An Analysis of the 4 Vs of Operation Management with Examples

This report delves into the core concepts of Operation Management by examining the '4 Vs': Volume, Variety, Variation, and Visibility. The analysis is supported by practical examples from two distinct business sectors: the fast-food restaurant industry and shoe expansion services. The report begins by exploring the volume dimension, highlighting how businesses like McDonald's manage high-volume outputs. It then proceeds to the variety dimension, illustrating how restaurants offer diverse menus to cater to customer preferences and shoe expansion businesses deal with a variety of shoe types. The variation dimension is analyzed, showing how operations are adapted to meet fluctuating demands. Finally, the visibility dimension is examined, emphasizing how customer interaction and process transparency influence business operations in both sectors. The report draws on the provided references to provide a comprehensive overview of these critical operational aspects.

Running head: THE 4 VS OF OPERATION MANAGEMENT 1
The 4 Vs of Operation Management 1
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THE 4 VS OF OPERATION MANAGEMENT 2
The 4 Vs of Operation Management
Restaurant Business
1. The Volume Dimension: A good example of a fast food restaurant is McDonald’s. A
restaurant like this deals in high volume of output at low costs. Due to the high volume
outputs, restaurants have a high degree of repeatability (Slack & Jones, 2018).
2. The Variety Dimension: McDonald’s and other world-class restaurants ensure diversity
by producing a wide variety of food products. They must produce multiple foods in order
to appeal to different tastes and preferences of customers (Slack & Jones, 2018).
3. The Variation Dimension: Resources in a restaurant are directed to a level which is
simply capable of satisfying the demand. Activities in this type of business are planned in
advance and resources are adjusted over time to meet the varying demand levels (Slack &
Jones, 2018).
4. The Visibility Dimension: Most of the operations in a restaurant business are highly
visible. Many activities carried out in these businesses are exposed to the customers
perhaps to win their trust for the operations that take place in the restaurant (Slack &
Jones, 2018).
Shoes Expansion/Repairing Business
1. The Volume Dimension: Good examples of a shoe expansion companies are Shoe Mo
The Lady Cobbler & Co. Ltd. All shoes expansion services are provided in a similar
manner using same specialized machine which enables high volume. Thus, businesses

THE 4 VS OF OPERATION MANAGEMENT 3
providing these services find it easy to sell huge volumes of their services ( Shoe Mo,
2019).
2. The Variety Dimension: Shoe expansion services are available to a broad variety of
leather shoes while non-leather ones are rejected simply because the machine cannot hold
it together. The unit cost is relatively low since the service itself has a low variety ( Shoe
Mo, 2019).
3. The Variation Dimension: Shoe expansion services are non-seasonal since the demand
does not vary significantly for different periods. As a result, inputs such as manpower and
raw materials needed remain reasonably predictable ( Shoe Mo, 2019).
4. The Visibility Dimension: Activities and processes involved in the shoe expansion
business are highly visible to the customers. This is the case since customers always
intent to inspect their shoes physically ( Shoe Mo, 2019).

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References
Shoe Mo. (2019). Shoe Mo: South East Asia’s Leading Shoe & Sneaker Care Services. Retrieved
August 30, 2019, from Shoe Mo: https://myshoemo.com/
Slack, N., & Jones, A. B. (2018). Operations and process management principles and practice
for strategic impact. Harlow: England Pearson.