a) Discuss what does an Operations Manager do? (i.e.

their job function) Use examples from

different sectors; manufacturing, services, education, hospitality, transport, shipping, shopping malls,
hospital, care sector

b)In your discussion compare and discuss the difference between the sectors

An operations manager is key part of a management team and oversees high-level HR duties, such

as attracting talent and setting training standards and hiring procedures. They also analyse and
improve organisational processes, and work to improve quality, productivity and efficiency.
The operations function can be connected to other functional operations within organisation such as
marketing, finance, human resource and etc. The operations manager is the person who supervised
the production, make decision on operations processes and regarding to connecting into other
functional areas. For example, if an organisation makes furniture, some of the decisions involve the
following: purchasing wood and fabric, hiring and training workers, purchase cutting tools and other
fabrication equipment. Another example is that operations managers oversee the entire operation of
a hotel. The four major operational departments of a hotel are: housekeeping department, food and
beverage service department, food production (kitchen) department, and front office
department. operations manager can be in charge of many aspects of a hotel's functions, including
housekeeping, human resources, facilities, security, public relations, social media, food and drink
service, sales and financials. So operations managers are responsible for managing activities that
are part of the production of goods and services. Their direct responsibilities include managing both
the operations process, embracing design, planning, control, performance improvement, and
operations strategy.

Operation managers are somehow the junction between the practical works and theoretical
frameworks, in my opinions. They have to understand the nature of the market while choosing the
appropriate strategy for each and every product and service, depending on the PESTEL in general.
Their works also contain the selection and deployment of the man power to the required places so
that the processes will both of efficient and effective.

 For Manufacturing process, the operation managers need to know both the supplier side and
decide the appropriate manufacturing process, place, man power, and the distribution
strategy into the market.
 For Services, in my opinion, the operation managers need to know their position in their
market first and foremost and the main target so that they can choose the effective strategy
and required technology for their service to penetrate the market. Same goes to the
hospitality, hospital and care centers as all of them are mainly depending on the satisfaction
of the customers.
 For transport and shipping, the operation manager must know pretty well about the logistic
and shipping management as its nature is mostly about the product, how to store them, ,how
to pack them and the required papers to legalize them in the countries to which they will be
transported. The question when, where, what and how are the main questions that the OM
needs to fix.
In all of these sectors, the operation manager needs to forecast the possible future but it will be
different. The first one would need to forecast mainly on the technology and demand. The second
one mainly on the demand and the last one on the economical.

The operation is taking place as a vital part of a business as it is a collection of producing,

marketing, distributing, selling, human resource and so on. Thus, the responsibility of an operation
manager is weighting a lot. In fact, all the management tasks on operation could not be the same.
The processes are slightly different from the type of business they are doing.

      For example, in the manufacturing sector of coffee, the general operation process would start
from strategic goals, and planning, purchasing raw materials or coffee beans, processing, and
production of coffee products with different varieties, distribution of the final product, advertising to
targeted customers who would love the taste of coffee and selling them. As an operation manager,
he or she has to manage all these detailed processes in order to meet the goals of the organisation
and provide value of quality products to consumers.

      However, in the shipping sector, the process starts also from creating and setting untimate goals
and strategic planning, creating demand through advertising and partnerships, and then, receives
orders, then packaging and labeling, and finally shipping through marine cargos, then recoding or
documentation through invoices, cargo documents, shipment labels, and so on.

Of course, the operation managers’ actions are totally based on the design of goods and service,
managing strategy, process strategy, location strategy, layout strategy, human resources, supply
chain management, inventory management, scheduling, and maintenance.

In general, operations managers are also like other managers, they need to understand the
functions of management process such as planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. An
operations manager is mainly responsible for making decisions such as decisions in designing
goods and services, managing quality, process strategy, layout strategy, location strategy, human
resources plus job design, supply chain management, inventory management, scheduling, and
maintenance.

In manufacturing sector, operations manager needs to understand the inventory management plus
supply chain management because there would be many production processes and other managing
stuffs which are in designing goods and services, and managing quality in raw materials, finished
products, employees, and machines in timely situation. The operations managers in this sector are
also responsible to care about the safety of staffs and maintenance of machines and other harmful
stuffs.

For education, hospitality and care sectors, operations manager might be responsible for managing
processes to be easily available, fast and efficient to consume for customers because these sectors
mainly focus on giving services directly to end users. The reception areas, security and
communication process layouts seems importance in these sectors.
For transport and shipping sectors, operations managers need to focus on supply chain
management, logistic management, inventory management, personnel management, location and
layout management and maintenance because these sectors are mainly depending on the placing of
goods in right place, right layout and right process with the leading of appropriate people in right
time.

To sum up, operations managers are vital in any organization and they play in costly part of an
organization. The duties of operations managers seems wide and complex but operations managers
play vital role in any organizations. The detail duties and responsibilities of operations manager can
be different according to the sectors they are in.