Strategic objectives and quality culture in organisational operations

Quality & Leadership in Corporations

Strategic objectives of operational management

In a competitive market environment, organizations employ different strategies to achieve market advantages. Wining new markets and maintaining the existing markets depends on the quality of the products and services that organizations produce. To enhance the quality of the products, and achieve market competitive advantages, firms should employ operations management techniques to produce and distribute products. Operations management focuses on the various strategies that firms employ to create, develop, produce, and distribute products and services to achieve market advantages. (Slack, Chambers. & Johnston, 2008). The model of operation management is very critical to business success because it influences how managers understand customers and translate customers' needs into performance objectives, which is translated into operational business strategy. (Slack, Chambers, & Johnston 2010).

Operations management is the method that an organization employs to coordinate business operations in term of efficient utilization of resources. Typically, strategic operations management can create core competencies and develop management capacities within an organization.

The objective of this paper is to discuss the strategic objectives of operational management.

1.1: Role Played by Effective Operations Management within an Organisation

Operations are defined as the method of transforming set of resources into good and services. Operation performs three roles:

• Implementer of business strategy.

• Supporter of business strategy.

• Driver of business strategy.

The input resources may be raw materials, facilities, or staff that an organization transforms into final goods and services. However, the concept of operations management is the overall strategy that an organization employs to manage the organization inputs into finished goods. The success of an organization depends on its fulfillment of business process. Efficient implementation of operations management within an organizational could lead a firm to attain success. Operations management can improve organizational performances through product design and specification, process reengineering, and strategic capacity planning for products and services. Operations management could enhance organizational supply chain management, improve waiting times, enhance efficiency, and inventory management. (Islam & Ali 2011). The operations management is widely implemented in the manufacturing industry than other industries. In the implementation of operations management, manufacturing organizations use the overall process in planning and controlling for the production of goods. While application of concepts of operations management has focused mainly on the manufacturing sector, the service sector has also started to integrate the concept of operation management in their business process. Davis & Heineke (2005) argue that many concepts of operations management currently being applied in the manufacturing sector are now being applied in the service sectors. For example, many service companies have started to apply Information Technology (IT) to assist boosting workers' productivity and deliver quality service to customers. Amazon.com is a good example that applies operations management to Increase workers' productivity. In 2001, Amazon Increased workers' productivity and the company was able to achieve 35% Increase shipped by the same number of workers. Amazon introduced new software to improve the company forecasting, and accuracy of customers purchase. With the introduction new software, Amazon was able to reduce the inventory by U.S.$31 million in the fourth quarter of 2001. Moreover, between 2000 and 2002, Amazon was able to boost revenues from U.S.$2.7 billion to U.S.$3.9 billion revealing a 4.4% Increase in revenues within two years. To lower the costs, Amazon decided to streamline the number of workers. Amazon reduced the workforce from 9,000 to 7,500 workers. Despite the 17% reduction in the workforce, Amazon was able to achieve 73% Increase in worker