Individual Reflection

Chen Wei Hong (13027156)

Operation management is important in all types of organization regardless of the size and
nature of business. As an operational manager, I am holding a major role in managing
available resources within the organization such as raw materials, staffs and machineries. I
am responsible in keeping track of the inventory system to ensure there are sufficient input
resources to be transformed during the production stage. In order to do so, I have to establish
a wide and efficient supplier network to gain greater access and control towards the input
materials. It is also my job to ensure the supplying parts are in consistent and high quality to
reduce any uncertainty in the production process and variation in the quality of output.
In term of human resource and facilities, I am entitled to the tasks in determining the labour
needs, hiring suitable candidates to handle the operations, monitoring the performance of
employees and machineries as well as developing efficient operation technology. Above tasks
are long-term oriented as the business environment is changing rapidly along with
sophisticated technology. Therefore, it is a vital role for me to identify the industry trend from
time to time to seek for opportunities to improve the existing production line-up.
Another aspect that should be emphasized is cost reduction. I am aware that the operations
managers play a key role in controlling the budget and keeping the costs low to achieve
financial stability within the organization. One of the ways is to manage the supply chain in
an efficient and systematic manner to minimize operation costs. Moreover, a good
understanding of supply and demand can help me in forecasting the optimal level of
production which would lead to high utilization of staff and lesser wastage of raw materials.
Operations managers are also advised to identify and eliminate waste practices within the
operation to improve efficiency. Otherwise, it would incur extra costs and lead to a less
competitive pricing strategy.
Most importantly, I realize the importance of objective setting as it would help me to
determine whether the operations are well managed. It can also provide me the opportunity to
plan and configure the operation processes to satisfy the customer demand. The significant
advantage would be identifying the weaknesses within existing operations. Hence, I could
propose possible strategy to overcome it before the operation failures affect the productivity
in other departments. In conclusion, an effective operation manager should have proper

planning, efficient management and problem solving skills to successfully achieve the
operation performance objectives within the organization.