Transaction Economy

COURSE TITLE: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

COURSE CODE: MBSW60321 & 60327

STUDENT NUMBER: 8607601

ASSIGNMENT REF: 8607601/OPM/JAN/13/1

REPORT TO THE MANAGINING DIRECTOR OF ZENITH BANK PLC ON HOW TO BALANCE THE ACTIONS IN BOTH THE STRUCTURAL AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DECISION AREAS OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Introduction

An Appendix to this report is presented after the References. It gives the background information on Zenith Bank Plc, and also disclose the strategic culture and goal of the bank.

I shall do an exhaustive literature review on decision areas in Operations Management, relate it to product and service supplies and highlight specific areas of advice to the bank for sustainable decisions that is capable of enabling the bank achieve set strategic objectives with a conclusion.

Background issues on Operations Management

The critical factor determining the success of an operational strategy is not necessarily which competitive priorities are stressed (cost, flexibility, quality, delivery), rather it is more of how these priorities are translated into a consistent set of decisions which support the specific priority (Boyer and McDermott, 1999, pp. 289-305).

Strategic consensus (the degree of agreement within an organization as to the relative importance of these competitive priorities to the organization’s operational goals) acts as a prerequisite to the achievement of fit between competitive priorities, structural, and infrastructural investments. According to Boyer and McDermott (1999, p. 292) it is this high degree of consensus along with an appropriate and well communicated strategy that leads to a superior performance.

Leong, Snyder, and Ward (1990, pp. 113) identified that there is a generally agreement that the effectiveness of an operations strategy is determined by the level of consistency between the emphasized key competitive priorities and the corresponding decisions regarding operational structure and infrastructure....