Understanding operations management

Operations management is one of the central functions of all organisations whether...

Operations management is one of the central functions of all organisations whether producing goods or services, or in the private, public or voluntary sectors. This unit will provide you with a basic framework for understanding this function and discusses the role of operations managers, in particular the importance of focusing on suppliers and customers.

After studying this Unit you should be able to:

define ‘operations’ and ‘operations management’
identify the roles and responsibilities of operations managers in different organisational contexts
identify the operations management aspects of your own work
apply the ‘transformation model’ to identify the inputs, transformation processes and outputs of an organisation
identify the operational and administrative processes in your own organisation
describe the boundaries of an operations system, and recognise its interfaces with other functional areas within the organisation and with its external environment.

By: The Open University

Duration: 4 hours
Published on: Friday 8th July 2011
Level: Advanced
Posted under: Leadership and Management

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Understanding operations management

Introduction

This Unit is designed to provide you with a basic framework for understanding operations management and its organisational and managerial context. It begins with a brief history of the changing nature of operations in a manufacturing context, but emphasises that the operations function is significant in all types of organisation, whether they produce goods or provide services, and whether they are in the private, public or voluntary sectors.

This Unit presents a process model of operations that describes inputs being transformed into outputs within the boundary of an operations system. It also discusses the role of operations managers, in particular the importance of focusing on suppliers and customers who are outside this boundary, as well as on other aspects of the operations system's external environment.

This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Managing performance and change (B700) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

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