○ activitiy of managing resources to appropriately create outputs that fulfill defined
market requirements
● 3 core functions
○ marketing and sales
■ communicating to generate requests
○ product/service development
■ new and modified products/services to generate requests
○ operations function
■ all organizations have operations that produce some mix of services and
products
■ cooperate other functions to ensure effective organizational performance
■ intrinsic characteristics more important than economic sector for
determining how it should be managed
○ not always clear division between functions
● support functions
■ accounting and finance
■ technical
■ hr
■ information system
○ operations communicates needs to all other functions
● in smaller organizations
○ individual roles overlap
○ flexible
● in non-profit organizations
○ different strategic objectives
● operations management is at the forefront of coping with, and exploiting, developments
in business and technology
○ new technologies
■ internet, algorithmic decisionmaking, AI, 3D printing, robotics, big data
analysis
○ different supply arrangements
■ purchasing outside own geographic area
● cost savings, bigger supply market
● long supply chains, vulnerability, reputational risk
■ global operations network, partnership, business ecosystem analysis,
reputational risk management
○ increased emphasis on social and environmental issues
■ transparancy
■ greater expectations
■ triple bottom line performance, environmentally sensitive design, flexible
working patterns, energy saving
● input-transformation-output
○ input resources
■ transformed
○ usually 1 dominant
● materials
○ change physical properties, location, posession, store
● information
○ change informational properties, location, possesion, store
● customers