Operations managment / compeitiveness, strategy, and productivity - Essay Example

Operations Management Research Interview Paper This paper reviews the application of a case study research in operations management. It also reviews the theory development and testing. The paper draws on some literature related to case research in various disciplines. It uses examples majorly drawn from previous operations management research. The research is carried out in form well-framed interview questions to the operations manager of the company. In answering the questions, the operations manager points out the various strategies laid by the company to achieve its objectives.

Introduction The position an operations manager is defines the core duties and responsibilities of the role of operations manager in the organization. Irrespective of the type organization or company, the role of the operations manager involves planning and directing operations and improving company’s efficiency and productivity. Strategies and methods used to achieve the objectives of the organization tend to vary from one organization to another. However, there are standard roles and accountabilities directly connected to ensuring that the company has smooth operational procedures.

Therefore, to carry out a research about the strategies and operations of any organization, the best person to get legit and reliable information from is the operations manager. Well, any operations manager needs to expect stocks of questions from people who are interested in knowing more about the company or organization. Therefore, they need to be prepared for situational questions. For instance, the researcher can get information about the company by interviewing the operations manager about matters related to challenges and achievements the organization has made in the past.

By integrating all the strategic systems of the organization, the operations manager as the interviewee needs to expect interview questions that are related to the advancement of the organization. The questions are likely to be related to the Six Sigma compliance, automation systems of the company, ISO certification, among others. Interview questions and answers Question: Please let me know some of the tasks you handle on a daily basis as an operations manager to ensure the company is moving in the right direction.

Answer: I handle numerous tasks each day I am on duty. For example, I must ensure that all the facilities needed for running the activities of the company are in order every morning I report on duty. After ensuring the facilities are in order, i must ensure that they have a coordinated movement from one point to another with the company. Secondly, I prepare the budgets for various programs that need to run for any particular day, make inventory control of the company and ensure there are smooth logistics.

With all that I have mentioned are well coordinated, the daily operations of this company are always successful (Flynn & Schroeder, 2007). Question: Which skills and abilities in your employees do you consider as most important for the success of this company? Answer: One of the most important abilities among some of my employees is that they have the ability to learn fast and they a good problem solving agility. Most of them have good leadership and communication skills. With good leadership skills, the employees of this of this company do require close supervision to carry out their assigned tasks efficiently and effectively.

With good communication skills, they have been in a better position to build a good relationship with our customers and other outsiders. They have greatly acted as the advocated of this company in terms of creating a good image for the company (Forrester & Bamford, 2015). Additionally, their ability to communicate has ensured that the company has a smooth flow of information from all directions. Therefore, good communication in this company has enabled the company to have smooth coordination, which is crucial for its achievement of its goals (Lewis, 2003).

Question: As an operations manager, how do you relate with individual employees to ensure that they carry out their duties in the best way possible to ensure the company moves forward? Answer: The scope of the operations manager is generally broad. I deal with matters related to conflicts among the employees and other discipline cases (Lewis, 2003). With good discipline among the employees, the company does not waste a lot of time solving cases related to their conflicts. When the management spends its time solving cases among the employees, it is likely to shift its focus from dealing with more important issues of the company to solve such discipline cases (Chiarini, 2015).

Therefore, as an operations manager I have to ensure that employees of this company are well-disciplined since discipline is crucial in ensuring the company realizes its goals. Also, I am always attentive to employees’ grievances and ensure that they motivated to work. Question: What are some of the challenges the company has faced in its efforts to achieve its goals? Answer: The Company has experienced the problem of high rate of absenteeism among its employees over the past one year and the accomplishment of some of the projects being delayed.

With the problem of absenteeism, the company has made an effort of finding out why there has a high rate of absenteeism to find a solution. We found out that the problem was caused by low staff morale (Forrester & Bamford, 2015). Low staff morale is too dangerous for such a big company since it would have led to low productivity. Therefore, we are making efforts to solve the problem with haste. Conclusion The operations management position plays a crucial for any organization that wants to move forward.

Essentially, the position acts as the engine of an organization or company. A company that has a good operations management department will have well-coordinated activities and it is likely to move in the right direction and achieve its goals easily. References Chiarini, A. (2015). Sustainable Operations Management: Advances in Strategy and Methodology. New York: Springer. Flynn, B., & Schroeder, R. (2007). The Impact of Quality Management Practices on Performance and Competitive Advantage. Journal of Decision Science Institute, 26(5).

Forrester, P., & Bamford, D. (2015). Essential Guide to Operations Management: Concepts and Case Notes. London: John Wiley & Sons. Lewis, M. (2003). Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management. London: Taylor & Francis.