Watties: Business Activities, Operations, And Significance Of Operation Management

Organization and Description of Watties

Question:

Discuss about the Business Activities And Operations Of The Watties.

The report talks about the business activities and operations of the Watties which has been taken in the report. It explains the operation management of the company. It explains the mission and vision of the company. Along with this, it describes the production issues and services issues within the organization. It tells that how the company is overcoming on these issues. Further, the report explains the significance of the operation management. It describes the models of the operation management within the organization.

Wattie’s  is an American owned food producer and manufacturer of frozen and packaged fruit, sauces, baby food, vegetables, cooking sauces, pet foods and dressings company in the New Zealand market. The company was founded in 1934 with its headquarterd is located in Hastings, New Zealand. Sir James Wattie is the co-founder of the company. There are approx 1900 employees are employed in the organization. There are around 1200 product lines produced by the company in New Zealand. The organization produces its products under various brands such as good taste company, oak, Eta, farex, Greenseas, and chef and champ. In today’s era, the Wattle’s is exploring and expanding its business activities and operations globally. In this way, the company is increasing its profit and revenue around the world De (De Smidt & Wever, 2012). Operation management and production management play an integral role in Wattie’s to overcome on the competitors around the world.

Operation management refers to the methods that company follows to meet its goal and earn profits in the business. Every organization operates in its own form in the business. It has its own strategies, its own plans, its own methods of working. The term operation management can be understood as a type of art and science which follows the path of business through the different elements of business environment which involve sourcing, planning, financing, and distribution. These elements help the company to run the business activities and operations smoothly and easily. Operation management plays a very important role in the organization. The aim of these organizations depends on the profitability and sustainability of the business (Barratt, Choi, & Li, 2011)

Operation management may be defined as the administration of the business practices to generate the highest level of efficiency and effectiveness within the organization. It is concerned with converting materials and labor into products and services in order to increase and maximize the profit and revenue of the company (Jabbour, De Sousa Jabbour, Govindan, Teixeira, & De Souza Freitas). Operation management plays a vital and integral role in order to gain the long-term goals and objectives of the firm. This management is responsible and liable for planning, controlling, coordinating the natural resources which are needed to produce and manufacture the products and services for a company. It plays a significant role at the organizational level as well as operational level. This management also helps to make effective and unique decisions within the organization. OM assists and guides to the senior and top-level management to make effective strategic decisions. They formulate rules, policies, and strategies to gain long-term competitive advantages around the world (Peng & Lai, 2012).

Importance of Operation Management in Watties

OM helps to the management to utilize the available natural resources and to manage the employees under the legal rules and regulations in the organization. The operational management also helps to manage the job design in the global market. Along with this, operation management helps to ensure the logistics and production of all campaigns and programs to run the business activities and operations smoothly. Now it is assumed that operation management helps to achieve and attain the strategic vision and mission of the company. It also helps to make effective and efficient operational strategy to meet the long-term sustainability of the organization (Carter & Liane Easton).

In Watties Company of New Zealand, the management of operation flows at two levels, firstly, at the operational level as well as organizational level. In the operational level, it takes care of the techniques and methods that should be followed by the company in its operation. They also make sure about the requirements of its stakeholders. This sometimes also leads to conflicting situations between the stakeholders and the company. Operational management involves the tasks of business that an industry or company operates and manages. The company cannot survive its business without effective operation management (Sarkis, Zhu, & Lai, 2011).

In the organizational level, Watties makes sure about the requirements of the company and the guidance it needs to perform a selected task. At this level company takes care of the organizational activities and the main objective behind this is to increase the cost of production of the products and services within the organization (Brown, Bessant, & Lamming, 2013). This helps in meeting the needs of the customers. It also builds and develops trust and loyalty among the consumers around the world. Under organizational level, the company follows two levels of decision, first is a strategic decision which involves the making of a decision in a proper and planned formation. There are certain strategies that are to be followed in the firm which comes under this decision. The second decision which comes under the level of organization is a tactical decision. These decisions are comparatively narrow and short-term in nature. These two decisions intervene in the organizational process. In an organization, it becomes necessary to serve the employees and fulfill their requirement to get effective results. Therefore the company looks at all these matters in order to make good profits and revenue for the business (Subramanian & Ramanathan, 2012).

Models of Operation Management in Watties

On the other hand, operation management is responsible for all the other activities that generally relates to the product’s manufacturing process. The operational level of management has to take care of the manufacturing of goods and services effectively and efficiently. This type of management gathers various components as input process and generate the output. The elements those are included in operational management are planning, organizing, allocating resources etc. operation management can be treated as a profession or as the notice of employment for the people or as a way of solving problems (Peng & Lai, 2012)

The models are the description of the activities that take place in the organization. it is another way of observing the operational activities thorough flowcharts or pictures or diagrams etc. Through these descriptions, it becomes easy for the members of the organization to understand the topic or motive of the organization (Fernie & Sparks, 2014). Operational management although show concern on the inputs and outputs of the product that are supplied in the market.  Through these models, the company is easily able to maintain its time as it becomes easy for others to understand the matter. The models become a medium for them to convey difficult matters into easy and simple matters.  This operational model manages the environment of the business and also helps in avoiding the errors that are made by the employees while performing on any task assigned by the company (Farahani, Hekmatfar, Arabani, & Nikbakhsh, 2013).

The model above depicts how organization functions which help them in attaining profits. The company puts in the inputs which then after goes through the process of transformation in order to generate outputs in the business (Brandenburg, Govindan, Sarkis, & Securing, 2014).  Since Watties is a food manufacturing company thus, it transforms its raw material into outputs within the organization. The output has to serve the needs not only of the customers but also of the company. Therefore output in Watties before generating has to go with various phases in an organization (Dekker, Bloemhof, & Mallidis, 2012). Now it assumed that operation management model plays a vital role to gain competitive advantages in the global market.

A company has to face many failures while forming operation related models. These models guide the members of the company to do particular tasks and works within the organization in order to meet the mission and objectives of the firm. These models serve the needs of the company and carry the profits that company might generate. There is not an easy gain in the market for any company. Hence there are proper parameters to be followed while performing the actions. The two operation failures were seen in the company which has been discussed below (Meredith & Shafer, 2009).

Failures of Operation Management in Watties

Organizational design

Proper designing should be followed while making and designing the models. The design should be such that it can be easily understandable by the employees and generate good outputs. The model must include the use of flowcharts, lines, arrows and other easy methods to make the model presentable. Use of simple language should be encouraged while making the model (Dekker, Bloemhof, & Mallidis, 2012).

Hence developing irrelevant organizational design becomes a failure in the case of operational management. It is recommended to have a proper design of the model which represents the task at the operational level (Yinan, Tang, & Zhang, 2014). This design becomes a very important tool in deciding what strategies can be planned and what decisions are to be made that can help in fulfilling the needs of the organization.Models made in Watties talks that how a particular product should be manufactured and what quality it must have to fulfill the expectations of the customers. The model provides a brief knowledge about achieving the target by focusing on major areas (Demil & Lecocq, 2010).

Inadequate knowledge

The models are made by the professionals, so it is obvious that it carries a lot of information that relates to the idea very well. But sometimes it happens that the knowledge provided turns out to be inadequate and fails in serving the purpose of the business. The relevant information provided in the business makes the model more effective and it clears all the doubts of the employees working in the organization. Providing inadequate knowledge become the reason for failure in the organization. Hence this becomes a failure in operational management for the organization to achieve its goal and objectives (Hsu & Hu, 2009).

Watties Company generally provides adequate knowledge and experiences to its employees to understand and evaluate the organizational model hence it creates minimal chances of mistakes and errors. The model is created by the professionals within the organization. The lack of knowledge as sometimes faced in the operation management models. In order to avoid such type of failure, Watties appoints potential and capable employees to do work effectively and efficiently. It will also help to attain long-term goals and targets of the company (Ivanov, Sokolov, & Kaeschel).

The other professional failures seen at the time of operating the managerial aspects are production failures and service failures. Production failures refer to the manufacturing of products, cost of production of the products and its managing and other functions. The two failures are discussed more properly below (Jabbour, De Sousa Jabbour, Govindan, Teixeira, & De Souza Freitas). 

Production failure

Production failure means the errors made by the organizational employees while transforming the materials into its ultimate output. The failure leads to improper functioning of the business and dissatisfying customer which results in a loss for the company. The production failure is one of the biggest key issues for the employees. In such case leadership of the business stands on the top. Leaders of the organization are expected to build the culture of the firm in such a way that the chances of production failure are reduced. Leadership guides and manages subordinates for performing the task effectively. They can teach the employees to work in an appropriate and suitable manner. The lack of availability of the product or malfunctioning of the product can lead the company towards a great loss for the company and it can also harm its reputation and goodwill. So it becomes important for them to look after such things (Chalmers & Glasziou, 2009).Watties Company cannot afford to fail in production as it has chances of being shut down in the market as the products supplied can harm the health of people. To avoid and reduce such failures, they have to be more attentive while preparing the food products. In this way, the company can overcome its key challenges and risks globally (Securing, 2013) .

Service failure

Service failure means when the company is unable to fulfill the demand of the customers. The services provided by the employees sometimes are not addressed to the society which creates conflict between both of them. Service failure can also result in lack of opportunities given to the employees which give rise to such failures. The food supplied by Watties Company to its customers sometimes gives a chance to the customers to raise questions about the company. In such situations dealing with customers becomes difficult and complex. Service failure for the company can be dangerous (Jabbour, De Sousa Jabbour, Govindan, Teixeira, & De Souza Freitas). It can lead them towards the path of success and also can take away their path. Thus, in order to avoid such failure, they have to be answerable to the customer for whatever services they serve them. The management of service focuses on two different dimensions in the company. The dimension relating to production management which can be understood with technical or dimension of outcome and the other is a service management related dimension which can be termed as functional or dimension related to processing (Osborne, Radnor, & Nasi, 2013). The cause of service failure in Watties is seen through the customers. Customers play a very important role in service management. The service given to the customers in terms of food has to be good else there might be chances of loss in the company (Andronikidis, Georgiou, Gotzamani, & Kamvysi, 2009)

To run the organization it becomes very necessary for the organization to avoid the failures. It also helps to carry the business operations and activities smoothly. Running a business on a large level is not easy; it is very complex and difficult task. The company faces many problems, difficulties within the organization. Thus, watties has to deal with various obstacles to achieve its target and goals. It becomes very important for them to overcome these failures. There are different ways discussed to overcome such failures. Watties Company of New Zealand is a large firm, therefore, it is clear that it faces various difficulties in doing its business. The failures of production and services related are seen in large number in the firm. Since the company runs on a large scale it consists of many such professional employees who are indulged in making good decisions for the company’s welfare that it is able to manage such failures effectively and efficiently (Aguinis, Gottfredson, & Wright, 2011)

To overcome such failures it is recommended to plan proper strategies in the business. Proper decision making helps the company to achieve its goal with comparatively lesser difficulties. Recovery from these failures is something that is very important and beneficial for the company. Also to overcome such failures it is recommended that company can appoint new employees in the organization who are able to perform in a professional manner. Another way of recovering from the failures is the amount of experience an employee carries that he is able to convince the customer to buy the product. The service failure becomes the reason for the dissatisfaction of the customers. Therefore it is important to have the power of convincing others. The more the convincing power the lesser will be the chances of losing opportunities. The risk of such failures can lead to a great loss for the firm. Therefore it becomes important for them to manage the work of the organization in an effective and efficient way (Craighead, Ketchen, Dunn, & Hult, 2011).

In Watties, the same task is distributed to a number of employees. This is done to raise as many questions as possible in order to avoid any kind of discrepancy among customers. Although this gives a great result as the company gets a chance to resolve all those aspects that might lead to a loss for the company. Further, effective rules and policies must be implemented by the company to overcome these issues and challenges. Watties take the major step to avoid the failure in production or in the service sector. This keeps the employees interested and motivated in their work (Jabbour, De Sousa Jabbour, Govindan, Teixeira, & De Souza Freitas).  Along with this, the company must use effective and dynamic promotional and advertisements strategies to increase the demand of the food products around the world. Further, growth strategies and corporate level strategies should be used by the company. In this way, the company can maintain sustainability in the organization as well as environment. It will also help to reduce the negative impact of the market (Aguinis, Gottfredson, & Wright, 2011). In addition, Watties should focus on the production department as well as operation department. It helps to know and evaluate the strategies, plans and policies of the competitors around the world (Andronikidis, Georgiou, Gotzamani, & Kamvysi, 2009).

Conclusion

On the above discussion, it has been concluded that operation management plays a vital and integral role in Watties. Operation management is the part of the company to manage and control the activities and operations of the company. The model of the operation management is unique and effective to overcome on the competitors around the world. Along with this, service issues, production issues and operation issues should be controlled and managed by the company to gain long-term advantages in the market. The firm should make effective and dynamic strategies to attain long-term goals and objectives of the firm in the competitive environment across the world. None of the company can expand and explore its business without effective and unique operation and production management within the organization. Further, some effective and unique policies must be used and developed by the company to make a good image in food and beverage industry.

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