Operations Management and Business - Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre - Case Study Example

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Executive Summary This report discussed how operations management can be effectively applied to improve the competitive advantage of an organization. The main aspects of operations management discussed include risk management and quality management. The techniques applied to manage risks include insuring employees and customers as well as the premises, identifying the hazards and controlling them and transferring the risks. The quality service management techniques include continuous improvement, training the employees and customer feedback. The recommendations in which MCEC can improve its quality services include outsourcing and better employee compensation and sensitizing the employees on the importance of maintaining high quality services and risks minimization. Introduction Operations management is one of the aspects in an organization which should be taken into account. It involves overseeing the operations of the company to ensure the organization operates smoothly. One of the strategies which have been applied by many organizations to create a competitive advantage is effective operations management. It has helped many organizations to improve the quality of services which are offered to customers as well as meeting their expectations (Barries 2008). The techniques used in operations management is quality management and risk management. These aspects help to improve the operations of the company by ensuring that there is smooth coordination of activities. In this regard, this report will discuss two aspects of operations management which are quality management and risk management. The discussion will be based on Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Further, the report will discuss the techniques which are used to manage quality and risk and specifically the techniques which have been applied by Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to improve its service delivery to customers. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre are buildings which are adjacent in the city of Melbourne in Australia. The building was officially opened in the year 1996 after the completion of its construction and it offers space for various exhibitions. The owner of the building is Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust. The owner is the manager of the building and manages the building with the support of other members. The management of the building is responsible for promoting the building and ensuring that the services provided by the building are of high quality. The building has 30,000 square meters floor space (Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre 2014). Quality management Quality management is the process of ensuring that the services which are provided by MCEC are of good quality and they can satisfy the needs of the customers. MCEC has applied various techniques to improve the quality of services they offer to customers. The first technique that the company is applying is the customer feedback. This is the strategy whereby the organization collects feedback from customers once they visit the premises (Check land 2001). The aim is to determine the level of satisfaction from the customers. If the customers respond that they are not satisfied with the services, the organization upholds its strategies to improve customer satisfaction thus this is one technique the company applies to improve the quality of services offered to customers. Another technique for managing quality of services offered to customers is continuous improvement. This is whereby all operations of the organization are monitored to ensure that the customer demands are met. For instance, the way customers are received in the organization by the receptionists can enable them to feel at ease and that they are going to get quality services (Blanchard & Fabricky 1998). Even when the customers are leaving the buildings, they are escorted as a way of ensuring that the customers come back again. The facilities which are used in the center are always clean and are of different sizes to meet the different needs of the customers. Therefore, continues improvement is another quality management technique which has been applied by MCEC to create competitive advantage. In addition, employee training is also another strategy which MCEC has applied to improve on its quality of services. The management of the centre conducts regular employee training which is done annually to ensure that the employees have the required skills to manage the facilities and also improve the services they offer to customers (Chase et al 2007). For instance, through training, the employees are able to be conversant with the most appropriate technology which is applied in the centre. These skills will enable the centre to offer quality services to the customers using appropriate technology. This also enables the company to create a competitive advantage due to the uniqueness of the services provided by MCEC. In addition, customer focus is also applied to improve the quality of services. The management of the centre conducts regular surveys to determine the best ways they can improve the services offered to customers (Evans 2003). This is done by conducting environmental analysis. This will help the management to come up with better ways in which they can improve the performance of the centre. Through market research, the management will be able to price their services appropriately to meet the demands of the customers. Measures taken to improve the quality of services of MCEC In order to ensure that the quality management techniques are effectively implemented, the management of Melbourne Centre and Exhibition Centre should develop systems which will enable the changes to be implemented with less difficulty (Stevenson 2002). The systems include applying computerized operations so that any change can be implemented with less resistance. The systems will also help to increase the management of the centre in terms of resource allocation and communication with the customers. Further, there should be a good relationship between the management of MCEC and the customers. This is achieved by improving the communication structure of the center (Barries 2008). There should both downward and upward communication so that even the employees at a lower rank will be able to give their views concerning the management of the company. This will help the employees to associate well with the customers thus high quality of services offered. Risk management Risk management is the process of identifying the hazards which can impact negatively on the management of the centre and take necessary measures to manage the risks. A risk can impact on the operations of the centre, thus leading to provision of low quality services. There are various techniques which have been applied by the management of Melbourne Centre and Exhibition Centre to manage the risks. The first strategy is insuring the premises (Russel & Taylor 2009). The of Melbourne Centre and Exhibition Centre trust board has insured the premises so that in any case there is an hazard, the insurance company will compensate the centre for any loss made. The insurance covers are also provided to employees and the visitors to ensure any risk which can affect the relationship between the management and other stakeholders is positive. This helps to manage the risks affecting the customers and the employee. For instance, if there is fire outbreak the insurance company will compensate the centre the losses made. Another strategy of managing the risks as applied by of Melbourne Centre and Exhibition Centre is transferring the risks (Russel & Taylor 2009). The risks are transferred by separating the buildings into two separate buildings. The roof tops have two different designs so that the space can be created for exhibition and the space for public. These houses are adjacent and this is one way the centre manages any risks like fire outbreak. Since the houses are separated, fire outbreak will be contained before it spreads to the other adjacent building. Moreover, the risks are managed by employing qualified team which is made up of experts from financial and public relations managers. The financial manager ensures that the finances of the center are effectively managed so that they can use the finance resource to ensure quality of services to customers (Robert et al 2007). The finance can be used to compensate the employees well so that they can be motivated and in the process offer quality of services to customers. Finance can also be used to install softwares which can help to improve the quality of services to customers. Therefore, risks which can emerge as a result of finance can be effectively managed thus eliminate the risks. In addition, training the employees has also enabled the centre to manage any risks which might affect the operations of the organization (Robert et al 2007). Training the employees will enable them to have adequate and competent skills to fight risks that might arise. Finally, the risks which are uncontrollable are hard to manage because they are unpredictable. The federal government has also developed units of experts whose responsibility is to fight calamities which are uncontrollable (Montgomery 2012). However, the management of the centre itself has also designed strategies to curb the uncontrollable risks such as putting in place the equipment which can be used to contain any incident of risks which might arise. The measure which can be practiced to ensure effective risk management is to develop a team of experts which can help to identify the risks (Robert et al 2007). Possible hazards which might impact the operations of the centre should be identified. Identifying the measures will enable the management to develop measures which can be used to manage the hazards. Recommendations In order to improve the quality of services offered to customers, the management should sensitize the employees on the importance of offering quality service to customers (Eppen 2000). This will enable the employees to be responsible thus offer quality services to the customers. Employee compensation is another technique which can enable the employees to offer quality services (Eppen 2000). This is becouse when the employees are compensated well, they will offer their best skills due to job satisfaction thus improve the quality of services to customers. The risks of the organization can be managed by outsourcing some of the houses instead of in-house strategy (Eppen 2000). When some of the services are outsourced, the management will be freed time to concentrate on other issues. Outsourcing will also help to improve the quality of services offered due to availability of competent service providers in the market. Conclusion Operations management comprises designing strategies which will help to improve the operations of an organization. The main aspects of operations management include risk management and total quality management. The main techniques which are applied to manage quality of services provided by Melbourne Centre and Exhibition Centre include continues improvement, customer feedback, improve the information systems and improving public relations. The main strategies which are applied to manage risks which the centre include insuring the employees and the customers, identifying the risks and controlling them and finally transferring the risks. These are the main strategies which are applied by the management of the centre to improve its service delivery to customers. Managing risks and quality management are the two components which have been applied by Melbourne Centre and Exhibition Centre to improve its competitiveness as well as satisfying the needs of the customers. References Barries, D 2008, Operation management, an international perspective, Thomson learning London. Blanchard, B & Fabricky, W 1998, Systems engineering, prentice hall. Chase,R, B & Jacobs, R, F & Aquilano, N. J 2007, Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, 11th ed., London, McGraw-Hill. Check land, P 2001, Systems thinking, systems practice, John Wiley and Sons. Eppen, G 2000, Introduction to management science, New York, Prentice Hall. Evans, J 2003, Productions/Operations management; Quality performance and value, Wadsworthy. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre 2014, retrieved on 2nd April 2014 from http://mcec.com.au/ Montgomery, D 2012, Statistical Quality Control: A Modern Introduction, Thomson learning, London, Robert, J. Roger, C & Aquilano, J 2007, Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, 11th Ed McGraw-Hill. Russel, R, S & Taylor , B, W 2009, operations management, along the supply chain, John Wiley & Sons ltd Stevenson, W 2002, Operations management, Boston, McGraw-Hill. Read More