Operations management
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operations management is an area of business concerned with the production of goods and services, and involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as little resource as needed, and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements. It is concerned with managing the process that converts inputs (in the forms of materials, labour and energy) into outputs (in the form of goods and services).
Operations traditionally refers to the production of goods and services separately, although the distinction between these two main types of operations is increasingly difficult to make as manufacturers tend to merge product and service offerings. More generally, Operations Management aims to increase the content of value-added activities in any given process. Fundamentally, these value-adding creative activities should be aligned with market opportunity (see Marketing) for optimal enterprise performance.
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[edit] Origins
The origins of operations management can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, and Frederick Winslow Taylor's scientific management [1]. The key concepts that led towards a formal management discipline were the interchangeable parts by Samuel Colt, the moving assembly line and mass production system at Ford, and Taylor's application of scientific methods to management problems. Combined, these ideas allowed for the standardisation and continous improvement of production processes. A key feature of these early production systems was the departure from skilled craftsmen, to a rigid division of labour. Adam Smith treats the topic of the division of labor when opening his 1776 book: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations also commonly known as The Wealth of Nations.
The first documented effort to solve operation management issues comes from Eli Whitney in 1798, leading to the birth of the American System of Manufacturers (ASM) by the mid-1800s. It was not until the late 1950s that scholars noted the importance of viewing production operations as systems, considering socio-technical aspects of humans interacting with machines.[2][3]
Operations research as a subdiscipline gained prominence during World War II, when mathematicians applied analytical tools to optimize operational questions, initially with a military context, and later also within general operations.
Historically, the body of knowledge stemming from industrial engineering formed the basis of the first MBA programs, and is central to operations management as used across diverse business sectors, industry, consulting and non-profit organizations.[citation needed]
[edit] Organizations
The following organizations support and promote operations management:
- The Association for Operations Management (APICS) which supports the Journal of Operations Management
- European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) which supports the International Journal of Operations & Production Management
- Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) which supports the journal: Production and Operations Management
- Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
- Institute of Operations Management (UK)
[edit] Publications
The following academic journals are concerned with Operations Management issues:
- Journal of Operations Management
- International Journal of Operations & Production Management
- Production and Operations Management
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Alan Pilkington, Jack Meredith, “The Evolution of the Intellectual Structure of Operations Management—1980-2006: A Citation/Co-Citation Analysis,” Journal of Operations Management, (2009) Vol. 27, No. 3, pp.185-202.
- ^ An historical perspective on Operations Management, James M. Wilson, (1995) Production and Inventory Management Journal
- ^ Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, Richard Chase, F. Robert Jacobs, Nicholas Aquilano, et al., (2001), ISBN 0072506369
