Discussion and Review Questions
1. Operations management essentially encompasses planning, overseeing, management, and
supervision of the manufacturing of goods and/or provision of services. On the other
hand, supply chain refers to the system of producing and delivering a product or service,
starting from the very beginning. A supply chain could begin with sourcing raw materials
from suppliers and cover other steps until the delivery of the product or service to the
final customer.
2. The three major functional areas of business organizations are finance, marketing, and
operations. Finance is responsible for managing the funds of the business, whereas
marketing is responsible for selling and promoting the goods and services. Finally,
operations is responsible for producing the goods or providing the services offered by the
business.
3. Operations functions include activities such as forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling,
and many more. The nature of the operations manager’s job varies from business to
business; however, they are generally the same as they primarily oversee operational
activities at every level of the business.
4. Goods production and service operations.
a. Differences
i. Production of goods results in a tangible output, while service operations
implies an act or results in intangible outputs.
ii. They both differ in terms of what is done.
iii. Compared to goods production, services have a higher degree of labor
content.
iv. In terms of inventory, services tend to use less inventory than
manufacturing operations, so costs are lower for service operations.
