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MANAGING PROJECTS

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Projects represent nonroutine business activities that often have long-term strategic ramifications for a firm. In this chapter, we examined how projects differ from routine business activities and discussed the major phases of projects. We noted how environmental changes have resulted in increased attention being paid to projects and project management over the past decade. In the second half of the chapter, we introduced some basic tools that businesses can use when planning for and controlling projects. Both Gantt charts and network diagrams give managers a visual picture of how a project is going. Network diagrams have the added advantage of showing the precedence between activities, as well as the critical path(s). We wrapped up the chapter by showing how these concepts are embedded in inexpensive yet powerful software packages such as Microsoft Project. If you want to learn more about project management, we encourage you to take a look at the Web site for the Proj...
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The Business Environment

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Business activity involves using factors of production and transforming them into products which are bought either by other businesses or final consumers.
Business activity has to take place within an environment which is both internal and external.
Businesses have some control over the internal environment but sometimes limited control over the external environment.
The external environment can be looked at through the PESTLE framework – political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental.
Changes in the external environment can provide both opportunities and threats.
Businesses have a responsibility to a wide range of stakeholders who have some direct or indirect interest in the business.

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OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

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MANAGING QUALITY

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As an area of intense business interest, quality is here to stay. Operations and supply chain personnel in particular need to be familiar with the major quality topic areas, including the different philosophical perspectives on quality and the tools used to manage quality levels on a day-to-day basis. In this chapter, we gave you a solid introduction to quality topics, ranging from high-level discussions of quality issues to detailed descriptions of tools and techniques. We started by defining quality and describing a total cost of quality model. We then presented an overview of total quality management (TQM), as well as a section on statistical quality control (SQC). We ended the chapter with a discussion of how organizations manage quality across the supply chain and some of the issues they face. We encourage you not to let your quality education end here. The American Society for Quality ( www.asq.org ), the Juran Institute ( www.juran.com ), the W. Edwards Deming Institute ( www....
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INTRODUCTION to OPERATIONS and SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

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Operations and supply chains are pervasive in business. Every organization must provide a product or service that someone values. This is the primary responsibility of the operations function. Furthermore, most organizations do not function independently but find that their activities are linked with those of other organizations through supply chains. Careful management of operations and supply chains is, therefore, vital to the long-term health of nearly every organization. Because operations and supply chain activities cover everything from planning and control activities to sourcing and logistics, there are numerous career opportunities for students interested in the area. Trends in e-commerce and global competition, as well as the growing importance of maintaining good relationships with other supply chain partners, will only increase these opportunities. Fortunately, there are many professional organizations, including APICS, CSCMP, and ISM, that cater to the career development ...
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Internal Analysis: Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies

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This chapter demonstrated various approaches to analyzing the firm’s internal environment . Differentiate among a firm’s resources, capabilities, core competencies, and activities. Core competencies are unique, deeply embedded, firm-specific strengths that allow companies to differentiate their products and services and thus create more value for customers than their rivals, or offer products and services of acceptable value at lower cost. Resources are any assets that a company can draw on when crafting and executing strategy. Capabilities are the organizational and managerial skills necessary to orchestrate a diverse set of resources to deploy them strategically. Activities are distinct and fine-grained business processes that enable firms to add incremental value by transforming input into goods and services. The compare and contrast tangible and intangible resources . Tangible resources have physical attributes and are visible. Intangible resources have...
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BUSINESS PROCESS

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