Operations Management Analysis: Arcadia Merchandise Strategies Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operations management, focusing on Arcadia Merchandise, a large UK retailer. It defines operations management as the systematic process of managing operations to achieve goals, emphasizing its importance for maximizing profits and efficiency. The report discusses operations strategy, competitiveness, and the development of operational strategies, including cross-functional, competency-based, and customer-driven approaches. It highlights the significance of competitiveness in the market, detailing how Arcadia Merchandise maintains its competitive edge through product quality, customer service, and effective marketing. The report outlines a step-by-step process for developing operation strategies, from identifying focus areas to analyzing past successes and implementing chosen strategies. It concludes by emphasizing the critical role of effective operations management and strategy in achieving business objectives and improving overall performance.

Operations
Management

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Discussion of operation management, strategy, competitiveness and development of operation
strategy.........................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Operation management could be defined as the process of managing all the operations in
systematic manner so that the desired goals and objectives could be met. In other words, it could
be described as the administration of business practices which can help to enhance efficiency of
the organisation. If the entities will be highly focused with it then it may result in maximised
profits (Ahmadyar and Verbič, 2016). The entity which is selected for this essay is Arcadia
Merchandise which is one of the largest retailers of United Kingdom. There are various topics
that will be covered in this discussion which includes operation management, it strategy,
competitiveness and development of the strategies.
MAIN BODY
Discussion of operation management, strategy, competitiveness and development of operation
strategy
Operation management is related to proper management, control, analysis, assessment
and design of all the operational activities that are performed by an organisation. It is very
important for businesses to make sure that they are focused with it because it is required for
improving profits. By formulating effective decisions related to it, the management teams of
businesses will be able to analyse the opportunities for improvement in business which can help
to sustain in the market for long run. Arcadia Merchandise is a large organisation that executes
all its operations effectively at global level. It is very important for the company to make sure
that it pays attention towards operations management. With the help of it, the entity will be able
to sustain in the market systematically (Alramlawi, Gabash and Li, 2017).
Operation management is a business function which is required to be focused by all the
businesses as it is responsible for proper management of all the offerings that are made by the
entity to the customers. The main activities that are focused in it are planning, controlling,
coordinating, organising etc. In Arcadia Merchandise the managers try to make sure that they are
focusing towards controlling and planning of all the operations systematically as it is required to
meet the expectations of all the clients. It is essentially required for all the businesses because it
supports effective management and controlling of human resource as well as the products of
organisation. With the help of operation management, the managers of Arcadia try to assure that
they are focused with primary activities. Some of the primary activities includes facilities,
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capacity, material and quality management, scheduling, job design etc. By making sure that all
these are activities are executed systematically the managers in all the companies can assure
attainment of all the long as well as short term business goals and objectives. Some of the key
decisions that are formulated in Arcadia Merchandise with the help of operation management
includes management of quality, supply chain, inventory, human resource etc. These effective
decisions facilitate the entity to carry out all its operations systematically and meet all the desired
goals and objectives (Balić, Maljković and Lončar, 2017).
There are various benefits of operations management which could be acquired by
businesses like Arcadia if they will be focused with it. It provides benefits for maximisation of
profits and improves the quality of work which is performed by the organisation. Apart from
this, with the help of effective strategies of operations management the managers will be able to
meet expectation level of customers as well as improve the quality of products. With the help it,
all the long term goals such as increased market share could be achieved. It is important for
businesses to make sure that they are able to formulate effective strategies related to operation
management as it is required for attainment of all the goals and objectives of business. When it
will be focused by entities then it can help to improve working conditions because the effective
strategies will facilitate the staff members to assure attainment of all the business goals. The
main significance of it for a business is that it can reduce the cost of products by assuring highly
level of efficiency (Bui, Hussain and Kim, 2019). As it enhances customer engagement so it
facilitates Arcadia to increase its revenues and sale good quality products to the customers. It
provides basis for innovation by making sure that a solid base of knowledge and skills is
maintained for the staff members.
Operation strategy could be defined as the plans or the strategies that are formulated by
the managers for assuring effective execution of all the operational activities. In order to
formulate effective decisions for betterment of business it is very important for the managers to
make sure that they are aware of all the trends and changes in the market. In other words, it could
be described as the coordination and planning to work so that the planned goals could be met
successfully. Management of Arcadia Merchandise is highly focused with it as it results in
increased competencies of business (Chen, Liu and Shi, 2018). The main operation strategies that
are focused by the enterprise includes cross functional, development of competencies and
competitiveness, corporate and customer driven strategies. With the help of all of them, the
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businesses try to assure that all their long as well as short-term objectives are met or not. Main
role of these strategies is to ensure that all the desired goals and objectives of business are met or
not. By focusing towards all the strategies the entities will be able to use all the resources
properly and reach to all the predetermined objectives. Main function of operation management
is to manage all the available resources of the organisation in systematic manner.
By paying attention towards operation strategy businesses can make sure that they are
able to perform all the operations systematically. Apart from this, it is also essential for the
business enterprises to assure the formulation of effective strategies for execution of all the
operational activities. In Arcadia it is focused by the managers because with the help of it the
performance of business is improved and the quality of all the products could be improved. The
main role of operation strategy is to assure the use of all the resources so that the operations
could be carried out systematically (Kim, 2017).
Competitiveness could be defined as the ability of a firm to compete with the existing
competitors with the marketplace. If a business will not be able to acquire it then it may affect
the market image as well as the market share. It is essential for all the companies to make sure
that they are able to develop effective strategies to attain competitiveness within the industry. If
they will not be able to focus on it then it may result in unattained objectives like higher
customer engagement and profits. Arcadia Merchandise is a large organisation which is
operating business its business at global level. The competitiveness of it is very high and it
facilitates the enterprise to sustain in the market. Apart from this, the main factors that are
focused by it to maintain the level of competitiveness within the industry are quality of products,
proper resolution of customer’s queries, marketing efforts, effective promotional techniques,
appropriate pricing etc. Apart from this, the entity also assures that the operations that are
executed by it are based upon the strategies that were formulated earlier to carry out them (Li,
Liang and Tan, 2017).
In order to improve or enhance the level of competitiveness it is very important for the
businesses to make sure that they are formulating effective strategies related to quality, pricing
and other elements that can attract large number of customers. Quality of all the items that are
sold by Arcadia Merchandise is very good which help the entity to sustain in the market and deal
with the higher level of competition. Apart from this, the enterprise also assures that quality of
all the products that are sold by it in the market is maintained so that the expectation level of
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customers could be met. With the help of it, the clients could be retained by the entity for a long
period in future that can also help to enhance competitiveness within the industry.
One of the key aspects that are required to be focused by business entities for the purpose
of maintaining the competitive advantage within the industry to formulate and develop effective
operation strategy. Main reasons of assuring proper development of operation strategy are to
improve the quality and maintenance of all the products that are sold in the market. With the help
of it, the entities will be able to analyse the market trends and then make changes in to strategies
related to cost, time, flexibility and quality of all the products. In Arcadia Merchandise the
managers are highly focused with formulation of appropriate operation strategy which can help
to meet all the desired goals and objectives of business. While planning to develop an operation
strategy it is very important for the businesses to make sure that they are following appropriate
steps so that all the desired goals could be accomplished (Wang, Cai and Yin, 2017).
First of all, the managers are required to pick the area to focus so that the process of
formulating the strategy for that area could be started. At this stage the managers will be
responsible for assuring that all the key elements are focused for development of strategy. For
example, if the area which will be focused is finance then the managers are required to make sure
that they determine all the sources and uses of funds. At second stage they will be responsible for
picking up the timeframe so that the time period which will be required for formulation of
strategy for the selected area could be decided. With the help of it all the individuals working
with the entity will analyse that the time duration decided for the development of strategy will
meet the deadlines or not. At the next stage the managers are required to analyse the old success
which was received with the help of proper strategy formulation. It can help to analyse the key
factors that should; be taken in to consideration for successful development of strategy. When
the key factors will be focused then it can help the management to determine different
alternatives for the strategies as it can help to select the best one and implement the same. After
formulation of different alternate strategies, the managers will ask the senior managers to choose
the best one and modification in the planning. It will help to implement the strategy
systematically with approval of all the senior executives of the firm.
When a perfect strategy will be developed by the managers then it will help to assure the
successful implementation of the same and make plans to improve quality of all the products that
are sold in the market. In Arcadia manager are assuring that they follow all the required steps in
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the development of operation strategy to improve the functionality of business. Apart from this,
the operation strategy facilitates the enterprise to meet expectation of clients and perform all the
operations properly (Zhao, Zhang and Sun, 2016). Effective and efficient strategies for
operational activities result in attainment of all the predetermined objectives and reach to desired
level of success.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that, operation management is the
process of controlling, analysing, monitoring and organising all the operations in systematic
manner so that predetermined objectives could be met. When the businesses will not be able to
pay attention towards attainment of all the desired goals and objectives then it may leave
negative impacts upon functionality of business. For this purpose, operation management, its
strategies, competitiveness and development of the strategy. While formulating strategy for
operations it will be very important for entities to follow all the steps as it may result in effective
formulation of strategy.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Ahmadyar, A. S. and Verbič, G., 2016. Coordinated operation strategy of wind farms for
frequency control by exploring wake interaction. IEEE Transactions on Sustainable
Energy. 8(1). pp.230-238.
Alramlawi, M., Gabash, A. and Li, P., 2017, June. Optimal operation strategy of a hybrid PV-
battery system under grid scheduled blackouts. In 2017 IEEE International Conference
on Environment and Electrical Engineering and 2017 IEEE Industrial and Commercial
Power Systems Europe (EEEIC/I&CPS Europe) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.
Balić, D., Maljković, D. and Lončar, D., 2017. Multi-criteria analysis of district heating system
operation strategy. Energy Conversion and Management. 144. pp.414-428.
Bui, V. H., Hussain, A. and Kim, H. M., 2019. Q-learning-based operation strategy for
community battery energy storage system (CBESS) in microgrid
system. Energies. 12(9). p.1789.
Chen, Y., Liu, H. and Shi, L., 2018. Operation strategy of public building: Implications from
trade-off between carbon emission and occupant satisfaction. Journal of Cleaner
Production. 205. pp.629-644.
Kim, M. K., 2017. Optimal control and operation strategy for wind turbines contributing to grid
primary frequency regulation. Applied Sciences. 7(9). p.927.
Li, Y., Liang, W. and Tan, R., 2017. Optimal design of installation capacity and operation
strategy for distributed energy system. Applied Thermal Engineering. 125. pp.756-766.
Wang, X., Cai, W. and Yin, X., 2017. A global optimized operation strategy for energy savings
in liquid desiccant air conditioning using self-adaptive differential evolutionary
algorithm. Applied Energy. 187. pp.410-423.
Zhao, F., Zhang, C. and Sun, B., 2016. Initiative optimization operation strategy and multi-
objective energy management method for combined cooling heating and
power. IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica. 3(4). pp.385-393.
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