QUESTION ONE
Operations Management is one of the three majorfunctions of any organisation. No organisation can do without theOperations function. It exists for manufacturing and serviceorganisations as well as to profit and non-profit makingorganisations. It is such a costly part of an organisation butcontribute to a large extent to the success of the organisation.However, organisations are impacted continuously by businesspressures and these provide them with the biggest challenges.Organisations often look to the Operations functions to respond tothe business pressures.
(a) Carry out a literature review on the Operations ManagementFunction, indicating a definition of Operations Management, itsimportance to organisations and how it contributes to the successof the organisation. (1500 Words: 30 marks)
(b) With reference to an industry you are familiarwith, identify five business pressures impacting on theindustry and discuss how these challenges can be addressed by theoperations functions of the latter. (1000 Words: 20marks)
Students are expected to critically analyse thevarious aspects and not just report passively and should include asmall conclusion.
