MANAGING BUSINESS OPERATIONS Management Coursework

MANAGING BUSINESS OPERATIONS
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc53733473 \h 22.0 An analysis of the IKEA operations PAGEREF _Toc53733474 \h 22.1 Process Management PAGEREF _Toc53733475 \h 42.2 The nature of the transformation process PAGEREF _Toc53733476 \h 42.3 The 4 V’s PAGEREF _Toc53733477 \h 42.4 Performance Objectives and current performance PAGEREF _Toc53733478 \h 53.0 The identification of the major strengths and weaknesses of the operation PAGEREF _Toc53733479 \h 63.1 Strengths PAGEREF _Toc53733480 \h 63.2 Weaknesses PAGEREF _Toc53733481 \h 84.0 Location and layout PAGEREF _Toc53733482 \h 84.1 Capacity management PAGEREF _Toc53733483 \h 85.0 Conclusion and Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc53733484 \h 9
Managing Business Operations
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AT IKEA – ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
1.0 Introduction
IKEA is a furniture retail company established in 1943 in Sweden with headquarters in the Netherlands (Torekull, 2011). It is a multinational group that is responsible for designing as well as the sale of ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, as well as home accessories. The company has branches in over 45 countries globally with close to 145 stores. The company currently deals with furniture such as beds, bookshelves, sofas, tables, kitchen utensils, and bathroom articles. There are various departments within the company that are responsible for the effective and efficient management of the organization. Some departments include the Human Resource (HR) department, Retail, and the Finance department (IKEA, 2012).
IKEA experiences some strategic challenges in its quest to expand within different regions. Currently, the organization operates its stores in Europe, the United States, China, and parts of Asia. One of IKEA's main problems concerns the fact that their prices are considerably low in Europe and North America while it is higher in the Chinese market (Torekull, 2011). In China, local stores' various prices seem lower due to their access to cheap labor alongside raw materials and the availability of no costs on designs. This shows that high prices in some regions as China presented the biggest barriers to purchasing IKEA products. IKEA's unique selling point is its ability to provide a down-turn and low pricing strategy in marketing. However, there is high competition in the industry since many high street retailers adopt a similar approach towards marketing their products (furniture and fittings), seriously threatening IKEA’s market share.
This study identifies operations management as one of the key functions of a business organization (Laurin and Fantazy, 2017). IKEA is one of the leading furniture retail companies on a global scale. The study brings to understanding the various operations management concepts and their impact on other company departments and their role in efficiently producing goods and services crucial for ultimate success (IKEA, 2012).
2.0 An analysis of the IKEA operations
The operations management is essential for IKEA since it maximizes the organization’s efficiency through the production of goods and services to customers. In this case, operations manage...