Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program

(ETEEAP)
Strategic Operations Management
(with Research Component)

NAME: DATE:
PROGRAM: BSBA - _______ PROF.: Mr. Brandy I. Valdez

Instruction: Answer each question in a clear and organized paragraph. Cite examples
applicable to your workplace.

1. What are the major areas of responsibility for operations managers?

Answer : 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. Their indirect
responsibilities include interacting with those managers in other functional areas
within the organization whose roles have an impact on operations. Such areas
include marketing, finance, accounting, personnel and engineering.
Examples : Technicians supporting Maxim’s manufacturing line are best
examples of operations managers. They manage the schedule, workloads and
responsibilities of the technicians in the production line.
(Source:https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/leadership-
management/understanding-operations-management/content-section-
2.3#:~:text=So%20operations%20managers%20are
%20responsible,performance%20improvement%2C%20and%20operations
%20strategy.)
2. What are the problems that might be faced in formulating an operations strategy?
Answer : One significant problem with operational strategy is the lack of
available resources to implement the strategy. In this context, "resources" does not
necessarily mean supplies or funding, although it can be both those things. People
are the most critical resource essential for successful execution. Failure to recruit
and retain qualified workers will result in a significant hardship for the
organization. Even if your small business has experienced, capable staff, if they
are not trained on how to implement the operational strategy, it is unlikely to be
executed correctly.
Examples : The COVID-19 brought a huge effect to the operations strategy
of Maxim in its beginning months. Man power is very much affected because of
the fear of being contracted by the virus.
(Source: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/operational-strategy-problems-
34248.html)

3. Why is operations strategy vitally important in modern-day operations management?

Answer : The role of operations strategy is to provide a plan for the
operations function so that it can make the best use of its resources. Operations

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 strategy specifies the policies and plans for using the organization's resources to
support its long-term competitive strategy.
Examples : There are a lot of changes in the environment that can affect
company operations. Having a good operations strategy is important to adapt to
these changes.
(Source: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/operations-management-
an/9781118122679/ch2-sec004.html#:~:text=The%20role%20of%20operations
%20strategy%20is%20to%20provide%20a%20plan,best%20use%20of%20its
%20resources.&text=The%20operations%20strategy%20must%20be,achieve
%20its%20long%2Dterm%20plan.)

4. Why is investment in process technology often a difficult decision to make?

Answer : Investment in process technologies is often a difficult decision for
everyone because there are lot of schemes and companies where one can invest
their money and take advantage and benefit of different methods. Also, people do
not want to lose their precious money in by taking wrong decision
Examples : Maxim involves its financing team when making decisions
regarding investments. Normally conducting a cost-benefit analysis whenever a
solution to a problem is proposed.
(Source: https://www.solvehomework.com/why-is-investment-in-process-
technology-often-a-difficult-decision-to-make-2/#:~:text=Answer%3A,and
%20benefit%20of%20different%20methods.&text=Also%20people%20do
%20not%20want,in%20by%20taking%20wrong%20decison.)

5. ‘Invention is not enough’ was the response given by a major designer/manufacturer

when asked about the secrets of successful innovation. What other factors need to be
managed to ensure a good idea makes it through to successful implementation?
Answer : A key element in the process is the engagement of all levels of
staff throughout the organization. Staff engagement generates additional input and
helps build their commitment to the end plan. It is essential to involve employees
in the planning of strategy and direction for the organization. Employee’s input
will:
Provide insight into issues, challenges, concerns, and opportunities which may not
have been known or fully understood.
Ensure their “buy-in” to help execute the strategies.
Examples : Maxim’s QA team ensures that the proposed actions whether for
the improvement of the facility or for resolving a problem are implemented well
on the areas where it should be implemented.
(Source: https://bia.ca/5-key-factors-to-successful-strategic-planning-2/)

6. Why has inventory management emerged as strategic factor?

Answer : A managed inventory allows you to study your customer habits,
buying trends and therefore predict demand. It also allows you to be able to
allocate funds for other purposes as you know where, when, what and what not to
buy. Another benefit of inventory management is to help you reduce unnecessary

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 cost as you can avoid pilferage, waste and spoilage by deciding when to release
inventory at cost (through discounts, promotional sales).
Examples : Maxim’s believes that a lesser inventory will make factory
operations more efficient. With a limited facility space, it is important that each
area is used for productivity rather than for inventory.
(Source:https://www.quora.com/Why-has-inventory-management-
emerged-as-a-strategic-factor)

7. What is the main difference between push and pull systems?

Answer : A company using the push system will forecast demand and
employ the Material Requirements Planning (MRP) process to produce goods and
services ahead of time. This is related to the Just-in-Case concept.
This forecast may not always be accurate and will require inventory stockpiling,
but it remains a useful strategy for products that tend to have a lot of work in
progress (WIP) or long lead times.
The push system is particularly useful for products with low demand uncertainty
or with high importance of economies of scale in reducing costs.

The Pull System is a lean manufacturing method that uses the Just-in-Time
strategy of not producing goods until an order is received. Instead of forecasting
demand, the pull system produces ‘as needed’.

This is particularly useful for companies that deal with high demand uncertainty,
low product mix, and low importance of economies of scale.
Examples : Maxim’s uses the combined push-pull system since there are
varying demands across its products.
(Source: https://tulip.co/blog/manufacturing/push-vs-pull-system/)

8. What are the challenges facing operations managers in obtaining competitive advantage
from proficiency in supply management?
Answer :
Competing Practices
Managing the competing business practices within an organization is a major
challenge for an operation manager. The finance function of the business may
prefer to communicate via email, for instance, while the human resources director
may prefer written memos. These differences in business procedure can have a
detrimental effect on operations when they impact the effectiveness or efficiency
of delivering quality goods and services. A weak communications process can
hamper the processing of orders or the payment of invoices. Operation managers
can end competing practices by instituting company-wide standards. Even in
small businesses where one person might handle several functions, all team
members should understand how the organization operates and follow those
procedures. The operation manager's job is to ensure that everyone is using the
same methods, is following the same policies and is communicating openly.

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 Sustainability
Operation managers are tasked with creating long-term customer and employee
strategies that acknowledge the organization's impact on the social, cultural and
economic environment. Many companies have adopted "green" or
environmentally friendly strategies as part of a focus on sustainability. These
strategies seek to eliminate waste and turn the company's attention to minimizing
negative effects on the environment that reduce the well-being of local
consumers. Developing business policies that encourage transparency are also
part of the sustainability push. This can be a particular challenge to operation
managers in small businesses, because these work environments tend to be more
insular than larger corporations. Creating a set of sustainable business practices
impacts the organization's relationship with its employees and customers.

Corporate Reporting
Many operation managers are responsible for corporate reporting, including the
compilation of financial and performance data, the communication of this data to
stakeholders and regular audits of the organization's financial books. Challenges
can arise in corporate reporting when the business hasn't kept current or accurate
records. In the small-business setting, record keeping can sometimes take a back
seat to more pressing concerns like meeting customer demands or keeping
production levels high. Nonetheless, full and complete record keeping on profits
and losses as well as sales goals and expenses is necessary to assess the
company's long-term viability.

Social Responsibility
In many ways, social responsibility is related to sustainability, but this function of
the operation manager looks specifically at how the business engages with its
local community beyond trying to get consumers to buy its products. Many
businesses choose to get involved with nonprofit organizations, to sponsor local
sports teams or to volunteer in local schools. While these can be challenging
projects to organize, a business's community involvement gives its neighbors a
sense that the company cares about its surroundings and its customers on more
than just a profit level, and it raises awareness of the business and its brand.
Social responsibility, therefore, is a form of marketing and public relations.
Examples : Maxim’s supply management strategy has good competing
practices and sustainability when compared to other companies.
(Source: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/3p-triple-bottom-line-company-
4141.html)

9. How should firms go about making the choice between improving their existing approach
to capacity and scheduling management or radically changing their process to
reconfigure the notion of capacity?
Answer : Over the long term, capacity planning relates primarily to
strategic issues involving the firm's major production facilities. In addition, long-
term capacity issues are interrelated with location decisions. Technology and

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 transferability of the process to other products is also intertwined with long-term
capacity planning. Long-term capacity planning may evolve when short-term
changes in capacity are insufficient. For example, if the firm's addition of a third
shift to its current two-shift plan still does not produce enough output, and
subcontracting arrangements cannot be made, one feasible alternative is to add
capital equipment and modify the layout of the plant (long-term actions). It may
even be desirable to add additional plant space or to construct a new facility
(long-term alternatives).
Examples : Maxim’s implement a long term and short term strategy on its
capacity planning so that can easily react to possible changes needed in the
organization.

(Source: https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Bun-
Comp/Capacity-Planning.html)

10. What do you think are the main barriers to effective implementation of TQM – and how
might they be overcome? Why does quality matter to a business?
Answer :
Information & Training. | TQM Tools and Techniques.
There are a number of common potential setbacks in the introduction and
implementation of a total quality management system. These can arise due to the
commitment of senior management, the existing culture within an organization,
the number and focus of teams, the ability and desire to truly engage all
employees, the focus of the TQM effort and commitment to continuous education
and training.

Senior Management commitment.

The biggest single reason for a total quality program to fail to deliver significant
benefits to an organization is poor leadership by senior management. Senior
management must lead by example and systematically seek to implement and
continually improve all the required elements of TQM. Senior management
cannot stand back and delegate the TQM effort, they must enthusiastically
demonstrate an understanding, appreciation and buy-in for total quality in their
daily actions. Where problems arise on a daily basis, senior management must
insist on fact based analysis. They must consistently recognise positive team
performance. They must encourage all employees to participate and contribute to
organizational performance improvement. Failure by senior management to live
TQM on a daily basis, will send a clear message to employees that total quality is
not truly valued within the organization.

TQM Implementation & Organizational Culture.

The existing culture within an organization is critical to the effective
implementation of a positive, effective, total quality approach to improvement. A
culture of mistrust, them versus us, change resistance, etc., will stall and
ultimately stop the implementation of TQM. The culture within an organization

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 must be supportive of positive change and encourage open two-way
communications. TQM may force management to plan efforts towards culture
change. Sometimes external consultants are introduced to address cultural
changes, certainly external advice can be helpful, however, the culture must be
lived internally by all employees. Often by asking and listening to the staff, the
requirements for culture change can be identified and effectively implemented.

Team Mania.
Teamwork is a critical part of TQM, however putting people in teams before the
TQM culture has been developed can result in poor results. Too many teams can
also be a real problem. Team attendance needs to be carefully monitored, as often
the same people end up on a range of teams, will little time left in their working
day to truly contribute to the team, while in parallel, many other employees, never
sit on a team nor or asked to contribute. The objective must be to harness the
capabilities of all employees. Therefore, as many employees as possible must in
some way contribute to improvement activities. This may be via partaking on
teams. However, all teams must be carefully considered, with clear objectives,
properly considered membership, clear end goals and appropriate recognition for
positive efforts where positive results are delivered.

Deployment Process.
It is important to get all key groups on board (e.g. all managers, employees,
suppliers, …) before rolling out TQM projects. No single group of stakeholders
can deliver total quality performance, nor can TQM be achieved while missing a
key stakeholder group.

Taking too narrow or too broad an approach.

Unless the quality program is tailored to fit the organization, problems will arise
during implementation. Careful consideration needs to be given to the scope of
the TQM program, where does the organization see the status of TQM in say one,
two, five years time? TQM is a long term project. It is entirely reasonable to
commence TQM via small steps. Maybe the first starting point will be to develop
the use of analytical tools such as cause and effect, Fault Tree Analysis, HAZOP
analysis, etc.. Then when these start to get applied, the next step may be to
introduce employee recognition, then improvement teams, etc.. The plan for TQM
should be developed with all employees and shared with all employees, along
with the planned milestone targets.

TQM Implementation. Training & Education.

A critical component in any TQM program. What will be the approach to staff
development? This also sits with plans to improve delegation and decision
making. Developing more capable staff, can also motivate the staff, however, as
staff competence is developed, so too must the opportunities available to utilize
new skills be made available to those same staff, otherwise the outcome of
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 training can actually be lower levels of motivation. Again, there should be a clear
plan for education and training which in integral with the overall TQM program.
The organization must ensure not to create overly optimistic expectations for
staff, but equally to show that opportunity for self development exists, provided
employee expectations are aligned with the organizational TQM strategy.
Examples : Maxim’s TQM team is composed of the General Manager
himself and they continuously drive the Quality mindset to the employees in
terms of training and education.
(Source: https://www.presentationeze.com/presentations/tqm-tools-and-
techniques/tqm-tools-and-techniques-full-details/barriers-tqm/)

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 11. Quality management used to be a specialist function carried out by a specialist manager.
Why has it become a mainstream task and a key part of the strategic operations
manager’s job? How can strategic operations managers contribute to creating
businesses capable of competing on quality?
Answer :
There are three ways that firms strategize to meet mission: differentiation, cost
leadership, and response. Operations managers turn these into tasks to be
completed in order to deliver goods and services cheaper, better, or more
responsively.
Differentiation
It is important to set your product up as different from competitors. It needs to be
special or unique in some way. There are ways to make this happen in almost
every function within a company. The goal is to find something that adds value to
the customer. It may not be in price, but in quality. It could be in accessibility,
like location, or offering follow-up customer service, like repair and maintenance.
The only limit is the imagination of the operations manager.
Cost
Cost is not all about the dollars and cents; it also includes what your customer
perceives as maximum value. It means driving down costs, without making it
low-cost or low-quality. There are ways to do this behind the scenes, in resource
allocation, turnover times, shifts and routes, just to name a few. This can turn into
a dollar-and-cents saving to the customer, although he or she may not know why.
As long as the low-cost leadership is in line with strategy and mission, anything is
possible.
Response
Response is broader than just delivery to a customer of a good or service. It also
includes the organization's ability to adjust timely to other factors or changes in
the marketplace. It is the set of values related to rapid, flexible, and reliable
performance. The operations manager who can design a system to do so in all
three regards is a formidable one.
Examples : Maxim does not have a specialist manager but a major part of its
operations management gives focus to cost.
(Source: https://www.universalclass.com/articles/business/strategies-in-
operations-management.htm)

12. It is commonplace to hear managers and chairmen of companies say that ‘people are our
biggest asset’ – but often this is nothing more than words. In what ways can people make
a difference to the way a business operates – and how can this potential be realized?
Answer :
Organizational change is the most common way to make people more effective to
the way the business operates. Organizational change is the movement of an
organization from one state of affairs to another. A change in the environment
often requires change within the organization operating within that environment.
Change in almost any aspect of a company’s operation can be met with resistance,
and different cultures can have different reactions to both the change and the

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 means to promote the change. To better facilitate necessary changes, several steps
can be taken that have been proved to lower the anxiety of employees and ease
the transformation process. Often, the simple act of including employees in the
change process can drastically reduce opposition to new methods. In some
organizations, this level of inclusion is not possible, and instead organizations can
recruit a small number of opinion leaders to promote the benefits of coming
changes.

Organizational change can take many forms. It may involve a change in a

company’s structure, strategy, policies, procedures, technology, or culture. The
change may be planned years in advance or may be forced on an organization
because of a shift in the environment. Organizational change can be radical and
swiftly alter the way an organization operates, or it may be incremental and slow.
In any case, regardless of the type, change involves letting go of the old ways in
which work is done and adjusting to new ways. Therefore, fundamentally, it is a
process that involves effective people management.
Examples : Maxim implemented a lot of organizational changes in the part.
Whether changing the whole organization structure or just simply moving people
around certain positions. This gives the company flexibility in executing its goals.
(Source:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/principlesmanagement/chapter/7-4-
organizational-change/)

13. How and why has human resource management moved from a simple concern with
recruitment and reward to a more strategic role in the business? In what ways is people
management becoming a central concern for strategic operations managers – and in
what ways can they enable human resources to make a strategically important
contribution to the business?
Answer : People management is defined as a set of practices that
encompass the end-to-end processes of talent acquisition, talent optimization, and
talent retention while providing continued support for the business and guidance
for the employees of an organization.

The canopy of people management, a key sub-set of human resource

management, thus covers all aspects of how people work, behave, engage and
grow at work. The systems employed to manage people affect the total workings
of the organization and thus need to be adhered to as dynamic individual puzzle
pieces without losing sight of the bigger picture.

Examples of sub-aspects or tasks supporting the key pillars of people

management include employer branding, recruitment, compensation, performance
management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee
motivation and engagement, communication, administration, and training.
Altogether, these aspects of people management weave the cultural fabric within

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 the organization and lead to an employee experience that attracts and retains the
right talent
Examples : Maxim believes in the principle that the people are the company’s
greatest asset. Maxim invests on people development trainings and seminars to
improve the capabilities of the people.
(Source: https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/performance-
management-hcm/what-is-people-management/)

14. ‘The beauty of it is that with every pair of hands you get a free brain!’ This quote from a
manager highlights the potential of employee involvement, but the fact remains that most
organizations still do not manage to engage their workforce on a systematic and
sustained basis. What are the main barriers to doing so – and how would you, as a
strategic operations manager, try and increase active employee involvement in
continuous improvement of the business?
Answer : Almost every organization that has attempted continuous
improvement has encountered these issues. By planning for these challenges
ahead of time, your organization can ensure a more seamless and complete
adoption of continuous improvement.
 difficulty fostering collaboration between multiple stakeholders,
 difficulty identifying which process improvements to prioritize,
 ill-suited process management tooling,
 governing/controlling change (to meet compliance obligations), and
 lack of employee engagement
Examples : Maxim has overcome most of the barriers mentioned above. It
has a good employee engagement and had no difficulties in collaboration and
process improvement.
(Source: https://www.apqc.org/blog/continuous-improvement-
barriers#:~:text=difficulty%20identifying%20which%20process
%20improvements,lack%20of%20employee%20engagement.)

15. How can strategic operations managers contribute to the design and operation of
organizations?
Answer : Operational management seeks to keep those costs down by
constantly evaluating where money is going in producing the goods. With the
wallet manufacturing plant, the operations manager could use bulk purchases of
textile materials to get a discount on pricing. He might change traditional light
bulbs for energy-efficient LED bulbs, which would reduce energy costs or he
might use part-time labor for certain tasks, so as to reduce payroll costs.

Every one of these options is a strategy that feeds into the overall goal of keeping
the COGS low. With all of the other expenses in the company remaining the
same, if the COGS are reduced, the company makes more money. Making more
money is the ultimate goal of every for-profit company, so being successful in
creating efficient systems means that a significant goal has been achieved.

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 Examples : As mentioned in the items above, Maxim focuses its planning on
operating costs. This is the major contributions of strategic operations planning to
the organization.
(Source: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/manufacturing-operations-
management-69293.html)

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