Operations Management Analysis and Strategies for A2Z Stores

This report analyzes the operations management of A2Z, a convenience store chain considering international expansion. The report begins by outlining the tasks and decision-making responsibilities of the Operations Manager, emphasizing the need for cooperation with the Marketing, Finance, and HR managers. It then examines the service process and physical layout of the stores, considering key factors for success. The second part of the report defines and compares the Lean, Agile, Resilient, and Green supply chain management paradigms, discussing their impact on supply chain and organizational performance, with a focus on waste reduction, responsiveness, adaptability, and environmental sustainability. The report highlights the importance of adapting these paradigms to ensure efficiency, customer satisfaction, and successful international expansion for the company.

Operations Management
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1.(Task A)
(a)Decision-making Responsibility
The operation manager is the one who areassigned for the production of goods and
services. The responsibility includes various jobs that need to be done by the operation
manager, and they are namely operation processes, planning, embracing design as well as
performance improvement, control, and strategy (Sparks 2013). So, as the CEO of the a2z
company, it is my responsibility to provide this type of job to the operation manager so that
the manager can deliver the best quality products as well as services to the consumers. This
will ultimately enable the firm to flourish in the international marketplace as well, along with
capturing the domestic market (Watson, Wood and Fernie 2015).
The operation manager should possess the responsibility of the different departments,
which will enable the manager to provide the quality work and assist the company in luring
the customers and in expanding in the international marketplace (Varley 2014). The
department that is controlled and looked after by the operation manager are human resource
management, asset management, and cost management. In this notion, the magerial theory of
desgining of the process can abe mentioned, whereby the reaserchers have claimed that, it is
essentially tre role of the operation manager to consider the volume and the different types of
variety thata will be hlepeful to deal with the delivery demand. With the increase in the
volume managimg the output become schallneging and then, the operational manager must
take proper decisions in order to mnage the product output. The theory of managerial
decision making also states that the process designing is alos an important role, of the
ooperations manager in determioning the value of the product. This departments are critical
for the organization to flourish in the marketplace and to accomplish success in it. These are

critical as the total operation of the company is depending on the three departments, which is
being looked after by the operation manager (Waters and Rinsler 2014).
Therefore, as a CEO of the company, it is my responsibility to monitor the work of
the operation manager and the quality delivered to the customers. These are so as it will
furnish the company with the opportunity to flourish in the marketplace and to obtain the
target that the company is willing to attain in the future (Zidan 2015).
(b)Cooperation for the Decision-making
The operation manager needs to cooperate with the different departments so that the
manager can decide to become successful in the firm, which will assist the organization to
flourish in the marketplace. This needs to be understood by the manager so that they can
coordinate with one another to provide benefit to the company. As the company a2z is willing
to expand internationally, the operation manager needs to keep the vision in their mind to
offer quality products and services in the international marketplace. This will automatically
enable the firm to flourish in the process. There are different managers with whom the
operation manager need to cooperate so that the company can be benefited and they are:
 Marketing Manager: The operation manager, along with the marketing manager
of a2z company, need to look after the marketing strategy that the company is
going to adapt to flourish in the international market. These are critical for the
company as they are the only source to reach the customers and assist them to
obtain the success (Reid and Sanders 2015).
 Finance Manager: With the finance manager, the operation manager needs to
look after the finance that is being required by the company to continue the
operations in an efficient way possible so that they can expand in the international
market. This will assist the finance as well as operation manager to adopt the

strategy accordingly so as to become successful in penetrating the global
marketplace in the process (Collier 2015).
 Human Resource Manager: With the assistance of the human resource manager,
the operation manager need to assign the right people for the job so that they can
efficiently work and expand in the international marketplace (Dulebohn and
Johnson 2013). These are critical for the company as the new idea might come
along with the employees who are being hired in the process and help a2z to
obatin what they are intending to obtain from the market.
©Service Process and Physical Layout
To maintain the efficient convenience store in the domestic and the international
market,a2z company need to look into the products as well as services that they are providing
to the consumers. This is necessary for the company to understand so that they can frame
their layout of an effective physical layout of the store (Andreti et al. 2013). These are critical
for the company so that the customers avail the service and product from the company and
the firm is able to push sale their products to the consumers (Sparks 2013).
The main motto of the firm should be to design the store in an effective way possible
so that they can attract the customers towards the products so that push sale is possible in the
process. The company also requires to focus on the customers flow so that they can manage
the crowd and assist them to generate revenue in the marketplace (Wells, Evans and Cheek
2016). This is necessary for the expansion of the firm and help them to obtain the success in
the marketplace. The company also need to design the store in such a way so that the layout
is able to justify the buying habits of the customers as per the geographical location, taste and
preference of the consumers and demand and supply of the products and service in the market
(Collier et al. 2015).

Fig. 1: Standard Store Layout
Fig. 2: Store layout

(d)Key Consideration
There are few consideration which the company requires to look after so as to expand
in the marketplace and can gain the success by expanding in the international market as well.
These are essential factors that need to be improve so that they can attract the customers from
the marketplace and can accomplish the success in it (Reid and Sanders 2015). The company
needs to focus on the preference of the customers as per climate,culture and the taste of the
citizens so that they can plan the products and services being offered. The key consideration
in the path of expansion process are:
 Design goods and services: The company needs to design their services in a way
that enables them to attract the customers from the marketplace. This is critical for
the company as it will help them to lure the customers both domestically and
internationally (Brown and Bessant 2013).
 Quality Management: The company need to maintain the quality which is crucial
for the expansion of the firm in the international market and help them to
accomplish the target. This needs to be properly address by the company so that
they are able to value the customer’s money in the process (Crane et al. 2019).
 Location Strategy: The company need to adapt the strategy as per the
geographical location, as it enables them to understand the market situation and
enable them to plan the strategy accordingly. This is critical for the expansion of
the organization in the marketplace and assist them to achieve the success in it
(Bromiley and Rau 2016).

(TASK B)
Lean
In the lean paradigm of the supply chain management the organization mainly focuses
on the reduction of the waste so that the actual value-added can be increased in the process.
This enables the firm to fulfil the needs ansd wants of the consumers in less possible time and
also enables the organizationmaintain the profit in the marketplace (Carvalho& Cruz-
Machado 2011). These are different from the other paradigm in the supply chain management
as this is considered to be the cost efficient and enables the company to produce more number
of products for the customers. This enables the company to maintain an effective as well as
effective CSR plan in the process so that they can expand in the market both domestically as
well as internationally.
The company a2z requires to look after the lean paradigm as this will make the
company much more efficient in manufacturing process as the company will be reduce the
wastage of the material in it. This will assist the organization to flourish in the international
marketplace. This will help them to achieve the success and let them become. So, this
paradigm will help the company to become popular in the marketplace.
Agile
The agile paradigm of the supply chain management enables the firm to deliver the
right product in right quantity to the right place and in right condition to the right place within
the right price. This will automatically generate the sense of trust in the minds of the
consumers and that will assist the organization to gain popularity in the marketplace both
domestically as well as internationally (Carvalho&Azevedo2014). This is critical for the
company in the expansion process and this is quite different from the other paradigm of the
supply chain management. This needs to be look after by the company if they are willing to

gain popularity in the marketplace and to accomplish the success in the market where they
are operating or want to operate in the future.
The company a2z as they want to expand in the international market, so it is their duty
to be agile in the marketplace so that they can create an impact in the minds of the new target
audience. This will also enable the company to operate effectively in the international market
and help them to obatin the success in the process. This is necessary for the organization if
they want to lure the consumers to avail their product or service from the marketplace.
Resilient
In the recent marketplace it has been notice that to cut off the pressure of the margins
the company are more into the low-cost solution, which might break the trust on the
company. These are necessary for the organization to understand that the customer’s trust can
be achieve with the quality of the product and this should be understood by the company so
that they are able to provide quality product to the customers (Govindan et al. 2015). This
will ultimately help the company to attain the success in the marketplace and help them to
provide high quality service to the consumers. Therefore, it can be said that the company
need to provide quality service to the people rather than compromising with the quality of the
product in the marketplace.
The company a2z wants to do the expansion in the international marketplace and to
grab the consumer base from the market, the company need to provide quality products to the
customers. These are critical for the expansion of the firm and to become popular in the
marketplace. This needs to be understood by the firm so that they do not feel the pressure of
the profit margin which will lead to lower the cost of products to achieve more amount of
profit from the marketplace.

Green
The company requires to look after the environment and the benefit that they are
going to provide to the ecosystem. This will enable the company to adapt the sustainable
strategy to expand in the marketplace. This paradigm differs from the other paradigm but
helps the organization to flourish in the market and to win over the large customer base in the
process. This will enable the firm to generate revenue without polluting the environment,
which will showcase the strong CSR of the company (Koh et al. 2007). Therefore, it can be
said that the company need to adapt the green paradigm in their business model as well so
that they can expand in the marketplace and can attain the success in it.
The company a2z requires to look after the green paradigm as they possess stores and
want to flourish in the international marketplace. Therefore, the firm need to focus on the
ecosystem so that they do not pollute the environment with the use of the plastics. The
company enhance the condition of the environment in the process, so that they can flourish in
the marketplace and can accomplish the success in the future. Therefore, it is crucial for the
organization to expand in the marketplace and to become popular in the process of becoming
internationally recognized organization.
LARG Management
The LARG management is necessary for the company to expand in the marketplace
and enable the company to lure the consumers in the process. This type of management
enables the company to become felixible as well as lean towards the supply chain
management. This also enables the organization to provide better quality product and service
to the consumers and also enables the company to adapt the plan for the sustainable
development in the process (Tarafdar&Qrunfleh2017).therefore, it can be said that the LARG

management enables the firm to flourish in the marketplace and to gain popularity in the
process so that they can achieve success and can also generate revenue in it.
The ‘L’ paradigm stands for the Lean which enables the company to eliminate the
wastage of the raw materials in the manufacturing process. These are critical for the firm to
sustain in the marketplace as this enables the organization to produce more number of
product and services. This is the sole reason this paradigm is different from the other
paradigm and enables the company so as to generate more amount of revenue in it. Hence, it
can be noted that the company is wasting less and producing more in the marketplace and that
will help the company to generate revenue from it and make them popular in the marketplace
(Blome, Schoenherr and Rexhausen 2013). This is so as it enables the company to eliminate
the wastage of the raw material form the manufacturing process, which makes them cost
efficient and increase the profit earning of the company. Therefore, it is essential for a
company to grow in the marketplace and to achieve the success in it.
The ‘A’ stands for the Agile which enable the company to deliver the appropriate
product and service to the correct place in correct time and in correct quantity and cost. These
will enable the company to build a sense of trust which is crucial for the firm who is trying to
flourish in the marketplace and enables them to achieve the success in the process(Govindan
et al.2015).the company like a2z company who is trying to expand in the global market need
to understand this so that they are able to lure the customers and can expand in the market.
This will be possible if the company is able to follow the agile paradigm of the LARG
management in an effective and efficient way possible.
The ‘R’ stands for the Resilience, which is a critical aspect for the company to look
after in the growth process as it enables the company to improve the quality of the products
and services. This is helpful for the company if they follow this paradigm, as it make them

understand what can happen if they sale low-cost solution to the customers. This assist the
company to paln accordingly so if they are expanding they can keep the profit margin low so
that they can provide high quality product to the consumers (Ciccullo et al. 2018). In case of
a2z the company need to provide quality products to the customers as they are trying to
expand in the marketplace and that is the sole reason quality matters for the company to uplift
the image in the international market, where they are unknown to the consumers.
The ‘G’ stands for the Green, which is an essential paradigm that the company need to
look after so that they can benefit the environment in the process. The sustainability of the
company depends on the effective CSR and that can be measured with the help of this
paradigm (Rajaguru and Matanda 2013). Therefore, the company a2z as they are willing to
enter the international market, it is their responsibility to look after this paradigm in an
effective way possible so that they can expand in the marketplace and can lure the consumers
from the marketplace. The organization should eliminate the pollution of the ecosystem in the
marketplace as it is essential for the firm to safe guard the environment and as the company is
entering the international market, so it is important to look after the ecosystem so that
expand in the marketplace and can obatin the success in the process.

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