ASSIGNMENT on OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM)

Submitted to: Mr. Sushil Kumar

Submitted by: Aditya Batra Class of 2012 Section B Roll No. 43

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavans Usha & Lakshmi Mittal Institute of Management Copernicus Lane, Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi-110001

March 2013

Q 1: What do you understand by the term operations management? What are the major operations management issues that manufacturing organizations face in India? A 1: Operations management is defined as conversion of materials and labour into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profitability of an organization. It is the systematic design, direction and control of processes that transform inputs into services and products for internal, as well as external customers. It focuses on managing all aspects of an organization's operations. Operations managers apply ideas and technologies to increase productivity and reduce costs, improve flexibility to meet rapidly changing customer needs, enhance product quality, and improve customer service. Manufacturing organizations faces many operation hurdles in India. The reasons are well documented: multinational companies operating in India must overcome Erratic electricity supplies. Poor roads. India does not have sufficient infrastructure to develop their manufacturing. Needs a lot of investment and lot of technology for proper working and to compete with the world player. Non-cooperative government. Indian citizen are happy to work with low labor intensive job with a decent salary as compared to high intensive labor work in manufacturing industry with low salary.

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In order to be successful, Indian companies need to: Adopt a global mindset to build scale and achieve cost excellence. Acquire market access rapidly, including acquisitions where required. Strengthen design and innovation skills. Build a global or regional operating footprint. Master the ability to manage a world-class talent pool and organization.

Q 2: Consider Amazon.com, whose website enjoys millions of hits each day and put customers in touch with more than 18 million services and products. What are Amazon.coms competitive priorities and what should its operation strategy focus on? A 2: Maintaining and improving operational efficiencies is the key to sustainable competitive advantage of Amazon.com. The ability to offer shopping convenience, ease of purchase, speed, decision-enabling

information, a wide selection, discounted pricing, and reliability of order fulfillment are all tied directly to the company's logistical competencies. By purchasing large volumes of products directly from publishers the company offers a wide selection to customers and receives great discounts from suppliers. Amazon.com aims to ship 95% of products on the day they are ordered. Direct model enables Amazon.com to shorten shipping times. The company invested also heavily in warehousing and material handling systems to achieve multifold improvement in throughput. The company is committed to sell more items at a lower cost, rather than fewer items at a higher cost, while at the same time trying to cut operating

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costs. It is focused on the long term and obsessed over customers and longterm thinking which levers its existing abilities and do new things. The customer-experience path of Amazon requires to have an efficient cost structure. For achieving that the areas of focus includes: Expanded global e-commerce platform leadership. Drive to operational excellence and profitability. Accelerating improvements in user experience - Amazons core technology expertise, constant feedback loops, and networking effects allow these to occur at fast rates. Quality of impressive management team. The key ways that Amazon.com will drive to profitability are: Improved vendor management. Increased product gross margins. Improved procurement. Ongoing process improvements.

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