proper planing the merchandise flow rhythm has caused 1000s of lbs for HP. Another large company with such immense defects is Microsoft. Microsoft comes up with regular security spots from clip to clip to repair bugs that existed in their Operating System. Customers ever want things to be easy and less complicated. .

Material

Non echt HP compatible cartridges that are made by unauthorised companies are being bought by clients for a cheaper monetary value and used on echt HP pressmans. As a consequence this causes harm to the pressman caput in the long tally. Use of non echt toners, should revoke guarantee. HP failed to add a disclaimer saying that guarantee can be revoked for utilizing non-genuine HP toners

Empty HP cartridges are sent to unauthorised replenishment centres by the clients and these cartridges are being refilled more than five times with low quality ink, toner and other parts.

Machinery

Using Non HP Printer accoutrements such as print cartridges or toners may do impairment in print end product quality. The use of pressmans without proper care causes faint print and blotchy. This will make uncertainties in clients that there are issues with the existent HP hardware and frequently the merchandise is returned to HP.

Methods

Policy – HP ‘s ‘no-questions-asked ‘ returns policy is promoting the clients to return their cartridges even though the harm was caused by the client or the trader. No proper internal controls were at that place for HP. It was discovered that Empty toner cartridges were being send to unauthorised replenishment companies which used inexpensive quality replenishing ink and techniques which in bend damaged the merchandise. HP ‘s ‘no-questions-asked ‘ should be updated to advert that one time the toner cartridge has been modified or re-filled by outside unauthorised traders, no replacing would be provided.

Solutions to the job – Prioritization Matrix

A prioritization matrix is a technique used to acquire an sentiment about a job.This matrix helps to precedences or rank the issues of the job harmonizing to its importance. Prioritization matrix gives more clearly which issues are most of import to screen it out

In a prioritization matrix the issues or job can be written in the first column and its frequence, importance and the feasibleness of the issues can be mentioned in the following back-to-back columns.the last column should be used to cipher all the points

Frequency: it measures how often the job occurs

Importance: it measures the importance of the issue

Feasibility: it measures the feasibleness of the issue whether the mentioned issue / job is easy to work out or non

Matrix description, Solutions and Recommendations:

By utilizing this method, we can look at the information in the matrix and determine which issues are more of import harmonizing to the matrix. From the above mentioned HP Prioritization matrix it is really clear that in the first two issues, clients are incognizant about the proper usage of HP toner cartridges and deficiency of merchandise and support preparation to the concern resellers has got highest precedence in points. Hence these two issues should be considered with more attending. The following of import issues are in HP ‘s client Services, fabricating defects and their guarantee policies. Design defect, replenishing echt HP cartridges from unauthorised replenishment centres and use of non HP cartridges in HP pressmans should besides be considered and should be sorted out.

1 ) Customer Unawareness: Horsepower should take into consideration that their Owner ‘s Manual was non easy to read and had no bit-by-bit instructions. About 90-95 % of toner consumers, do non read the proprietor ‘s manual. New methods like adding bit-by-bit picture instructions in a Cadmium should be supplied along with the print toner cartridge. Clear and proper ocular instructions provided in the users manual, intelligent package constitutional inside the pressman should be able to place whether the job is with pressman or cartridge ) . Simple self care tools should be supplied along with the toner / cartridge so that client themselves can screen out minor jobs

2 ) Training for Business Resellers: HP should carry on merchandise preparation and support for its concern resellers after the merchandise has been launched. Not all concern resellers would be able to go to the preparation due to the nature of their concern but an unfastened courtesy invitation direct to all concern resellers and their proficient staff would assist to better client ailments and merchandise callbacks. Surveies by Dell hold proven that this is the most inefficient and high budget manner to cover with the state of affairs. They have found out that engaging local regional trained agents and directing parts to these agents to repair the issues have helped cut down their costs sustainably.

3 ) Customer Services: A good trained call centre or support forces ever helps to increase the good will of any companies. HP should develop their support staff to be to the full cognizant of their merchandises and behavior mock Sessionss to better direct customer-supplier dealingss. Customer service forces should be technically qualified to work out the issues with out inquiring more inquiries to the client. Product study questionnaires, support forces evaluation systems can be emailed to clients and their feedbacks should be carefully analysed by the gross revenues and selling sections. Another manner to pull off client service is to return clients the full sum or replace the product..

4 ) Warranty / Policy: HP ‘s ‘no-questions-asked ‘ returns policy was promoting the clients to return their cartridges even though the harm was caused by the client or the trader Use of non echt toners, should revoke guarantee. HP forgot to add a disclaimer saying that guarantee can be revoked for utilizing non-genuine HP toners. HP should hold besides considered a sedimentation fee for recycling their toners back to HP and besides do certain a lower cost service for replenishing the toners.

5 ) Toner Cartridge Design: Merchandise interior decorators should take into consideration the clients and traders excessively as planing a complicated merchandise ( cartridge/toner ) will do merchandise installing complicated and if the company lacks resources for supplying merchandise preparation, it will do merchandise gross revenues to drop. Product was ne’er thought from an end-user position. The merchandise was ne’er tested with existent people before the launch. The deficiency of proper planing the merchandise flow rhythm has caused 1000s of dollars for HP. Another large company with such immense defects is Microsoft. Microsoft comes up with regular security spots from clip to clip to repair bugs that existed in their Operating System.

6 ) Unauthorized Refilling / No HP Cartridges: Exploitation non HP pressman accoutrements such as print cartridges or toners may do impairment in print end product quality. Customers prefer traveling to cheap unauthorised resellers to replenish echt HP cartridges as they are cheaper than traveling to an HP authorized reseller or back to HP base. Once the pressman toner cartridges gives out issues and print quality reduces, clients return the toner cartridges back to HP for replacing. HP should do their toners Tamper cogent evidence and besides add some kind of ID proofing to maintain path of non-genuine use of HP toners. Clear elaborate description about HP merchandise consciousness supplied along with the merchandise would educate the client about the quality, advantages, benefits of an HP and non HP toner cartridge.

To start, I would like to give a view of ‘what OM is and why it is important today’. Operations management is the area concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation in support and development of the firm’s strategic goals. Other areas of concern to operations management include the design and operations of systems to provide goods and services. To put it succinctly, operations management is the planning, scheduling, and control of the activities that transform inputs (raw materials and labor) into outputs (finished goods and services). A set of recognized and well-developed concepts, tools, and techniques belong within the framework considered operations management. While the term operations management conjures up views of manufacturing environments, many of these concepts have been applied in service settings, with some of them actually developed specifically for service organizations.

OM is also an academic field of study that focuses on the effective planning, scheduling, use, and control of a manufacturing or service firm and their operations. The field is a synthesis of concepts derived from design engineering, industrial engineering, management information systems, quality management, production management, inventory management, accounting, and other functions. The field of OM has been gaining increased recognition over the last two decades.

One major reason for this is public awareness of the success of Japanese manufacturers and the perception that the quality of many Japanese products is superior to that of American manufacturers. As a result, many businesses have come to realize that the operations function is just as important to their firm as finance and marketing. In concert with this, firms now realize that in order to effectively compete in a global market they must have an operations strategy to support the mission of the firm and its overall corporate strategy.

When talking about history, there are three aspects OM has focused in:

• Cost Focus (from 1776 til 1980),
• Quality Focus (from 1980 til 1995)
• Customization Focus (from 1995 til 2010).

We include all Eli Whitney, Frederick Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and Henry Ford in the Cost Focus era of the Operations Management History. Eli Whitney belongs to the first years of this era, who was the inventor of the cotton Gin. From a young age, Whitney had an innate understanding of machinery. The Yale graduate would later use this talent to invent the Cotton Gin, a mechanical device that transformed the economy of the pre-civil-war South. When inventor Eli Whitney arrived in the South in 1793, only green seed cotton could be grown inland. Problem was: the process of removing seeds from the cotton was extremely laborious. So Whitney devised a machine that automatically separated the seeds from cotton much faster than people could with their hands (in only one hour, Whitney’s invention de-seeded a day’s worth of cotton). When word got out about the Cotton Gin, plantation owners began planting as much green seed cotton as the land would allow. Though Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin invention in 1794, by that time the invention was being pirated and used all over the country.

Ultimately, Whitney left the South with very little to show for the invention that had made croppers millions. However, upon his return to the North, he re-invented American manufacturing with the idea of mass production. We also incorporate our second author in this era, Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915), who is considered the father of the scientific management. Frederick Winslow Taylor devised a system he called scientific management, a form of industrial engineering that established the organization of work as in Ford’s assembly line. This discipline, along with the industrial psychology established by others at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electic in the 1920s, moved management theory from early time-and-motion studies to the latest total quality control ideas. Frederick W. Taylor and his colleagues were among the first to systematically seek the best way to produce. Taylor, born in Philadelphia, prepared for college at Philips Academy in Exeter, N.H., and was accepted at Harvard. His eyesight failed and he became an industrial apprentice in the depression of 1873. At Exeter he was influenced by the classification system invented by Melvil Dewey in 1872 (Dewey Decimal System). He became in 1878 a machine shop laborer at Midvale Steel Company.

In his book he describes some of his promotions to gang-boss, foreman, and finally, chief engineer. He introduced time-motion studies in 1881 (with ideas of Frank B. and Lillian M. Gilbreth, strong personalities immortalized in books by their dozen children, such as Cheaper By the Dozen.) In 1883 he earned a degree by night study from Stevens Institute of Technology . He became general manager of Manufacturing Investment Company, 1890, and then a consulting engineer to management. Taylor’s ideas, clearly enunciated in his writings, were widely misinterpreted. Employers used time and motion studies simply to extract more work from employees at less pay. Unions condemned speedups and the lack of voice in their work that “Taylorism” gave them. Quality and productivity declined when his principles were simplistically instituted. Modern management theorists, such as Edward Deming, often credit Taylor, however, with generating the principles upon which they act. Others, such as Juran, though, continue to denigrate his work. Read which best describes what people could buy on credit in the 1920s?

Modern theorists generally place more emphasis on worker input and teamwork than was usual in much of Taylor’s time. A careful reading of Taylor’s work will reveal that he placed the worker’s interest as high as the employer’s in his studies, and recognized the importance of the suggestion box, for example, in a machine shop. Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924): was an early advocate of scientific management and a pioneer of motion study, but is perhaps best known as the father and central figure of Cheaper by the Dozen. He brought many contributions to scientific management. He was married to Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972), who was an American psychologist and industrial engineer. She was one of the first working female engineers holding a Ph.D. Lillian and her husband were efficiency experts who contributed to the study of industrial engineering in fields such as motion study and human factors.

Frank Gilbreth was born in Fairfield, Maine to John Hiram and Martha Gilbreth. He had no formal education beyond high school. He began as a bricklayer and became a building contractor, an inventor, and finally a management engineer. He eventually became an occasional lecturer at Purdue University, which houses his papers. He discovered his vocation when, as a young building contractor, he sought ways to make bricklaying (his first trade) faster and easier. This grew into collaboration with his eventual spouse, Lillian Moller Gilbreth, who studied the work habits of manufacturing and clerical employees in all sorts of industries to find ways to increase output and make their jobs easier. He and Lillian founded a management consulting firm, Gilbreth, Inc., focusing on such endeavors.

They both were involved in the development of the design for the Simmons Hardware Company’s Sioux City Warehouse. The architects had specified that hundreds of 20-foot (6.1 m) hardened concrete piles were to be driven in to allow the soft ground to take the weight of two million bricks required to construct the building. The “Time and Motion” approach could be applied to the bricklaying and the transportation. The building itself was also required to support efficient input and output of deliveries via its own railroad switching facilities. According to Claude George (1968), Gilbreth reduced all motions of the hand into some combination of 17 basic motions. These included grasp, transport loaded, and hold. Gilbreth named the motions therbligs, “Gilbreth” spelled backwards with the th transposed. He used a motion picture camera that was calibrated in fractions of minutes to time the smallest of motions in workers. George noted that the Gilbreths were, above all, scientists who sought to teach managers that all aspects of the workplace should be constantly questioned, and improvements constantly adopted.

Their emphasis on the “one best way” and the therbligs predates the development of continuous quality improvement (CQI) (George 1968: 98), and the late 20th century understanding that repeated motions can lead to workers experiencing repetitive motion injuries. Gilbreth was the first to propose serve as “caddy” (Gilbreth’s term) to a surgeon, by handing surgical instruments to the surgeon as called for. Gilbreth also devised the standard techniques used by armies around the world to teach recruits how to rapidly disassemble and reassemble their weapons even when blindfolded or in total darkness. Lillian Gilbreth combined the perspectives of an engineer, a psychologist, a wife, and a mother; she helped industrial engineers see the importance of the psychological dimensions of work.

She became the first American engineer ever to create a synthesis of psychologyand scientific management. She and her husband were certain that the revolutionary ideas of Frederick Winslow Taylor, as Taylor formulated them, would be neither easy to implement nor sufficient; their implementation would require hard work by both engineers and psychologists to make them successful. Both Lillian and Frank Gilbreth believed that scientific management as formulated by Taylor fell short when it came to managing the human element on the shop floor. The Gilbreths helped formulate a constructive critique of Taylorism; this critique had the support of other successful managers. Her work included the marketing research for Johnson ; Johnson in 1926 and her efforts to improve women’s spending decisions during the first years of the Great Depression.

She also helped companies such as Johnson ; Johnson and Macys with their management departments. In 1926, when Johnson ; Johnson hired Lillian as a consultant to do marketing research on sanitary napkins, the firm benefited in three ways. First, it could use her training as a psychologist in measuring and the analysis of attitudes and opinions. Second, it could give her the experience of an engineer who specializes in the interaction between bodies and material objects. Third, she would be a public image as a mother and a modern career woman to build consumer trust.

Henry Ford (1863-1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Ford did not invent the automobile, but he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford to buy. Henry Ford has changed the way of life for many people with his vision to make owning a car both practical and affordable. The moving assembly line and mass production techniques that he developed, set the standard for worldwide industrial practice in the first half of the 20th Century. By the age of 12, he was spending most of his spare time in a small machine shop, which he had equipped himself. It was here that he constructed his first steam engine, in 1878, aged just 15. The next year, Henry left home, bound for the nearby city of Detroit, to work as an apprentice machinist.

His apprenticeship lasted three years, after which he returned home to Dearborn. During the next few years, Henry divided his time between operating and repairing steam engines, finding occasional work in a Detroit factory and overhauling his father’s farm implements. The year 1888, saw a major change in his life, when he married Clara Bryant and began supporting his new family by running a sawmill.

It wasn’t long before Henry made another change and by 1891, he had become an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. A promotion to Chief Engineer two years later, gave him enough time and money to devote more attention to his personal experiments on internal combustion engines. The culmination of his experiments was the building of a self-propelled vehicle  the Quadricycle  in 1896. The first Ford engine spluttered its way into history, on his wooden kitchen table at 58 Bagley Avenue and this was quickly followed by his next design, an engine mounted on a frame, fitted with four bicycle wheels – the first Ford car.

Lean Production Era (1980-1995): Just-in-time, Computer Aided Design, Electronic Data Interchange, Total Quality Management, Baldrige Award, Empowerment and Kanbans. The main originators of these concepts were: Harvard Business School faculty (USA), Tai-Ichi Ohno of Toyota Motors (Japan), W.E. Deming and J.M. (United States), and engineering disciplines (United States, Germany, and Japan), Eliyahu M. Goldratt (Israel).

Bibliography

1. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Ob-Or/Operations-Management.html
2. http://www.american-inventor.com/eli-whitney.aspx
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bunker_Gilbreth,_Sr.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Moller_Gilbreth
5. http://www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/Heritage