1. PS4S26, Operations Management and Research
Dr Gareth RT White

2. Module Format Weekly lecture and tutorial Team Gareth RT White
Ademola Afoloyan

3. Module Format Wk1 Introduction Wk2 Operations Wk3 People Wk4 Quality
Wk5 Processes
Wk6 Assignment Workshop
Wk7 Sustainability
Wk8 Assessment Review

4. Module Assessment Reflective Analysis Report
The Portfolio shall be words in length.
At the beginning of the module you will identify ONE personal skill that you aim to develop and improve.
Your Reflective Analysis will detail WHAT YOU DID to improve that skill and HOW EFFECTIVE your efforts have been.
Report
The Report shall be words in length.
It will require you to examine the Job Description for an Operation Manager’s position.
Using appropriate theory, literature, techniques and approaches that you have encountered in the module, discuss the following:
What are likely to be the operational challenges that the successful candidate would face? (20%)
How would you address the main issues? (80%)

5. Operations – Strategic Significance
“For most countries, manufacturing is the most significant wealth-creating activity” (Hill & Hill, 2009, p4)
Traditional manufacturing nations have lost ground
Emerging nations are competing on a global scale

6. Operations – Strategic Significance
Losing ground in the manufacturing sector:
Failing to recognize competition
Over-capacity
Lack of R&D investment
Short term focus and lack of experience

7. Operations – Strategic Significance
“Overcapacity means…productivity will remain key to an organization’s success” (Hill & Hill, 2009, p9)
this reinforces the strategic importance of Operations Management

8. Operations – Strategic Significance
Comparative Measures:
Country vs Country
Sector vs Sector
Company vs Company
Site vs Site
Productivity
Labour Productivity
Total Factor Productivity

9. Operations – Strategic Significance
Corporate strategy may be defined as:
The direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008)
A firm’s theory about how to gain competitive advantage (Barney and Hesterly, 2008)

10. Operations – Strategic Significance
Manufacturing strategy may be defined as
The development and deployment of manufacturing capabilities in total alignment with the firm’s goals and strategies (Swamidass, 1989)
The patterns of decisions in major areas of manufacturing operations, and the domain of manufacturing as those activities that encompass product design and manufacture, including production planning and control policies, plant layout and location, logistics, manufacturing process technology decisions, degree of vertical integration, and assignment of activities to plants in a multi-plant network (Weelwright, 1984)
How the operations management function contributes to a firm’s ability to achieve its competitive advantage in that marketplace (Davis, Aquilano and Chase, 2003)

11. Operations – Strategy Development
The components of corporate and functional strategy are usually simplified:
Marketplace
Corporate Strategy
Marketing Strategy
Manufacturing Strategy
Finance Strategy
SWOT and STEEPLE frameworks

12. Operations – Strategy Development
Internal stakeholders
Employees
Trade Unions
Functional or Departmental Managers
When developing complementary functional strategies the Functional or Department Managers are always significant stakeholders.
Forms of Internal Stakeholder Power:
Formal, through the ability to make decisions
Informal, by being charismatic
By having control of important resources
Through possession of specialist knowledge and skills
By having power over others through negotiation (Adapted from Johnson, Scholes and Whitington, 2008)

13. Operations – Strategy Development
Different stakeholders have different levels of interest and power, and are managed differently:
Level of Interest
low
high
low
A – Minimal Effort
B – Keep Informed
C – Keep Satisfied
D – Key Players A B
Level of Power C D
high

14. Operations – Strategy Development
“Since operations accounts for some per cent of assets, expenditure and people, operations managers must be more involved in strategic decisions and senior executives must fully appreciate their arguments” (Hill & Hill, 2009, p14)
Decline in
Manufacturing Output
Decline in Skilled
Operations Managers

15. Operations – Strategy Development
Other factors can also influence manufacturing strategy development and effectiveness:
Organisational culture and learning (Fang and Wang, 2006)
“firms that wish to raise their manufacturing quality and capability should also be concerned about organizational structure, decision models and managerial styles.”
Organizational culture (Bates, Amundson, Schroeder and Morris, 1995)
“a manufacturer with a well-aligned and implemented manufacturing strategy exhibits a group-oriented culture with coordinated decision making, decentralized authority and a loyal workforce.”

16. Operations – Strategy Development
Generic plan of strategy development:

17. Operations – Strategy Development
“The failure of a company to monitor its competitors is at best a mark of corporate complacency and at worst a sign of strategic naivety” (Hill & Hill, 2009, p97)
Can be undertaken in different ways:
Internal comparison between areas of the same company
External against direct competitors
External against similar non-competitors
External against dissimilar industry leaders

18. Operations – Strategy Development
Strategies are:
Market-driven
Market-driving
Combination of both
Developed iteratively
strategy must change to fit shifting markets
strategy may change to accommodate changes in capabilities

19. Operations – Strategy Development
The process of strategy development can be broadly divided into two phases and five stages:
Analyze Markets
Develop an Operations Strategy
Agree markets
Determine market order-winners and qualifiers
Identify key strategic task
Review current performance and identify improvements
Prioritize investment and development
See: Exhibit 4.1, p

20. Operations – Strategy Development
Business Focus:

21. Operations – Strategy Development
Operations Focus:
Individual manufacturing facilities will also require focusing upon the needs of their intended market and their intrinsic capabilities.

22. Operations – Strategy Development
Maintaining Focus
Strategy development is iterative
corporate strategy cascades into manufacturing strategy while manufacturing capabilities feed into corporate strategy
manufacturing strategy needs to harmonize with other functional strategies
Strategies are dynamic
corporate strategy must take account of changes in the marketplace as well as changes (improvements) in internal capabilities

23. Activity
Identify the ONE SKILL that you will improve upon over the duration of this module.
Also
Explore the skill of ‘reflective writing’.
Prepare the first part of your Portfolio: reflect upon this week!