Operations Function “Process Design & Improvement”
Operations Management
Course Assessment 2
Assessment Reference: OPM/July 12/1
Operations Function “Process Design & Improvement”
Management Consulting Industry
Introduction
This focused discussion shall address a “service” oriented organization (ABC), operating in the management consulting arena. ABC has been named as such for confidentiality purposes. The scope of this discussion encompasses Process Design (Positioning and Analysis) and Improvement. In order to satisfy the scope of the discussion multiple sources were used to support the dialogue.
Overview
ABC’s output is knowledge, resulting from rendering of services, that assist companies in enhancing or establishing processes based on industry specific benchmarks and leading practices. Numerous reports/services are required by authorities for various categories of companies (i.e. publicly listed organizations), therefore, making the sale of such services an easier task.
A core process of ABC’s operations will be discussed throughout this paper; this core process pertains to the endeavor of reviewing, improving, or establishing departments within organizations. This review/improvement is usually a portion of a larger plan for reviewing multiple departments within an organization, the order of the reviews is likely to be based on the riskiness of each department, usually detailed in an organizational “risk assessment”, reflective of the overall organizational strategy. Refer to appendix 1 for a process map showing the stream of activities of ABC’s operations inclusive of common process design pitfalls, shapes used to create the process map have taken in to account generally accepted practices as per Slack et al (2009).
Professional services, with respect to the four characteristics of demand (4 V’s), depicts low volume, high variety, moderate variation in demand and high visibility, refer to appendix 2 for a “Four V Analysis”, Slack et al (2009).
Process Design
Process Design
Course Assessment 2
Assessment Reference: OPM/July 12/1
Operations Function “Process Design & Improvement”
Management Consulting Industry
Introduction
This focused discussion shall address a “service” oriented organization (ABC), operating in the management consulting arena. ABC has been named as such for confidentiality purposes. The scope of this discussion encompasses Process Design (Positioning and Analysis) and Improvement. In order to satisfy the scope of the discussion multiple sources were used to support the dialogue.
Overview
ABC’s output is knowledge, resulting from rendering of services, that assist companies in enhancing or establishing processes based on industry specific benchmarks and leading practices. Numerous reports/services are required by authorities for various categories of companies (i.e. publicly listed organizations), therefore, making the sale of such services an easier task.
A core process of ABC’s operations will be discussed throughout this paper; this core process pertains to the endeavor of reviewing, improving, or establishing departments within organizations. This review/improvement is usually a portion of a larger plan for reviewing multiple departments within an organization, the order of the reviews is likely to be based on the riskiness of each department, usually detailed in an organizational “risk assessment”, reflective of the overall organizational strategy. Refer to appendix 1 for a process map showing the stream of activities of ABC’s operations inclusive of common process design pitfalls, shapes used to create the process map have taken in to account generally accepted practices as per Slack et al (2009).
Professional services, with respect to the four characteristics of demand (4 V’s), depicts low volume, high variety, moderate variation in demand and high visibility, refer to appendix 2 for a “Four V Analysis”, Slack et al (2009).
Process Design
Process Design
Bibliography: Clark, T. (1995), Managing Consultants, Consultancy as the Management of Impressions, Open University Press, Buckingham. Kaplan, R.S. and Norton D.P. (1992), “The balanced scorecard – measures that drive performance”, Harvard Business Review, January – February, pp.71-9. Lovelock, C.H. (1996), Services Marketing, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall International, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Matti Haverila, Earl Robert Bateman, Earl Robert Naumann, (2011), "The drivers of customer satisfaction in strategic consulting engagements: A global study", Management Decision, Vol. 49 Iss: 8, pp.1354 – 1370 Michael A. Lewis, Andrew D. Brown, How different is professional service operations management?, Journal of Operations Management, Volume 30, Issues 1–2, January 2012, Pages 1-11 Moxham, C., (2012). Operations Management; Study Guide. Manchester; Manchester Business School. Slack, N., Chambers, S., Johnston, R. and Betts, A. (2009). Operations and Process Management; Principles and practice for strategic judgment. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.