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What Is Operations Management and Why Is It Important?

November 9, 2023

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A successful business effectively converts resources into products and services for customers. Redundancies and production issues can increase costs or reduce overall revenue, potentially limiting growth. Businesses are complex, with numerous moving parts, all working together to make production run smoothly. Effective operations management streamlines the production process to ensure the best results.

Operations managers work to achieve harmony across departments by planning, coordinating, and orchestrating all elements of operations. Operations managers ensure that staff has access to the materials and resources needed while also meeting the demands of consumers. Nearly every industry can use operations management to effectively regulate and monitor products, services, and people.

Operations managers are in high demand, and those with a thorough understanding of what operations management is and why it is important can find a rewarding role in various industries. Pursuing an advanced business education can represent a crucial step toward a career in operations management.

Operations Management Job Responsibilities

Operations management oversees quality and consistency as products make their way through the supply chain. Operation managers’ responsibilities include the following:

• Logistics and supply chain. Logistics involves transporting and storing goods in the supply chain and is the link between production and sales. Operations managers coordinate these activities and oversee all aspects of the supply chain.
• Product manufacturing and fulfillment. Manufacturing involves the creation of products for sale on a large scale through assembling materials, while fulfillment is the process of receiving products, processing them as inventory, and delivering them to the consumer. Operations managers monitor the manufacturing and fulfillment process to ensure that neither quality nor cost becomes an issue.
• Product and service quality. Operations managers help ensure that products and services maintain a high standard of quality, which is crucial to a company’s reputation.
• Cost efficiency. Ensuring as few redundancies as possible keeps costs low. Operations managers work to ensure processes are streamlined and budgets aren’t exceeded, while making sure not to compromise quality.
• Human resources allocation. Operations managers supervise the HR department’s daily administrative activities and oversee the personnel cycle, which includes monitoring the budget, establishing new rules and protocols, strengthening employee relations, and supervising recruitment.
• Sales and marketing effectiveness. Operations managers plan strategies and develop programs to increase sales efficiency. They implement management and process changes, detect trends that may boost sales prospects, provide suggestions to strengthen internal and external connections, and record the sales processes.
• Customer service. Operations managers may work directly with customers or with a team of customer service representatives.

Operations Management Skills

Professionals interested in enhancing their operations management expertise should focus on cultivating the technical skills required for the role, as well as soft skills related to leadership and critical thinking.

Technical Skills

• Computer proficiency. Many systems used by operations managers require knowledge of specific computer software, including digital spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel, and business management software such as Odoo and Trello. Proficiency in these applications can streamline the process of operations management.
• Data management. Data management is the practice of gathering, storing, and using data safely and efficiently. Software such as inFlow allows operations managers to store and receive inventory data in real time, improving their ability to make critical decisions in a timely manner.
• Strategic planning. Operations managers should be able to outline their goals, looking months to several years ahead, with clear plans on how to reach those goals.
• Product development. When developing a new product, operations managers must be able to provide design input that allows for the most effective production and distribution.
• Risk analysis. Operations managers should be able to assess what risks are worth taking as well as the severity of the consequences should issues arise. Risk management information systems (RMIS) and enterprise risk management (ERM) software assist operations managers in identifying risks, planning for future risks, documenting responses, and improving response procedures.
• Budgeting.  Operations managers should be capable of overseeing budgets and identifying where to cut costs without disrupting production or compromising product quality.

Soft Skills

Operations managers also rely on a collection of soft skills, which are relevant regardless of industry or position. These skills are crucial for effective leadership, team-building, and problem-solving.

• Staff management. Operations managers organize and direct employees based on where they’re most needed — for example, redirecting staff to prioritize unloading inventory at a warehouse when new shipments arrive.
• Decision-making. Operations managers often need to make important decisions with limited information using real-time data, such as determining the best transportation option when rerouting a supply chain to save costs and reduce delays.
• Communication.  To make necessary changes quickly as events unfold, operations managers need strong communication skills. They need to be able to effectively communicate instructions to staff as well as share information with other stakeholders in the organization.
• Problem-solving. Operations managers should be able to identify problems and assess possible solutions to achieve the most desirable outcome.
• Organizational. Operations managers must organize their responsibilities, breaking down complicated projects into manageable tasks and prioritizing them effectively.

How to Become an Operations Manager

The first step in becoming an operations manager is to establish the educational foundation that helps students understand what operations management is and why it’s important. A bachelor’s degree in business administration, business management, or a related field is recommended. Aspiring operations managers typically build on that foundational knowledge with an advanced degree, such as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA).

Washington State University’s EMBA program offers several courses that can help students hone their leadership skills and technical expertise, and prepare them for a role overseeing operations, including Operations Management, Managerial Leadership and Productivity, and Business Analytics.

Professionals looking to boost their job prospects might also consider certification. The American Institute for Business Management and Communication (AIBMC), for example, provides a Certified Operations Manager course. Successful candidates demonstrate that they have expert knowledge of operations management, the supply chain, and purchasing. Individuals need either a bachelor’s degree or two years of relevant experience to qualify, must pass a final exam, and must renew the certification every four years.

Operations Manager Salary and Job Outlook

Salaries for operations managers can vary depending on several factors, including location and industry as well as the size of the organization, as larger companies with more moving parts are more likely to offer higher wages. Education can also play a part, as candidates with an advanced degree may be more valuable to potential employers.

According to Payscale, the median annual salary for operations managers was approximately $68,500 in October 2022. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), meanwhile, reports the median annual wage for general and operations managers was $97,970 in 2021.

As the top tier of operations management — and often the second-highest ranking executive at a company — chief operating officers (COO) earn the most generous compensation. According to Payscale, the median salary for COOs was $144,400 in November 2022.

The BLS projects strong demand for general and operations managers over the next several years, with 7% employment growth between 2021 and 2031. That translates to nearly 210,000 new jobs.

Discover Your Road to Success in Operations Management

Operations management can play a pivotal role in any business that provides a product or service to customers. Professionals with the skills and expertise to ensure that operations run smoothly across the supply chain, while maintaining quality and meeting the budget, will continue to be highly valued. Those interested in capitalizing on the industry need for these experts should explore Washington State University’s Online Executive MBA program .

As an EMBA student, you will have access to the world-class faculty and challenging curriculum that led U.S. News & World Report to rank WSU’s program as one of its top 25 online MBA programs for 2024. Take the first step toward a fulfilling career in operations management with WSU.

Recommended Readings

How an MBA Curriculum Prepares Students for the Workplace

How MBA Programs Demonstrate the Importance of Diversity

Work-School-Life Balance for MBA Students

American Institute for Business Management and Communication, COM: Certified Operations Manager

Business Partner Magazine, “What I s Operations Management?”

Indeed, “ 15 Essential Operational Management Skills ”

Indeed, “20 Operations Manager Certifications to Enhance Your Career”

Investopedia, “ Operations Management: Understanding and Using It ” Next Matter, “The Operations Leader’s Toolkit: 17 Essential Operations Tools for Fast-Growing Businesses”

Payscale, Average Chief Operating Officer (COO) Salary

Payscale, Average Operations Manager Salary

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, General and Operations Managers

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Top Executives

Learn more about our Online MBA programs

Operation Management and Its Important Points Essay

Two important points, personal understanding of operations management’s characteristics.

Operation management (OM) includes organizational processes such as technology (information and engineering), accounting, finance, and human resources. Procurement and inbound logistic as well as warehousing and outbound logistics are examples of macro operations of operation management. Other operations include customer service, marketing, and sales. Operation management also involves the planning, execution, and control of inputs, process, and outputs.

Inputs include materials, labor, and overheads while process involves value creation through production of goods and services. Systems used in operation management should be effective and efficient. Operation management aims to achieve efficiency in performance, manufacturing and service product-process matrix. OM has evolved significantly due to changing industry dynamics that include power shift toward customers and the growth of the digital economy.

The pre-industrial, industrial, post-industrial, and digital ears have experienced different levels of evolution. Business drivers (value, velocity, and volatility) have played key roles in the evolution of OM. Increased customer expectation, shorter product cycles, and increased competition have necessitated the pursuance of efficiency, value, and flexibility in OM. There are several operating business models that aim to achieve service, operational, and innovation excellence. Different companies adopt these models for varied reasons.

Evolution of OM and Competition-Performance Dynamics

This has been caused by changing industry dynamics and the three business drivers. In modern business environments, power has shifted toward customers as businesses aim to provided the best customer service, satisfy customer needs, and develop customer loyalty. The business environment has changed immensely because of the emergence of the digital economy. The contemporary economy is data driven primarily due to technological advancements.

The 3Vs that drive business include value, velocity, and volatility. Customer expectations are increasing and resulting in value addition that produces better and cheaper products. Technological advancements have resulted in shorter lifecycle and flexible processes. Stiff competition among businesses and industrial globalization are also major drivers of business today.

Business Model (BM)

There are three major business models adopted by businesses today to run their operations. They include the service excellence, operational excellence, and innovation excellence business models. The model aims to prepare for the unforeseen and control quality. It involves gathering and maintaining information and enhancing service and relationship management. Improving customer service and enhancing personnel training are keys ways of reducing perceived risk. Operation excellence model reduces networks costs through outsourcing, standardizes customer service, and manages transactions efficiently. Innovation excellence model encourages a culture of innovation, promotes change, and encourages risk-taking.

Based on the lecture PowerPoint presentation, characteristics of operation management include flexibility, quality, effectiveness, evaluation, speed of execution, coordination, and monitoring. Other characteristics include analysis, structural organizational flexibility, and value. These characteristics are evident in both macro and micro operations. The planning, execution, and control of operations must be effective and timely. The main focus of operations management is the production of a certain service or product. The aforementioned characteristics are incorporated in the processes involved in the production of goods and services.

Ideas and technologies are applied in order to improve the velocity, flexibility, and efficiency of operations. The rapidly changing customer needs are necessitating the implementation of enhanced designs for products, processes, and facilities. Implementation is a major characteristic of OM. After a product is designed, the manufacturing system must be implemented and managed. The rapidly changing customer expectations and increasing competition have necessitated the improvement of operation management functions.

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IvyPanda. (2024, February 1). Operation Management and Its Important Points. https://ivypanda.com/essays/operation-management-and-its-important-points/

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1 Introduction to Operations Management

Learning Objectives

What is Operations Management?

• Describe the transformation process and some categories.
• Why should a business student study Operations Management?
• What are some of the Professional Organizations involved in Operations Management?
• Describe each of the three phases of Operations Management history.
• Discuss how producing goods is different from performing services.

This chapter is an adaptation of two courses, Saylor’s BUS 300 (Operations Management) and The Open University’s Understanding Operations Management.  

Operations management is a vast topic but can be bundled into a few distinct categories, each of which will be covered in later units. (It should be noted that entire courses could be devoted to each of these topics individually). Since most people do not work in a formal operations department, we will begin with an overview of operations management itself.

The top manager of an operations department is usually called the Director of Operations .

Most operations departments will report to a Chief Operating Officer (COO), who reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The COO is often considered the most important figure in a firm, next to the CEO.

The history of operations management can be traced back to the industrial revolution when production began to shift from small, local companies to large-scale production firms. One of the most significant contributions to operations management came in the early 20th century when Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line manufacturing process. This process drastically improved productivity and made automobiles affordable to the masses. Understanding the motivations behind innovations of the past can help us identify factors that may motivate individuals in the future of operations management.

Operations management  is the management of the processes that transform inputs into the goods and services that add value for the customer. Consider the ingredients of your breakfast this morning. Unless you live on a farm and produced them yourself, they passed through a number of different processing steps between the farmer and your table and were handled by several different organizations.

Every day, you use a multitude of physical objects and a variety of services. Most of the physical objects have been manufactured and most of the services have been provided by people in organizations. Just as fish are said to be unaware of the water that surrounds them, most of us give little thought to the organizational processes that produce these goods and services for our use. The study of operations deals with how the goods and services that you buy and consume every day are produced.

The following video shows some of the basic strategic areas in operations management. We will cover some of these areas in addition to some tools and techniques used in operations management.

Transformation Processes

A transformation process is any activity or group of activities that takes one or more inputs, transforms and adds value to them, and provides outputs for customers or clients. Where the inputs are raw materials, it is relatively easy to identify the transformation involved, such as when milk is transformed into cheese or butter. Where the inputs are information or people, the nature of the transformation may be less obvious. For example, a hospital transforms ill patients (the input) into healthy patients (the output).

Examples of Transformation Processes

• changes in the physical characteristics of materials or customers
• changes in the location of materials, information or customers
• changes in the ownership of materials or information
• storage or accommodation of materials, information or customers
• changes in the purpose or form of information
• changes in the physiological or psychological state of customers

Often all three types of input – materials, information and customers – must be transformed by a single organisation. For example, withdrawing money from a bank account involves information about the customer’s account, materials (such as cheques and currency), and the customer. Treating a patient in hospital involves not only the “customer’s” state of health, but also any materials used in treatment and information about the patient.

As Figure 1.2 demonstrates, transformation processes can be categorized into four groups: manufacture (the physical creation of products, e.g. automobiles), service (the treatment of customers or storage of products, e.g. hospitals or warehouses), supply (a change in ownership of goods, e.g. retail), and transport (the movement of materials or customers, e.g. taxi service).

Several different transformations are usually required to produce a good or service. The overall transformation can be described as the macro operation , and the more detailed transformations within this macro operation as micro operations . For example, the macro operation in a brewery is making beer ( Figure 1.3 ). The micro operations include:

• milling the malted barley into grist
• mixing the grist with hot water to form wort
• cooling the wort and transferring it to the fermentation vessel
• adding yeast to the wort and fermenting the liquid into beer
• filtering the beer to remove the spent yeast
• decanting the beer into casks or bottles.

The Operations Function

Every organization has an operations function, whether or not it is called ‘operations’. The goal or purpose of most organizations involves the production of goods and/or services. To do this, they have to procure resources, convert them into outputs and distribute them to their intended users. The term operations embraces all the activities required to create and deliver an organization’s goods or services to its customers or clients.

Within large and complex organizations, operations is usually a major functional area, with people specifically designated to take responsibility for managing all or part of the organization’s operations processes. It is an important functional area because it plays a crucial role in determining how well an organization satisfies its customers. In the case of private-sector companies, the mission of the operations function is usually expressed in terms of profits, growth and competitiveness; in public and voluntary organizations, it is often expressed in terms of providing value for money.

Operations management is concerned with the design, management, and improvement of the systems that create the organization’s goods or services. The majority of most organizations’ financial and human resources are invested in the activities involved in making products or delivering services. Operations management is therefore critical to organizational success.

Other functions of the Business :

A typical organization has four distinct basic functional areas; operations , marketing and sales , finance , and human resources . Operations is the area that is responsible for directly creating the product or service for which the customer will pay. The other three departments ensure that the operations of the business has everything needed in order to do the work.

Marketing – ensures that operations is producing the right product or service in a way that provides customers with all the features or characteristics that they value.

Finance – ensures that the funds for materials, supplies, payroll and equipment are available when needed.

Human Resources – ensures that the correct employees, with the adequate skills and experience are recruited, hired and trained. They are responsible for compensation, collection of income taxes, administration of benefits, succession planning and more.  Without HR, there would be no employees in the operations department.

Why should I study Operations Management?

In most organizations, operations tends to be the largest department in terms of the number of employees. For a new graduate, you may be smart to look for a position within the operations of a business. In a larger company these jobs are far more plentiful than those in smaller departments. If you have a passion for working for a large organization, you might want to focus more on which organization you go to work for, and less focus on the actual job title.  Soon enough, if you’re punctual, energetic and proactive, you will likely apply or get promoted into the job you desire.

Operations is where the largest share of the firm’s dollars are spent. It is a huge focus of top management.

All other departments in the organization are interrelated with operations. In finance, marketing and human resources, you will be interacting with operations on a regular basis. You should understand the businesses’ core transformation process regardless of the department in which you work.

Major innovations are made through operations. If you look at successful companies such as Toyota, Amazon, or Dell, you will find that the keys to their success came from innovations to the operations processes of their businesses.

Operational innovation means coming up with entirely new ways of filling orders, developing products, providing customer service, or doing any other activity that an enterprise performs.

• Effectiveness  refers to making the right actions and plans in order to improve the business and add value for the customer. It is helping to get the business doing the right things for the customer.
• Efficiency  is different. To be efficient means doing things well at the lowest cost possible. To be efficient, we look for ways to reduce unnecessary or redundant activities that add unnecessary cost and could be avoided.

Resources for Operations Management learners and professionals:

• Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA)
• Canadian Institute of Traffic and Transportation (CITT)
• Association for Supply Chain Management (APICS)
• American Society for Quality (ASQ)
• Project Management Institute (PMI)

Look at ONE of the Associations above and answer the following questions:

• Is this organization Canadian, or multinational?
• Is there an opportunity for students to join? If yes, is there a fee, and how much?
• Are there opportunities for networking and to meet professionals?
• Do they offer job search assistance?
• Would you consider joining either of these organizations? Why or why not?

Development of Operations Management

Operations in some form have been around as long as human endeavor itself but, in manufacturing at least, it has changed dramatically over time, and there are three major phases – craft manufacturing, mass production and the modern period. Let’s look at each of these briefly in turn.

Craft manufacturing

Craft manufacturing describes the process by which skilled craftspeople produce goods in low volume, with a high degree of variety, to meet the requirements of their individual customers. Over the centuries, skills have been transmitted from masters to apprentices and journeymen, and controlled by guilds. Craftspeople usually worked at home or in small workshops. Such a system worked well for small-scale local production, with low levels of competition. Some industries, such as furniture manufacture and clock-making, still include a significant proportion of craft working.

Mass production

In many industries, craft manufacturing began to be replaced by mass production in the 19th century. Mass production involves producing goods in high volume with low variety – the opposite of craft manufacturing. Customers are expected to buy what is supplied, rather than goods made to their own specifications. Producers concentrated on keeping costs, and hence prices, down by minimizing the variety of both components and products and setting up large production runs. They developed aggressive advertising and employed sales forces to market their products.

An important innovation in operations that made mass production possible was the system of standardized and interchangeable parts known as the “American system of manufacture” (Hounshell, 1984), which developed in the United States and spread to the United Kingdom and other countries. Instead of being produced for a specific machine or piece of equipment, parts were made to a standard design that could be used in different models. This greatly reduced the amount of work required in cutting, filing and fitting individual parts, and meant that people or companies could specialize in particular parts of the production process.

A second innovation was the development by Frederick Taylor (1911) of the system of ‘scientific management’, which sought to redesign jobs using similar principles to those used in designing machines. Taylor argued that the role of management was to analyze jobs in order to find the ‘one best way’ of performing any task or sequence of tasks, rather than allowing workers to determine how to perform their jobs. By breaking down activities into tasks that were sequential, logical and easy to understand, each worker would have narrowly defined and repetitious tasks to perform, at high speed and therefore with low costs (Kanigel, 1999).

A third innovation was the development of the moving assembly line by Henry Ford. Instead of workers bringing all the parts and tools to a fixed location where one car was put together at a time, the assembly line brought the cars to the workers. Ford thus extended the ideas of scientific management, with the assembly line controlling the pace of production. This completed the development of a system through which large volumes of standardized products could be assembled by unskilled workers at constantly decreasing costs – the apogee of mass production.

The modern period

Mass production worked well as long as high volumes of mass-produced goods could be produced and sold in predictable and slowly changing markets. However, during the 1970s, markets became highly fragmented, product life cycles reduced dramatically, and consumers had far greater choice than ever before.

An unforeseen challenge to Western manufacturers emerged from Japan. New Japanese production techniques, such as total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT) and employee involvement were emulated elsewhere in the developed world with mixed results. More recently, the mass production paradigm has been replaced, but there is yet no single approach to managing operations that has become similarly dominant. The different approaches for managing operations that are currently popular include:

• Flexible specialization (Piore and Sabel, 1984) in which firms (especially small firms) focus on separate parts of the value-adding process and collaborate within networks to produce whole products. Such an approach requires highly developed networks, effective processes for collaboration and the development of long-term relationships between firms.
• Lean production (Womack et al., 1990) which developed from the highly successful Toyota Production System. It focuses on the elimination of all forms of waste from a production system. A focus on driving inventory levels down also exposes inefficiencies, reduces costs, and cuts lead times.
• Mass customisation (Pine et al., 1993) which seeks to combine high volume, as in mass production, with adapting products to meet the requirements of individual customers. Mass customisation is becoming increasingly feasible with the advent of new technology and automated processes.
• Agile manufacturing (Kidd, 1994) which emphasizes the need for an organization to be able to switch frequently from one market-driven objective to another. Again, agile manufacturing has only become feasible on a large scale with the advent of enabling technology.

In various ways, these approaches all seek to combine the high volume and low cost associated with mass production with the product customization, high levels of innovation and high levels of quality associated with craft production.

Producing Goods and Services

The production and goods and the performance of services are both part of operations management. There are however some key differences in the two.

In the production of goods the result is the creation of a tangible product such as a vehicle, an article of clothing, a cell phone or a shovel.  A service on the other hand is an intangible such as a car repair, a haircut, or a medical treatment. There are some key differences in managing these two types of businesses.

• In manufacturing the customer rarely comes to our facility. The purchase generally takes place at a different location than the one where the manufacturing occurred. That simplifies matters quite a bit.
• Services have a higher amount of labour content than manufacturing organizations. .
• Services have a much higher degree of input variability than do manufacturing companies. Each customer often arrives to a service with a unique set of circumstances that may require extra time and skills on the part of the service provider. .
• In services many factors will affect the customers impression of the quality of the service received.
• In services it is more difficult to measure productivity.
• In services, once the time period has passed, the opportunity to use that capacity is gone.

Chapter Key Terms:

Agile manufacturing – Emphasizes the need for an organization to be able to switch frequently from one market-driven objective to another.

Craft manufacturing – The production of goods in low volume, but with a high degree of variety, performed by skilled, specialized craftspeople to meet the requirements of their individual customers.

Effectiveness  – Making the right actions and plans in order to improve the business and add value for the customer.

Efficiency  – Doing things well at the lowest cost possible and reducing activities which add unnecessary costs.

Flexible specialization – Firms (especially small firms) focus on separate parts of the value-adding process and collaborate within networks to produce whole products. Such an approach requires highly developed networks, effective processes for collaboration and the development of long-term relationships between firms.

Lean production – Focuses on the elimination of all forms of waste from a production system, especially from the perspective of keeping inventory levels down to exposes inefficiencies, reduces costs, and cuts lead times.

Macro operations – The overall process within a company’s transformation processes, e.g. in a brewery, the macro operation is making beer.

Mass customisation – Seeks to combine high volume, as in mass production, with adapting products to meet the requirements of individual customers.

Mass production – The production of goods in high volume with low variety by using standardized parts, a system of scientific management, and assembly lines; rose in popularity in the 19th century.

Micro operations – The detailed transformations that must occur, usually in a specific sequence, for a company to complete their macro operation.

Operations management  – The design, management, and improvement of the systems and processes that create the organization’s goods or services.

Transformation process – Any activity or group of activities that takes one or more inputs, transforms and adds value to them, and provides outputs for customers or clients, e.g. milk (input) being transformed into cheese or butter (outputs).

Introduction to Operations Management Copyright © by Mary Drane and Hamid Faramarzi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Essay Samples on Operations Management

What i learned in operations management: insights and perspectives.

Introduction Operations management is a multidisciplinary field that plays a vital role in the success of organizations. As I embarked on my journey in operations management, I gained valuable insights into the principles, strategies, and challenges that shape efficient and effective operations. This essay reflects...

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KFC Operations Management: Delivering Finger-Lickin' Good Efficiency

This essay has shed light on the intricate world of KFC's operations management, highlighting how the brand's dedication to quality, innovation, and process optimization enables it to serve up its iconic chicken meals to hungry customers around the globe. Introduction KFC operations management goes beyond...

10 Critical Decisions of Operations Management

Introduction Operations management plays a pivotal role in the success of organizations across various industries. It involves making a series of critical decisions that impact efficiency, quality, and profitability. These decisions are fundamental to achieving organizational goals and ensuring smooth operations. This essay aims to...

The Impact of External Factors on Operations Management

Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. Operations management is concerned with converting materials and labour into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. In...

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Optimizing Operations: Maximizing Output, Minimizing Waste

Operations management is the development, execution, and maintenance of effective processes related to activities done over and over, or to one-time major projects, to achieve specific goals of the organization. (Parker, 2013) Operations is a set of approaches that produce and deliver products and services...

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Operations Management in the Global Economy: Trends and Best Practices

Introduction Operations management refers to the administration of business to build the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. To maximize the profit of an organization it is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services efficiently as possible. In other words,...

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Tesco: A Case Study on Efficient Inventory & Operations Management

Introduction Operations management is concerned with the administration of various business practices in an organization in order to create the highest possible efficiency for them. It involves the conversion of raw materials into finished goods effectively and efficiently to maximize profits. The process aim towards...

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The Operations Management of Nike: A Comprehensive Overview

Introduction NIKE, Inc. was incorporated in 1967 under the laws of the State of Oregon. Nike’s business activities involve the design, development and worldwide marketing and selling of athletic footwear, equipment, accessories, apparel and services. NIKE is the largest seller of athletic footwear and apparel...

The Importance of Operations Management in Business Organizations

How Business Organizations Strategize Operations Management is the branch of an organization that deals with the actual production of goods and services, to be sold in the market. It serves various important functions in an organization like strategizing, planning, coordination, organizing, and controlling the resources...

Optimizing Supply Chain for Global Success: A Study of XIAOMI

1. Introduction The current article provides a study on operations system of “XIAOMI” Company and it’s focused to “Process Strategy”, “Quality and Performance” and “Supply Chain analysis” of the chosen company. Before analyzing the company’s operation system, the framework of the Operations Management course was...

Best topics on Operations Management

1. What I Learned in Operations Management: Insights and Perspectives

2. KFC Operations Management: Delivering Finger-Lickin’ Good Efficiency

3. 10 Critical Decisions of Operations Management

4. The Impact of External Factors on Operations Management

5. Optimizing Operations: Maximizing Output, Minimizing Waste

6. Operations Management in the Global Economy: Trends and Best Practices

7. Tesco: A Case Study on Efficient Inventory & Operations Management

8. The Operations Management of Nike: A Comprehensive Overview

9. The Importance of Operations Management in Business Organizations

10. Optimizing Supply Chain for Global Success: A Study of XIAOMI

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Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, Twelfth Edition by Jay Heizer, Barry Render, Chuck Munson

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Why Study OM?

Student tip.

Good OM managers are scarce and, as a result, career opportunities and pay are excellent.

We study OM for four reasons:

OM is one of the three major functions of any organization, and it is integrally related to all the other business functions. All organizations market (sell), finance (account), and produce (operate), and it is important to know how the OM activity functions. Therefore, we study how people organize themselves for productive enterprise .

We study OM because we want to know how goods and services are produced . The production function is the segment of our society that creates the products and services ...

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Operations Management Research

Advancing Practice through Theory

• Presents research that advances both theory and practice of operations management.
• Includes all aspects of operations management, from manufacturing and supply chain to health care and service operations.
• Welcomes a variety of research methodologies, including case, action, survey, mathematical modelling, simulation, etc.
• Matteo Kalchschmidt

Latest issue

Volume 17, Issue 1

Latest articles

Network working capital management, supply chain concentration, and corporate performance of focal companies.

• Zhefan Piao
• Zihan Zheng

Drivers of supply chain adaptability: insights into mobilizing supply chain processes. A multi-country and multi-sector empirical research

• Michiya Morita
• Jose A. D. Machuca
• Rafaela Alfalla-Luque

Supply chain capabilities matter: digital transformation and green supply chain management in post-pandemic emerging economies: A case from Egypt

• Ahmed Hamdy

Environmental sustainability consideration with just-in-time practices in industry 4.0 era – A state of the art

• Vivek Singhal
• Lohithaksha M Maiyar

One size does not fit all- Strategizing the vaccine supply chain in developing countries

• Abdul Salam Khan

Journal updates

Call for papers: special issue on hybrid operations, emerging technologies, and the sustainability frontier – operational efficiency in the context of corporate social and environmental responsibilities.

Guest Editors: Mauro Fracarolli Nunes , EDC Paris Business School, France Camila Lee Park , EDC Paris Business School, France Jose A.D. Machuca , Universidad de Sevilla, Spain

Submission dates: October 15, 2024 to January 15, 2025

Open Access Articles

Read open access articles from Operations Management Research.

Indexed by Scopus

Operations Management Research  is indexed by Scopus and has a CiteScore of 5.0 for 2022.

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• Social Science Citation Index
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Why Study Management?

Management is a critical component of business operations. It is needed in every industry and nearly every corner of companies, in order to be productive and profitable. As a result, management is an important topic for students to learn in college—no matter their professional goals. Management is a versatile subject that teaches students how to understand organizational behavior, motivate and influence others, as well as become a leader in the modern business world. In a competitive job market filled with qualified candidates, leadership and management skills can be exactly what sets you apart.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, have spent time in the workforce, or are just starting out in college, you may be wondering the benefits of studying management. If you are considering a management-related degree, you may be assessing how this will improve your job prospects down the road.

There are many reasons to study management and to pursue a management-focused major. The study of management will provide you with the tools and skills needed to land leadership positions, head up your own company, as well as manage teams, individuals, and organizations effectively. Studying management will also position you for outstanding earning potential.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest data , the average annual wage of managers—across all industries—is currently $109,760 per year . Certain fields, such as human resources, marketing, sales, and finance, have even higher salary potential.

With earnings so high, it’s clear that managers are valued in every field and organization. Good managers are what makes a company thrive. However, good managers are not just born. They are trained. Those managers lacking experience and training can be what brings a failing company to the ground, which is why education is so important. Studying management and leadership enables managers to succeed.

If you are interested in learning more about the perks of studying management, read on. Below, we outline the top six reasons why aspiring leaders should study management and consider pursuing a business leadership degree .

The Top Reasons to Study Management

1. Advance Your Current Career

One of the top reasons that students choose to study management and leadership is career advancement. Some work in an organization they love, but have no upward mobility with their current education and experience. Some feel stuck in their current job and wish to take on a more challenging and gratifying role. A business degree , involving management focused courses, can be their ticket to climbing the ranks and achieving the managerial position of their dreams.

If you are looking to advance in your current career or qualify for new, higher-up opportunities, a management or leadership degree can get you there. Before taking this next step, however, it’s important to ask yourself which degree will set you apart. There are bachelor’s degree programs in business and management, as well as master’s degrees focused on leadership. Both cover topics of strategy, theory, and business planning and development—valuable assets for any managerial career. Therefore, it’s important to ask yourself which degree will position you for the utmost success ahead.

2. Qualify for a Variety of High-Paying, In-Demand Careers

The business arena today is highly-competitive, and its job market is no exception. To land a career in management, you will need to hold a specialized degree that has prepared you to effectively lead a business.

A business administration degree , for example, covers key management topics like budgeting and planning, entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, e-business, and non-profit management. A Master’s in Organizational Leadership (MSOL), meanwhile, covers advanced topics like negotiation, conflict response, performance management, executive decision-making, and more.

All in all, studying management and leadership at the undergraduate or graduate level will prepare you for a range of high-paying, in-demand career opportunities that span multiple industries. Examples of leadership careers you can pursue with a management-focused degree include:

• Human Resources Officer
• Training and Development Manager
• Sales Manager
• Public Relations Manager
• Higher Education Administrator
• Medical and Health Services Manager
• Industrial Production Manager
• Advertising or Marketing Manager
• C-Level Executive (Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Financial Officer, etc.)

3. Start Your Own Business

Perhaps the above management titles do not appeal to you because, at heart, you are an entrepreneur. You may have a business idea (or many!) in mind and simply need the education to bring it to fruition. You may dream of being your own boss, working your own hours, and heading up your own company. This is reason enough to study management—so that you gain the skills needed to bring your ideas to life, to market your business successfully, and to run your business efficiently.

Many of the students at Goodwin University are self-driven innovators and entrepreneurs. Many enter our business administration programs equipped with an idea for a product or business concept. What they leave with, however, is a strong skillset, business foundation, and knowledge of today’s growing corporate arena.

In the beginning, you may not have an idea of where you want to take your ideas or plant your seed. You may not know how to build the right connections, look for expansion opportunities, or foster a community among your team. This is where college-level business classes can help. At Goodwin University, the bachelor’s degree curriculum is focused on the concept of entrepreneurship and the development of small business ownership. We will help connect you with a network of knowledgeable professionals who will support and mentor you throughout your entrepreneurial journey. You’ll learn not only how to start a business, but also how to run, and manage your own business for years to come.

4. Make Professional Connections

Just as communication is the cornerstone of all good business relationships, relationships are the cornerstone of great business success. But how do you build these relationships from the ground up? How do you make connections and network in such a competitive business arena?

The study of management goes much beyond the information that you obtain. A major reason why so many leaders choose to study management is for the connections and the network they can build within the program. In a business administration or leadership degree program, you consistently have the opportunity to collaborate with your peers, gain insights from fellow students, and work out any challenges or questions you may have through the program’s educators. At Goodwin, we have strong connections with businesses throughout Connecticut, putting our students at a great advantage for networking. Here, we believe building connections is a major component of management study.

5. Gain Transferable Skills that Employers are Seeking

One of the greatest benefits of studying management is skills development. Through career-focused business courses, you will be given the opportunity to develop a valuable, transferable set of skills that employers are looking for in all job candidates today.

In the current job market, employers desire managers who have dipped their toes into all aspects of business – from business operations to effective communication processes, from organizational ethics to strategy and statistics. They often seek out applicants holding bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

The business programs at Goodwin University take all of this into account when training our students for long-term careers. Through specialized training, we teach students to manage innovation, facilitate change, and develop talent as well as their interpersonal skills. Students gain versatile and valuable skills that can be applied to any career, including:

• Communication
• Employee Development
• Business Ethics
• Facilitating Change
• Decision-Making
• Supervision

6. It’s Easier than Ever to Earn a Business Degree

If you are still looking for a reason to study management and leadership, consider this: It is easier than ever to pursue a degree, with the array of flexible programs available to you. Today, there are business administration and organizational leadership programs that offer adaptable course schedules that can be tailored to your needs. If you are already working in a business or have other obligations at home, a degree is still possible for you.

Goodwin University offers a variety of career-focused, flexible business programs with management courses available. The Master’s in Organizational Leadership program, for example, is offered entirely online – meaning you can take classes from just about anywhere with an internet connection. Business administration classes are also offered on days, weekends, and evenings, so you can find courses that within your schedule. And if you are looking to finish your degree quickly, there are accelerated options .

Rather than asking yourself, “Why study management?”, ask yourself, “Why not?”

Whether you dream of starting your own company, moving up the ladder into an advanced managerial position, or diving head-on into the corporate world, there is no reason for you not to consider earning a management degree.

The benefits of studying management are endless. Take the next step in your career and become a leader. Visit us online to learn more .

Goodwin University is a nonprofit institution of higher education and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), formerly known as the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Goodwin University was founded in 1999, with the goal of serving a diverse student population with career-focused degree programs that lead to strong employment outcomes.