运营管理的定义

运营管理的定义

 

世界各地的企业都需要进行一些活动，以获得投资回报，和产生利润。其中一些活动是生产，商品供应，质量控制和保持适当的客户关系。这些的活动可能是单独的或者相互关联的或是两者的结合。但是，任何公司的最终目的是要看到有效的运营。这需要要协调好相关的活动，使客户最终获得满足。在一家公司经营业务时，所有的活动都应该是时间规划有序的，不存在任何时间的偏差。

 

运营管理的作用

 

一个组织中运营管理担任着三个不同的角色，它们是执行者，推动者，和支持者。

 

执行者：这个角色是由组织的最高管理者扮演的，他们根据市场趋势和竞争对手的策略来决定公司实施的策略。在发展战略的同时，公司应该牢记客户是企业的最终角色。高级管理层将做出决策，而较低的管理层做出执行。

A Definition Of Operation Management 

 

All the business around the world need to several activities in order to get the returns on investment and generate profits and some of those are production, goods supply, quality control and maintaining proper customer relations. All the activities may be single or mutually related or a combination of two. But, the ultimate aim of any company is to see to it that the operations are efficient and effective. The interrelated activities need to be coordinated properly and the customer should be finally satisfied. While conducting the operations in a company, all the activities should be time perfectly without any deviation of schedule.

 

运营管理的作用-The role of the operation management
 

Three different roles can be identified in the operations of an organisation and they are Implementer, Driver, and Supporter.

 

Implementer: this role is being played by the top management of the organisation and they decide the strategies to be implemented by the company based on the market trends and the competitor's strategies. While developing the strategies the company should keep in mind the customer who is the end role player of the business. The higher management will decide the decisions and expect the lower management to implement them.

 

Driver: The driver role includes the activity that will make the company move towards achieving their vision, goal and objectives of the company. The activities performed by the company are the drivers that will help the company reach the goals there are several people involved as drivers within the company and are in touch with the market, business associates and the customers.

 

Supporter: As soon as the company has started its operations and when they are operating, there should be enough support from different aspects and departments to provide necessary input to the company i.e. the implementer and the driver. They can gather data and information about the current market trends taking place in the market. The competitors can gain a lot of information about the competitor's strength and weakness. By knowing such information, the higher management can devise strategies that will counter the competitors. Once these strategies are implemented, the people in the operation side can monitor the result and give feed back to the top management. As a result, new strategies can be framed and this is cyclic in any business organisation.

 

运营管理及其重要性-Operation Management and its Importance

 

Several reasons can be attributed to the importance of operations management for any organisation as it helps to analyse the strong and weak points of the competitor. Moreover, it helps the higher management to know the trends occurring in the market and the needs of the customer. In addition, the implementation of the strategies designed can be implemented with the help of operations management. Obtaining feed back from the market about the strategies implemented and the reputation of the company will depend on operations and if this is done perfectly, the credibility of the company will be good.

 

1.星巴克-1.Starbucks

 

Introduction of the company

Starbucks is world famous company that specialises in coffee making and related products. It has the largest coffee chain outlets and started its operations in 1970 in Seattle in the United States. The company has started approximately 16706 coffee stores, out of which some are company operated while the others are licensed to other companies and is spread across the globe in countries like UK, USA, Japan, Canada etc. The main activity of the company is selling coffee, beverages and several other food varieties along with the selected tea brands and accessories and equipments related to coffee-making. The speciality of the company is that it serves the Italian-style espresso coffee. The ethics of the company are strong and the roasting coffee is of the highest quality.

 

Starbucks- Swot Analysis

 

As the international business is becoming competitive, a clear understanding of the market conditions should be analysed initially. Analysis of the company should be conducted on a regular basis to know whether the company is into profits or running into loss. Such analysis is known as SWOT analysis. The analysis can be done by different segments or as a whole by the company. I will assist the company in planning new strategies and achieve the business objectives by overcoming the problems and utilising the resources.

 

Strengths: The strengths include the wide product range, technological tools related to coffee making , professional management policies and practices, rich distribution network, large number of retail sores, good customer relations, proper working conditions for employees and the necessary motivation for excelling in their job and maintaining cordial relations with the stake holders like customers and suppliers, and strong financial capacity to expand their operations to different parts of the world.

 

Weaknesses: Starbucks has weakness where it needs to concentrate more in order to become strong in the market. Some of the weaknesses are lack of skilled and trained hospitality employees, weak brand image in certain parts of the world, expensive products. Some other weaknesses are the weak brand focus in the local markets and therefore has to face lot of competition from local brands.

 

The External Areas include the opportunities and threats: These are confined to the external environment and are purely based on the external factors.

 

Opportunities: Company can utilize the opportunities that it come across and some of them are changing customer needs and preferences in the developing countries, accessible to new and emerging markets like Asia, new technologies being used in coffee making machines thus providing quality products and tax policies take up y different governments throughout the world. Apart from these, several other opportunities would be to increase the business by establishing more retails units, incorporate new technologies in the manufacturing of products, and promoting new brands in countries like India which is the developing markets in the world.

 

Threats: Most important threat to Starbucks is the changing customer needs and technology that is changing rapidly and the need to invest frequently in upgrading will be a financial burden, changes in the political, economical and social changes in the developing markets, more competition from local brands and products, and changes occurring in different societies with different cultural back ground across various nations. As the preferences of both the genders are changing and more importantly the aging population are few threats to the company.

 

The present market conditions are not as favourable for Starbucks as they are not able to penetrate quickly into emerging markets like their competitors. It may take lot of time to build the brand image and then gain the confidence of the customers and reach a large group of customers. The prices of the products should be affordable and should be at reach for the customers to spend the desired money. Production technologies should be minimised or should be handled by a different organisation thereby reducing the cost of production and investment of technology.

 

Strabucks- Operational Strategy and the competitive advantage

 

Having started the operations in 1970's, the idea has been to establish more outlets throughout the world and more particularly focusing on the international markets. The company has been maintaining good relations with the suppliers and the customers of the company throughout the world and this has been achieved by providing quality coffee products to the customers all these years. The brand image created by the company is very strong in may developed markets and this needs to become strong in the international markets.

 

Maintaining strong relations with the customers, farmers and suppliers of coffee.

By developing strong relations with all its business associates and stake holders, the company is able to retain those valued customer without making them focus on low cost brands The company is not willing to loose a vendor and if they do so they have lost an employee and this results in huge loss of investment done on an employee for hiring, training and the time spent by the staff on that particular employee. The raw materials purchased by the company and the suppliers supplying it are strongly bonded with each other. This enables the company to purchase quality products and delivers quality without compromise.#p#分页标题#e#

 

First place given to quality and service:

 

Quality and service are the two words that star bucks rely upon than anything else. The focus of the company is to deliver quality products and do maximum service to the customers. It has been maintaining relations with the farmers to procure the premier quality of coffee beans to prepare coffee. This is possible only by maintaining good relations in all aspects with the stake holders. The association and the relationship of the company with certain non-profit organization give a boost to the technological advantages to the farmers and the company. Better environmental friendly policies adopted by the company ensure high quality products and the infrastructure designed in the coffee houses gives a valuable experience to the customers apart from just coffee. The inclination towards quality and unmatched customer service is making the difference between star bucks and other companies as a result of which the competition in the market is increasing.

 

Coffee and Farmers Equity practices: CAFÉ practices were promoted by star bucks to make sure that minimum wages are paid to the workers and the employees in addition to the quality coffee beans that are supplied by the farmers. The main object of this practice is to promote mutual relationship that is beneficial both for the farmers and the communities in which they live. This allows the farmers to restrict the supply of low quality coffee beans into the global market. By doing so, the company is ensuring that the rights of the farmers are safeguarded and the company is getting the right product required.

 

Promoting healthy environment through operations:

 

Major step in promoting healthy environment is taken up by introducing and making use of the cups that are provided by the company. The cups can be reused and recycled. A specific objective of utilizing by recycling has been set the company which would be reached by 2015. Awareness campaigns with the suppliers and customers will help the campaign and everyone will be benefited from this campaign directly and indirectly. If the campaign is successful, it will become the leader in this business segment and can set an example to its competitors and by doing so, the company aims o attract more customers who are more concerned about the environment.

 

Research and Development Projects: Huge investment is being pumped in by the company. Approximately $7-7.5 million is being spent on research and improving the technology of the company. The research activities include the areas of product development, manufacturing and processing. Testing the quality of the product using technology is also gaining importance in investment. New products that are healthier are being introduced to attract the health conscious customers and the company is more innovative in such areas. The financial transactions of the company like payments, orders, etc are being simplified using technology and this add value to the customers and the company. To make it more effective the Starbucks card has been introduced through which all the financial transactions can be handled and processed quickly and easily.

 

The objective of star bucks operations is to obtain fine quality coffee beans and this is possible only by having healthy relations with its stake holders and also fulfills the needs of the customers and suppliers that will help the company in the long way through the future. The ethical values and concerns regarding the environment will help the company build trust among the people in the society and this will help the company establish its elf strongly in the market, while the brand value is also improved. Such measures will lead to company to the top position and will give lot of counter to the competitors and stability in the business can be achieved quickly.

 

How the problems of Starbucks can be resolved

In spite of huge operations throughout the world, all companies irrespective of their business dimensions should face certain challenges in the short term and the long term. Similarly, star bucks operational strategy also poses certain challenges and the fierce competition and the source of the raw materials are the main factors that will hamper the operations of the company. Solutions exist for all the problems, like wise there are ways to handle the operations more effectively which are being discussed below.

 

Solution 1 Highly dependent on suppliers and business partners for success:

Starbucks should try to have alternate suppliers along with the regular suppliers as it is uncertain that the relations that the company is maintain with the business partners and suppliers or vendors will remain the same through out. In case of any problem, then the company will face difficulty with the shortage of raw materials from those suppliers.

 

This will damage the brand image and the operations of the company will be badly affected. The total supply and operations of flow of materials should be within the company limits and the operations are transparent without any problem.

 

Solution 2 More focused on quality aspect:

The company is investing more on brand building without realizing the returns of investment in marketing. Marketing of the brand should be done only at the select places where the company can have sufficient customers to operate the business.

 

New brands with low prices should be introduced in order to attract the average and below average income groups thereby spreading the band widely into the whole market.

 

The middlemen business can be controlled by decreasing the prices for specific target groups and liasioning with the suppliers and processors can be done directly

 

Solution 3 Coffee and Farmers Equity Practices:

 

By implementing the coffee and farmers equity practices, star bucks hopes to obtain the constant supply of coffee beans from the suppliers. The company should procure high quality beans to deliver quality products. In order to maintain the constant supply of such beans, the company should give a helping hand to buyers and farmers and also maintain equal relationship with the farmers who cultivate the beans, suppliers, communities and workers. Several issues need to be taken into consideration while following these practices that will hit the operations at some stage. If the CAFÉ practices are not implemented by the company, the supply chain of quality beans will be stopped both the primary and secondary suppliers as well as the third parties. This may hit the operations to a large extent because the company has violated the practices and is in breach of the agreements.

 

Continuous evaluation of the implementation of the C.A.F.E practices should be done and see to it that the operations are going on smoothly.

 

The constant supply of coffee beans and the sustainability of the outlets can be overcome only the C.A.F.E practices are widely accepted and implemented by the company , thus sending and creating the brand image for the company that it more concerned towards the society and socially responsible.

 

Risks perceived from globally expanding

Star bucks has to face several challenges when it is operating multi nations and some of the problems are tax differentiation between countries, inflation, political stability, infrastructure, man power, government policies and trade unions etc. to continue with smooth operations, the company should be very careful in selecting the country to start its operations and thereby have minimum risks and maximum benefits and ultimately good profits.

 

Technology - Role and dependence

 

The company is relying heavily on technology for various operations like point of sale processing, supply management etc.

 

The system utilized by the company should be more effective and efficient as the business operations should be coordinated with the production process. Along side the distribution system and sales records should be monitored. If there is any failure in the system the entire operations will be at risk and it will involve lot of financial loss to the company.

 

To reduce the risk caused due to technology, regular feed back on the performance of technology should be obtained. Crucial data from all the outlets should be collected and stored for later reference. To get acquainted with the technology and implementing it, employees need to be trained on regular intervals. Alternate methods of data storage can be done and the manual system of data collection needs to be done.

 

Supply Chain of Starbucks - External and internal analysis

 

External supply chain

 

The procurement of coffee beans by star bucks is done from various business firms ranging from small to medium sized farms and is individually owned. Group farming and plantations are also the major source of raw materials. The processing of coffee beans is done at various levels, but majority of the farm owner get the raw beans processed from mills, exporters and some cooperative firms that are present in the local markets. The processed coffee is sold to the suppliers like exporters, distributors from whom star bucks purchases quality coffee beans. It is a cycle and the supply chain here is very long and should be carefully managed. The stability of the supply chain purely depends upon the relations between the company farmers, processing units, distributors, exporters and finally customers. Strong relation between each other and trust over others ensures continuous supply of good quality coffee beans without any problems from any of these stake holders. The commitments given by the company with respect to purchasing based on fixed prices irrespective of market conditions makes the supply chain run smoothly as everyone is satisfied in the process. If the commitments are not fulfilled, the supply chain breaks. Products that are concerned to equipments related to coffee making, accessories, paper used for manufacturing cups and plastic related products are procured from different companies through different channels. The purchases are either done from local and regional suppliers, while some others are directly purchased from the manufacturers. Failure from any part in executing their roles effectively will severely hit the operations of the company and this will have negative impact on the company and finally affect the credibility and profits of the business.#p#分页标题#e#

 

Internal supply chain

 

The operating procedures set by the company will determine the internal supply chain of the company. Standard operating procedures should be developed to ensure that the employees know how to execute the procedures efficiently and effectively. The employees should work with lot of commitment while receiving the customers, discussing with the customers regarding orders, taking orders, and the final act of payment is done efficiently without any lapse. The stream lined operation should make the customers feel more comfortable and impressive that will attract more number of new customers and also retain the present customers. Transparency in operations, well groomed employees who are friendly and cordial with the customers are necessary to perform the operations and the customers should differentiate with others. Information and data flow is smooth and the flat nature of the organization structure enables the communication to all levels flow smoothly without any hassles.

 

Currently, the company is among the top 100 companies and is one of the 20 companies that most Americans admire and this could happen due to systematic operations of the both the external and internal supply chain. The revenue generated by the company is phenomenal and the profits are beyond expected and this is possible only by maintaining cordial relation with the customers, community, farmers, suppliers etc. Star bucks have set an example as the most successful company with its effective and efficient operations management

 

Strategic analysis of new and future operations of Starbucks

Being the most popular company and remains at the top of the coffee companies, Starbucks is spread across 50 nations with its own and licensed operations. Further expansion plans are on the table and Thailand, Japan and Singapore have been selected to launch its operations. When we compare the various parameters like the geographic location, market accessibility, demand for the product in all the three locations, starting the operations in Japan would be more profitable .

 

After the US and Germany, Japan is the highest consumer of coffee and related products as the demand is huge. Nearly 875 stores have been opened and majority of them are company owned while 35 and 844 were opened in Singapore and Thailand respectively.

 

The foremost reason for selecting Japan lies in the fact that many stores have been opened and are running successfully and star buck is performing better than its competitors.

 

Another reason is the quality conscious and brand image that the company carries with focus on quality and service to the customers. Cost is not a concern for the Japanese customers and they give more importance to quality and service which is being offered by star bucks and so is the reason why the operations of star bucks is more successful in Japan.

 

The infrastructure available in Japan is more suitable and convenient for the sully chain management of star bucks and the inflation rate is far lower that Singapore and Thailand.

 

结论-Conclusion

 

All the multinational companies are facing hard times due to global financial crisis and it is crucial that the 21st century managers need to think swiftly about the changes happening and design suitable operation patterns for the company to make the company sustain in the market. Changes should be predicted and effective changes should be initiated that would minimize losses for the company. With dynamic changes occurring in the market and to expand the market and increase the market share, operations management should be efficient and should be monitored on a daily basis. By doing so, the company can retain customers and serve them with loyalty and make good profits. With many resources available at their disposal, managers should identify the priority areas in using the resources and give maximum output in the form of sales and services. Several issues should be addressed during the operations which some time become crucial for the company to go ahead and shape the future of the company. Managing and utilizing the material and man power are very important to have effective operations. Skilled people who can manage the operations tactfully even in hard times are in need for companies of this generation. Such people can change the fortune of company and may take it to global heights. To assess whether the product or the customer is important, it becomes difficult to support one as both are equally important for a business to survive in the market. And in this fast changing market dynamics both should be given preference and employees should be geared up to face any challenge with ease and ensuring that the company gives quality goods to the customers at the right time with right service. To make the company perform better, the operations should be streamlined in accordance with the needs of the customer.