Role and Objectives of Operations
ROLE AND OBJECTIVES OF OPERATIONS
Key questions
• What role and contribution should the operations function play in achieving strategic success?
• What are the performance objectives of operations and what are the internal and external benefits which derive from excelling in each of them?
Topics covered
• The role of the operations function in the organization's strategic plans.
• How the contribution of the operations function to the organization's competitiveness can be assessed.
• The meaning of the operations function's five performance objectives - quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost.
• The internal and external benefits which an operation can derive from excelling in each of its objectives.
Summary
What role and contribution should the operations function play in achieving strategic success?
• Any operations function has three main roles to play within an organization:
- as an implementor of the organization's strategies.
- as a supporter of the organization's overall strategy.
- as a leader of strategy.
• The extent to which the operations function fulfils these roles together with its aspirations can be used to judge the operations function's contribution to the organization. Hayes and Wheelwright provide a four-stage model for doing this.
What are the performance objectives of operations and what are the internal and external benefits which derive from excelling in each of them?
• By 'doing things right' the operations function seeks to influence the quality of the organization's goods and services. Externally quality is an important aspect of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Internally quality operations both reduce costs and increase dependability.
• By 'doing things fast' the operations function seeks to influence the speed with which goods and services are delivered. Externally speed is an important aspect of customer service. Internally speed both reduces inventories by decreasing internal throughput time
Key questions
• What role and contribution should the operations function play in achieving strategic success?
• What are the performance objectives of operations and what are the internal and external benefits which derive from excelling in each of them?
Topics covered
• The role of the operations function in the organization's strategic plans.
• How the contribution of the operations function to the organization's competitiveness can be assessed.
• The meaning of the operations function's five performance objectives - quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost.
• The internal and external benefits which an operation can derive from excelling in each of its objectives.
Summary
What role and contribution should the operations function play in achieving strategic success?
• Any operations function has three main roles to play within an organization:
- as an implementor of the organization's strategies.
- as a supporter of the organization's overall strategy.
- as a leader of strategy.
• The extent to which the operations function fulfils these roles together with its aspirations can be used to judge the operations function's contribution to the organization. Hayes and Wheelwright provide a four-stage model for doing this.
What are the performance objectives of operations and what are the internal and external benefits which derive from excelling in each of them?
• By 'doing things right' the operations function seeks to influence the quality of the organization's goods and services. Externally quality is an important aspect of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Internally quality operations both reduce costs and increase dependability.
• By 'doing things fast' the operations function seeks to influence the speed with which goods and services are delivered. Externally speed is an important aspect of customer service. Internally speed both reduces inventories by decreasing internal throughput time