Operations
Management
Operations Management
is an area of business that is concerned with the production
of goods and services, and involves the responsibility of
ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective.
It is the management of resources, the distribution of goods
and services to customers, and the analysis of queue systems.
Operations also refers to the production of goods and services,
the set of value-added activities that transform inputs
into many outputs. Fundamentally, these value-adding creative
activities should be aligned with market opportunity for
optimal enterprise performance.
Project Management
Project Management
is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing
resources to bring about the successful completion of specific
project goals and objectives. A project is a finite endeavour
- having specific start and completion dates - undertaken
to create a unique product or service which brings about
beneficial change or added value. This finite characteristic
of projects stands in sharp contrast to processes, or operations,
which are permanent or semi-permanent functional work to
repetitively produce the same product or service. In practice,
the management of these two systems is often found to be
quite different, and as such requires the development of
distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management
philosophy, which is the subject of this article.
The
primary challenge of project management is to achieve all
of the project goals and objectives while adhering to classic
project constraints - usually scope, quality, time and budget.
The secondary - and more ambitious - challenge is to optimise
the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet
pre-defined objectives. A project is a carefully defined
set of activities that use resources (money, people, materials,
energy, space, provisions, communication, motivation, etc.)
to achieve the project goals and objectives.
Project managers work in construction, civil engineering,
banking, insurance, accountancy, law, sales, marketing,
information technology, manufacturing and engineering, for
public bodies. Some project managers have a permanent contract
with their employer. Others work on fixed-term contracts
for the duration of individual projects.
General Management
Most commonly, the term General Manager refers to
any executive who has overall responsibility for managing
both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income
statement. This is often referred to as Profit & Loss
(P&L) responsibility. This means that a general manager
usually oversees most or all of the firm's marketing and
sales functions as well as the day-to-day operations of
the business. Frequently, the general manager is also responsible
for leading or coordinating the strategic planning functions
of the company.
In
many cases, the general manager of a business is given a
different formal title or titles. Most corporate managers
holding the titles of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) are
the general managers of their respective businesses. More
rarely, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operating
Officer (COO), or Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) will act
as the general manager of the business. Depending on the
company, individuals with the title Managing Director, Product
Manager or Branch Manager may also have general management
responsibilities.
In
consumer products companies, general managers are often
given the title Brand Manager. In professional services
firms, the general manager may hold titles such as Managing
Partner, Senior Partner, or Managing Director. |
