Importance of operations management decisions to success of a business.
Operations management decisions are critical to the success of a business, because these decisions include decisions on management of raw materials and personnel; their pivotal job is in oversight of inventory, budgeting, controlling costs setting goals for various departments among other roles (Berger, 2011). It makes the decisions of the operational manager paramount in any organization. Setting an internet-based business would require different operations decisions for HEI. First it would require designing a good website this would require employing a web designing consultant or contracting one. There would also be a need to develop platforms for social media marketing for the organization. It includes developing a Facebook and a twitter account for the organization. The company will have to put a lot of resources to market a web based business. There is also the challenge of creating a web catalogue and make the goods appealing to the customers so as to be able to withstand competition (Berger, 2011). There is also a need to employ customer support personnel that can respond to customer concerns as they do online purchases. All these will have an effect as it involves employing new personnel or retaining old staff. It shall not be “business as usual “because online businesses will shorten the time between when customers place orders and when they receive them, when successful it will increase customer base as with proper advertising more customers are reached through the internet and this presents unique logistical challenges.
Key operations management decisions to be considered by HEI and how different these decisions will be for internet business.
A major challenge that faces George Gonzales how to realign the staff at HEI to embrace and successfully run an online store. To maintain the organizations reputation for high quality and service he must ensure that the website is well run and it is always up to date, and there should always be customer support personnel to help customers keep track of their orders and follow delivery of their goods. There is also the risk of dealing with fraudsters that operate online, and the company must invest in security measures in every stage of the business transaction.
Reference List
Berger, A. (2011). Operations Management: IKEA. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
