Structural and Infrastructural decisions and Competitive Pri
Structural decisions relate to tangibles such as buildings, equipment, the way equipment and personnel are organized in processes and how the business links to other businesses. Infrastructural decisions relate to systems used to enhance the utilization of the structural resource to control those resources so the business achieves high levels of productivity. Competitive priorities are key value attributes that are highly influenced by operations management and include cost, quality, dependability of delivery, flexibility, and response time. These strategic decisions are related, but it should be noted that the relationships amongst them are not equally important. Some companies might place certain emphasis on some as opposed to others, depending on the industry. Therefore, companies have developed competitive priorities. Competitive Effects of Structural DecisionsSince capacity determines rate of output, competitive priorities most closely tied to capacity decisions are those related to output rate and volume. Cost is affected by design and cost per unit and match between design capacity and load. Quality is also affected by the match between design capacity and demand. The firm must also h
Dependability within the supply chain could potentially be reduced as outsourcing increases because of transportation and distances between the suppliers and the manufacturing firm. The need to train and retrain employees is a direct cost, however, this provides for excellent flexibility in employees (trained on several jobs, or skills). Matching the product and service design to the business's capabilities keeps costs steady. With regard to response times, strategic quality decisions can eliminate potential delays resulting from quality problems. If the organization is located close to suppliers, they may be able to save on transportation costs, like-wise, if they are located close to customers, they can also save on shipping costs. Wide variability of processing times makes order due dates more difficult to determine reliability. Some jobs require highly skilled workers in order to get the job done to a high standard, especially jobs that are technical in nature. ' Quality is also improved by establishing long term relationships with suppliers in an effort to improve quality. It is necessary to have built into the organizational flexibility so that the organization can respond quickly to customer needs and give a commitment within a reasonable time period in order to retain the customer. Technology can result is better quality and more uniform products as opposed to human errors and imperfections and also reduced variability of completion times. Quality systems all for high quality manufactured products which enhance the organization's ability to meet client needs. Performance/Reward System decisionsRewards cost the organization money up front; however, these rewards can result in enhancing worker productivity, which, in the long run, can reduce costs. The process of designing the new product and then bringing it through production can take a long time, reducing the advantage of being first to market. Response times can be affected negatively as the amount of outsourcing increases; however, strategic placement of inventory can offset this.
Common topics in this essay:
Decisions Capacity,
,
Relationship Decisions,
Strategic Quality,
Strategic HR,
Strategic Product/Service,
Systems Production,
Organization System,
Performance/Reward System,
response times,
product service,
control systems,
Human Resource,
production planning control,
quality affected,
planning control,
competitive priorities,
production planning,
service design,
costs quality,
planning control systems,
product service design,
strategic quality decisions,
relationships suppliers,
costs quality affected,
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