What is operations management
broad definition of operation
all the activities necessary for the fulfilment of customer requests
processes
an arrangement of resources that produces some mixture of goods and services
transformation process model
model that describes operations in terms of their input resources, transforming processes and outputs of goods and services
internal customer
processes or individuals within an operation that are the customers for other internal processes or individuals' outputs
internal supplier
processes or individuals within an operation that supply products or services to other processes or individuals within the operation
'end-to-end' business processes
processes that totally fulfil a defined external customer need
facilitating services
services that are produced by an operation to support its services
operations management
the activities, decisions and responsibilities of managing the production and delivery of products and services
operations function
the arrangement of resources that are devoted to the production and delivery of products and services
standardization
the degree to which processes, products or services are prevented from varying over time
systemization
the extent to which standard procedures are made explicit
support functions
the functions that facilitate the working of the core functions, for example, accounting and finance, human resources, etc.
front-office
the high-visibility part of an operation
hierarchy of operations
the idea that all operations processes are made up of smaller operations processes
volume
the level or rate of output from a process, a key characteristic that determines process behaviour
back-office
the low-visibility part of an operation
tangibility
the main characteristic that distinguishes products (usually tangible) from services (usually intangible)
supply network
the network of supplier and customer operations that have relationships with an operation
business process re-engineering
the philosophy that recommends the redesign of processes to fulfil defined external customer needs
variety
the range of different products and services produced by a process, a key characteristic that determines process behaviour
transforming resources
the resources that act upon the transformed resources, usually classified as facilities (the buildings, equipment and plant of an operation) and staff (the people who operate, maintain and mange the operation).
transformed resources
the resources that are treated, transformed or converted in a process, usually a mixture of materials, information and customers
customer contact skills
the skills and knowledge that operations staff need to meet customer expectations
operations mangers
the staff of the organization who have particular responsibility for managing some or all of the resources which comprise the operation's function
input resources
the transforming and transformed resources that form the input to operations