UY, JENSSEN AUSTIN I.

11, 2015

BSCM-4

Nov.

PROPMAN (8:30-10:00) TTh

OUTSOURCING
A practice used by different companies to reduce costs by transferring portions of
work to outside suppliers rather than completing it internally. Outsourcing is an
effective cost-saving strategy when used properly. It is sometimes more affordable
to purchase a good from companies with comparative advantages than it is to
produce the good internally. An example of a manufacturing company outsourcing
would be Dell buying some of its computer components from another manufacturer
in order to save on production costs. Alternatively, businesses may decide to
outsource book-keeping duties to independent accounting firms, as it may be
cheaper than retaining an in-house accountant.
AGILITY
Business agility allows organizations to adjust rapidly to changing market
conditions, capitalize on emergent business opportunities, adopt new distribution
channels or supply chains and reduce costs or increase revenue streams in the
process. Operational Agility is a company's ability or capacity to find and seize
opportunities to improve operations and processes, within a focused business
model. A number of emerging technologies are useful in promoting business
agility. Cloud computing allows scalability and adjustable per-user costs; mobile
devices enable employees to work more easily away from traditional office
environments; collaboration software encourages internal communication,
brainstorming and problem solving among staff; and social media permits real-time
interactions with customers, creating a constant feedback loop to drive business
agility efforts.
SIX-SIGMA
Six Sigma is a methodology for improving the quality of operations management by
eliminating errors and defects, reducing cost, and saving time. It is primarily for
high-end engineering and manufacturing, where companies seek Six Sigma quality
(fewer than 7 defects per million), but it can be adopted for other product and
service industries. It is expensive to implement, but, done properly, pays for itself
and makes companies into industry leaders and Centers of Excellence.
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)
TQM is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational
functions (marketing, finance, design, engineering, and production, customer
service, etc.) to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives.
TQM views an organization as a collection of processes. It maintains that
organizations must strive to continuously improve these processes by incorporating
the knowledge and experiences of workers. The simple objective of TQM is Do the
right things, right the first time, every time. TQM is infinitely variable and
adaptable. Although originally applied to manufacturing operations, and for a
number of years only used in that area, TQM is now becoming recognized as a

generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public sector

organizations.
LEAN PRODUCTION
Lean production is quite simply about getting more from less. The aim of lean
production is to reduce the quantity of resources used in providing goods and
services for consumers. At the same time, it is about making the organization more
efficient. Lean production involves eliminating waste and therefore using less labor,
materials, space and time. This in turn reduces costs.