Discipline of Operations Management †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Discipline of Operations Management. Answer: Operation Management is a well-recognized field of business operations and study, which plays a vital role in the objective in gaining competitive advantage and enhancing its performance. The discipline of Operations Management, which I wish to undertake, is the study of managing the supply chain in an organization. In this process, I would be studying about different aspects and activities of supply chain management. It will include the discussion about the aspect of supply chain with the new technologies and development in this field. Managing the supply chain is an important aspect for any organization (Christopher Martin, 2016). It can be understood by looking at the supply chain system of Wal-Mart Supercenter, which has the best and most effective supply chain system in the world. By conducting a research about managing supply chain, I found that Supply Chain Management (SCM) is managing a network of the interrelated business activities, which are involved in the final provision of the products and services that are needed by the end consumers (Chase, 2007). Supply chain Management includes all the processes and receiving and storage of raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods from origin point to the consumption point. From the analysis, I have noticed that organizations should have an efficient and effective supply chain network to compete on todays business environment (Hill Fredendail, 2016). Supply chain network is working as a crucial component for the organizations success due to expansion of multinational organizations and globalization. I came to know that it works as backbone of business (Jacobs and Chase, 2013). The discipline of supply chain management can be viewed from different perspectives, like; relationship management, purchase and supply, operations management, transportation and logistics etc. About supply chain management, it can be said that it is the oversight of supplies and materials, data and finances as they go in the process from supplier to produce to wholesaler to retailer and finally to the customers. The process includes various types of flows, like; product flow, information flow, cash flow etc. The supply chain includes the integration and coordination of these flows within the organization and among organizations. When I researched the supply chain system of Wal-Mart, I came to know that there are various technology changes and developments, which has bought the cost aspect for the information flow very low while increasing information flow and collaboration among members of supply chain. When I was researching about the Wal-Marts supply chain, I found that the company is implementing various technologies and developments for enhancing its supply chain system and making its successful as a biggest supermarket chain. I found that there are many emerging technologies in this field, which are used by the organization to improve their supply chain management. From them, the most effective, which I found is RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). This technology was first used by Wal-Mart. This technology includes the advancement of radio frequency technique to transfer the data and related collected data within the organization (Edelson, 2017). Wal-Mart is spending on implementation of RFID system for enhancing its supply chain system and it has most successful supply chain system in the world. Implementing RFID can decrease the costs of organization and can help in generating higher returns. RFID can develop the effectiveness and efficiency of the supply chain management system of organization. Though the implementation of RFID is not without the risks and costs, but many organizations in distribution, manufacturing and distribution have attained higher return on investments (Mangan, John Chandra L alwani, 2016). The research assisted me in developing my knowledge about this technology that it can eliminate the faults and errors in tracking the errors and mistakes in inventory and data entry. This study helped me in gaining understanding and knowledge about one another technology, i.e. Universal Bar Code (Swink et al, 2014). This technology is the first type of technology, which is introduced in the supply chain. I realized that major purpose of this technology is to carry the changes in the retail market using the coding system for labeling. I can say that this is the great technology, which is implemented by Wal-Mart that improved the organizational processes. It helps in generating all the information, which is needed and specific. Apart from this, another technology is Magic Wand, which is emerging in this field. Definitely, the study about above course topic will evolve my different skills in the future. It will help me in sharpening my current skills to the next level. I was not only enjoyed to learn new things about the supply chain management, but also I started to develop my learning skills. It will assist me in developing my transferable skills, which can be pursued throughout the life; no matter I will be working in the retail or any other industry as long as it is in the Logistics and Supply chain. Since I have studied about the supply chain management of different organizations and positions of people in this system, these all things strengthen my skills in use and implementation of new and innovative technologies, negotiation, logistics, procurement, material planning, production, controlling the inventory and implementation of new system in the process. Thus, the above study evolved my creativity and innovation in the work. In responding the above points, I am able to develop my re search skills and knowledge about this particular area. I came to know that Supply Chain Management is an important field of operations management. After the completion of the study about supply chain management, I found that there are some skill gaps, which have the scope of improvement. In the self-reflective assessment, I realized that I did not analyze the topic critically. It means I did not use my critical skills. I only focuses on the positive side of this topic and did not consider the negative aspects of supply chain and its developments. I did not count the problems and issues, which I can face in the study. It only considered the IT developments in the area, but it did not consider the increased costs and risks associated with the use of these technologies. No using the critical skills, created gaps in the study. If I will do the formal study on supply chain management, then it will assist in gaining information about all the aspects of supply chain. In addition, it will fulfill and cover the gaps in skills. Formal study will include all the related process and technologies of supply chain. It will help me understandi ng the importance and application of supply chain in the business operations. References Christopher, Martin. (2016). Logistics supply chain management. Pearson UK. Chase. (2017). Operations Supply Management. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Edelson, S. (2017). Wal-Mart Steps Up Product Flow From Store to Site. Retrieved from https://wwd.com/business-news/retail/wal-mart-steps-up-product-flow-from-store-to-site-10800105/. Hill, E. Fredendail, L.D. (2016). Basics of Supply Chain Management, CRC Press. Jacobs, R. and Chase, R. (2013). Operations and supply chain management, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Mangan, John, and Chandra Lalwani. (2016). Global logistics and supply chain management. John Wiley Sons. Swink, M., Melnyk, S.A., Cooper, M.B. and Hartley, J.L. (2014). Managing operations across the supply chain(pp. 248-249), New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.