The Role of Operations Management and Supply Chain Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction

Operational management and supply chains are integral attributes of any business, regardless of the field of activity. The speakers’ lectures gave much new information about individual roles and a large team. Using the Gibbs reflective cycle, this paper presents reflections on these topics through the prism of their practical significance. Unlike the Rolfe cycle, this method offers a more detailed assessment and differentiation of stages, allowing better unlocking of the reflective potential of the listener (Rolfe and Freshwater, 2020). In this paper, two speakers’ presentations are analyzed, including in the banking context.

Question 1

Description

The speaker presented the primary and critical points regarding operational management and its components. To illustrate the abstract systematization, an example of a pharmaceutical company was given, where the implementation of this management model was shown on the example of the roles of certain employees and the process within the supply chain. Relatively detailed questions about logistics and suppliers were disclosed.

Feelings

First, I appreciated the critical importance of the issue of logistics in operational management and learned about these types. Secondly, a detailed differentiated description of the role of an operations manager allows a clear understanding of the processes necessary for the qualitative performance of any task. The example of the pharmaceutical industry illustrates the supply chain phenomenon more than the fundamental aspects of operational management.

Evaluation

Although the example given is far from the professional banking activity, the such theoretical experience will help develop horizons and think within this area. Interacting and doing business in the field of pharmacology is a profitable business. However, it is subject to profound control and severe restrictions (Erokhin, Koshechkin, and Ryabkov, 2020). As a member of a larger team, interacting within such a context teaches cohesion within common interests but uniquely different operational processes.

Analysis

Operational management is already used everywhere, even if companies present terminologically a different systematization of their processes. A differentiated view of compelling aspects can allow a fresh look at established processes in banking for possible supply chain optimization. The bank is often seen as a financial intermediary between consumers and providers at different levels (Cao, Du, and Ruan, 2019). At the same time, the operational arsenal of the bank’s activities is not devoid of interactions with manufacturers directly: the purchase of equipment, plastic cards, and many more (Sari and Susanto, 2018). Obviously, the bank, being involved in financial activity at the level of an intermediary, has a winning experience compared with other areas, which, with new knowledge, opens up opportunities for optimization: for example, the automation of bureaucracy.

Conclusion

Moreover, the roles presented are pretty well extrapolated to the company’s employees. In banking, there is a clear division of labor into separate components from lending to investment. If one adapts the duties of an operations manager for directing, designing, delivering, and developing, one can get a ready-made division into sectors of a particular banking enterprise, where it remains only to identify the company’s products. Consequently, these opportunities have great potential for managerial and organizational decisions.

Action Plan

Now more prepared, I will be ready to share my implementation experience in the banking field with a new opportunity to discuss this topic. The theoretical foundations of operational management in their applied context are an excellent exercise for the thinking of the organizer and any other employee along the chain of operational interaction (Mitra and Karathanasopoulos, 2019). Moreover, studies show that applying the aspects listed by the speaker gives a strictly positive result, although it may not always be tangible (Amici et al., 2022, Yamin and Alharthi, 2020). As a result, it is necessary to return to this topic periodically since current developments in the field of theory often rely on factors such as technological progress, global change, and much more that are rapidly changing in the world.

Question 2

Description

Two lectures are presented on the supply chain in two different business areas: hospitality and pharmacology. The theoretical ideas presented in the presentations on supply chains within pharmacology and hospitality are presented in different ways. In the first presentation, the nature of the presentation is introductory, without attempts to delve into theoretical issues in depth. In the second presentation, the speaker gives much more references from scientific journals, considering each aspect in detail. At the same time, in the second case, the decomposition method is used when an attempt is made to disassemble the concept into separate components by analyzing a set of classifications from different authors (Mbuli et al., 2020). The result is a brief but detailed analysis similar to a literature review.

Feelings

Concrete examples from business areas bring tangible specificity, which all the theoretical material cannot cover. In my opinion, the introduction of theoretical terms is possible only in the shell of potential implementation, especially when it comes to business. First, pharmacology is closely associated with the scientific activity of discovering and synthesizing new drugs, requiring long-term product research before it reaches the pharmacy shelves (Jorgensen, Kebriaei, and Dresser, 2020). Secondly, the hotel business has a seasonality property, which creates appropriate schedules and calculations when planning a budget or other operational activities (Ćorluka and Landvogt, 2022). Finally, the third way of difference lies in the structure of the importance of individual elements of operational management: in the hospitality business, time is essential, because of which the power of suppliers allows increasing prices for perishable products, while in pharmacology, restrictions prevent rapid entry into the market (Gillies et al., 2022, Vrkljan, Barišić and Vrenc, 2019). As a result, the applied aspect of the topics raised by the speaker should always be considered in the context of a specific business area.

Evaluation and Analysis

However, knowledge of certain theoretical aspects of the supply chain phenomenon can provide insight into four points of interaction: communicative contact in discussions, when the parties understand their goals; financial aspects of agreements, when there is an idea of ​​the amount of work of each of the parties to the agreement; the ratio of time frames when it comes to perishable products; and mutual implementation of technological developments for the automation of various processes. This aspect is a plus of the lectures provided, while the disadvantages of experience include the difficulty of extrapolating this knowledge to other areas of business. In any case, additional expert lectures will be required to dive into the specifics of banking, which will already be undertaken as part of the Gibbs analysis stage. Work is already underway in the scientific field along these lines, which proves the importance of these advantages and conclusions within the framework of the theory of this lecture (Khorasani, Cross, and Maghazei, 2020, Liao & Widowati, 2021). At the same time, from the proposed topics, the area of ​​creating a supply chain under severe restrictions, as in the case of pharmacology, seems to be the most interesting for further study. Global crises due to geopolitics and the spread of the virus have shown that many negative factors can appear not only due to the legislation of a particular country but also at a higher level.

Conclusion and Action Plan

Adapting this knowledge, as a banker, I would reconsider the possible optimization of the plastic card supply chain towards a greener agenda, given that there is a particular type of green logistics. In addition, by introducing operational management into daily processes, many goals for automation can be found. I will conduct these events as part of the Gibbs conclusion stage, but if I have to get to such lectures again, I will be ready to assemble a team to prepare questions on the theoretical part that will arise during the implementation of the model in our field. These presentations encouraged me to use the theoretical foundations in my business, as they give the right direction of thinking, and application examples allow me to understand how to adapt to the specifics of the business area.

Conclusion

This work presented a reflective analysis of presentations and the possibility of adapting the acquired knowledge in their business area. Operations management in a tightly intertwined context with supply chains has provided essential theoretical foundations demonstrating the process, goals, and possible problems. Such a base will allow for avoiding blunders and practicing appropriate thinking in this area.

Reference List

Amici, C., et al. (2022) ‘Framework for computerizing the processes of a job and automating the operational management on site—a case study of demolition and reconstruction construction site’, Buildings, 12(6), p. 800. Web.

Cao, E., Du, L., and Ruan, J. (2019) ‘Financing preferences and performance for an emission-dependent supply chain: Supplier vs. bank’, International Journal of Production Economics, 208, pp. 383-399. Web.

Ćorluka, G., and Landvogt, M. M. (2022) Hotel Seasonality. In Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing. London, England: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Erokhin, A., Koshechkin, K., and Ryabkov, I. (2020) ‘The distributed ledger technology as a measure to minimize risks of poor-quality pharmaceuticals circulation’, PeerJ Computer Science, 6, p. e292. Web.

Gillies, M. B., et al. (2022) ‘Changes in antibiotic prescribing following COVID‐19 restrictions: Lessons for post‐pandemic antibiotic stewardship’, British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 88(3), pp. 1143-1151. Web.

Jorgensen, S. C., Kebriaei, R., and Dresser, L. D. (2020) ‘Remdesivir: review of pharmacology, pre‐clinical data, and emerging clinical experience for COVID‐19’, Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy, 40(7), pp. 659-671. Web.

Khorasani, S.T., Cross, J. and Maghazei, O. (2020) ‘Lean supply chain management in healthcare: a systematic review and meta-study’, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 11(1), pp. 1-34. Web.

Liao, S. H., & Widowati, R. (2021) ‘A supply chain management study: A review of theoretical models from 2014 to 2019’, Operations and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(2), pp. 173-188. Web.

Mbuli, N., et al. (2020) ‘Decomposition forecasting methods: A review of applications in power systems’, Energy Reports, 6, pp. 298-306. Web.

Mitra, S., and Karathanasopoulos, A. (2019) ‘Firm value and the impact of operational management’, Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, 26(1), pp. 61-85. Web.

Rolfe, G., and Freshwater, D. (2020). Critical reflection in practice: generating knowledge for care. London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Sari, N. Z., and Susanto, A. (2018) ‘The effect of auditor competency and work experience on information systems Audit quality and supply chain (case study: Indonesian Bank)’, International Journal of Supply Chain Management (IJSCM), 7(5), pp. 732-747. Web.

Vrkljan, S., Barišić, P., and Vrenc, K. (2019) ‘Analysis of seasonality impact on the business performance of global chain hotels’, Tourism in South East Europe, 5, pp. 757-772. Web.

Yamin, M., and Alharthi, S. (2020) ‘Measuring impact of healthcare information systems in administration and operational management’, International Journal of Information Technology, 12(3), p. 767-774. Web.