Hamburger and Materials Management Essay

Resources: Ch. 12 of Introduction to Business. Read the Developing Good Business Sense activity on p. 394 of the text. Answer Questions 1–4 from the activity in a 700- to 1,050-word paper in APA format. Post your paper as an attachment. | The operations of a company consist of three stages. These stages are simple: the input, the operations, and the output stages. The process of the input stage includes raw materials, components, labor and customers. The operations process involves the skills, knowledge, machines, and experts needed to operate the company. As far as the output stage, this involves what we physically use or experience from the company, known as the goods and services (Jones, 2007). Every company, whether it be services such as hair and nails, serving, or patient care, or goods being sold such as jewelry, wholesale businesses, or a corporation like ShopRite or Wal-Mart, they all experience these stages uniquely. Each company runs experiencing input, operations, and output stages, but each stage is handled differently according to what kind of business, what is being offered, and who is running it. The activities that regulate the course of the resources between these particular stages is what we call materials management. Materials management helps operate these stages smoothly and effectively, providing necessities and organization (Jones, 2007). Let’s take a look at three different businesses and how each one handles materials management and the three operational stages. The first company that is going to be observed is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a company that has developed over the years into being a commonly recognized place to get everyday necessities for a great price. The process of operations for a business such as Wal-Mart is simple compared to others. The input stage focuses on what is needed for the company to run, such as, labor and employees, contact with a wholesaler, and more all while keeping the customers in mind. Wal-Mart strives to keep a friendly staff and low prices in order to keep the customer’s best interest and loyalty. The way Wal-Mart would go about doing this is hiring qualified staff and train them to best suit the company, and forming an alliance with suppliers that offer products at low prices. As far as the operations of Wal-Mart, they hire the best suited people with the skills and knowledge of this type of company’s operations. They are equipped with machinery and constantly updating in order to keep up with latest trends. With their input and operations, comes the output stage. This is where the goods and services that Wal-Mart offers is placed into the market for consumers to decide. Mentioned previously, Wal-Mart strives to meet the every need of customers providing a great shopping experience. So far, Wal-Mart is still one of the most successful companies of its kind and doesn’t look like anything is going to change that anytime soon. The second company that was observed is Burger King. Burger King is a fast food restaurant business that has a lot of competition. The slogan, â€Å"Have it Your Way,† has allowed Burger King to make way for success. The operations behind this slogan is a bit more complicated. The input of Burger King consists of associations with suppliers in order to have the best quality possible for a frozen, fast food restaurant. From the supplies of burgers, to fries, milkshakes and salads, Burger King is not going to have a supplier produce outdated food or else that would be horrible materials management. The operations stage of Burger King is figuring out new ways to produce faster and better food and service to its customers while living up to its slogan. Doing this, Burger King would have to make sure everything is up to date and employees are equipped with the skills and knowledge to come up with new innovations to suit the needs of the company. The output stage of Burger King is providing the service fast and efficiently. Making sure that all food is sanitary and delivered quickly. The third company that was observed is St. Joseph’s Hospital. This is a hospital that specializes in critical care and emergencies. The operations of this hospital is crucial because it is not only service, but it holds people’s lives at stake. The input of the hospital would be having ownership of the supplies and relationships with suppliers. This way when it comes to operations stage, the best and most updated equipment is ready for use and can provide the best service possible. Between these two stages, the best and most skilled doctors, nurses, and staff are hired in order to ensure safety and health. As far as the output stage of St. Joseph’s Hospital, the services provided are high-quality service and safety. As we look at these companies, we can see that a lot goes into operations behind the service and goods we receive as consumers. The way a company designs its operating system is crucial for success. The input, operations, and output are only a part of what is contributed. It is the materials management, the flow of how things are ran that really makes or breaks the backbone of a business. The way the systems are designed will give one company an advantage over another. Using materials management effectively and really going into detail about research will give a company more of an advantage than another. It will help a business increase its productivity, innovation, quality, and most importantly, its responsiveness to customers. Not only does the operations come into effect when running a successful business, but costs are a big part as well. Operations and materials management costs, also known as, OMM, consist of many costs pertaining to a company. The main costs of OMM are, raw materials and components, plant, labor, inventory, and distribution (Jones, 2007). These costs affect companies’ operations because each cost if part of the operating system. Without effectively running operations, costs will run a business†¦ out of business. Including costs during the operating process is a crucial way to success. This is all a part of materials management! References Jones, G. R. (2007). Introduction to business: How companies create value for people. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.