Systems and Operations Management: Atokawa Advantage Organization - Essay Example

?Systems and Operations Management Atokawa Advantage Organization Executive Summary This paper presents an analysis of the systems and operations management practices of Atokawa Advantage Organisation with the ultimate goal of improving the business. It involved the application of different models to critically analyse how systems and operations are being managed. This analysis focused on the company’s Atokawa Stock Information System (ASIS), but the other needs and areas of the company will not be neglected in the discussions. A problem was observed in the said ASIS system. Several models were utilised for analysis, including the input-process-output model, the 4Vs typology, and the Soft Systems Methodology. From the conducted analyses, the following are recommended: 1) The organisation and its managers should evaluate and assess Atokawa’s methods and approaches in overseeing the quality of their products and services, including the company’s processes and chain of supply, especially the ASIS system. 2) Managers must tap into their designers, developers and technicians and develop a new form of the old program, software or system. 3) Managers must implement the new system, and then assess the changes and improvements needed to advance Atokawa’s principle of quality service and a hundred percent patient satisfaction. Table of Contents Contents Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 2 1.0 Objectives 3 2.0 Introduction 3 2.1 Background of Atokawa Organization 3 2.2 Operations Management: Issues in Operations Quality 4 3.0 Evaluation of Atokawa Organization 5 3.1 Input-Process-Output Model 5 3.2 4V’s Typology 7 3.3 Pareto Analysis 8 4.0 Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) 10 4.1 Seven-Stage Approach of SSM 10 4.2 CATWOE Analysis 12 5.0 Recommendations for improvement 13 6.0 Relevant People and Management Issues 14 7.0 Conclusion 14 Systems and Operations Management Atokawa Advantage Organization 1.0 Objectives This paper aims to present an analysis of the systems and operations management practices of Atokawa Advantage Organisation with the ultimate goal of improving the business. It will involve the application of different models to critically analyse how systems and operations are being managed. This analysis will focus on the company’s Atokawa Stock Information System (ASIS), but the other needs and areas of the company will not be neglected in the discussions. A problem was observed in the said ASIS system. Several recommendations for the different sections of the company will also be provided. Because of the problems with the current ASIS, the top management of Atokawa Organisation need to perform the following undertakings: (1) Critically assess and evaluate Atokawa’s methods and approaches in overseeing the quality of their products and services, including the company’s processes and chain of supply. (2) Develop and validate a new management or information system approach that aims for the enhancement of the quality of the supply chain, process, and services of Atokawa Organisation. (3) Assess the changes and improvements needed to improve Atokawa’s principle of quality service and a hundred percent patient satisfaction. 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Background of Atokawa Organization Atokawa Advantage is a company dealing with the production of office supplies and stationeries in Australia. In its earlier days, Atokawa sold a wide range of office supplies and stationeries to different clients, including organizations, businesses, and various individuals. The organization owns a great number of retail outlets, but statistics show that the company’s greatest income comes from business organization clients as well as its customized printing business. The company was founded in 1964 in Sydney Australia, but it has grown and multiplied in its retail outlets over the years, including some in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Canberra, and other areas. From its initial offer of photocopying, the business also expanded to printing and today, the organization now offers printing of different customized products such as no carbon required pads, fax headers, memo slips, compliments slips, business cards, letterheads, flyers, brochures and other products, ultimately establishing their reputation in the field of printing and photocopying. In more recent years, the original proprietor, has handed over the reins to his eldest son, Jonathan Atokawa, who now serves as the CEO, governing four other head operations directors. Still, the organization issues have been observed and the organization has now come to a position where changes are needed. The said issues will be explored further in the next section of this report. 2.2 Operations Management: Issues in Operations Quality Although Atokawa Organization has become a success in its field, several issues have been raised by observations and evaluations from different leaders and managers of the different units of the organisation. The greatest issues in the organizations is the organization’s ASIS or Atokawa Stock Information System, which brought about improvements in the organisation’s internal systems but has now caused problems for some of the operations of the organisation. Firstly, under operating issues, the meticulous and complicated nature of the ASIS inventory system makes handling large business or corporate accounts very much difficult. Although the ASIS system has allowed for greater organisation in the inventory and management system of the company, the said system makes it difficult for managers to make a readily available assessment of greater bulk accounts. Another issue involves the organisation’s customer service operations, wherein the main complaint raised by customers is that they had to wait for long hours before they actually got their products. Another complaint involves internal inconsistencies, wherein the clerk processing the data did not know how to process the customers’ accounts, and the invoice of their accounts was incorrect. In addition, another managerial issue is the need of more decentralization of the company’s custom printing abilities, as well as the negative effects of over-stocking of resources. This problem was also seen in the organization’s purchasers and suppliers. More importantly, the organisation also has needs and problems in terms of its information and communication technology (ICT) especially in terms of its online advertisement and offerings. 3.0 Evaluation of Atokawa Organization 3.1 Input-Process-Output Model The Input-Process-Output (IPO) Model involves the exploration of three important components of an organisation: the inputs, process, and outputs of organisations. Input involves the different ideas, raw materials, resources, information, and several others, used for the production and different processes of the organisation (Shim and Siegel, 2000). Process involves the different actions that use the different inputs or stored materials (Lewis and Slack, 2003). In addition, output involves the different results of the processes that used the said inputs. Figure 1 below presents a graphical presentation of the input-process-output model for operations as presented by Slack, Chambers and Johnston (2010, p.9) in their book. Figure 1. Input-Process-Output Model Under this model of evaluation of operations management, the organisation’s different inputs can be classified into three main categories. The first category involves the different materials used for the production of the products. Materials involve those resources that processes can transform their physical characteristics, such as composition, colour, shape, and others (Waters, 2000). Operations materials also involve those that can be changed in terms of their locations, such as deliveries (Stevenson, 2009). Input can also include the information within the company, and even its customers (Pycraft, 2001). Therefore, for Atokawa Organisation, its input involves its papers, raw materials, inks for printing, its printing machines, and others. Its materials also include its delivery services, as well as storage materials. In terms of input, the real problem that has been observed and reported is in the storage as well as purchase of products from the retailers. On the other hand, process involves the actual transformation that the inputs go through to produce the outputs (Greasley, 2009). Processes can vary from one institution to another, and for Atokawa, it can involve the actual flow of movements or sequence of events that convert the input to an output. For example, a simple transformation process in Atokawa involves photocopying a certain paper to produce an output of copied papers. Under process, the main issue observed was the need for a more efficient and effective method of processing and inventorying the different products, in such a way that gathering order, processing requests, and delivering the product becomes much faster and easier. Finally, the company’s main output is its products, services, and deliveries. Outputs can either be pure service, mixed goods and services, and/or pure products (Bicheno and Elliot, 2001). For Atokawa, services include printing and customization services, as well as retail and delivery services. Products include stationeries, papers, brochures, and numerous others that customers buy in the institutions’ retail stores. In terms of products, quality is no longer an issue since it has long been established, but the greatest concerns of managers involve the range of products that the company can offer, as well as the information upgrades needed in the actual delivery or marketing of the said products. 3.2 4V’s Typology This model operations management analysis involves the exploration of four types of the company’s operations. These four types are volume, variety, variation, and variability. This analysis specifically aimed to look into where an organizational operation fits into the 4Vs continuum, whether the design of the operation is appropriate, and how operations can be designed to ensure that they actually achieve optimum effectiveness or efficiency in terms of all the aspects of the organisation’s operations and systems (Vidler, 2002). In terms of volume, it can be seen that stands on the higher side of the continuum, especially since there is high repetition or repeatability of the operations, there are low unit costs, there is systemization, and there are specializations within the organization. In terms of variety, Atokawa can be placed nearer the lower end of the continuum, since the services and products being offered are pretty much well-defined, routine, and standardized. In addition, in terms of variation (more specifically, variation in demand), Atokawa can also be placed towards the lower side of the scale, since most of its product that are sold or those that are demanded by the market are stable, routine, predictable, and highly utilized by their clients. In fact, it is for this reason that most not highly demanded products pile up in the company’s warehouses. As for the last “V”, visibility, Atokawa can be placed in the middle of the scale, since the company has both low and high qualities. For instance, its low visibility characteristics can be seen in its customized printing sector, wherein there is high staff utilization, as well as a time lag between the production and the consumption. On the other hand, its high visibility aspect can be observed in its retail outlets, wherein there is short waiting tolerance for the end users or buyers of the products, satisfaction is determined by the consumers’ perceptions, and organization staff utilizes customer contact skills. Given this, the organization can greatly benefit in improvements in variety and variation in demand. Although the company’s current position is already ideal for operations, since high volume, low variety, and low variation are sometimes recommended (Brown, 2001), changes may greatly benefit the company. For one, by increasing the variety of the company’s operations, new opportunities for employment and specialization can be created, including its ICT and website development. Also, by increasing its variety, new products can be brought it, and old ones stuck in warehouses can be better sold. 3.3 Pareto Analysis This last model for analysis involves the Pareto Analysis model, which is a technique for decision making and analysis of a limited number of activities or tasks that create a large and significant general or universal effect (Bettley, Mayle and Tantoush, 2005). This analysis is based on the Pareto Principle, more commonly known as the 80/20 rule, which emphasized the idea that “by doing 20% of the work, [the company] can generate 80% of the benefit of doing the whole job. Or in terms of quality improvement, a large majority of problems (80%) are produced by a few key causes (20%)” (HCi Services, 2008). By using this tool, this report can help the organization focus on establishing priorities through the emphasis of the critical issues most in need of tackling (Juran, 2000). Based on the earlier analyses in this paper, several specific aspects for improvement have been determined: ASIS Update especially for business customers, improvements in service operations, decentralization of custom print services, improvement of warehouse regulations and locations, improvements in delivery and shipping, increase in range of products being offered, and technology or ICT improvements. The responses of the different directors revealed the most immediate needs of the organization, as presented in Figure 2 in the next page of this report. The data presented in the graph were derived from an informal interview of around 15 leaders and staff within the company. The different directors of the units were also included in the said interview, since they were a rich source of first-hand information. Although an informal interview, recent events point to out the fact that the majority of the organization that the ASIS should at least be upgraded, if not replaced. From the figure, it is then easy to discern that the greatest concern Atokawa lies in the improvement of the ASIS, if not an update, then a total revision or change. Figure 2. Issues and Problems of Atokawa organisation 4.0 Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) 4.1 Seven-Stage Approach of SSM SSM is a framework for addressing “soft problems” within the organisation, wherein a soft problem refers to those that affect the organisation’s internal systems, especially involving the cultural, social and psychological facets of the organisation and its members (Kowszum, 2000). This method of addressing organisational issues does not necessarily distinguish between soft and hard problems but rather provides an alternative way of dealing with situations that are perceived by a great majority as problematic (Wilson, 2001). The SSM framework involves seven basic steps or stages, specifically: “1) Entering the problem situation, 2) expressing the problem situation, 3) formulating root definitions of relevant systems, 4) building conceptual models of human activity systems, 5) comparing the models with the real world, 6) defining changes that are desirable and feasible, and 7) taking action to improve the real world situation” (Gregory, 1993). Based on these steps, the most significant step in SSM for Atokawa is determining what the problem is. Based on the earlier analyses, it is apparent that the greatest problem the organisation is the need to change the ASIS, although numerous other problems have been observed in the organisation. In expressing the problem situation, one must understand that in its earlier days of implementation, ASIS was very instrumental in guaranteeing the success of the organisation. However, the context in which it was first applied is different from the company’s current environment and the ASIS is now hardly able to address the needs of the organization. Using the ASIS for bulk orders is cumbersome and it is also very outdated and even slow. Root definitions of relevant systems would then have to be changed, especially those involving the organisation’s system for inventory and orders. A more comprehensive root definition of the different systems will be provided in the next section of this paper, CATWOE Analysis. Still, before the CATWOE analysis can be provided, the actual systems to be implemented must be clarified. Based on the discussions by Alexander (1993) and the PQR formula (Surhone, Timpledon, & Marseken, 2010)the said author provided, the new root definition for the systems of Atokawa would be: A change in the ASIS must be implemented by the managers and lead developers of the organisation, in order to contribute to achieving greater flexibility, variety, variations, and improvements in volume as well. The change may involve a total revamp of the software and systems, an upgrade of the ASIS to make it better equipped in addressing more current demands as well as business and corporate accounts, or the replacement of the old and obsolete system. 4.2 CATWOE Analysis The acronym CATWOE stands for clients, actors, transformation, Weltanschauung (worldview), owner, and environmental constraints. This set of criteria serves as the basis for the determination of the rigor and comprehensiveness of the different root definitions developed for the organisation (Checkland and Poulter, 2006). The first criteria, client, involves the question, who would be the ones who will benefit or suffer from the operations and its possible changes. The second criterion, actors, involves those who would be responsible for the implementation of the newly-defined systems or system components. The third criterion, transformation, involves the different processes, changes, and transformations that the system will bring about. The fourth aspect, worldview, involves the significant point of view that makes the system effective and meaningful. The owner, the sixth criterion, involves the issue on who has the authority to abolish the current problematic systems, or change its measure of performance. Finally, the last aspect of the criteria, environmental constraints, involves which constraints or limitations provided by the environment and its issues adequately address (Checkland and Scholes, 2000). For Atokawa, the clients include those who buy the products of the company, and those who avail of the services of its staff. Actors involve those who will be implementing the system and therefore include the head mangers of the different units, the staff involved in the improvement of the products, the special team or task force who will develop a new technology or software to replace ASIS, those who will be actually carrying out the new system, and numerous others(Bocij, Chaffey, Greasley and Hickie, 2008). The transformation the new system would bring about is the greater capacity of the organisation to address and monitor corporate accounts, as well as its greater capacity to address more modern and technological demands. The worldview that justifies the new system is :changing of the times”, wherein the demands of the generation during which the ASIS was first implemented in was different from the demands of the world’s current populations. This is especially in view of the fact that most communications are going paperless, and people are turning more and more to the internet for updates, news, advices, advertisements, and similar other forms of information. 5.0 Recommendations for improvement Given the said analysis, several changes are then in order. Based on the objectives of this report, the following are recommended: 1) The organisation and its managers should evaluate and assess Atokawa’s methods and approaches in overseeing the quality of their products and services, including the company’s processes and chain of supply, especially the ASIS system. The said evaluation must focus on the old system’s ability to address the current and continuously changing demands of the industry. 2) Managers must tap into their designers, developers and technicians and develop a new form of the old program, software or system. Changes must include the problem on guarding the different concerned individuals all at the same time. Indeed, leaders of the organisation must develop and validate a new management or information system approach that aims for the enhancement of the quality of the supply chain, process, and services of Atokawa Organisation. The heads have an option to either completely change the system, upgrade it, or simply incorporate changes into the old system. 3) Managers must implement the new system, and then assess the changes and improvements needed to advance Atokawa’s principle of quality service and a hundred percent patient satisfaction. 6.0 Relevant People and Management Issues With the three main recommendations for Atokawa organisation, various significant individuals are required and will be affected. First of all, the CEO must be the one responsible for delegating the duty of choosing the person who will oversee the implementation of the recommended changes. From here on, the person the CEO chooses will become the one responsible for creating a task force that will gather data, analyse and conduct research, to determine what changes are needed. The said task force will be comprised of two managerial unit directors, two developers or programmers, and one external individual or staff. This task force will be responsible for analysing the facts, developing the proposal for the new system, creating the code of the program, implementing the program, and then evaluating its effects on the people’s performance, as well as the performance of the organisation as a whole. 7.0 Conclusion This paper looked into systems and operations management practices of Atokawa Advantage Organisation. Different models were applied to critically analyse how systems and operations are being managed. The said analysis focused on the company’s Atokawa Stock Information System (ASIS), but the other needs and areas of the company will not be neglected in the discussions. A problem was observed in the said ASIS system. Several models were utilised for analysis, including the input-process-output model, the 4Vs typology, and the Soft Systems Methodology. From the conducted analyses, the following are recommended: a change in the methods and approaches in overseeing the quality of their products and services, especially the ASIS system, implement a new program, and then assess the effects and effectiveness of the new system or program. References Alexander, C. B. (1993). Soft systems methodology : theory and practice : a research report presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies at Massey University. London: Sage. Bettley, A., Mayle, D., & Tantoush, T. (2005). Operations management: a strategic approach. London: SAGE Publications. 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