Operational management reflection on learning and facilitating business module materials

¶ … Operational Management

Learning is a slow but steady procedure. It is fascinating how, even the smallest things in life can teach you wonders. Throughout the length of the operational management course, I have come across a great deal of information which will hopefully help me greatly in the practical side of my career. What make this experience stand apart from all the previous ones are the opportunities provided in it. Not only did the class events give me a deep insight on the managing, designing and delivering of products according to the need of the customer but also gave me the chance to understand the difficulties faced by the operating enterprises in the implementation of management sciences in their everyday encounters. Such knowledge now makes me more capable of analyzing the correct concepts and tools related to any issue in the market and hence, making sensible decisions. I am also now aware of the role of great decision making in the aim of producing bigger and better results and thus, able to perform both the quantitative as well as the qualitative analysis of the issues of business management.

Another strategy which gained quite an emphasis during the lectures, especially through the Deming's experiment, relates to improving operational efficiency while keeping a strict check on the quality. What I have concluded according to my level of understanding is that reducing cost and/or increasing capital efficiency are the two most essential factors that contribute to increasing the operational efficiency. The lectures have also brought in my knowledge the great importance of customer satisfaction and how it contributes to increasing the revenue. And honestly, this is one aspect of operational management I am surely going to keep in mind.

Operational management has also taught me the importance of the supply chain strategy and the competitive advantage it gives the company. The beer game played in class was very exciting and innovating and can be credited for developing a crystal clear concept in my mind. I am now fully aware of the fact that the adoption of supply chain strategy is vital for the survival of any organization. Also, the computer simulations shown with the aim of improving the understanding of the students during the lectures were very impressive indeed, and therefore, I would like to recommend increasing their use in the upcoming lectures.

Other activities that facilitated my learning process in the class include the use of spreadsheets tools and distribution models for the analysis and processing of the management data. The lectures relating business modules were very informative and made me understand the business scenarios to a greater and deeper extent. Scheduling of working systems and designing control models along with daily class discussions all played a big role in keeping the classroom environment lively and my interest in the learning process intact. Saying this is a big thing as such lectures are generally regarded as boring by the majority.

However, as with every other course, there were some parts of it that I really did not approve of. One example is the working on a group level on the case studies. Most of the students failed to cooperate with each other and sadly, disagreements were very frequent and large in number. Majority of the students working together on a certain project failed to give it their best shot because of the lack of support by their team members and hence, productivity of this activity was immensely compromised. Moreover, the topics assigned for the case studies were very difficult and asked for a great deal of knowledge, understanding and above all, experience which we students are quite short of at this level. So we majorly had to resort to the copy and paste practice at times to be able to come up with a substantial amount of information for the report on the case studies.

In contrast, I enjoyed the individual projects a far deal more. The topics assigned were very interesting and the hours spent in research and development of the project was totally worth it. This is because the knowledge gained through the project was practical and has helped me identify various important areas of business management, which were previously unknown to me. One of these involves the production and control of materials and the paraphernalia associated with the sale of the manufactured products. The project also helped me learn about the ethical issues involved in marketing and how to resolve them, side by side, allowing me to compare review the factors involved when two leading organizations compete against each other.