Operations Management Is the Most Innovative Department of the Economy - Case Study Example

Operations Management Moss Bros- Cecil Gee Business organization and management is increasingly the most innovative department of economy since the world has become liberalized and each organization is looking up to gain a place in the market share. Operations management is the aspect of organizational administration that in responsible for undertaking and producing quality products and services, it takes care of distribution and project management doings that ensure efficiency and effectiveness in operations of the business. Basically Moss Bros operations management supervises and oversees the allocation of resources and supply of men's clothes to the customers as well as evaluating coordination of line waiting. Systematic direction and coordination of all resources, procedures, and means that convert inputs into finished products and services is the major job played by operations management. In this management style, the cloth retailers in UK especially the Moss Bros (which also operates Cecil Gee) management and staff work together as a group so as to harmonize operations such as deciding what should be invested in to the operation arrangement such as workforce, material, apparatus, power and how these resources can be easily be acquired and used to ensure that finished products meet the requirements of consumers, for instance the plan to sale of Cecil Gee and specialize in franchise business. The Moss Bros/Cecil Gee Operations Model The main aspects that should be addressed by the managers in charge of the operations management in Moss Bros are, speed, quality, dependability, cost and flexibility. Quality factor addresses the relevant or required standards in a product; speed addresses the time taken for operations to offer what is required; dependability is the extent to which the organization can be relied upon to deliver the pledges it makes to clients; flexibility addresses how fast a company can change its operations to meet new demand requirements; cost is the expenditure used up in operations and this requires that management understands these concepts for better management and organization (Galloway et al 2000). Due to the increasing economic problems in the whole world, there Moss Bros has out in place to improve its operations. The management operations in this cloth retailer was integrated to include features like empowering the executive team, simplifying the business operations especially the main sub sections; Moss, Hugo Boss and Cecil Gee, improving the product portfolio, exhibition and availability plus improving the cost effectiveness and enhancing the business efficiency (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). Since the appointment of Adrian Wright at the chief executive in the year 2002, the executive has been improving steadily; other appointments included the appointment of Philip Mountford as trading director who has a strong background in brand development, development and implementation of strategies for chains supplies. This is exactly the type of expertise that Moss Bros needed by that time to help it reduce the risk by reducing the uncertainties in the demand of clothes in the UK market. Another notable executive to be appointed was Roddy Murray as the finance director, the same year; he announced that the company had a stock of about 2.3 million sterling pounds worth of suit fabric, an amount that had decreased by less than half a million pounds in the 2004 second quarter (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). This accomplishment was attributed to the well defined supply chain operations as the company was generally aware that the adoption of market pull as a strategy would be more beneficial compared to product push. The process of business operations has been simplified since it was getting complicated because of the many formats used in the operations under different fascias which could lead to confusion in product offering and inconsistency (Galloway et al 2000). Efficient business operations has been integrated into the company's operations by the strong executive team enabling the firm to improve its relations with its suppliers and overcoming the traditional chains of supply lines which were being faced with a lot of delivery delay, poor quality, and cultural/ethical issues, preventable extra cost on labour as well as high cost inventory issues. This supply chains enhancement increased the profit margin by about fifty percent during the first half of 2004. Bearing in mind that the customers are the ones who elicit demand for particular products, the company concentrated with direct responsiveness to these market requirements. As identified, the clients to the Moss section (fascia) were seeking stylish suites and other products which presented a well groomed individual with quality and value. This is established to have hire department (Moss Hire) with over 94 stores all over the United Kingdom supplying suites and other formal wear. Cecil Gee on the other hand targets younger and affluent clients who are fashion conscious (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). This is the cutting edge of the fashion industry and Moss Bros had to introduce new designs like Etienne Oseki, Rare and Style Lab. Currently there are over 24 stores for Cecil Gee currently in operation. Hugo Boss is a brand designed for international market where it attracts fashion conscious customers. This provides highest quality of clothes and due to changes executed by the executive officers. The company has been working very hard to improve their product portfolio, display and availability. The firm has worked hard to clear the excess amount of stock in the business and increasing the range of new ranges of products for display. The fall of stock quantity by 3.6 million pounds estimated at 14% indicated a successful effort to decrease the amount of stock held and enhance stock turnover throughout the firm (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). Non selling products have been cancelled and increasing purchase in main selling brands. There is also increased benefit because of the introduction of the product mix and match suits, business suits and machine washable suits. These strategies led to an increase of over 10% sales in the year 2004. The operation costs have been reduced by closing down non performing costs which accounted for about 5.3 million pounds and as a result, the operations cost for last year were found to be about 3% lower that the previous year. Moss Bros has also been working hard to cut down the number of suppliers and managed to reduce this number from 290 to 190 indicating a stock keeping unit reduction of 20%. However the firm's relationship with its main suppliers was strengthened by ensuring efficient communication between them (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). Considerable improvement have been recorded in the organization of supply chains and focus given to purchase in relation to retail selling period and the timing of stock taking. Improvements in delivery system and enhanced supply chain have improved profit margins as well as ensured controlled stock intake. Environmental Activities Affecting Operational Activities Under operational management, it is very important to focus on the corporate objectives of firm which means that the company's supply of raw materials, manufacturing process and marketing strategies should be harmonised to reduce incidences of misunderstanding, delays and process failure (Greasley 2008). The operations strategy should provide the company with the capacity to compete in the UK market especially the Moss Bros Company. The operations framework includes the following steps; 1. Defining the corporate objectives of the firm 2. Determining the strategies that will be used in product promotion and marketing 3. evaluating the reasons why the products win purchase orders compared to the substitutes provided by the company's competitors 4. setting up the most relevant means of delivering these types of products 5. finally, providing the necessary infrastructure to sustain the operations By ensuring that the above features are properly attended to, Moss Bros will be able to face the environmental factors that would influence the firms operations. The environmental factors involved here include pricing, infrastructure, technology, market, raw materials, economic crisis and labour (Greasley 2008, Hill 2005). Any business should carry out the preliminary studies like the SWOT analyses and PESTEL analyses as these would enable it to identify the strength, opportunities, challenges, political factors, environmental factors, skills and other external factors that play part in its operations, Hill (2005). Below is a look at some of actors that have affected Moss Bros in the recent past. Pricing Facts According the Moss Bros, keeping a price list is neither a true reflection of what their customers wanted nor what it relevant to them as a company. In fact they consider this a reflection of what the growing company would like to offer and still not how the general public would want to have (Greasley 2008). Listening to what the clients is the best way to come up with the price that clients want with respect to the quality of the suits supplied. Strategic pricing policy was very effective and helped the firm to meet their market expectations last year. The last Christmas period saw an increase of about 7% in most of the brands. Moss has been reported to be one of the well performing retailers in the UK recording a 9% increase in sales which is attributed to the product portfolio, pricing and better supply system. According to Philip Mountford who is the chief executive, these improved profit margins were characteristic of the efficient sales and marketing promotions as well as the better buying terms. He also indicated the company was going to increase exploration of unrealized potential of its other stores. Technology The management team has ensured that the Moss Bros operates in accordance with the current increase in technology to solve operation problems and other management issues. The way the employees manage the planning of processes, placing orders, promotional activities, and stock allocation and clearance activities throughout the entire Moss Bros business. All these processes are executed by UCS software because of its specificity in terms of technical design and capability. The software is also cost effective and very flexible and this will assist Moss Bros to monitor their stock in real time and also take care of the supply chains (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). The Information technology boss at Moss Bros Brett Grobler emphasises that the business needs this technology to be able to pre-allocate and allocate stock throughout the business operations and this would also enable the firm to track sales. The technology integrates across the entire business products and help to save time as stock is not left to stay idle and the employers are able to merchandise and conduct better forwarding plans. The business is categorised into two trading groups; the mainstream and the fashion. Since there is increased diversity in the operations of the business, this IT technology will be of great importance enabling the firm to cope (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). The workers can now evaluate whether the stock is at its peek wave or not in the store or on the vehicle. The director of the Argility; the software used here commented that the technology has greatly improved and is shaping the way Moss Bros is operating to push the business forward. It is also likely to increase the future offering of online services. Another information technology benefit is the asset management software which will help the company to market the branded suits like other suit retailers including Calvin Klein, Ben Sherman, Blazer, Pierre Cardin, and Van Heusen. Implanting this project will ensure that there is a wide coverage of market (Connon 1994). This will manage 3,000 information technology assets ranging from personal computers to mobile phones. The project was initiated in 2003 and it was completed in 2008. The company installed the EasyVista suite through the Staff & Line UK in every store and head office. This helps to carry out asset management, discovery, service management, change management and other uses. Furthermore the software has been approved by the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The IT manager, Gobler Brett claims that as a forward moving company, Moss Bros needed to review its processes of IT implementation so as to upgrade and better the solution plus meet the business demands. Execution of the software would offer one of the limited products in the marketplace that incorporates several IT management requirements in one resolution. Other products in place need one or two modules and needed complicated incorporation with one another (The Moss Bros Plc 2003). Gobler also commented that the EasyVista software ware ITIL compliant and would help to adopt to ITIL practises especially change management. Inventory Moss Bros is being faced with a lot of pressure from other cloth designers like Pierre Cardin Calvin Klein, Blazer and Ben Sherman while on the other hand the globalization process and the ensuing economic crisis. Operations management gives the company a way to ensure that the manufacturing process is better and gives them a competitive advantage as identified early operations management involves all the activities that lead to formation of fine goods and services for sale from crude raw materials (Barnes 2008). None the less strategic operations should not be confused with the process of production. There is a problem with defining operations management however; most of people always have a clue of what is expected of management. A competent business is the one strives to excel, the one that creates a pleasurable environment for clients, and the one that is able to make quick changes. Good management in at Moss Bros requires that the managers originate and communicate vision for the organization to the rest of the stakeholders. Managers have to be aware of their emotional reactions and have good self control, be able to read other peoples feelings and be able to maintain a good relationship with them as well. The use of a strong executive team is likely to give Moss Bros a competitive advantage as the records have indicated that since the major appointments in 2002 (Jobling 2005)., the company has been increasingly making profits though at some point it was forced to sell some of the Cecil Gee line of stores. The two types of leadership used here are technical and adaptive leadership. Technical management is where the management or those in authority make decisions and reach at conclusions based on previously acquired knowledge. Adoptive management is a situation whereby management solves a crisis based on rational reasoning and reaching a consensus (Barnes 2008). Moss Bros is slightly sheltered from economic downturn because the firm has a substantial amount of cash in its operations and is also close to optimal stock balance at the moment. The management team is doing a great job by smartening up ahead of others in the same field and this is because of the uncooperatively way people think (Jobling 2005). The target of customers is unique, both fresh clients and old ones are usually attracted by the exceptional way the firm displays its products when they visit the Moss Bros stores. There is an array of brands that is stocked earning the company positive reaction their favour. The company is hoping that by the time this economic recession ends, there will be green shoots and a slight but not substantial up stick will arise by the year 2010, thought the economic development will be shallow, the consequences of the improvements will be realised by the end of 2010. as expected, the banks will have reduce the working capital they give out to retailers and many of them will go under especially the independent ones and this will free the market for firms like Moss which are well established and are reputable(The Moss Bros Plc 2003). The sale of the Cecil Gee menswear (causal wear) stores was one of the plans to refocus on the Moss chains supplies and to invest more in franchise business. Trading is men's casual wear is very hard and is partly the reason why Moss had to sell it. In some places where the company still operates Cecil Gee stores, it has emphasized on the promotion of the casual wear as not merely being purveyor of suits but a classy investment. For this reasons, it had to display casual suits in the front stores while operating other suit hire store in the basement plus reviving the blazers (Jobling 2005). New designs were introduced this year (2009) in Bolton stores and 30 others and the company is also working to revamp its entire product portfolio in the 120 stores by the end of 2010. Conclusion Moss Bros is the greatest seller of branded suits in London's High street with over 150 stores throughout the UK market. Strategic operations have helped the company to sustain its growth since the year 2002 with notable improvements in gross margins, the company's cash position, total; investment and efficient supply chains. References Galloway R.L Rowbotham F and Azhashemi M. (2000). Operations Management in Context. Butterworth-Heinemann Greasley A. (2008) Operations Management. SAGE Hill T (2005) Operations Management, Palgrave McMillan, New York Cannon H (1994) Moss Bros Suits City With Strong Advance. Share Price Jumps As Sales Boost Leads To 77% Gain. The Independent. London, England. Jobling P. (2005). Man Appeal. Advertising, Modernism and Men's Wear. Berg Publishers. Barnes D (2008) Operations Management: An International Perspective; Thomson Learning' UK The Moss Bros Plc (2003). Moss Bros Plc: Preliminary results for the year ended 25 January 2003 retrieved on 26th March 2009 from http://www.vismedia.co.ku Read More