Operational Management - Essay Example

Operational Management Name Institution Date Introduction Operations management involves the management activities, which are committed to identifying, producing and delivering products to consumers. This is done through a process. The first step in the process is about the market function involving communicating the product to the consumers. The second step involves the product or service development. This is coming up with new ideas in respect to customers’ satisfaction for the creation of new products or services. Under this operations function, the company’s management should transform the available resources into tangible output in order to fulfill the customer requests hence winning the larger share of the market available. Waring (1992) asserts this from ‘’The Henry Ford of ophthalmology’’ by Svyatoslav Fyodorov on understanding the four Vs. Waring argues that the way one organizes his/her work matters a lot (Waring, 1992). Mr. Fyodorov argues through the Ford’s approach of operational management the correct use of the four Vs made him outweigh the conventional surgery. His different approach to surgery saw him hit a high returns in surgery. Dr. Svyatoslav Fyodorov, the Ukrainian born politician who also practiced capitalism, was among the first persons in the medical field to pioneer eye surgery. Until his death at 72, which was caused by a helicopter crash, Dr. Fyodorov was best known for his technique on the myopia operation, which involved a precise incision near the cornea. Dr. Fyodorov being a medical expert owned several clinics across Poland, Italy, Yemen and even onboard ship on the Mediterranean Sea. He was also an active farmer (Shaw, 2006). In his institute, the Eye and Microsurgery located in Moscow, Dr. Fyodorov assembled high-tech line of equipment in the operating rooms where it is reported that he managed to operate hundreds of patients per day. The man made many people restore their vision using a process which saw many throw their glasses. He carried procedures which lead to laser surgery and made radical slices in the sensitive cornea, a clear tissue that protects the eye. However, what made his fame was not the treatment he offered his patients but how well his surgery was organized in a manner that served many patients at once (Heilig, Adler & Leffingwell, 2004). Dr. Svyatoslav Fyodorov had a clear mind on organizational management. His excellent organizational management was characterized by the following: Volume Fyodorov developed a process, which he devoted to a particular type of eye surgical method done at a high volume. It is through this method that the conventional eye surgery in most cases predicted a far lower volume for every type of eye surgery as compared to his type of eye surgery (Vlasov, 1988). Variety Fyodorov being a medical expect, only specialized in one type of eye surgery treatment. He handled a small variety of eye complaints. The available information suggests that the conventional eye surgery on the other hand was involved in handling a wide range of eye complaints. Therefore, there was more specialization and concentration in Fyodorov’s approach or strategy (Stertkamp, 2008). Variation The methods used by Fyodorov varied mainly on the basis of whether the cases were urgent or non-urgent. This can be seen as a great contribution to the process since it points the responsiveness of the method to demand or emergent and non-emergent cases. In this case, other forms of eye surgery emergencies like injuries to the eye and trauma were performed. The method’s response to these emergencies highlights its variation. This is because its prediction cannot be known in advance therefore affecting the planning causing difference in demand level (Society for Contemporary Studies, 1957). Visibility In this case, both processes depict relatively high visibility in that the patient must be there physically to be examined. This can be increased in the Fyodorov’s method to a higher visibility by the possible multi-stage surgery and the extra diagnostics added on top of the conventional eye surgery (Heilig, Adler & Leffingwell, 2004). Advantages and Disadvantages of ‘Henry Ford of ophthalmology’ Henry Ford of ophthalmology demonstrates a clear understanding in ophthalmology and eye care for a period more than 50 years. It portrays a high quality, compassionate and convenient hospital eye clinic that proves with no doubt the best services for the eye care. A turn over of more than 5,000 patients annually for the access of Medicare proves a clinic with advanced technology and equipment. The most important thing about the clinic is that it has board-certified ophthalmologists by the American board of ophthalmology. The groups embrace a team approach while working with an optometrist. Henry Ford of ophthalmology’s approach of eye surgery evaluates the quality, the best features of the clinic in respect to its worth in size, service offered, and other outstanding credentials. The major boost for patients under this approach is mainly concerned with the little cost of handling out-patients under the Fyodorov procedure, which gives lower prices for the operation. The officers are determined to help under high all-inclusive eye examinations with handicap friendly facilities. The process has advantages in insurance, which are accepted in major plans including BCBS, Eye-Med, Molina, NVA-Chrysler, and Spectera. The recurrence encountered has high chances of taking on industrial process methods to upgrade the process technically and ensure an improved conformance in the process. Eye injuries and urgent situation for eye services in cases like trauma are some of the conditions taken importantly and seriously. Disadvantages However, despite these great advantages, these processes also have got a number of limitations. Although the process may seem bendable and ready to change from the Ford’s perspective, the process is tremendously inflexible and it has got high chances that it cannot support high variety. Therefore, such cases could be mind-numbing for surgeons who in most cases prefer the pleasure of variety (Waring, 1992). On the other side of conventional surgery, the advantages lie on the mirror image of the limitations mentioned above. Fyodorov asserts that the conventional eye surgery can tangle through extensive variety of likely eye complaints. However, with the conventional surgery, the diagnosis method portrays high chances of sophistication therefore may fail to detect non-obvious warning sign. The limitations of this procedure may arise due to its low volume, high variation, variety, and high visibility leading to more cost (Society for Contemporary Studies, 1957). The opposite ends of the four Vs The use of laser underneath in the corneal flap commonly referred to laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is a surgery process done to reshape the cornea (keratomileusis). Dr. Fyodorov used the procedure to utilize the exclaimer laser, a specialized laser designed to improve vision, treat refractive errors, and eliminate or reduce the use of glasses and in other circumstances contact lenses. Although the procedure is mostly preferred by many people, the method alters the nature of the cornea, which is the sensitive transparent front of the eye (Stertkamp, 2008). During our early ages, the natural lens is in position to change power and shape. The ability to do so allow the eye to focus on objects especially the close ones through the process called accommodation where the power of the lens changes depending on the colors and the light. However, the lens power or rather the natural lens changes and becomes less powerful thus losing the ability as one advance in age. The loss of accommodation commonly referred to Presbyopia in the medical field, is a problem that leads to the need for visual aid, bifocals, glasses, and other available help to facilitate the vision. The LASIK procedure cannot fix the accommodation directly but other variety of strategies can be used, which have for a long time been known to succeed. Such alternative procedures though have been reported some difference in vision by the two eyes. In this case, one eye is corrected for distance vision and the other for a near vision (Vlasov, 1988). On the other hand, the conventional LASIK, which is mostly available on lasers, direct treatment upon the patient’s glass prescription. It is also effective for low vision patients. Although such treatment parameters have been helpful to many, reports on visual irregularities on cases such as night vision problems, halos, and glare were some of the complains received from the treated patients. With high numbers of patients attended to each day, Dr. Fyodorov could not easily determine or rather give an exact measure on some of the aspects. This has made patient’s situation worse than before, including the reports of halos and glare. This is largely owed to the high volume and lack of variety to his operation room. Once the surgery is done, it is not reversible. This is a very unfortunate report considering the fact that the all procedure is not covered by any insurance policy. In other occasions, the patient may require supportive measures like glasses during midlife to enjoy the best results of LASIK (Shaw, 2006). Case 2 Quality is the general excellence of something compared to other things of the same kind. The highest percentages of car owners do not take too much attention on their cars on daily basis. Such people give attention only when a car experiences a mechanical or any related problem. Most people do not think much about their cars, just like any other appliance in the house. Cars over the past few years have become more dependable than ever before. This situation has made the car makers to come up with the master plan of quality control in the automobile manufacturing. Taking a step back to the first introduction of Swallow Side Car Company and its change of brand in 1922, the Jaguar Cars become luxurious in sports and other events. Due to change in time and customer satisfaction, the same quality could not be maintained for long. Automobile industry is a changing industry that needs proper survey on customer satisfaction technique. It is through the quality control that any industry will get to know the best process and to insure that manufactured goods are free from operational issues, bugs, and any other related problems one might think of. An auto manufacturing company ought to take their products through precise testing just to be sure that their products are well-engineered and guarantee the safety and comfort of the user. For any product to meet the standardized target, the quality control process should be a practiced, given the first priority long before the production models is rolled off to the assembly point. Jaguar Car Company failed to practice the quality control through taking a survey on customer satisfaction hence their drawback. The best product to fit the market share is determined by a clear survey conducted on a wide area to find a clear meaning in the minds of the clients. This therefore, will create a clear picture on how to satisfy the customers and a way to overdo the competitors. The first sample of the product is taken through a field of prototypes before being released to the market. It is in this field then that the product is tested to find the mechanical problems, its weaknesses and other particulars that could be enhanced. After the prototypes have been examined and polished, the design goes into production where the same quality control proceeds to the production line (Shaw, 2006). Quality is the key part of every one who takes a step to purchase a product. Quality control is a form of application used by engineers in an automobile industry through prototype to determine how well a car will stand up in a real world. Such processes may be done over specially designed surfaces to test the strength of the suspension, and the efficiency of the ride. Quality testing in other cases call for exposure of the cars to cold weather and extreme heat to test the capability of various components in different weather (Salama, 2011). Most people are familiar with insurance and government tests. Automobile industries also run their own test to make sure that their products are safe and work as designed in efforts to care for the vehicle’s owner. Changes in Jaguar car manufacturers The history of Jaguar cars manufactures dates back to the early times of the 21st century. The history surrounds the one sir William Lyon, the man who did much at his early age before 21. Together with William Walmsley, a neighbor, the man at his teenage displayed the traits that led to the current big and best selling car manufactures. After the young man set the first step on the industry, his feelings saw a great potential in the production of cars as a business. He and other individuals organized their activities along the business lines, which saw the production increase. As the young man advanced in age, the formation of Swallow Sidecar Company was born in 1922 under the roof of a one storey building. With 1,000 Euro taken as a bank overdraft, the company commenced its operations with handful employees (Stertkamp, 2008). By early 1926, the company had diversified, which made the two brilliant giants change their company name to Swallow Sidecar and Coach-building Company. Priced at 175 Euro, their first car, the Austin 7 becomes popular and inexpensive, which made the two gents popular in their work. However, in 1927, the ‘’Sidecar’’ was removed from the company name and the name remained Swallow Coach Building Company. The increasing popularity and the rising demand for ‘swallows’ made the company shift to the heart of the then British Car Manufactures. The success of the business saw Lyon move from being a coachbuilder to other manufacturers where he commissioned chassis from Standard Motor Company. This led to the unveiling of SS1 and SS2 in 1932. At this time the company’s products were matured and developed enough and were gaining so much fame and high market share hitting the highest point. It is during this times when Tom Wisdom, a sportsman won the international Alpine Trials using SS 100 (Newsweek, 1933). The continued expansion and success of the SS cars saw the birth of SS Cars Ltd by Lyons in 1934. Walmsley, who was not as ambitious as Lyon, left the company at the same year. After the World War II, due to inauspicious implication of the SS initials, Jaguar Cars Ltd replaced the SS Cars Ltd in 1945. The company got a boost when it won a contract to manufacture cars for military use during the war where 10,000 cars were made. Jaguar Cars Company continued to manufacture sports and racing cars throughout years together with other models. In 1963, Jaguar manufacturers had a plan to stop the manufacture of racing cars but the plans were delayed by various factors. Their need to concentrate on road cars was dimmed by the high market for racing cars (Newsweek, 1933). For many years Jaguar cars led as the top earner and the most popular in the United States. In 1966 Jaguar made an export, which totaled 200 million Euro. Another American automaker, the Ford Motor Company, which has been in the industry for the past hundred years and had since dominated the industry with its best products, came into agreement with Jaguar cars in 1990. Since then after Fords’ ownership, Jaguar has extended its range of products with the introduction of the S-Type and X-Type in 1999 and 2001 respectively. The company has made notable progress with its yearly production of new products making a significant advancement with large market share to date (Salama, 2011). Aspects of quality to my business The world is changing with its competitive environment displaying a regular change in increased globalization and interdependence of trade and industry agents. This rapidly increasing change has brought higher demands on businesses’ competitiveness. This has led customers to gain a fundamental role in the organization’s center of attention. For any business to prosper, quality management should be taken as the core management philosophy, which upholds the pillars of the business in efforts to get hold of satisfied consumers. Quality is simply the customers’ satisfaction. Good quality raises the worth of a merchandise or service, builds up proper reputation, and set up brand name, which will in return bring customers satisfaction and thus high sales. The intended quality of a product is attained due to a number of aspects, which when put together help reach the preferred level of customer’s fulfillment (Society for Contemporary Studies, 1957). For operations management to work properly, there are many other components inside the organization that need to be brought together to achieve success other than depending only on the four Vs. The success of the management does not depend only on operations implemented as an effective plan, but this is determined by how the plan is carried. This is so because within any given organization, mistakes are prone to occur throughout the chain of events from production to sale. As an entrepreneur, I intend to use five aspects of quality to drive my business. a. Production – this is the practice of creating output in terms of goods and service, which has price and add to the effectiveness of a person. A good flow of production gets the work completed in time since there is no accumulation. It therefore reduces the loss of time and material wastage. Production serves job security, stable employment, adequate wages, personal satisfaction, and hence improve the living standards (Salama, 2011). b. Checking – making sure that something is done in its correct way. Checking enhances business operations and cash flow. c. Quality control – it is a scheming a process to make sure that the results are predictable This process checks the stability of the completed product for faults. The main reason for quality control is to make sure that the business meets the standards it is set for. The process is necessary because in business operations, it is not always possible to perfect a product. This comes as a result of variation in skills applied, material used, and the reliability of the completed product. This process involves a certain percentage about the accepted variation in the expected standards. Such processes are important in any given business as it will be easy to avoid faulty products reaching the consumers (Shaw, 2006). d. Quality management – this is managing a business so that it gains its performance through improvement and analysis. Businesses that have the ISO 9001:2008 Certification have high chances of maximizing the efficiency and the quality of their processes. Such companies experience good financial performance unlike uncertified companies. The certification gives the company an international recognition. e. Quality assurance – also known as zero defects, is a confidence obtained by a purchaser that the service offered or the product achieved will meet his/her satisfaction. This process reduces costs as there is less reworking on damaged products and wastage since the product is carefully checked at every step. The process help break the bridge between the management and the workers as it get rid of the feeling of being confirmed. Therefore, the process will uplift the motivation of employees as they will feel the recognition of their work (Society for Contemporary Studies, 1957). Reference Heilig, J., Adler, D., & Leffingwell, R. (2004). Sports car icons: Jaguar, Ferrari and Porsche. St. Paul, MN: Crestline. Newsweek. (1933). New York, etc.: Newsweek, etc.. Salama, A. (2011). Creating and re-creating corporate entrepreneurial culture. Farnham, Surrey: Gower. Shaw, P. (2006). The 4 Vs of leadership: Vision, values, value-added and vitality. Chichester (UK: Capstone. Society for Contemporary Studies. (1957). The Contemporary. New Delhi: Published by R.N. Guha Thakurta for Contemporary Journals Ltd.. Stertkamp, H. (2008). Jaguar: The complete story. St. Paul, Minn: MBI Vlasov, S. (1988). Svyatoslav Fyodorov: Just a magician who gives back sight. Moscow: Novosti Press Agency Pub. House. Waring, G. O. (1992). Refractive keratotomy for myopia and astigmatism. St. Louis: Mosby- Year Book. Read More