What do customers expect besides low prices?
Sustainability, ethics, fairness, good service, and responsible operations.
What challenges and influences affect operations?
- Global supply chains face outsourcings
- CSR demands
- losing competitive edge.
- Stakeholders
What’s the difference between productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness?
Productivity = output/input.
Efficiency = doing things right. Effectiveness = doing the right things.
How can businesses be environmentally and socially responsible?
Reduce waste, use renewables, recycle, and follow ethical, fair practices.
What does deregulation lead to?
More competition, lower prices, and greater efficiency.
What is the role of operations in a business?
Operations convert inputs into outputs and impact quality, customer experience, and sustainability.
What are the key stages and systems in operations?
Stages: inputs, transformation, outputs. Systems: facilities, production, inventory, layout, scheduling, customer service.
How do goods differ from services?
Goods are physical and owned; services are intangible, used in real time, and can’t be stored.
What types of facilities and layouts are used?
Facility types:
manufacturing, warehouse, retail, hospital.
Layouts:
Process-oriented (grouped by function)
Fixed position (product stays in place)
Product-oriented (sequential, high-volume)
Retail (flow, placement, visuals)
How is quality managed in operations?
With quality control, quality assurance, and total quality management (TQM).
