Final
Current Trends and Issues in Operations Management
Presented To

Operations Management
Respectfully Submitted
By

Introduction 3
A Brief History of Operations Management 4
Current Trends and Issues in Operations Management 6
Lean Operations (Just-in-time) 6
Shrinking Product Life Cycles 7
Employee Empowerment and Training 8
Globalization 9
Total Quality Management 9
Advances in Technology 10
Insourcing 10
Conclusion 11
References 12

Introduction Operations is the part of a business organization that is responsible for producing goods and services (Stevenson, 2012, p. 4). In this definition, goods are tangible items. Goods can be finished items that are sold to end consumers such as a chair, a car, a computer, or a house. Goods can also be the raw materials, parts, and subassemblies that comprise the finished goods described above. These raw materials are sold as well, but not to end consumers. They are sold to the producers of the finished products.
Services, for the most part, are not tangible, but are activities that provide some combination of time, location, form, or psychological value (Stevenson, 2012, p. 4). Services such as the ability to place a cell phone call, electricity in a home, advice from a financial planner, traveling on an airline, receiving medical treatment, or staying in a hotel are all considered services directed at an end consumer. One definition for the word management is “the person or persons controlling and directing the affairs of a business, institution, etc.” (Dictionary.com, n.d.). Whether a business produces raw materials or purchases raw materials for transformation into a consumable product, or the business provides a service, there are employees that must be directed, processes that must be managed and controlled, and daily decisions that must be made. Operations management directs