Executive Summary
The performance of organizations is greatly affected by a number of variables. These are customer satisfaction, forecasting, capacity planning, location, inventory management, layout of the store and scheduling. Secondary data from diverse publications vividly show that the internal and external environments, where operations of most firms revolve, are greatly affected by these variables. It is therefore important to examine how and why these variables lead to the successful performance of firms as is the aim of the current project.
Introduction
The aim of this project is to study how and why certain factors affect the successful performance of an organization. The factors are customer satisfaction, forecasting, capacity planning, location, inventory management, layout of the store and scheduling. The first part deals with research methodology, the second part reveals the main project findings, the third part entails the analysis, and interpretation of the findings and the last section comprises of conclusion and recommendations.
Research Methodology
Data Collection Method
Secondary Data
The factors under study that affect the operations of various have been found to affect numerous business organizations. Due to this, terabytes of data have been collected and analyzed by several reputable scholars, credible economists, and excellent researchers on the same. Secondary data was therefore the kind of data that was found to be appropriate for this project.
The selected secondary data makes use of published data that is already available in books, reports, and publications of several organizations and linked to business and industry, technical and trade journals, and, other sources of published information (Kothari, 2008, p. 111). In the process of collection of these data, caution was taken due to the uncertainties that may that may arise due to the circumstances that surrounded those who compiled the data or because of varying intellectual interpretations.
Therefore, to ensure that sufficient caution was exercised in the entire data collection process, the published secondary data was selected based on the following features:
Dependability of data
To establish that the data to be used in this project was reliable, it was subjected to several tests that entailed some aspects like who carried out the data collection? From what sources was the data obtained? Were suitable methods applied in the process of data collection? When was the data collected? Was the one compiling data biased in any way? Was there a degree of accuracy that was intended? Was this degree of accuracy attained?
Appropriateness of Data
The data that fits a certain enquiry may not necessarily be applicable in another research. In particular, if the data at hand is inappropriate, it cannot be applied by someone else conducting the research.
In regard to this, the researcher is supposed to cautiously put under scrutiny the definition of certain terms and tenets of compilation that were applicable in extracting the data from primary sources initially. On the same note, the object, spectrum, and environment of the initial enquiry should also be studied. Incase the researcher encounters disparities, the data will remain unfitting for the current research, and it will not therefore be incorporated in the study.
Sufficiency of Data
If the degree of accuracy obtained in the data is found to be inadequate for the use in the current research, they will be termed as insufficient and hence unsuitable to be used by the researcher. Another base on which data may be regarded as insufficient is when they are suitable to be applied in a study whose scope may be either narrower or wider than the scope of the study involved in the current research.
Therefore, due to the risks involved in the use of the available data, the current research, the secondary sources used in the current research have been selected based on their suitability, reliability, and sufficiency.
Therefore, the project is intended to study why and how the following factors are significant to the successful operations of an organization:
- Customer satisfaction
- Forecasting
- Capacity planning
- Location
- Inventory management
- Layout of the store
- Scheduling
Findings
Customer Satisfaction
Huselid, Becker, and Beatty are three scholars who have an innovative expertise in business and economics. They concede that even though the strategic objective of a retail organization is to maximize sales, this goal cannot be attained in the absence of customer satisfaction.
This customer satisfaction, they argue, is partly motivated by an improved purchasing experience (Huselid, Becker and Beatty, 2008, p. 12). Their analyses reveal that improved buying experience is influenced by customer service, and specifically, the conduct of front marketing staff, which may include being kind, enlightened about the products and customer needs and being timely. There are therefore specific jobs and labor force demeanors that influence the purchasing experience of customers.
Research conducted at Price Club business organization shows that in this organization, the clients require a clean retail store with accessible advertised products. In this organization, the front line employers may not influence the purchasing experience of the customers except by ensuring adequate stocking of the shelves, coherent arrangement, and necessary changes. Their strategic importance is therefore restricted in this case.
Alternatively, broadly put, the purchasing experience of customers in this organization is driven by the price. Thus, customer satisfaction is the key to success in any organization although the qualifications and behaviors of the employees that trigger customer satisfaction vary from one organization to another (Huselid, Becker and Beatty, 2008, p. 13).
John Oakland, a business management expert echoes the fact that the goal of all work and attempts to make progress is to be committed to attending to the customers in a proper way.
This requires the organization to be hitherto conversant with how effective its outputs are performing before customers through evaluation and feedback. Although the most crucial clients are the external ones, anything can change in the course of business operation. In particular, internal customers ought to be accorded quality service if the external ones should be satisfied (Oakland, 2004, p. 449).
Forecasting
Suntanto, a reputable scholar and lecturer in management asserts that at the start, managers are supposed to assess the future supply of workforce, both in the internal and external environment of the organization (Suntanto, 2004, p. 2). In addition, the future demand for particular numbers and kinds of employees ought to be ascertained. In particular, the analyses for supply and demand are supposed to be done differently.
The chief reason for this is that supply forecasts are mainly dependent on the internal factors of the organization, which include staff turnover, retirement rates, relocations, and promotions. On the contrary, demand forecasts are dependent on external factors such as demand for goods and services. There are two main categories under which demand and supply-forecasting techniques fall. These are qualitative and quantitative forecasting techniques.
Qualitative forecasting techniques are basically intelligent anticipations or estimates from people who have some previous knowledge regarding the number of employees, and, demand and supply of products. The data for the four main qualitative techniques have been tabulated below. It briefly highlights the technique and its explanation.
Quantitative forecasting techniques are certain quantitative elements that are used in the forecasting of demand supply and work force. Data on the methods and their explanations is shown in the table below (Suntanto, 2004, p. 3).
Forecasting the supply, demand, and labor enables an organization to get the proper staff for its positions at the correct time. This enables the organization to have a suitable competitive edge in the world market, which enhances success in its operations (Suntanto, 2004, p. 7).
Capacity Planning
Capacity planning is the process of ascertaining both the long-term and short-term capacity requirements of an organization and then establishing a way of satisfying these requirements (Panneerselvam, 2006, p. 46).
Long-term Capacity Approaches
An organization’s management may employ the following approaches in an attempt to deal with key changes in its commodities that should be provided to the clients, which will eventually have a great effect on the capacity. The main adjustments will then alter the demand and resource needs. The approaches include:
- Devising new product lines
- Enlarging current facilities
- Putting up or eliminating production plants.
Outdatedness in technology may cause some organizations to plan for a new model even if the current one is operating well. This applies mainly in the electronic industry where there ought to be ongoing research and development to better the operational aspects of the product via the latest technology. This will enable the organization to bring to the market products that are of high quality that will improve the demand, sales, and profitability. Moreover, the demand for some products fades with time. This causes the company to either eliminate such products or introduce new ones that will suit the customer needs (Panneerselvam, 2006, p. 47).
Short-term Capacity Approaches
In short-term capacity planning, decisions are made based on the changes in demand based on recurring and fiscal factors. The aim of short term capacity planning is to attend to changes in demand that may arise in the course of short term planning prospect. Examples of short-term approaches are hiring, firing and overtime (Panneerselvam, 2006, p. 47).
Location
Abrams and Kleiner present their views with regard to how and why location is crucial to the successful operation of an organization. They argue that a retail business is supposed to be situated close to customers who will in turn raise the organization’s sales volume.
Secondly, both manufacturing and distribution organizations are supposed to be near a good transport network and should be located close to suppliers. This will enable such firms to carry out the manufacture and transportation of their products in not only a timely manner, but also in a cost-effective way. In the end, saving on time and costs will enable the firms to succeed in their transactions (Abrams and Kleiner, 2003, p. 157).
Inventory Management
Whereas inventory may be said to a list of products contained in the stock of an organization, inventory management refers to specifying the quantity and placement of stocked products. It is designed within an organization or at different locations of a supply chain to prevent the planned production process against insufficiency of materials or goods. In health care organizations, cost effectiveness is very imperative tool in performance.
Healthcare managers resort to several types of inventory management. These include conventional inventory management, Just-in-time, single or multiple vendor associations, just to name a few. A system that works well for one health organization may not be applicable to another organization.
Being acquainted with most of the systems makes it possible to identify the one that can suit the needs of an organization. Cost effectiveness of an inventory function is not dependent on the kind of system that the organization adapts. It is rather dependent on the some rudimentary changes. Examples of such changes are the computerization of product functions, interconnection of both clinical and fiscal systems, bottom line size, and the devolution of the inventory management role (Ozcan, 2009, p. 268).
The era of microcomputers has facilitated opportunities changing routine duties to enhance efficiency and performance. For instance, tasks from users in various institutions can be easily transferred through the computer before being directed to vendors who are ready to offer online approval. In addition, these continuous routine tasks create databases of use, price, and other details that are important to the organization’s future planning (Ozcan, 2009, p. 268).
Layout of the store
Study from Lewis and Slack (reputable operation managers) reveal that service based environments play a significant role because they ensure that particular customer needs are met following fulfillment of certain tasks by the staff. Store layout and functionality of the physical surrounding are very essential. Store layout refers to the way equipment, furniture, machinery has been positioned, the capacity they occupy, and how they compare in the space they occupy.
Functionality on the other hand means the capacity of these items to enhance both performance and the attainment of the organization’s goals. A lot of experimental research in organizational psychology has revealed impacts of store layout and functionality aspects, always from the standpoint of the staff workers. However, little has been researched on the effect of store layout and functionality on clients within commercial service surroundings (Lewis and Slack, 2003, p. 517).
What ought to be noted here is that store layout and functionality dimension is exceptionally important to clients in environments that require them to conduct self-service where they are required to carry out majority of the duties without necessarily seeking assistance from employees who work there. In the same vein, if the functions to be performed by the clients are more intricate, efficacy of layout and functionality will be paramount compared to if the tasks were less complicated and ordinary (Lewis and Slack, 2003, p. 517).
Thus, based on the nature of the tasks and the setting, it is important to assess the layout and functionality of the organization to ensure that there is better customer service and hence successful business operation
Scheduling
According to Ozcan, scheduling is part of the duties of workload management. It aims at establishing the time that each employee is supposed to be present or away from duty apart from revealing on which shifts the employees work. Staffing, scheduling, and reallocation are the three duties of workload management go a long way to affect performance and performance related factors such as work fulfillment levels, and how the organization will utilize its employees (Ozcan, 2009, p. 162-163).
In healthcare settings, the types of scheduling employed are cyclical and flexible scheduling. The former is where work schedule can be regarded as permanent or discretionary. Under this kind of schedule, workers do not alternate shifts (Ozcan, 2009, p. 191). Flexible scheduling is where without changing the number of weekly working time, employees are given the freedom to choose the time they should begin their workday.
Analysis and Interpretation
Data from several credible and reputable scholars reveal that all the seven variables that is customer satisfaction, forecasting, capacity planning, location, inventory management, layout of the store and scheduling are all vital in the successful operations of a business organization.
First, customer satisfaction is determined by both the behavior of front marketing staff and the price of the products. This is mainly common in retail organizations. How front marketing staffs behave influences the buying experience of customers. A good buying experience increases sales volume and in turn boosts the organization’s profitability.
Second, with regard to forecasting, an organization is supposed to anticipate the future of its demand and supply of labor force. This is meant to ensure that there are no unnecessary deficiencies. Both qualitative and quantitative mechanisms are used and doing this enables the organization to employ the right staff who will in turn render quality services to it, making it competitive and able to meet the demands of the dynamic world.
Third, capacity planning affects manufacturing companies and it involves coming up with either short term or long-term mechanisms that may affect both clients and the company’s capacity. Any adopted strategy is meant to boost the operation of the company.
Fourth, the location of an organization should be closer to the customers and near raw materials and suppliers. This enhances cost effectiveness and maximizes gains. Fifth, inventory management aims at ensuring that the organization’s stock is up to date thus eliminating chances of deficits, which may curtail its performance. Sixth, the store layout has a functional and spatial dimension.
The former enhances both the performance and attainment of the firm’s objectives while the latter necessitates proper customer service that is vital to the success of the business. Finally, scheduling is a program that works at establishing when an employee is on or off duty. It determines both job performance and job satisfaction among employees.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Several reputable scholars have conducted research and presented credible findings regarding how successful business operations emanate from the seven variables (customer satisfaction, location, schedule, inventory management, capacity planning, store lay out, and forecasting).
The findings from the selected credible secondary sources show a direct relationship between how these factors affect both internal and external aspects of the organization. Labor, customer relations, manufacturing process, time, and profitability are a firm’s operational variables that have been seen to be affected by the seven factors.
On the other hand, it is recommended that first, more research should be done to show how scheduling affects the success in operations of other types of organizations apart from the health organization. Secondly, more research ought to be done to reveal how customers in commercial surroundings are affected by store layout.
References
Abrams, R. and Kleiner, E. (2003). The successful Business Plan: Strategies and Secrets. Ontario: The Planning Shop.
Huselid, A., Becker, B., and Beatty, R. (2008). The Workforce Scorecard: Managing Human Capital to Execute Strategy. MA: Harvard Business Press.
Lewis, M. and Slack, N. (2003). Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management. NY: Routledge.
Oakland, J. S. (2004). Quality Management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Ozcan, Y.A. (2009). Quantitative Methods in Health care Management: Techniques and Applications. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Panneerselvam, R. (2005). Production and Operations Management. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Suntanto, E. M. (2004). Forecasting the Key to Successful Human Resource Management. Web.