Amazon Operations Life Cycle Management

  

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE FRIDAY 1/12/18 @ 5:00 PM EST

In part 3 of your assignment is a continuation from parts 1 & 2 (see attached), consider the sustainability of your toy & games idea in the marketplace from initial inventory to subsequent sustainment in the supply chain.

Specifically, examine the company Amazon’s own inventory as a starting point—that inventory came from a supplier—which is where your supply chain starts.

You should describe the life cycle of the business idea. Focus your response on the future of the toys & games business idea, specifically on its growth and eventual decline.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

a) Outline the components of the finished toys & games product that will travel downstream along the supply chain by means of shippers, distribution centers and then finally, to a retailer. 

b) Identify and describe the technologies you intend to use along the company’s supply chain such as RFID tagging and bar coding, e-procurement, and 3PL.

c) Identify and justify your clicks or bricks decision, that is, your rationale for brick-and-mortar locations or internet services or a combination of both. 

d) Identify the key data needed to support the functions of inventory management and supply chain management.

e)  Describe the life cycle of the toy & games business idea. Focus your response on the future of the business idea, specifically on its growth and eventual decline.

f) Assess the profit generation and cost-saving opportunities associated with the toy and game business idea based on the life cycle you described. Your assessment should be supported with rationale.

g) Assess the profit generation and cost-saving opportunities associated with the toys & games business idea based on the life cycle you described. Your assessment should be supported with rationale

h) Determine a phase-out plan for your business idea of the toys & games that ensures a sustainable solution that makes way for future innovation and profit streams. Ensure that you justify the steps in your plan. 

Paper Requirements: Your paper should adhere to the following formatting requirements: It is submitted as an APA-style Microsoft Word (or open source) document, 8-10 pages (not including title and reference pages), double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins. There should be a minimum of two references cited in APA format.

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE FRIDAY 1/12/18 @ 5:00 PM EST

Running head: QUALITY MANAGEMENT
1

QUALITY MANAGEMENT
2

Quality management

Student’s name

University affiliation

Quality management

Quality management is one of the techniques that can be initiated by the Amazon Company to align all of its processes. Quality management arises when the firm recognizes any mistakes and shortages that are associated with the products been provided and effective measures are initialized to counteract the limitations (Cummings, & Worley, 2014). Quality control acts as means for success for the company since it is with the provision of the best items that customers wish to purchase what they need from the firm. The paper outlines the concepts of quality management including the total quality management that is key to the maintenance of high-quality items by the Amazon Company. The paper will also comprise of the work breakdown structure that offers information about the major tasks that should be performed in connection with quality control. Therefore, the business opportunity to be explained in this paper is quality management that requires the firm never to seize offering high-quality goods with the use of statistical quality control.

a) Project the potential costs, risks, and benefits of operationalizing your business idea.

It is evident and inevitable to incur some costs with the introduction of quality management concepts and perspectives. In other words, it is not possible to come with measures that will be meant to attain quality management and fail to incur some costs. For instance, technology is one of the aspects that are associated with quality management. Technology requires the adoption of information management measures such as the purchase of computers and creation of other systems that are meant to keep track on the continuous provision of effective goods. Therefore, additional funds that will be incurred if the firm needs to improve the activities that are currently in place concerning quality management. The other costs are associated with the training programs that must be adopted and introduced to the workers.

The other costs are associated with the advertisement costs that will be incurred when the firm seeks to offer awareness to the public concerning the goods. Moreover, creating adverts and making them accessible over the internet and social media is costly. Some of the risks that are associated with quality management include lack of adequate skills among the workers since they will be faced with new technologies. The other risk includes the lack of adequate funds that are supposed to cater for the new technologies that will be introduced in the Amazon Company. Also, it is possible that there might be a risk if all the employees do not support the new changes to be adopted resulting in reduced collaboration among all the team members.

However, even with the existence of the risks and costs, some benefits are associated with quality management. For instance, it is known that clients never wish to purchase goods that are of poor quality. In other words, no person ever wishes to purchase an item that is low in its quality. Therefore, with the improvement of quality, there are high chances that Amazon Company will attract a significant number of clients who will gladly want to buy items from the company. Moreover, high sales correspond to high revenue suggesting that the company will manage to earn itself a high proportion of income from all the investments that it will put in place regarding quality control (Cummings, & Worley, 2014). Additionally, there are high chances that Amazon Company will enjoy an improved market share that will transform into advanced relationships between Amazon and its potential customers. Therefore, it is evident that there are high chances that Amazon Company will enjoy additional benefits with the sustainment of quality management.

b) Develop a work breakdown structure for your business idea.

c) Provide a narrative justifying each task and subtask that is part of your work breakdown structure.

For quality management to be attained, three tasks are associated with its success. The three tasks are total quality management, business operations, and changes that should be adopted. The three tasks are associated with other three subtasks that result in their success. For the total quality management, there is the issue to do with institute leadership that refers to the situation by which Amazon Company should focus on making sure that it focuses on choosing the best leadership team. In other words, for the Amazon Company to excel, there is no doubt that its management team should be well operational and in the right conditions. It includes ensuring that the leadership team is determined to work in hand with all the other staff members since unity will grant them better results. Additionally, the firm has a responsibility to train its employees since they have to possess all the skills that are necessary for them to conduct the production activities as it is expected of them. Additionally, the company should introduce and support a culture of improving its services and goods from time to time. It is because as technology develops, the company can make sure that it fulfills the desires of its clients by incorporating all of its items with the new technology.

The other task that is associated with quality management is business operations that include the reviewing of the plans that have been implemented by the firm. In other words, it is required that the company should always make sure that it assesses all the plans that have been in connection with quality control to make sure that the plans are appropriate (Cummings, & Worley, 2014). The aim of this activity is to make any necessary changes that are related to any mistakes and shortages that might have occurred with the plans that are already in place. The other task is the determination of hierarchy that considers that Amazon Company should ensure that all the staff members are aware of the heads that they should receive rules and orders regarding what they should do. With this measure in place, it becomes easier for the heads to monitor how the workers are performing their duties. The other task is the delegation of the duties that require that Amazon Company should always ensure that the assignment of roles is done by evaluating a worker’s skills and traits. In other words, it is required that the Amazon Company should assess all the abilities of the employees to make sure that they are assigned duties that they can perform significantly well.

The other task is the adoption of changes into ensuring that quality is attained that includes developing the item’s design to make sure that it is what the customers want at that particular time. Since clients tend to lose their taste for a certain design with time, it is indispensable for the company to transform the product’s design that will ensure that the clients never lose their taste for the corporation and will always appreciate their effort in supplying the market with new items. Supply chain management is another task that should be managed requiring the firm to realize better ways and channels that can be adopted to help reach the market. Inventory management should be controlled and aligned with the core business activities since it will ensure that the company does not lack items to offer the clients. In other words, inventory management is a task that requires the firm to research and examine the market trends that relate to customer demand to make sure that the customers will always have all that they need. It includes offering the products at the most convenient locations that the clients will not have a hard time to access them.

d) Identify key milestones, deliverables, and resource requirements associated with operationalizing your business idea based on your break down structure.

Different deliverables, milestones, and resource requirements are necessary for the attainment of the different objectives that have been implemented and suggested by the Amazon Company. For instance, with the introduction of total quality management, the company should select certain team members that should be given the mandate to overlook all that happens in the firm. In other words, there is the need to assign a team to watch over all the business activities that are based on the creation of quality items. Moreover, the management team has a responsibility of ensuring that the other staffs’ members are willing to come to them when there are facing significant difficulties. It starts at formulation and maintenance of healthy relationships between the management team and staff members. It is because when they all ensure that they do not argue and fight with one another; they will always seek to coordinate and collaborate to help the business in identifying how best it can create more quality than any other company in the same business line.

The other milestone includes the formulation of budgets and ensuring that they are operational. The budgets are some of the strategies that guide the business on how it should spend its resources. The budgets will ensure that all the business departments are granted the best share of the available resources. It is to make sure that every department keeps a good track on its expenditure. With the watch out on the level of expenditure, it becomes easier for the company to make sure that no overspending is noticed and that all the departments are using the right proportions of the available resources. Additional deliverable includes making sure that the projected profits do not have a big difference in the actual profits and it is paramount and beneficial that the actual profits show a positive sign comparing with the projected performance.

Information management is another aspect that should be controlled and monitored to make sure that it is done in the right way. Therefore, Amazon Company has a responsibility of ensuring that all the proceedings are recorded appropriately, and there is no chance that the information could be lost in any way. It is to make sure that this set of information is utilized when the firm needs to research and evaluate how it has been progressing and which areas have proven to be declining with time. It helps in discussing the way forward for the activities that are noted to have declined to bring up the best decisions that will assist the firm in recognizing a significant change on the positive side.

Additionally, technological change is an aspect that should never be neglected at any time. It is because it has been discovered that the companies that have been noticed to be doing extremely well in the market have never failed to introduce the most recent technology. Clients have portrayed a high desire for improved technology expecting Amazon Company always to seek the best ways and perspectives that it can adopt when requiring maintaining the newest technology (Paul, 2013). Additionally, for Amazon Company to attain the customers’ demand, there is the need to always come up with questionnaires and interviews whose aim is to give the clients an opportunity to choose what they want from the company. It is a method of involving the clients in its production activities, which yields the corporation improved image in the market that corresponds to improved returns.

e) Assess potential obstacles and impediments to meeting scope-time-cost objectives of the project

The key obstacle in the industry is the competition that arises with the existence of other large firms in the same industry. In other words, the corporation is faced with a high competition that might transform to reduced returns if the firm does not take full responsibility for eradicating competition. Therefore, different companies will always be fighting for a larger market share than the other suggesting that it is the mandate of Amazon Company to do its best to earn a better portion of the entire market. Additionally, there is the issue to do with technological challenges and pressures that relate to operation management (Stevenson, & Hojati, 2017). In other words, it is challenging to attain operational management with the continuous evolutions that occur concerning technology and various measures.

Amazon Company lacks the certainty of which technology will be in place in the market after a certain period since the market has always introduced new technologies. Also, not all the employees are aware of the computer-aided design and JIT technique suggesting that there will be incompetence among the employees. Additionally, most of the tools that need to be purchased by Amazon Company to introduce improved technologies are very costly which results in difficulties to raise the entire amount that is required. Moreover, with challenges arising from international growth, it becomes complex for the staff to control all the global operations including difficulties such as the foreign exchange fluctuations. Therefore, with the existence of all these challenges, it becomes necessary to understand which risk mitigation strategies should be utilized and have been mentioned below.

f) Determine appropriate risk mitigation strategies to address the obstacles, impediments, and risks you have identified.

The risk mitigation strategies related to these obstacles include conducting benchmarking to realize what Amazon Company should do differently from the other firms. With the existence of technological challenges, the firm should utilize a selected team that will be responsible for development and research activities that will help in accessing new technologies at the moment they are introduced in the market (Stevenson, & Hojati, 2017). In other words, Amazon should never seize to research since that is one of the methods that can help it to discover the most recent technologies. Additionally, it is no doubt that the company should never seize to train its workers since that will advance their chances of being competent in their actions. The initiation of budgets will always help in ensuring that the company has extra cash that can be utilized to purchase most of the tools that are inevitable if the company needs to use the new technologies.

In conclusion, quality management comprises of the various strategies and steps that are related to the alignment and advancement of business processes in the Amazon Company. The company has to make use of total quality management, make sure that it adopts the best business operations, and initiate significant changes if it has to succeed. For the corporation to reach most of its objectives, it has to initiate risk mitigation strategies that include research activities and employees’ training. Additionally, it is paramount that the firm keeps a good track on information management and the technologies it utilizes.

References

Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization development and change. Cengage Learning.

Stevenson, W. J., & Hojati, M. (2017). Operations management (Vol. 8). Boston: McGraw
Hill/Irwin.

Paul, L. (2013). Sustainability. Hoboken: Wiley.

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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Business: Operations Management

Student’s Name

Institution

Date

AMAZON

a) The significant forces that have shaped operations management in recent history

Amazon remains the leading online retail market, especially coming from the integration of issues which have been identified in the porters five forces analysis. This is in regards to the firm’s strategies and operations management (Akzin, et al. 2017). The porters five forces model will help in analyzing the external model of the firm, especially factors which impact on its operations and management. The factors help define the conditions of the e-commerce environment, with focus on the market. The organization remains the biggest market player, and to maintain this desired market position, it amazon needs to evaluate the factors which affect its operational effectiveness regularly.

I) Market rivalry or competition

Amazon, just like any other established organization, competes against very strong competitors in the market (Akzin, et al. 2017). This aspect of analysis helps to show three distinct aspects which end up affecting operations management, regarding competition in the market. Such factors include; high aggressiveness of other firms in the market, the high availability of substitutes and the low switching costs. Retail firms are known to be aggressive and exert significant competitive forces.

For example, Amazon’s chief competitor is Walmart. The physical or the brick or mortar stores are perfect substitutes for the online retail services at Amazon (Akzin, et al. 2017). Management dealing with Amazon’s market presence needs to come up with better ideas to mitigate the competition more proactively. There is a need to make the competition a strategic factor of consideration, and a priority meant to ensure that the organization maintains long-term competence in the market.

II) bargaining power of the consumers

The influence of the firm on the consumers in the market is determined by this force. Operations management in an organization needs to be well aware of the strong intensity of buyers, and the need to always satisfy their demands in the market (Akzin, et al. 2017). Factors affecting operations management based on the bargaining power of consumers at Amazon include; high quality of information, low switching costs and the availability of substitute commodities, in the competitive market.

Consumers access a lot of quality information online, especially regarding services that retailers offer. In the future, this aspect is bound to affect Amazon, since it will make it easier for consumers to transfer from Amazon to more productive firms and operational friendly entities like Walmart stores. There is, therefore, a need for the operational managers in the organization to consider the substantial bargaining power of all consumers, including addressing its business challenges in the retail industry (Akzin, et al. 2017).

III) Bargaining power of the suppliers

Suppliers can control the materials and the e-commerce operations which Amazon is involved in. In this case, there is a need for Amazon to consider fundamental factors including; the small population of suppliers in the market which is a strong force in operations management. Other moderate forces include moderate forward integration and the moderate sizes of suppliers. Regarding operational management at Amazon, the small population of suppliers allows the suppliers to impose a powerful force on the organization’s e-commerce business (Akzin, et al. 2017). For example, the degree of control that suppliers have in the market impacts the retail operations of Amazon as a business.

IV) the threat of substitutes

Amazon just like most organizations has to compete with the availability of substitute products in the online retail market. The availability of substitutes affects the operations of the organization and the industry environment at large, hence is a strong force (Christopher, 2016). Important aspects which should be considered strong forces based on the threat of substitution include; low switching costs, the high availability of substitutes as well as the lower costs of substitutes from other companies. The management at Amazon will be affected in the future, primarily if substitutes are not controlled in the market. High availability leads to decreased product costs, which also limits the operational profitability of the organization.

V) Threat of new entrants into the market

This threat can be considered the weakest force affecting the operational management at Amazon. New firms are bound to lead to a reduction in the market share at Amazon, in online retail business. This ends up affecting the organization, which experiences weaker intensity based on significant factors such as; high economies of scale, and the high cost of brand development, which are both relatively weaker forces (Christopher, 2016). If this force is not handled, consumers at Amazon are likely to transfer to new firms in the industry, which will lead to the empowerment of the new firms to impose a stronger force, against amazon’s operational success. There is a need to develop strategies to counter operational inefficiency.

b) Key obstacles and issues that confronted company management during the evolution of operations management into the modern era.

The evolution of operations management in the modern era, especially in the competitive business platform is alarming. This goes to show just how much change has been experienced, and the intense need for organizations such as Amazon to keep adapting to changes as they come, in the dynamic business and industry platform. Amazon to be specific has had to keep up with a lot of business challenges and pressures, during the evolution of operations management, to fit into the modern era in business (Christopher, 2016). Amazon was extremely keen to share its plans regarding making moves and working on the next generation smartphones.

However, the management experienced greater challenges, which does not get as much attention. International growth has been a significant challenge for the organization, especially in operations management. This was evident when the entity reported its annual financial results, recently. The foreign exchange fluctuations played a significant role. The organization caused around $1.3 billion, to international revenues. However, this pattern could not have been sustained in the growing American business and industry as a whole. The pattern is more worrying especially because the entity is not failing to invest in the business. It is also losing money which greatly affects its profitability.

How did your Amazon’s management handle these obstacles?

Losing on profitability and revenue is a nightmare to al profit-making entities. In countering this problem, the management at Amazon handled the issue through embracing the need to invest into a fulfillment center actively and increasing more efficient and diverse infrastructure, in every country in which it operates (Christopher, 2016). This move was aimed at building capacity and increasing the overall demand in the market. The operations management team believes that Amazon’s strategy is aimed at building capacity so that demand in the market can be adequately met without any struggle, and with a seamless experience. This was a relatively proactive approach, which helped Amazon tackle international growth problems in a different level.

c) Changes to operations management philosophies and organizational structures in response to the evolving complexity of business operations.

The success of Amazon depends on the high-efficiency levels, which are in the operations management, and that determine the productivity of the organization (Cummings & Worley, 2014). The organization has learned to embrace and address key strategic decision areas which are optimized by operations management productivity. Being the leading player in the online retail industry, the organization is the best example of technologically supported productivity. The management in the organization has ended up making ten strategic decisions, considering the increasing complexity of operations.

The organization structure has also been modified, considering that the organization also continues to expand and diversify its operations continuous improvement is bound to help enhance the capabilities of the organization to support global expansion. Essential decision areas which have been embraced include;

i) Design of goods and services (Cummings & Worley, 2014).

The organization design output addresses the primary concern of technology. Advanced information and communication technologies help address complexity in the organization.

ii) Quality management.

Quality management at Amazon is meant to ensure that continuous improvement is not shunned. The organization uses its organizational culture to provide support to idea creation, among its various personnel (Cummings & Worley, 2014).

iii) Location strategy.

Accessibility of resources in the organization makes location an area of priority at Amazon. Amazon needs to maintain its warehouses and at the same time, be close enough to its consumers, of the online retail business to maximize satisfaction (Stadtler, 2015).

iv) Supply chain management.

Operations management prioritizes the need to streamline all the supply chain efforts, to support the objectives of the organization. For example, sellers are required to adjust to all supply levels, based on demand.

v) Inventory management.

The focus of operations management at Amazon is to maintain optimal levels of inventory. This is a strategic decision area, which helps in the optimization of retail inventory size for cost minimization while satisfying demand in the market (Stadtler, 2015).

d) The business operations of Amazon.

Different organizations embrace different approaches regarding processes, as well as operational management. At Amazon, all operational procedures are aimed at obtaining quality output in the long run. The company uses specific organizational processes, which make it more unique and easy to handle considering the numerous demands.

1. Reviewing all plans and objectives

Objectives include all activities which need to be completed for the sake of achieving goals and objectives in an organization (Stadtler, 2015). At Amazon, all activities needed to reach goals are identified and plans also established for development.

2. Determining work activities, which are needed to accomplish identified objectives.

Once all objectives have been identified in the organization, the management team at Amazon is responsible for analyzing all tasks and listing those that need to be accomplished. In the long run, all goals have to be met.

3. Classification and grouping of activities into manageable units

Managers are expected to categorize all group activities based on four distinct models at Amazon. These include; departmentalization, geographical, product, customer and functional.

4. assigning activities and delegation of duties

The management is responsible for assigning the defined roles to specific persons. This is based on the specialization of specific groups of personnel (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017). Equal authority is provided to allow easier and more favorable work environment.

5. designing a hierarchy of relationships

Managers at Amazon are keen to determine the vertical decision making, as well as coordination, or horizontal relationships of the organization. Management also needs to diagram all relationships to allow easier determination of hierarchy (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017).

How do the business operations support the strategic plan, mission, and vision of the company? What factors affect productivity and profitability?

Business operations at Amazon have been designed to support the strategic plan, mission and vision and the values of the organization. The business operations at amazon complement all operations, which makes everything in the organization run smoothly and effectively. For example, the strategic plan, mission, and vision of the company are encouraged based on the operational activities. The ultimate aim is to achieve overall success, for the benefit of the organization as a whole (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017). A lot of factors affect the profitability and productivity at Amazon. For example, profitability is affected by organizational expenses, corporate social responsibilities, and the overall economic conditions.

e) Determine the key trends in production, quality, resource, and information management with a focus on the business operations of Amazon.

Production trends have since evolved, following the dynamic business platform in the global context. Quality, resource, and information management have also changed, which have majorly impacted the business operations of Amazon as an organization. For example, regarding information management and quality, technology has played a significant role and is recognized as a critical trend affecting organization operations at Amazon. Regarding production, most businesses are now producing based on market demand, to avoid stock-outs and costs of holding goods, which increases the losses and expenses incurred (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017). Quality is gauged through consumer acceptance and comparison with other organizations in online the retail industry such as Walmart among other entities.

f) Impact of these key trends in the business operations of Amazon and the business product, service, or another idea in your business plan.

Business operations of amazon, just like any other organization, are bound to be affected considering the major developments on business operations products and services in every entity should be maintained, in terms of determining quality effectiveness and control. The trends have led to increased production quality, especially in terms of services (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017). Other trends include; advancement in technology, emerging markets end up gaining power, demographic changes, global warming, and the increased growth of the population. Decisions made at amazon need to completely conform with the changes, hence the process should strictly rely on global changes in the market.

References

Aksin, Z., Armony, M., & Mehrotra, V. (2017). The modern call center: A multi‐disciplinary perspective on operations management research. Production and operations management, 16(6), 665-688.

Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.

Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization development and change. Cengage Learning.

Stadtler, H. (2015). Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Stevenson, W. J., & Hojati, M. (2017). Operations management (Vol. 8). Boston: McGraw
Hill/Irwin.