Location Strategy in Operations Management

The location of a plant or facility is the geographical positioning of an operation relative to the input resources and other operations or customers with which it interacts. Three main reasons are identified why a location strategy is required. The first reason is that a new company has been created and needs a facility to manufacture products or deliver a service to its customers. The second reason is that there is a decision to relocate an existing business due to a number of factors such as the need for larger premises or to be closer to a particular customer base. The third reason is relocate into new premises in order to expand operations. Decisions with regards to where an organisation can locate its plant or facility are not taken often, however they still tend to be very important for the firm’s profitability and long-term survival. An organisation which chooses an Continue reading

Sensitivity Training – Meaning, History, and Stages

Sensitivity training is a method of laboratory training where an unstructured group of individuals exchange thoughts and feelings on a face-to-face basis. Sensitivity training helps give insight into how and why others feel the way they do on issues of mutual concern. Training in small groups in which people develop a sensitive awareness and understanding of themselves and of their relationships with others. Sensitivity training is based on research on human behavior that came out of efforts during World War II to ascertain whether or not an enemy’s core beliefs and behavior could be modified by the application of certain psychological techniques. These techniques have been gradually perfected over the years by efforts of business and industry leaders to persuade people to buy products, including the radio and television industry to ascertain how an audience might be habituated to certain types of programming. Kurt Lewin is credited with being the Continue reading

Human Resource Planning (HRP) – Meaning, Definition, Features, Purpose, Need, Significance and Objectives

Human Resource  is the most vital factor for the survival and prosperity of the organization. The human resource  asset in a firm has the potential to appreciate the value of the firm. Though all the firms buy the same material and machines, the people in a firm make the difference in the final product. So the success of any organization mainly depends upon the quality of its human resource  and their performance. Any forward looking management will be concerned with the problem of procuring or developing adequate talent for manning various positions in the organization. The success of a human resource  planning process not only helps the organization itself, but also helps the society’s prosperity. The losses a firm suffers from inadequate human resource  planning and utilization, is a loss to the nation. When these individual losses are added up the total losses may be very significant to the economy Continue reading

History and Development of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as we know them today are generally thought to have come into existence around the mid-nineteenth century. It was only about a century later that the importance of NGOs was officially recognized by the United Nations. At the UN Congress in San Francisco in 1968, a provision was made in Article 71 of the Charter of the United Nations framework that qualified NGOs in the field of economic and social development to receive consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. The development of modern Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) has largely mirrored that of general world history, particularly after the Industrial Revolution. NGOs have existed in some form or another as far back as 25,000 years ago. Since 1850, more than 100,000 private, not-for-profit organizations with an international focus have been founded. The growth of NGOs really took off after the Second World War, with about 90 international Continue reading

Kanban System – Meaning, Origin and Operation

Kanban is a concept related to lean and just-in-time (JIT) production. The Japanese word kanban is a common everyday term meaning “signboard” or “billboard” and utterly lacks the specialized meaning that this loanword has acquired in English. According to Taiichi Ohno, the man credited with developing JIT, kanban is a means through which JIT is achieved. Kanban is a signaling system to trigger action. As its name suggests, kanban historically uses cards to signal the need for an item. However, other devices such as plastic markers (kanban squares) or balls (often golf balls) or an empty part-transport trolley or floor location can also be used to trigger the movement, production, or supply of a unit in a factory. Kanbans maintains inventory levels; a signal is sent to produce and deliver a new shipment as material is consumed. These signals are tracked through the replenishment cycle and bring extraordinary visibility to Continue reading

Industrial Marketing Communication

The industrial products are technical in nature that have very few buyers  compared to the consumer products. This makes the industrial marketers to  change their promotional strategy for industrial goods and services. The  promotional mix used by the industrial marketer consists of advertising, sales  promotion, publicity, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing.  These tools help them to build awareness, develop company image, inform  about the product features thus assisting the company sales force and other  intermediaries to increase their sales. Of all the promotional mix, personal  selling is the most important because industrial products are technical in nature  and they involve lot of direct interactions by the company people with the  industrial customers. However, all the elements of promotional mix needs to be  well integrated with personal selling with proper coordination in order to  develop an effective industrial marketing communication strategy. Any industrial communication or promotion program in order Continue reading