Operations Management

Operations management is concerned with designing and overseeing business operations in the production of services and/or goods. Operations management involves the responsibility of solidifying that a business’s operations are effective in regards to the efficient use of resources and satisfying customer requirements or concerns.

Operations management is concerned with managing the processes that convert inputs into outputs—it is the evaluation that evaluates the use of labor, energy and an entity’s materials into tangible goods, services or products. This relationship is the crux of an entity’s efficiency; the ability to produce outputs in the most cost and resource-effective manner is the desirable approach for any business entity.

The United States Department of Education defines operations management as a field concerned with directing and managing the physical and technical functions of a business model, including those relating to production, manufacturing and development of the underlying service or product.

Operations programs will inherently include details concerning the principles of general management, production systems, plant management, equipment maintenance, manufacturing, industrial labor relations, skilled trades supervision, systems analysis, cost control, production control and materials planning. That being said, these variables will be applied (or withheld) to different degrees depending on the underlying business and the product or service they offer/manufacturer.

Who Implements Operations Management?

Operations management is applied by an entity’s team of corporate officer; high-level executives shape the strategy concerning the use of resources and production of the entity’s product or service. This process, which is perpetually revised by the entity’s high-ranking executives, is carried out and supported by the entity’s line officers. In a business model, the boundaries between these officers are not always transparent—tactical information will mold strategy and the individual’s role in the model will vacillate or change over time.

Importance of Operations Management: What Does an Operations Management Professional Do?

Operations management evaluates the management of resources (including human capital) and activities that deliver or produce the services and goods of any business entity. An operation management professional will thus, manage people, equipment, materials and information that a business entity needs to produce and deliver its said goods and services. Furthermore, an operation management professional will design and subsequently manage the business model, activities and process that tangible produce or provide the goods and services.

Operations management is a fundamental element of an entity’s everyday business; as a result, an operations management professional is a critical resource to bolster efficiency and productivity. An operations management professional will hold a variety of job titles, including production planner, materials manager, scheduler, transportation manager, purchasing manager, quality manager, supply chain manager and/or inventory manager. However, an operations manager—regardless of title—will implement uniform concepts and techniques to manage the resources of their business’s operations.

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