A Detailed Report: Operation Management at BHP Billiton

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the operational management issues encountered by BHP Billiton, an Anglo-Australian multinational mining, metals, and petroleum company. The report identifies key challenges, including location selection and effective stock management, which significantly impact the company's operations. It explores how location decisions influence resource accessibility and cost-effectiveness, as well as the complexities of managing large stock inventories to prevent losses. Furthermore, the report highlights the weaknesses in employee management and communication within the organization. To address these issues, the report offers several recommendations, such as implementing team-based task assignments, promoting a culture of open communication and discipline, and leveraging social media for business promotion. The report emphasizes the importance of adhering to business regulations and being accountable for employee issues to foster transparency and improve operational efficiency. The conclusion underscores the significance of these recommendations in mitigating operational failures and achieving sustainable business success.

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BHP Billiton Operation management

Operation management
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Operational management issues in BHP Billiton..........................................................................................3
Recommendation........................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................8
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Operation management
Introduction
The main aim of this task is to explain and outline the operation management issues of BHP
Billiton. It provides information regarding the weaknesses and difficulties faced by the
companies to manage its promoting features all over the world.
BHP Billiton is an Anglo- Australian multinational company involved in mining, metals and
petroleum. The company is widely known all over the world and its goodwill generates ample
amount of profit at the end of every year. BHP Billiton Company has an ethical business and is
responsible for satisfying the needs of the company. The report consists of weaknesses that lead
the company to suffer from losses1. It also suggests recommendations that can help the company
to achieve their target effectively and efficiently2.
Operational management issues in BHP Billiton
Operational management means managing the activities performed in the business in such a way
that it cannot create issues in long run. It is a process of designing and controlling the production
process for while making goods and services3. The work done by the managers responsible for
managing operational environment is carried out with proper plans made by the professionals
and high level authorities of the business. The manager responsible for operation has to deal with
the burdens of keeping the employees intact with the business roles and also keep them
interested in knowing about the targets of the companies. The operational management of BHP
Billiton faces issues like getting enough resources for the company4.
1 BHP.Billiton. About us, < https://www.bhp.com/our-approach/our-company/about-us>, (accessed on
17th May 2018)
2 G. K Gupta,. Introduction to data mining with case studies. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2014.
3 Jeff A Weekley, and Ployhart Robert E., eds. Situational judgment tests: Theory, measurement,
and application. (Psychology Press, 2013).
4 Nir Vulkan,, Roth Alvin E., and Neeman Zvika, eds. The handbook of market design. (OUP
Oxford, 2013).
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Operation management
The two operational issues that majorly affect the business of BHP Billiton are discussed below.
Location:
Companies like BHP Billiton always demand to set the business in a less visited location so that
its cost of production can be minimized. Location is one of the biggest issues while operating the
business. The location must be such that it can provide use of resource abundantly but having to
cost less. The place of working should have access to all the resources needed for the
development of the society and for the growth of the business. This becomes a factor of keeping
touch with its clients and gaining trust over them. If the location is irrelevant as to what business
demands then the company might have to incur a loss which becomes an issue for the company
while operating its business5.
BHP Billiton is located in Australia as the company requires a large number of employees,
therefore, the location is set in Australia where people wanting to work with BHP Billiton can
approach easily. This not only gives employment to a number of people but also provides greater
earrings for the company without wasting time. The company is closely situated in the middle of
the country which allows the people to get in touch with its customers6.
Managing stock:
Managing the stock in an appropriate manner is one of the biggest problems that company has to
face in the workplace. The company manages storehouses to keep their stock safely but they do
have threats to their safety like fire, theft, damage, etc. Managing the stock effectively and
efficiently is a very big responsibility that is generally given to managers whom the company can
trust7.
5 Marc J. Epstein,, and Rejc Buhovac Adriana. Making sustainability work: Best practices in
managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. (Berrett-
Koehler Publishers, 2014).
6 Charu C. Aggarwal, and Han Jiawei, eds. Frequent pattern mining. (Springer, 2014).
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Operation management
The stock for BHP Billiton includes iron, copper, aluminum oil, steel, and gas. It has many big
warehouses where it keeps its stock. The chances of fire, theft and other malpractices increases
in the company as their earring is much more which raises competitive nature in other
companies. Therefore it becomes very difficult to manage the stocks and hence it leads to losses
in the firm8. The firm has to put in all the efforts to find out different effective ways to manage
the stocks which also becomes time-consuming for them and hence they are unable to give
ample time to the business. The stock management is very much important in order to make
profits in the long run as these stocks are so much in number that it can serve the consumers over
a long period of time. The stock needs to be managed in a proper way that it should not damage9.
BHP Billiton is a large-scale company with thousands of employees working under. This
becomes tough to remember each and every employee10. This becomes a weak factor for the
company as they cannot reach easily to either appreciate the employee for his work or to identify
the employees who are not performing well. The company is unable to hire individuals to
manage different operations of the business. The company hires individuals rather than a team to
work on different tasks. It is time consuming and costly process.
7 Frank Vanclay, and Ana Maria Esteves Ana, eds. New directions in social impact assessment:
conceptual and methodological advances. (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011).
8 Denis Collins. Business ethics: How to design and manage ethical organizations. (Hoboken,
NJ: Wiley, 2012).
9 Ian H. Witten, et al. Data Mining: Practical machine learning tools and techniques. (Morgan
Kaufmann, 2016).
10 John Fernie, and Sparks Leigh. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new
challenges in the retail supply chain. (Kogan page publishers, 2014).
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Operation management
The ultimate aim of the company is to stand on the needs of its customers. If the company fails to
meet the requirements of its customers it can lead to disconnecting from them and therefore
losing some of its clients. The work done by the company should meet the requirements of its
customers. Also, sharing the confidential matters with each and every employee of the firm is
one of the biggest weaknesses of such companies. The company’s emotional attitude towards
employees is one factor leading to the losses in business as an emotional firm can accept
whatever demands the employee will make to them.
The weaknesses of the company harm the profits of the somewhere or the other. These
weaknesses also become an advantage for other firms to compete and take a lead easily over
them. The weaknesses are not made to share with everyone. These weaknesses also deprive the
company to reach to its customers and provide them satisfactory results. These are the effective
weaknesses that faced by BHP Billiton while initiating the business activities and operations in
the global market.
Recommendation
The company can teach how to operate the business effectively to its employees by hiring some
professionals. It must appoint people to work on each task in a team rather than providing the
task to every single employee of the firm11. It is recommended to make each and every employee
of the firm know what policies and laws are made to follow in the workplace. There should be
proper discipline at the workplace. The employees must not hesitate to go to a higher authority if
they face any issue while working in the firm. The company can conduct seminars for the
employees to motivate them and to appreciate them for their good work. The company can make
different sectors like complaint & register, counseling, etc. to express their thoughts which resists
them from working in the firm. The issues of operational management can only be reduced if
each and every employee of the firm works in harmony and raises no conflict at the workplace12.
BHP Billiton can increase the number of employees in the firm so that if some go on a break the
11 Todd Erickson, et al., eds. Pilbara seed atlas and field guide: plant restoration in Australia's
arid northwest. (CSIRO PUBLISHING, 2016).
12 Gordon S Linoff,, and Berry JA Michael. Data mining techniques: for marketing, sales, and
customer relationship management. (John Wiley & Sons, 2011).
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Operation management
work of the company does not stop. In order to avoid these operational management issues, the
company must follow the rules and regulations of the business sincerely. The company must be
accountable for the problems of every employee working in the firm. This will help in
developing transparency in the firm and the employees will work willingly. The use of social
media can also make a difference in operating business. The social media platform can be used
in order to promote the business by reaching more and more people. This will reduce the chance
of losses as more and more customers can easily be able to interact with the firm.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is concluded that how an operational management fails at the
workplace due to some weaknesses. The weakness of the company must be kept away from the
eyes of everyone so that nobody can use it as a weapon against the firm. The paper concludes by
suggesting some recommendations that company can follow in order to avoid operational
failures. They must teach the employees how to behave in the workplace. Location and
managing stocks are the two major issues responsible for the failure of operational management.
Hence, the report talks about the impact of operation management and the necessary
recommendation.
Bibliography
Aggarwal, Charu C., and Jiawei Han, eds. Frequent pattern mining. (Springer, 2014).
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Operation management
BHP.Billiton. About us, < https://www.bhp.com/our-approach/our-company/about-us>,
(accessed on 17th May 2018)
Collins, Denis. Business ethics: How to design and manage ethical organizations. (Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley, 2012)
Epstein, Marc J., and Adriana Rejc Buhovac. Making sustainability work: Best practices in
managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Berrett-
Koehler Publishers, 2014.
Erickson, Todd, et al., eds. Pilbara seed atlas and field guide: plant restoration in Australia's
arid northwest. (CSIRO PUBLISHING, 2016).
Fernie, John, and Leigh Sparks. Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new
challenges in the retail supply chain. (Kogan page publishers, 2014).
Gupta, G. K. Introduction to data mining with case studies. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2014.
Linoff, Gordon S., and Michael JA Berry. Data mining techniques: for marketing, sales, and
customer relationship management. (John Wiley & Sons, 2011).
Vanclay, Frank, and Ana Maria Esteves, eds. New directions in social impact assessment:
conceptual and methodological advances. (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011).
Vulkan, Nir, Alvin E. Roth, and Zvika Neeman, eds. The handbook of market design. (OUP
Oxford, 2013).
Weekley, Jeff A., and Robert E. Ployhart, eds. Situational judgment tests: Theory, measurement,
and application. (Psychology Press, 2013).
Witten, Ian H., et al. Data Mining: Practical machine learning tools and techniques. (Morgan
Kaufmann, 2016).
8