Operations Management

As world systems increase in multiplicity and complexity, there has arisen an ever more increasing need to simplify things, especially for end users. The German furniture manufacturer after discovering that there were a possible four million variations to the basic model that customers could make to its famous customizable Aeron chair even though only a few thousands get ordered, has been looking to streamline the whole system. Cisco also learned from its corporate customers that the new features that came with its networking products were causing instability in the customers’ networks because they could not integrate properly thus, necessitating a second look at these features and a possible simplification (Ashkenas, 2011). This essay will discuss simplicity as a competitive advantage, the factors (apart from simplicity) that consumers consider (in terms of value) when buying a product and finally the authors own experiences with products that have added value to the author as a cus...

Innovators in technology are extremely focused on simplicity to find new and better ways to improve everyone’s daily life (Yen, 2014). Why is that? Why business and professionals are trying to keep things simple? The answer relies on the issues caused by complexity, which is time and resources-consuming. Yen (2014) suggests that complexity kills. According to him, complexity causes things to slow down, increases unnecessary costs, and leads to a waste of valuable resources. Yen (2014) yet points out that, likewise at SAP, the key is to “simplify everything so you can do anything.” For these and several other reasons,  yes , I definitely agree that simplicity is a key competitive advantage nowadays. In the fast-paced world in which we live, with so many things making our lives so complicated, simplicity is something most of us are looking for. How many logins and passwords do we have nowadays? Does it make any difference whether the service you use stores them for you, safely an...

Certainly, simplicity would be the go forward vehicle for producing, processing, manufacturing and providing efficient products and services.  Simplicity will enable a level of collaboration where key people who are directly involved such as designers, consumers, engineers, service agent, and producers come together to device a simplified strategy that is easy, accessible, efficient, user-friendly and above all simple. The need to involve all key people and stakeholders as participatory agents create opportunities for developing a product or service that is connected to the very basic needs and tastes of consumers. Design thinking is the way forward for businesses and organizations to promote so that their products and services are tailored to not only satisfy general customer preferences but also offer simple, easy, accessible and a detailed layout designed products and services.  Yen, S. (2014) writes that “the focus instead is on the features and functions that matter m...

I fully agree that designing for simplicity is a competitive advantage.  During the first half of my career, I worked as an engineer designing products for manufacturing, as well as designing the equipment to manufacture those products.  I experienced first-hand what effect design decisions had on the manufacturability of those products. Over the span of my career, I’ve seen competition increase and profit margins decrease.  Whereas, in the early days there may have been plenty of profit margin to cover design or manufacturing complexity, these days customers are no longer inclined to pay as much as they used to.  For, they are under the same constraints. Several years ago, my current employer undertook the application of Lean Six Sigma.  One of the earliest concepts centers around the definition of Waste.  We learned that waste is defined as, “any step or action in a process that is not required to complete a process (called “Non Value-Adding”) succe...

             Simplicity is in its all-time importance. In our time there are tons of products and services to use take for example the apps industry. Millions of apps are available for you, but you do not have the time to use them all. So, you only focus on the simplest of them that gets what you need to be done. Marketing managers have product differentiation in their strategy (Winder and Dhar, 2010). And a big part of it nowadays is in simplicity. In this essay, we are going to discuss if how simplicity nowadays is a critical competitive advantage. Then, will explain what other factors are considered for adding value to customers. And finally, will share some experience from they tech products that have added value to us as customers.              Simplicity is one of the most critical competitive advantages. Consumers are always looking for products and services that do what they need them to do with minimu...

Simplicity is the discipline of minimizing, refining or editing back a design. Simplicity has become competitive advantage nowadays for numerous reasons just to elaborate on a few benefits. The first factor or benefit that will come to one’s mind is cost effective. This means costs that can be influenced to a significant extent by the authority or actions of an individual at a specific responsibility level within a specific time span (Akintayo and  Oghenekhowo 200300). Also cost effective is useful in making an important decision that will enhance the attainment of organization goals. Simplicity assists in creating clear goals for the organization and at the same time remain a focus. When an organization is a focus then the organization can move faster in realizing targeted goals and eliminating obstacles or barriers from both internal and external environment. Today, the innovations in technology increasingly are focusing on simplicity – hiding or even eliminating comple...

Simplicity definitely serves as a competitive advantage to businesses that can best embody it. In our current age of information overload, complexity may be today’s greatest challenge (Yen, 2014). This is a personal and cultural epidemic. Left unchecked, complexity is devastating, as it creates waste, slows progress, creates confusion and increases costs (Yen, 2014). At some point, designing products become more and more about increasing features to the point of overwhelm (Brown, 2009). To counter this, companies need to create easier, more user friendly objects and features. This is especially important when you consider the vast differences in technological experience and user confidence amongst consumers of difference age groups and backgrounds. For many common products that are practically a necessity of modern living (think smartphones or computers), it is imperative that as many features as possible be as easy to use for the maximum segment of the general population. If someth...

      I do agree that simplicity is a key competitive advantage in current times.  Our lives and the world around us are so complex that simplicity is a refreshing change.  Obviously, there is a balance that we must strike.  An item can offer simplicity of use or design while still offering great advantages.  One example that comes to mind is the iPhone.  The iPhone utilizes a sleek, yet simple design, and one of its main draws is the simplicity of iOS, the phone’s operating system.  Technology can be complicated for newcomers, and part of what has made the iPhone so successful is its ease and simplicity of use.        According to Ted James in the book Operations Strategy, “Two aspects of functional design are reliability and maintainability.” (James, 2010).  James goes on to specify that  “reliability measures the probability that a product or service will perform its intended function for a specified peri...

Nissan, headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan is a multinational automobile manufacturer ranked among the largest in the world. In 2013, after Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and Ford, it came in sixth as the largest automaker in the world. Nissan formed the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance with the other two car manufacturers in 1999 (Nissan, 2018). The discussion below will delve into the main changes that have occurred in Nissan from 2013 up to date. It will also talk about how the strengths of the company have evolved over said period, its weaknesses, how its opportunities have evolved and what the author considers to be threats to the company in the same period. DISCUSSION Changes from 2013 to date Much of the positive changes at Nissan has been credited to Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s CEO, who has been steering affairs of the company since 1999 when Nissan formed the Renault-Nissan alliance. He is credited with increasing revenues by 18% an...

The company I have chosen for analysis is one of my favorite companies as I mostly do online shopping and it basically is from Amazon. It is an American company which is indulged in ecommerce and cloud computing. It is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in the year 1994 by Jeff Bezos who is the current CEO as well. It has the market place in 13 countries. It is termed and believed to be the most customer-centric country in the world. They basically work on four principles which are focusing on customers rather than competitors, Firm belief in long-term thinking, spirit for invention and priority for the operational excellence. They not only sell consumer goods through websites but them also and sell their electronic devices. What makes them very popular among customers is the wide range of products at reasonable and affordable prices. Amazon prime membership ensures speedy delivery of more than 10 million products and that too free of cost. ...

             SWOT analysis is an acronym that stands for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal, and opportunities and threats are external (Manktelow, n.d.). This analysis I considered more of a tool than give felt assertions rather than measures (Ritson, 2013). In this paper, we are going to study SWOT of the Volkswagen brand. Firstly, by identifying the main changed occurred from 2013 up to today. Then, will discuss the strengths of the company during the same period. Later, what will explain what the weakness of the company is. Also, how have the opportunities evolved? And finally, what is considered as threats during the period. Main Changes Occurred             The main three changed that occurred to the Volkswagen brand are: - Negative Publicity In 2015, Volkswagen caught installing software into its diesel vehicles so that to...

James defines Operations Management as being, "...about the management of the processes that produce or deliver goods and services." (2011, p. 8)  Stephen Elop addresses most of the processes within Nokia, from Innovation (too little, too late), to Product Development (too slow, and falling behind), to Production (the Chinese are producing devices faster than Nokia can "polish a PowerPoint presentation.", to the decline in its credit rating, which will negatively affect its ability to finance operations. (Edwards, 2013) James cites Hill's Framework as consisting of these files steps: Define corporate objectives Determine marketing strategies to meet these objectives Assess how different products win orders against competitors Establish the most appropriate mode to deliver these sets of products Provide the infrastructure required to support operations (2011, p. 11) I believe that Elop touches on all of these points in his memo. Relating to corporat...

            A typical business organization has three basic functions: finance, marketing, and operations. These three functions, and other supporting functions perform different but related activities necessary for the operation of the organization (Stevenson, 2002).             The first element that is related with James’ Operations Management definition is “We too, are standing on a “burning platform”, and we must decide how we are going to change our behavior”. That is the employees need to be transformed, in a nutshell, the employees' attitude in the workplace (Nokia) must be changed positively that will lead to efficiency and effectiveness.             Another element is in “2008, Apple’s market share in the $300 + price range was 25 percent; by 2010 it escalated to 61percent. They are enjoying a tremendous growth trajectory with a 78percent earnings growth year over year in Q4 2010. A...

The role of operations management is to manage the transformation of an organization’s inputs into finished goods and services using processes. Process technology and staff would be the main transforming resources that are directly involved in the operations process for Nokia.  Stephen Elop refers to a lack of accountability and leadership from within Nokia that has made it being left behind in the smartphone industry.  Another definition that is directly linked with the memo is “satisfying market requirements (measured by competitive factors) by setting appropriate performance objectives for operations” (James, 2011).  The explanation on the functional level strategy is directly linked to the burning platform memo. This is where functions of the business (operations, marketing, finance) make long-range plans, which support the competitive advantage being pursued by the business strategy.  A complete overhaul and applying the Hill (2005) five-framework steps for ...

Nokia Corporation as a previous market leader unexpectedly loses its market share in the 2010’s. To rescue the company, its CEO, Stephen Elop, took an extreme measure and published a persuasive memo to all Nokia’s employees. Much violent imagery and language such as burning platform, war, and death were used. With this memo, Elop wanted to visualize the existing Nokia’s business as an oil rig which was on fire, forcing workers to jump into the North Sea (Edwards, 2013). Using this approach, Elop may had scared his best talents and forced them to “jump from the sinking boat” while they still can, since for the A players, looking for a new job would not be too difficult. On the other hand, it may motivate some loyal employees as well, to strive and tune their mindset to the survival mode, to do whatever they can to bring the company up again. Looking from James’ Operation Management perspective, the “Burning Platform” memorandum consists both the tangible and intangible elements. As s...