What is Operations Management?

Abstract

This technical note outlines some basic concepts in operations management. This includes defining exactly what operations management is all about, explaining the key components of operations management, and understanding the types of decisions that are typically taken in operations management settings. The technical note is appropriate for an operations management course at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level.

Excerpt

UVA-OM-1586

Dec. 7, 2017

What Is Operations Management?

In this note, we are going to outline some basic concepts in operations management. This includes defining exactly what operations management is all about, explaining the key components of operations management, and understanding the types of decisions that are typically taken in operations management settings.

Operations Management: Definition

Operations management is the design, management, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver products and services to customers. Why is operations management important? Operations is a core function in almost every organization, whether manufacturing or service oriented, profit or nonprofit. In addition, operations management provides a systematic way of looking at any organization. The decisions taken by operations managers, or general managers, with respect to operations interact with every other functional area of the organization from finance, to marketing, to strategy.

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Keywords: operations management, foundations, introduction to operations, video