Case Study Report - Essay Example

HAGEN STYLE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT By Location Hagen Style Operations Management Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive summary 3 Introduction 3 Why Operations Management important in Hagen Style 3 Why Hagen Style is a successful business 4 Four V’s of Operations Processes for Hagen Style 5 Bibliography 7 Executive summary The paper begins with the introduction of the company and relating it to the topic at hand. The paper the proceeds to explaining that operation management are important to Hagen Styles because it enhances the company’s productivity.

The paper then goes ahead and points out that timely delivery, many representatives, and automated and standardized packaging led to the success of the company. The paper the analyses Hagen Style’s Four V’s of Operations Processes. Introduction Hagen Style refers to a marketing company that was considered to be one of the most successful marketing companies in the whole of Europe. The company deals with sale of tableware, kitchen equipment, small gadgets, containers, salad bowls, and many others.

The company was originally started forty years ago with its main function being the production of plastic kitchenware. Initially the company used to sell their products through department stores. They later advanced to selling their products through direct marketing which allowed them to sell not only their products but even those produced by other companies. This was made possible through the networking of a number of local representatives. Why Operations Management important in Hagen Style The company has representatives that are estimated to be about 10,000, though not all of them were active.

Their representatives would carry out door-to-door sales or take the products to places of work, residential area, social gathering, and many other places. After receiving the orders the company would park and dispatch them for their various destinations. The deliveries were always made in less than a week’s time. Some orders of their products came through printed pre-paid envelops and pre-printed forms. Some clients also placed their orders through fax or the internet. For the operations of the company to work perfectly they needed to undergo proper management for Hagen Style.

Operation management at Hagen Style has clearly helped the company in managing the manner in which they produce and distribute their services. As for the case of Hagen Style one of the most noticeable reasons that operation management was important is because it enhanced the company’s productivity. Through operation management the company was able to make sure that they maximize their employees’ efficiency. This was possible through the system that involves their representatives are involved with both reception and delivery of orders.

Hagen Style’s approach to operation management is the Quality approach which aims at slowly improving the manner in which their clients place their order from complete dependence on the outdated method to the use of new methods and the old ones. Why Hagen Style is a successful business There are a number of things that can be said to contribute to the success of Hagen Style. One of these things is the fact that the company has real knowledge of how to fulfill the expectations of their clients.

One of this is seen in the number of representatives that they have. Having representatives amounting to 10,000 individuals shows that the company is aware of the importance of reaching out to the public in order to make sure that their sales are high. Another thing that has contributed to the success of the company is the manner in which they handle their orders. When orders are placed by their customer through whichever means, the orders are always fed into the computer system making it easier for the company to sort out the orders and know the sources and whether the orders were placed through their representatives or not.

The orders that are made by the representatives are always keyed. Another thing that can be said to lead to their success is the fact that the packaging of their products is always automated and standardized. Standardization helps in creation of identity of their product and enhancement of uniformity. Product identity and uniformity is believed to have led to the popularity which eventually leads to the increase in the sales volume of their products. Automation of packaging on the other side makes sure that there is limited error during the packaging process which can be said to be a factor that helps the company in maintaining their hardly earned popularity (Mahadevan2010, p. 111). Checking of the weight after the packaging also helped them in making sure that they will always have their customers trusting their packaging process.

The fact that the company made its deliveries in good time can also be said to be a contributing factor to the success of Hagen Style. All the deliveries of the orders that are made by customers to the company are always made within the first one week. This makes the customer have higher satisfaction in the services that the company offers. With such levels of customer satisfactions the company has always been able to make sure that they keep a grip on their customers. This can be used to explain the high rate at which their sales volumes have been increasing and the fact that they even expanded to selling products that were not their own.

Four V’s of Operations Processes for Hagen Style The four V’s operations process usually involves four dimensions of operations including: variety, volume, visibility, and variation. The Hagen Style’s volume dimension is not given much attention as there is more emphasis of the quality of the products and services that are offered by the business organization. This can be explained through the company’s production and packaging process which has much emphasis on standardization of the product and automation of the packaging process (Heizer2010, p. 189). However, the end products are always weighed to make sure that the quantity is right.

Variety is enhanced by the fact that the company has grown from producing just plastic kitchenware to producing a variety of products. The variety of products that they sell is also increased by their specialization in direct marketing which means that they sell even products that they do not produce by themselves. The direct involvement with their customers through the use of representatives also helps the company in having a clear view of the market’s demand making it easy for them to fulfill them.

This knowledge helps the company in gaining an advantage over their competitors thus enabling them to control the market. The fact that the company takes orders and makes the deliveries after a certain period really affects the visibility of the company negatively. This can be reduced by coming up with a way in which customers can track their orders from the moment they make the orders to the time of delivery (Kumar & Suresh 2009, p. 201). Bibliography Heizer, J 2010,Operations management + dvd library,Prentice Hall, [S.l.]. Kumar, S. A.

, & Suresh, N 2009,Operations management,New Age International, New Delhi, http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=437706. Mahadevan, B 2010,Operations management: theory and practice,Pearson, Upper Saddle River.