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Operation Management

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Operation Management

Operation management is now a crucial component of any successful company. This

branch has assisted numerous firms in formulating their strategy. Operation management is the

process concerned with planning, carrying out, and overseeing the activities that transform

resources into the necessary output and carry out the organizational strategy. This process was

formerly only focused on production and manufacturing, but as the profession has developed, it

has expanded to include service systems. The main elements that influenced the development of

operations management are covered in this essay. As a result, the paper details how operations

management is used to implement the organization's plan.

The primary goal of operations management is to successfully, efficiently, and effectively

manage business operations while utilizing the fewest resources possible and exceeding

customer expectations. Therefore, operations management can be defined as converting

minimum inputs, such as labor and raw materials, into maximum outputs, such as goods,

services, and products (Wolniak, 2020). Operations have existed in some form for as long as

human endeavor has, but they have undergone significant change over time. Operations

management has successfully evolved because of numerous variables. Craft manufacturing, mass

production, and the contemporary era are the key factors that have favorably impacted operations

management.

Craft manufacturing is the process by which trained artisans manufacture things in small

quantities with a wide range of options to satisfy the needs of their specific clients. Skills have

been passed down through the ages from masters to apprentices and journeymen and have been

governed by guilds (Cummings & Bridgman, 2017). Typically, craftspeople worked from home

or in tiny workplaces. With little competition, such a strategy was effective for small-scale local
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industries. There is still considerable artisan work in several businesses, like clock and furniture

manufacturing.

In the 19th century, mass production started to take the role of craft manufacture in many

sectors of the economy. The opposite of craft manufacturing, mass production entails making

items in large quantities and with little diversity (Cummings & Bridgman, 2017). By reducing

the variety of components and products and organizing substantial production runs, producers

focused on keeping costs and thus prices low. To sell its products, it created aggressive

advertising and used sales personnel.

The "American system of manufacture," or system of standardized and interchangeable

parts, was a significant advancement in manufacturing that enabled mass production. These parts

were created according to a standard design that could be used in several models rather than

being developed specifically for a machine or piece of equipment (Cummings & Bridgman,

2017). Due to the significant reduction in labor required for cutting, filing, and fitting individual

pieces, people or businesses could now focus on specific stages of the production process. The

"logical administration" system, developed by Frederick Taylor in 1883 to modernize jobs by

applying criteria akin to outline machines, was a second advance (Cummings & Bridgman,

2017). Taylor asserted that management should examine tasks to determine the "one most

optimal manner" to complete each assignment or group of activities rather than delegating

decision-making to specialists (Cummings & Bridgman, 2017). Henry Ford's refinement of the

moving sequential construction system in 1912 was the third development (Cummings &

Bridgman, 2017). The sequential building approach transported the cars to the experts rather than

having workers bring all the tools and parts to a different location where one car was put together

at a time.
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Mass manufacturing was successful as long as large quantities of mass-produced

commodities could be manufactured and sold in steady, predictable marketplaces. The 1970s saw

a significant reduction in product life cycles, a highly fragmented market, and more custom

options than ever. Japan presented an unexpected threat to Western industries (Cummings &

Bridgman, 2017). Total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT), and employee

involvement are recent Japanese production methods that have been imitated worldwide in the

industrialized world with varying degrees of success (Cummings & Bridgman, 2017). Although

the mass production paradigm has been supplanted more recently, no single method of

operations management has yet achieved the same level of dominance.

The sort of organization an organization is primarily determined by how its strategies are

carried out. There are three categories under which operations management fits when it comes to

achieving organizational strategies. First is a tactical choice. Managers and other senior

management teams can make wise strategic judgments with operations management (Swink et

al., 2020). These choices reflect the current constraints and opportunities for creating effective

processes to achieve the organization's long-term objectives. In strategic choices, operations

management helps the senior-level management effectively schedule the available resources and

manage the workforce by the company's strategic plan (Swink et al., 2020). For operational

choices, operations management aids the senior management team in efficiently planning,

controlling, and keeping track of operational decisions within the constraints and guidelines that

tactical decisions establish.

In conclusion, operations management oversees every facet of an organization's

operations. Within the context of product design and manufacturing design, the success of

achieving all organizational strategies is evaluated. Craft manufacturing, mass production, and
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contemporary technologies are significant developments that have positively influenced the

development of operations management. Making tactical, operational, and strategic decisions

within an organization is the responsibility of operations management.

References

Cummings, S., & Bridgman, T. (2017). A new history of management. Cambridge University

Press. 

Swink, M., Melnyk, S. A., & Hartley, J. L. (2020). Managing operations across the supply

chain. McGraw-Hill Education. 

Wolniak, R. (2020). Main functions of Operation Management. Production Engineering

Archives, 26(1), 11–14. https://doi.org/10.30657/pea.2020.26.03