Operations Logistics Management Lesson 2 The Operations Manager

Operations & Logistics Management Lesson 2 – The Operations Manager

THE OPERATIONS MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES Direct Responsibilities The Operations Manager Indirect Responsibilities Broad Responsibilities

THE OPERATIONS MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES DIRECT INDIRECT BROAD • Activities directly related to producing organisations goods & services. • What must be done? • How it must be done? • Constraints? • Strengths? • Dealing with disruptions? • Activities that allows for the interfacing of the various parts/ sections of the organisation. • Operations function cannot operate in isolation. • Needs direct, active & effective input from other functions e. g. finance, HR, marketing , sales & distribution departments. • Operations manager has to consider factors outside the boundaries of the operations processes that could potentially have an influence on the ST, MT, & LT sustainability of the operation. • Make decisions in the light of the internal & external environment.

THE OPERATIONS MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES • Ability to communicate: internal staff, suppliers and customers. • De Meyer: amount of time spent on indirect responsibility is increasing and appears to be gaining importance. • Strong organisational skills: manage multitude of smaller activities and tasks. • Ability to identify problems or inefficiencies within the operations & to find the correct solutions. • Ability to identify & understand the external influences that impact on the operations. • Well-rounded individual that understands the whole essence of operations

THE OPERATIONS MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES IMPORTANT: • Must be able to identify, understand assess influences that come from within the organisation and from without. • Be able to communicate operations issues, challenges and constraints in a clear manner to the other functions within the organisation to allow for their active input, cooperation and support. • When the other functions within an organisation do not communicate and support the operations function, it is a clear indication that the communication between these functions are not what it should be.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Assume that you are the operations manager of your organisation. 1. Name and discuss the three areas of responsibility that the operations manager must fulfil as part of their duties.