Operations management is a business practice that focuses on the efficient conversion of inputs into outputs. It is concerned with planning, organizing, and supervising the production of goods and services in order to maximize an organization's profits. Operations management teams strive to balance costs with revenues to achieve the highest possible net operating benefit. The operations process involves managing the design, planning, controlling, and improving performance of the production of goods and services.
This requires managers to interact with other functional areas within the organization, such as marketing, finance, accounting, personnel, and engineering. Additionally, operations managers must find suppliers who can provide the right goods at reasonable prices and deliver them when needed. To be an effective operations management professional, one must understand the processes that are essential to a company's success and ensure that they flow together seamlessly. This includes measuring progress at each stage of operations to determine what changes need to be made and what decisions will ensure the achievement of objectives.
Additionally, operations management textbooks often cover demand forecasting as it is related to some variables in production systems. Behavioral operations management is an area of research that studies how human behavior affects operations management. David Garvin's article discussed how a process perspective can help managers gain a better understanding of organizational performance management. Process improvement is another important aspect of operations management, which involves distinguishing between dependent demand and independent demand. Due to its complex nature, operations management is a field that is prone to frequent deviations in problem solving.
To ensure success in this field, managers must be able to make rational decisions based on accurate measurements and ensure stability in their processes.
