¶ … Role of Operations Manager in Business
The Operation Management's Role in Business Today
The role of an operations manager is an important one in any business no matter how big or small the business is. According to the Houston Chronicle, the operations manager needs a "wide range" of interpersonal and professional skills in order to do the job (Farnen, 2010). The operations manager handles the management of raw materials and personnel, and -- in many cases -- the operations manager conducts the interviewing and hiring of employees and oversees the actual assigning of employees to specific tasks (Farnen, p. 1).
Operations managers also play an important part in the budgeting process, and it other aspects of a company's finances, Farnen continues. Also, operations managers are part of the goal-setting process in a business, and operations managers cooperate with other department managers to coordinate sales promotions and they typically help resolve disputes or disagreements in their companies. The operations manager needs good communication skills because they are asked to "facilitate communications between employees and departments" (Farnen, p. 2).
Meanwhile Fatat Bouraad writes in the Project Manager Journal that in terms of "know how" an operations manager must have: a) good interpersonal skills; b) a "holistic vision"; c) "long-term vision"; d) effective leadership abilities; e) a "propensity to innovation"; and f) a good work ethic (Bouraad, 2008).
The knowledge that an operations director must have is complex and diverse; he or she must have: managerial knowledge; internal business knowledge; external...
75). In addition the operations manager must be trained in technical matters, in planning capabilities, and must have "…organizational impacts assessment capability" (Bouraad, p. 75). To be fully up to speed with today's advanced technological advances an operations manager should have good working knowledge of information technology, according to Bouraad. In other words, the operations manager doesn't have to be an information technology expert, but he or she should be conversant with IT because hiring an IT manager doesn't release the operations manager from responsibility vis-a-vis making decisions that impact the organization in the technological aspects of today's business world.
Riordan Manufacturing -- The Role of Operations Manager
The operations manager for Riordan Manufacturing has plenty of work to do and the learning curve is dramatic for an operations manager just taking on new responsibilities in a new position. He or she must get up to speed with inventory when it comes to digital hardware; each location where Riordan operates must have secure Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN) connections in order for the smooth functioning of online activities. Also, because each Riordan site is constantly getting requests from workstations (each workstation at Riordan has ten or more users on the WAN or LAN), the company cannot tolerate lapses in technology. What this means is the operations manager (at each Riordan site) must be very knowledgeable about all things related to information technology; at the very least, he or she must know the right questions to ask of…
