The contents of this lecture include all of the following: Operations Management is about executing the firm’s strategy; operations is a core function in every business – manufacturing or service oriented; key components of OM: Products, Processes, SCM; OM is important to everybody in the organization; OM involves strategic, tactical, and operational decisions; the efficiency–effectiveness–value tradeoff. | If senior management is not committed and involved, then TQM will fail. These managers must start the process and should be the first to be educated in the TQM philosophy and concepts. The chief executive officer and senior management should form a quality council whose purpose is to establish a clear vision of what is to be done, develop a set of long-term goals, and direct the program. The quality council must establish core values that help define the culture of the organization. Core values include such principles as customer-driven quality, continuous improvement, employee participation, and fast response. As well, the council must establish quality statements that include a vision, mission, and quality policy statement. The vision statement describes what the organization should become 5 to 10 years in the future. The mission statement describes the function of the organization: who we are, who our customers are, what the organization does, and how it does it. The quality policy statement is a guide for all in the organization about how products and services should be provided. Finally, the quality council must establish a strategic plan that expresses the TQM goals and objectives of the organization and how it hopes to achieve them.
