(Black & White version) Fundamentals of Business was created for Virginia Tech's MGT 1104 Foundations of Business through a collaboration between the Pamplin College of Business and Virginia Tech Libraries. This book is freely available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/70961 It is licensed with a Creative Commons-NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 license.
Since the beginning of mankind on Earth, if the "busyness" process was successful, then some form of benefit sustained it. The fundamentals are obvious: get the right inputs (materials, labor, money, and ideas); transform them into highly demanded, quality outputs; and make it available in time to the end consumer. Illustrating how operations relate to the rest of the organization, Production and Operations Management Systems provides an understanding of the production and operations management (P/OM) functions as well as the processes of goods and service producers. The modular character of the text permits many different journeys through the materials. If you like to start with supply chain management (Chapter 9) and then move on to inventory management (Chapter 5) and then quality management (Chapter 8), you can do so in that order. However, if your focus is product line stability and quick response time to competition, you may prefer to begin with project management (Chapter 7) to reflect the continuous project mode required for fast redesign rapid response. Slides, lectures, Excel worksheets, and solutions to short and extended problem sets are available on the Downloads / Updates tabs. The project management component of P/OM is no longer an auxiliary aspect of the field. The entire system has to be viewed and understood. The book helps students develop a sense of managerial competence in making decisions in the design, planning, operation, and control of manufacturing, production, and operations systems through examples and case studies. The text uses analytical techniques when necessary to develop critical thinking and to sharpen decision-making skills. It makes production and operations management (P/OM) interesting, even exciting, to those who are embarking on a career that involves business of any kind.
At last, here is what logistics researchers have been waiting for: a book that comprehensively encapsulates for the first time the fundamentals of modeling Logistic Operating Curves for production and storage processes. The text includes information on how they can be derived and calculated based on standard operating data. In doing so, the authors clearly demonstrate the mutual dependencies between the often contradictory logistic objectives, i.e. on the one hand low throughput times and high delivery reliability and on the other hand low WIP levels and high rates of utilization. Moreover, they also explain how these objectives can be improved using the Logistic Operating Curve Theory and why this method thus provides an interesting alternative to simulations.
Operations management and logistics lies at the heart of every organization, whether manufacturing or services, large or small, public or private, multinational or SMB. It is thus essential for all managers and business school graduates to master the fundamental concepts of operations management and logistics and to be capable of choosing and applying the best methods for the situation throughout their career. This textbook aims to present the essentials of operations management and logistics and to explain them in sufficient detail for the reader to apply them. The authors have deliberately stayed away from the latest trends in OML, not only because they will soon be outmoded anyway, but also because they are all rooted in the same timeless set of principles that can be applied to a variety of different contexts. A good manager should thus be like a chef who first masters the basics of his craft and can then combine them to make any recipe. Finally, though much space is devoted to the quantitative tools essential to operational system design and logistics management, these tools are always subordinate to the management decisions they are meant to support. The central theme running through all the chapters is the need to make choices. In logistics and operations management, there is rarely a simple, clearly marked path. Every decision the manager makes involves give and take. In fact, a good subtitle for this book could have been "The Art of Compromise".
This widely adopted and well-established book, now in its Third Edition, provides the students of management and engineering with the latest techniques in production and operations management, considered so vital for maximizing productivity and profitability in business. What distinguishes the text is a comprehensive coverage of topics such as contract laws, capacity requirement planning, vendor evaluation including AHP method, quality function deployment, and enterprise resource planning. The new topics, which are of current interest, along with the characteristic features and easy-to-read style, would enhance the value of this text. The book is primarily intended as a text for postgraduate students of management, undergraduate students of mechanical engineering and undergraduate and postgraduate students of industrial, and production engineering courses. This profusely illustrated and well-organized text with its fine blend of theory and applications would also be useful for the practicing professionals. NEW TO THIS EDITION : Objective Type Questions at the end of each chapter Additional example problems in Chapters 5 and 17 XYZ, VED, FSN, and SDE analyses Process planning case study in Chapter 2 Case Study Questions in Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15 Heuristic to minimise total tardiness in single machine scheduling KEY FEATURES : Focuses on productivity related concepts and techniques Provides solved examples at suitable places Includes sufficient tables and diagrams to illustrate the concepts Updates the reader with many efficient and modern algorithms Contains Answers to selected questions and Objective type questions
Score your highest in Operations Management Operations management is an important skill for current and aspiring business leaders to develop and master. It deals with the design and management of products, processes, services, and supply chains. Operations management is a growing field and a required course for most undergraduate business majors and MBA candidates. Now, Operations Management For Dummies serves as an extremely resourceful aid for this difficult subject. Tracks to a typical course in operations management or operations strategy, and covers topics such as evaluating and measuring existing systems' performance and efficiency, materials management and product development, using tools like Six Sigma and Lean production, designing new, improved processes, and defining, planning, and controlling costs of projects. Clearly organizes and explains complex topics Serves as an supplement to your Operations Management textbooks Helps you score your highest in your Operations Management course Whether your aim is to earn an undergraduate degree in business or an MBA, Operations Management For Dummies is indispensable supplemental reading for your operations management course.
