Achurra, Beatrice A.

April 8, 2021
BSM - 3 | MGT 187 Sec 1 Assignment 1

1. Business Operations Overlap, TRUE or FALSE, explain and support your answer with
illustration. Include in your explanation your own understanding of the definition of Operations
Management.

In my own understanding, Operations Management can be defined as the way a

company, firm, business, or organization produces goods and services. These operations
vary from one business to another, depending on the industry that they belong to. Some
examples include the operations in a bank to deliver financial services to the clients, retail
operations in groceries, and many others. To generalize these operations, they share
commonalities that exist across all businesses, coming from different industries. Their
operations, marketing, and finance aspects overlap as each one is connected with the other.

Shown below is a diagram to clearly illustration the overlapping of business operations:

As I look around me, I realize how everything I see involves a sense of operation in it.
Through Operations Management, we are able to purchase the things that we have and use it
for a good purpose.

2. Explain two factors/elements on how Businesses Compete Using Operations to attain their
Distinctive Competencies. In each of the factors, cite actual companies who use these
factors/elements.

Businesses incorporate and integrate different strategies and tactics into their
operations to stay competitive. With these factors or elements they can choose from, they can
stay afloat and maintain their presence in the industry no matter how close the competition is
with their rivals. A great example for this is how Apple uses quality as a form of strategy to
compete using its operations. Because they have delivered products of quality and this
successfully transcended into the public, people are generally willing to pay more as they
perceive their gadgets to have better quality than its competitors.

Another factor in competing using operations is cost. A company that I can think of that
uses this element is HGGC’s business process outsourcing called iQor. As an international
company, it opted to outsource a portion of its operation from the Philippines. This move
allowed the company not only to acquire the type of people they want to be part of their team,
but also achieve lower costs and better quality.
Achurra, Beatrice A. April 8, 2021
BSM - 3 | MGT 187 Sec 1 Assignment 1
3. Explain the following, include its importance to Operations Management:

a. Reverse Engineering

Reverse Engineering in business is done by initially identifying your company’s goals.

After which, you proceed by methodically determining the assets and financial metrics that
you will need to achieve them. This is important in operations management as it will define
how the processes that you will take in your operations to get to your set goals. Reverse
engineering also affects the financial operations of the firm as it signals how much you will be
needing to spend for each action you will take.

b. Capacity Cushion

Sudden changes and unprecedented occurrences in a business is possible to happen

anytime. When a firm experiences this, it is important to have a reserve capacity in their
process to handle the effects of these abrupt changes. This is crucial in operations
management as service operations must have a cushion of capacity over average demand to
be able to meet the peak demand of the customers.

c. Optimal Operating Level

The optimal operating level of a business is determined by knowing optimum utilization

of a firm's capacity. As operations management is involved in all of the processes to create,
deliver, and sell a product or service, knowing this aspect is important. Companies must know
their optimal operating level and strive to reach this and minimize the average unit cost of a
product.

d. Flowcharts

Flowcharts, across any aspect, enables the people who will utilize it to complete a
particular process efficiently. It is a visual guide that represents a particular process, with one
step after another to achieve a set goal. In operations management, it clearly lays out the
tasks and relationships involved in a process.

e. Productivity

Productivity is highly important in operations management. Each task involved in

creating a product or service, from start to finish requires manpower. Without the people
deemed as the backbone of the business, the tasks cannot be accomplished. Ensuring that
productivity is at its peak will enable firms to maximize their efficiency and arrive at their set
goals at the shortest possible time.