Business in Operation Management Report: COVID-19 Impact Analysis

This report delves into the intricacies of business operation management, using the development and rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine as a central case study. It outlines the critical steps involved in vaccine development, from identifying antigens and conducting pre-clinical and clinical trials, to navigating international regulations and supply chain challenges. The report emphasizes the importance of Time to Market (TTM) from both economic and social standpoints, while also addressing potential delays and mitigation strategies. Furthermore, it analyzes the supply chain of Carrefour Saudi Arabia, evaluating its strengths and weaknesses amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The report explores factors that may hinder the efficient delivery of products, and suggests strategies for overcoming these challenges, with a focus on balancing capacity, improving delivery reliability, and effective management communication.

Running head: BUSINESS IN OPERATION MANAGEMENT 1
Business in Operation Management
Name of Author
Institution of Affiliation
Date of Submission

BUSINESS IN OPERATION MANAGEMENT 2
Q1. (a) Suppose you are a pharmaceutical company that is endeavoring to develop a
vaccine for coronavirus, how would you proceed in developing, launching and rolling out
this vaccine across the entire market?
Developing a vaccine for covid-19 virus needs some time as we first start by identifying
the antigens and produce them as well. To get the right vaccine we have to conduct several
tastes and this calls for the use of pathogens as samples, unlike human beings. Pre-clinical testing
should be carefully investigated at the laboratory before it's tested on human beings. The addition
of a small molecule known as adjuvants can promote immune (Schleiss, 2013).
Clinical tests are further carried out to human beings in three phases all governed by
international agreed principals. The first phase will involve volunteers to check the safety,
immune and tolerance of the vaccine in the human body. The second phase will involve quite a
large group that will confirm the formulation of the dose and identifies the need to boost the
vaccine and to what intervals it shall be administered. The final phase will determine the
preventive part of the vaccine by involving individuals that are affected by the virus. Point to
note is that clinical teste can take several years for a vaccine to be approved.
(b). How much crucial do you think is the Time to Market (TTM) in this case? Discuss it
both from an economic as well as a social standpoint. What might be some key factors that
could delay the TTM? How would you deal with such sources of delay?
All information and data collected right from the start are to be submitted to the international
regulators’ body for approval and officially authorization granted for the supply chain within the
world. Just like developing, manufacturing and supply of the drugs are difficult as they try to
ensure that the supply meets the demand. The vaccine is closely monitored to ensure that data
collected from the users is recorded for vaccine quality. During this pandemic time of the spread
of the coronavirus, it will be quite difficult for us to access various institutions and countries as
there is a total lockdown (Maniatis, 2016).
Canceled flights both international and local will hamper the manufacturing of the vaccine as
well as lack of personnel due to the social distance measures that have been placed in every
country, cities and major towns. With harsh economic times, we shall be forced to have the
vaccine be declared internationally as urgent to the most affected nations (Pagliusi et al., 2013).
Q2. (a) Briefly analyze the supply chain of Carrefour Saudi Arabia. Which qualities would
you seek this supply chain to feature amidst this evolving COVID-19 crisis?
The supply chain in Saudi Arabia is mainly contributed by major factors. Delivery time is one
the key factor affecting during this covid-19 pandemic. Importers and exporters face delays on

BUSINESS IN OPERATION MANAGEMENT 3
the release and clearance of their cargos as it takes close to a month plus unlike the other
countries there has been catalyzed by the fact that the country heavily relies on the seaport and
their efficiency is slightly slow. Poor technology on the ports and privatization of ports has
greatly affected the supply of commodities within that country (Abunar & Zerban, 2016).
(b.) What factors may hinder in your surge to make available right quantities of the
products at right purposes for the right persons? How would you deal with these
challenges, especially through balancing the capacity?
The redrafting of the new law governing the transportation of both by road and sea will help
transporters as the current laws are outdated and are not lined with technological advancement
and modernization. With the covid-19 pandemic, these outdated laws will make the country lack
access to medicine and other key items that will prevent individuals from contracting the virus
(WHO, 2019)
Planning and analysis is the key thing when it comes to supply chain in this country, with the
embankment of the government to come up with a malt-billion-dollar project on the seaport will
greatly help in ensuring that goods are delivered on time. Flexibility in terms of the right product
should be adhered to ensure all the available resources are put in place to avoid inconvenience
caused (Gold, Trautrims & Trodd, 2015).
Delivery reliability is essential in that the right quality and quantity is delivered within the
desired market. Time as a factor is also considered to ensure the availability of commodities to
the public in due time. With these in place, the covid-19 will not influence that much on the
market hence more people will be able to leave a normal life without much constrains and further
cushioning our economy from any downfall. Management and communication are key in the
supply chain, this ensures proper management of issues that are affiliated to goods and services
rendered within the country (Schleiss, 2013).

BUSINESS IN OPERATION MANAGEMENT 4
References
Abunar, S. M., & Zerban, A. M. (2016). Enhancing Accounting Information Systems to
Facilitate Supply Chain Management between Supermarkets/Suppliers: The Case of
Saudi Arabia. Journal of Accounting and Marketing.
Gold, S., Trautrims, A., & Trodd, Z. (2015). Modern slavery challenges to supply chain
management. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.
Maniatis, P. (2016). Investigating factors influencing consumer decision-making while choosing
green products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, 215-228.
Pagliusi, S., Makhoana, M., Datla, M., Leite, L., Hendriks, J., Gholami, A., ... & Wu, Y. (2013).
Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN): engaging to step up
for vaccine discovery and access. Meeting report 2012. Vaccine, 31(31), 3111-3115.
Schleiss, M. R. (2013). Developing a vaccine against congenital CMV infection: what have we
learned from animal models? Where should we go next. Future virology, 8(12), 1161-
1182.
World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19) : situation report,
51.