University Operations Management Module: A Student Reflection

This reflection paper provides a comprehensive overview of a student's experience and learning within an Operations Management module. The student details the module's structure, which covered core concepts such as operations strategy, capacity planning, process design, and inventory management, emphasizing their contribution to organizational goals and competitiveness. The paper reflects on the integration of digital technologies like Blockchain, and the impact of innovation in operations. It highlights the importance of skills like organizational ability and explores the development of operational plans. The student also discusses group projects, including a case study on Sun Furniture and the application of logistics and warehousing principles. The paper concludes with a strong emphasis on the development of skills in team work, communication, and decision-making, and the student's intention to apply the lessons learned in future professional endeavors, particularly in resource, risk, and logistics management.

Running Head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Operations Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Reflection Paper
The module we have gone through is about the operations management and the value
chain. The module has been designed for developing the core skills in the area of operations
management. The module has properly addressed the functions of the operations management
contributing to the achievement of the organizational goals. I this paper , I will reflect on
how the module has helped me in developing an understanding of the connections between
operational and strategic issues. I would like to express how the module has explored the
management of operations contributing to the sustainable development in organizations.
The module has helped me in learning about the way operations management
functions such as the capacity planning, the process design and the inventory management. I
have become able to relate how it can contribute to the competitiveness of the organization.
It was aimed to teach how values could be added to the products and the services because it is
perceived by the customers a well. As an addition, I have further become aware of efficiency
and the profitability might be somewhat damaging for the long term sustainability of the
firms. I have come across the discussions related to the limits of the Taylorist approach and
the process management. As I progressed with the module, I studied the methods of
organizations using value creation by six operational priorities such as cost, quality, time,
flexibility, sustainability and fashion. It further made us aware of what are the digital
technologies such as the Blockchain.
I would also like to emphasize on the resources I have been through in order to gain
better insight in the operation management processes. The first lecture made us familiar with
the basic principles of the operations management. We formed groups after discussing with
the supervisor and fellow students and the book of Slack et al. (2013) has helped in this a lot.
According to Slack et al. ( 2013), the operations management is a special filed which is

2OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
multidisciplinary nature. The operations management deals with the planning, organizing and
the supervising on the productions, manufacturing and the service provisions. It is focused on
ensuring the organizations represent the best out of the equipment, the materials, the
technology and the human resources. In simple words, the operations management is
precisely about the supply chain management and the logistics. Moreover, I have learnt that
there are some specific skills which are required from an operations manager. An excellent
organizational ability is required and it is crucial as it successfully enhances the efficiency
and productivity of the organization.
The lectures from 3rd to 6th consisted of the different aspects of the operations
management. According to Slack and Lewis (2011), the operations strategy is the collection
of the concrete actions which are selected, mandated or stimulated by the help of the
corporate strategy. It is well implemented within the operations function. The operations
strategy binds different operations decisions along with the actions into a cohesive response
to the competitive forces having linked the policies, systems, programs and actions in a
systematic response. In short, the operations strategy clarifies the way the firm will employ
all the operation capabilities for supporting the business strategy. The lectures and the course
materials made me know what the key steps for developing an operational plan are. From the
study resources I have come to learn that it must be started with a strategic plan, the most
important goals should be focused on, leading indicators should be used and most
importantly, communication is the key to success.
In the seminar after the 4th lecture, we were asked in the group to deconstruct the
operations strategy of a specific company, develop the corporate strategy of the company and
form the operations strategy. Through the lectures starting with 5th to 9th we came across
innovation and New Technology in Operations, the incremental and the step change. It
further made me learn the internet of things, the Big Data , the Social Media and how these

3OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
are connected with information and communication. Another topic of concern was the
Artificial Intelligence and the Machine learning which were the essential component of
Operations. Our group was instructed to work out on a proposal how to use and present and
we were also asked to prepare in advance a debate to leave impact and value to the company
and the society. The next topic was the Blockchain, the virtual integration and 3D printing as
the most essential elements of the Operations management. From the module, the class
lectures and the resources have made me learn about Blockchain. It is known that Blockchain
is the household name which represents various emerging distributed ledger technologies. It
is highly associated with the applications in the finance service sector. Moreover, Blockchain
consists of a wide variety of the business application and at the same time promises to
transform the value chains in the manufacturing organizations.
As per my observation, the Blockchain will drastically transform the business
processes in order to tap into the trapped value. The Blockchain will help in connecting data
across the value chain, provide transparency and the real-time sharing, boosting trust and
minimizing the risk. It will help in the productivity and quality enhancement and at the same
time, remove the data silos and duplicate processes. Through the next few lectures, were
asked to conduct a group activity having discussed the differences between services and
manufacturing options and analysing how technology can impact this. In the later lectures
starting with the 18th lecture, the topics have been the capacity planning, the capacity
requirements and the sustainability in the group assignment. The 13th chapter in the book of
Slack et al. (2013), there is special emphasis on the inventory management and warehousing.
As I learnt from the module, logistics can be defined as having a detailed planning,
management, organization and implementation of the complex operations. The warehousing
includes the flow of the physical inventory , the abstract goods along with the time and

4OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
information. We learnt about the logistics and transport, and with this the use of technology
in warehousing and logistics has also been taught in the learning process.
As a group project, we worked on the task of preparing operations plan for Sun
Furniture. The context of the case study was such as the owner of the Sun Furniture has
retired and the son has taken over the corporate. Hence, the organization needs to have
strong and good strategy. I contributed in the preparation of the location strategy, the capacity
planning and the inventory management. Through the entire, I have found that the forecasting
and demand planning are the most serious steps in the operations management. It is a crucial
step in maintaining the customer requirement and demands. As the mode of transport, there
are roads and the road construction, the location and planning are highly important. This task
has made me know the various advantages and disadvantages of different modes of transport.
There have been lessons which have helped me in understanding that quality is not only in
the products but focuses on the improvement of services including the one-time delivery, the
after-sales services and the order delivery –time.
The quality management on the other hand is an inevitable part of the operation
management. The Quality management consists of the parts of the organization, the
employees, the costs and the technical efficiencies which support the quality to be
maintained. Overall, on a concluding note it can be said that after the completion of this
module, I have become strong in the technical abilities, can easily identify the role of various
operational activities for the creation of customer value. I have also developed m presentation
skills along with the ability to work in the teams. The learning outcome was to develop the
cognitive skills in the tutorials in the group work project. I can easily implement all the
learned lessons if someday I become an operations manager of an organization.

5OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
The group projects have helped me in developing my communication skills, the
cognitive skills along with the decision-making skills which are essential for the operations
management. In the group work , certain goals were there such as planning , influencing ,
questioning, persuading and the interpersonal sensitivity. The group members were quite
friendly which made the process easy for us and the project was conducted successfully.
Therefore, in my future endeavours I will try to implement the lessons learnt in the course in
order to improve the operational efficiency of the organization where I will work in the
coming days. I will focus on the resource management, the risk management, the warehouse
and the logistics management.

6OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Bibliography
Johnston, R., Clark, G., Shulver, M. (2012). Service operations management: improving
service delivery. Pearson Education.-Chapters 1, & 2
Johnston, R., Clark, G., Shulver, M. (2012). Service operations management: improving
service delivery. Pearson Education.-Chapters 6
Linton, Jonathan D., Robert Klassen, and Vaidyanathan Jayaraman (2007). "Sustainable
supply chains: an introduction." Journal of Operations Management25,6, 1075-1082
Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., & Johnston, R. (2016). Operations management. Pearson
Education. (8th Edition)-Chapter 3
Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., & Johnston, R. (2016). Operations management. Pearson
Education. (8th Edition)-Chapter 4 & 8
Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., & Johnston, R. (2016). Operations management. Pearson
Education. (8th Edition)-Chapter 9
Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., & Johnston, R. (2016). Operations management. Pearson
Education. (8th Edition)-Chapter 5 & 6