Motivation theories

• Operations management is also referred to as production management and involves the transformation of inputs into outputs.
• Production takes place when a business takes inputs, carries out a production process and produces output.
• Operations management decisions involve making effective use of resources (inputs), land, labour and capital to provide outputs in the form of goods and services.
• Production can be done at primary, secondary or tertiary levels.
• The inputs of production differ from one organisation to another.
• The outputs of one organisation can be the inputs of another firm.
• Operations management seeks to ensure that goods/ services are made with the required quantity, required standard and at the right time and in the most efficient manner.
• Operations management and planning is concerned with which resources are needed to complete the production/service process, how the work/process will be organised and scheduled, who will perform the work.
• Work-in-progress-: unfinished project that is still being added to or developed or partially completed goods
• Increase in spoilage
• Wastage of resources in a period of lower demand in the market
• Finished products-: goods that have completed the manufacturing process
• Opportunity cost as capital is tied up in stored stocks
• Storage costs will increase
• Rise in administrative and finance costs e.g insurance
• Risk of theft
• The objectives of an operations management department include designing, creating, producing goods and services for an organisation and its customers effectively, directing and controlling the transformation process so that it is efficient and effective and adds value, procuring appropriate inputs in a cost effective way, effectively managing an appropriate inventory level, focusing on quality, speed of response, flexibility, type cost of the production process, achieving an effective labour/capital production mix, and incorporating latest technological approaches into the production process.
• A transformation process is an activity (process) or group of activities that takes inputs and converts them into outputs.
• Inputs in production can include raw materials, land, labour, and capital.
• Raw materials in production are the basic materials that can be used to make or create something, for example, wheat is a raw material in bread production.
• Land in production refers to the site on which production takes place and all the free gifts of nature, such as minerals and climate.
• Operations management is concerned with orchestrating all resources to produce a final product or service and as such it is constantly seeking to make the transformation process of inputs into outputs more efficient.
• Important elements of operations planning include reducing wastages, producing the range of product that are forecast to be demanded, employing and keeping an appropriate number of staff, keeping sufficient inventory, and improving design.
• Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) involves the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of components or complete products.
• Computer-Aided Design (CAD) involves the use of computer programs to create 2 or 3 dimensional graphical representations of physical objects.
• CAD is most used in architectural designs and on computer animations.
• Process innovation refers to the use of a new or much improved production method or service delivery method.
• Operations management aims to reduce costs, reduce wastage, increase productivity, take out activities that do not add value, improve design, improve quality, design more efficient work methods, and better product development.
• Operations planning involves preparing input resources to supply products to meet expected demand.
• CAD is also used in furniture manufacturing and the software is used to calculate the optimal size or shape of the product.
• The availability of raw materials or lack of them can influence a number of important operations decisions.
• Operational flexibility refers to the ability of a business to vary both the level of production and the range of products following changes in customer demand.
• The business must decide on the best location, nature of the production method, and the provision of services and also the manufacturing of goods has changed.
• Engineering department uses CAD to analyse the components of various structures.
• CAM processes are controlled by computers, thus a high degree of precision and consistency can be achieved than a machine controlled by men.
• Labour in production refers to the physical and mental effort put into the production process, and production process is said to be labour intensive if labour cost constitutes a larger fraction of a firm’s total costs.
• Capital in production refers to the tools, machinery, computers and other equipment that businesses uses to produce goods and services, and production process is said to be capital intensive if the cost on capital constitutes a larger proportion of the firm’s total cost.
• Labour Productivity refers to the number of units produced per worker.
• Labour intensive method of production is characterised by costs of labour being a higher proportion of total costs than costs of capital.
• Productivity is a measure of efficiency of production, showing the relationship between output of a system and factor inputs.