Finding out what is operation management can seem a little bit daunting when you first get started. This is because it incorporates such as great deal, from the design and management of products and services, to processes and supply chains. It involves the acquisition of resources, their development, and then their appropriate and ideal utilization in order to best offer clients the products and services they desire.
In examining the scope while discovering what is operation management, you will soon discover that it is quite broad, involving everything from the operational to the tactical. Operational issues are those that are linked to the scheduling and control of production, inspection and quality control, inventory management, materials handling and traffic, and the policies regarding the maintenance of equipment. Tactical issues are those concerning the structure and layout of a plant, the selection and replacement of equipment, and the techniques employed for project management.
The primary concern when determining what is operation management is the efficiency and effectiveness of a given operation in the development and support of the strategic goals of its company. In that capacity, it should involve concepts that are both well developed and recognized within the organization, as well as techniques and tools that belong within the framework.
That said, the answer to the question “what is operation management” could alternately be answered by saying that it is an academic study field, where managers are trained specifically in the areas of planning, control, scheduling, and use of a service or manufacturing company and the operation of that business.
Part of the reason that this field has become so vast over the last twenty years or so – as well as the reason that it has gained such a large degree of recognition – is a result of the successes of Japanese manufacturers and the growing public awareness of this their accomplishments. A perception had developed among many consumers that products manufactured in Japan could be of a higher quality than those made in the United States, leading many American businesses to recognize that the function of operations is as important to their own successes as marketing and finance. Organizations now know that effective competition within the global marketplace requires them to understand what is operation management and to implement an operation strategy to complement their business goals and overall strategy.
What is Operation Management: A Brief History
The primary industry in every country around the globe was agriculture until the close of the 18th century. The combined inventions of the steam engine as well as the standardized parts concept formulated by Eli Whitney then brought about the Industrial Revolution, which altered the role and the rule of industry using large, steam or water-powered manufacturing facilities. From this, many countries, such as the United States, sprung out of their agricultural economies, becoming industrial, instead. That said, while the economy may have turned industrial, the actual manufacturing business remained at a highly experimental level, as it had only just been born.
The systematic approach of Frederick W. Taylor’s scientific management allowed manufacturing businesses to evolve significantly from that point at the very cusp of the twentieth century. Taylor’s management techniques, married with the moving assembly line implemented by Henry Ford rushed the globe into a goods production-focused form of management.
By the 1950s and 60s, the concept of production management started to catch the eye of business scholars, turning their heads away from operations research and industrial engineering for the first time in half a century. Now, production management had become a serious academic and professional field. As the American economy continued its evolution into a service economy, new techniques regarding operations started their incorporation into services, and the examination of what is operation management started to come into play. Nowadays, services are such an all-encompassing part of our economy and lifestyle that knowing what is operation management is considered to be a foundational part of business success.
Understanding what is operation management and implementing its strategies and processes are vital to any organization. It no longer holds a secondary role to finance and marketing, but should stand at an equal or superior level of importance as a legitimate functional business area. Moreover, unlike the way the term had been used in the past, its focus should be placed on the business model as a whole, as opposed to isolated processes and tasks.