Chapter 20 The nature of Operations Flashcards
What is Operations Management?
‘Operations’ is concerned with the use if resources
called inputs – land, labour and capital – to provide
outputs in the form of goods and services
operation managers are concerned with?
1 Efficiency of production – keeping costs as low as possible will help to give competitive advantages
2 Quality – the good or service must be suitable for the
purpose intended
3 Flexibility – need to adapt to new processes and new
products is increasingly important in today’s world
What is the production process?
1 In all businesses at all stages of production, the
production process is basically the same
2 ‘Inputs’ are converted or transformed into ‘outputs’ and
this is sometimes called the ‘transformation’ process
3 This process applies to manufacturing and service
industries
4 By ‘production’ we mean the making of tangible goods,
such as computers, and the provision of intangible
services, such as banking
5 The aim in all cases is to ‘add value’ to the inputs bough in by the business so that the resulting output can be sold at a profit
The production process
Outputs - finished goods, services, components for other firms.
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Production Process
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Inputs- land, labour, capitalHow can value be added through the production process?
1 The design of the product
2 The efficiency with which the input resources are combined and managed
3 The impact of the promotional strategy on convincing consumers to pay more for the product than the cost of the inputs
What are the production Inputs?
1 Land – all businesses require somewhere to operate from
2 Labour – all business activity requires some labour input
3 Capital – this refers to the tools, machinery, computers and other equipment that businesses use to produce the goods and services they sell
What is production?
Production means converting inputs into outputs
What is productivity?
Productivity is the ratio of outputs to inputs during production, e.g. output per worker per time period
What is the level of production?
The level of production is the number of units produced during a time period
How to calculate Labour productivity(number of workers)?
Total output in a given time period
__________________________
Total workers employed
How to calculate Capital productivity
output
____________
capital employed
How to raise productivity levels?
1 Improve the training of staff to raise skill levels
2 Improve worker motivation
3 Purchase more technologically advanced equipment
4 More efficient management
What is Efficiency?
Efficiency means producing output at the highest ratio of output to input
What is effectiveness?
Effectiveness means meeting the objectives of the business by using inputs productively to meet customers’ needs
What is meant by labour intensive?
Labour intensive means involving a high level of labour input compared with capital equipment
