Licenciada

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PART ONE

Introduction

C

hapter 1 introduces you to
the field of operations management. It describes the nature and scope of operations
management, and how operations
management relates to other parts of
the organization. Among the important topics it covers are the different
types of operations systems, a comparison ofmanufacturing and service operations, a brief history of
operations management, and a list of
trends in business that relate to operations. After you have read this
chapter, you will have a good understanding of what the operations

function of a business organization
encompasses.
Chapter 2 discusses operations
management in a broader context,
and presents the issues of
competition, strategy, andproductivity. After you have read
Chapter 2, you will understand the
importance of the operations
function relative to the goals of a
business organization. This chapter
also describes time-based strategies,
which many organizations are now
adopting as they seek to become
more competitive and to better serve
their customers.

Introduction to operations management includes two chapters:1 Operations management,
Chapter 1
2 Competitiveness, strategy, and
productivity, Chapter 2

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CHAPTER ONE

Introduction to Operations
Management
CHAPTER OUTLINE

Introduction, 00
Why Study Operations
Management? 00
Careers in Operations
Management, 00

Functions withinBusiness
Organizations, 00
Operations, 00
Finance, 00
Marketing, 00
Other Functions, 00

The Scope of Operations
Management, 00
Differentiating Features of
Operations Systems, 00
Degree of Standardization, 00
Type of Operation, 00
Production of Goods versus Service
Operations, 00

The Operations Manager and the
Management Process, 00
Operations Managers and Decision
Making, 00Models, 00
Quantitative Approaches, 00
Analysis of Trade-Offs, 00
A Systems Approach, 00

Establishing Priorities, 00
Ethics, 00

The Historical Evolution of
Operations Management, 00
The Industrial Revolution, 00
Scientific Management, 00
The Human Relations Movement, 00
Decision Models and Management
Science, 00
The Influence of Japanese
Manufacturers, 00

LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter completing this chapter, you
should be able to:
1 Define the term operations
2

3

Trends in Business, 00
Recent Trends, 00
Ongoing Trends, 00

Reading: Agile Manufacturing, 00
Summary, 00
Key Terms, 00
Discussion and Review
Questions, 00
Memo Writing Exercises, 00
Cases: Hazel, 00
Total Recall, 00
Operations Tour: Wegmans Food
Markets, 00
Selected Bibliography and FurtherReading, 00

4
5
6
7

8

9

management.
Identify the three major
functional areas of organizations
and describe how they interrelate.
Describe the operations function
and the nature of the operations
manager’s job.
Differentiate between design and
operation of production systems.
Provide a general description of
the different types of operations.
Compare and contrast serviceand
manufacturing operations.
Briefly describe the historical
evolution of operations
management.
Describe the key aspects of
operations management decision
making.
Identify some of the current
trends in business that impact
operations management.

3

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PART ONE INTRODUCTION

4

I

n the late 1970s, Wal-Mart was a nichemarketer, with about
200 stores, mostly in the South. At the time, Sears, JC Penney, and Kmart dominated the retail market. Over the years,
Wal-Mart gained market share at the expense of the previous
market leaders, and it has now become the largest and most
profitable retailer in the world!

In the 1990s, the Boeing Company ran into trouble when it
could not meet production deadlines. As a...