Question

Identify the major challenges that an operations manager faces. Of the major challenges facing today’s small business operational managers, which ones are the most important to a company’s success and why?

Answer 1

Major challenges faced by an operations manager:

• Effective Communication- ability and possibility to communicate effectively with all internal and external stakeholders related to the project is the most basis and common in any organization. Wrong information flow or mis communication leads to project stagnation at any stage or financial loses
• Right System Design- system design and operational management run parallely. Example in flaws in financial ERPs for other software can hamper or misguide cash flows or technical glitch in inventory management system design can cause supply chain to fumble, creating chaos
• Competition- strong competitors with strong operational system of finance, sales or distribution or delivery management can easily beat the other ones.
• Reporting Process- Status of sales/ purchase order, inventory receipt or dispatch reports are very crucial for any company’s survival. Any operational glitch or deficiency can rupture the whole processes and cost an operation manager’s career

Major challenges facing today’s small business operational managers:

• Since small companies don’t have high technological or operational support system to run in all functionalities, an operation manager may face trouble or challenge in delivery executive, payment processing, item delivery or receipt, customer communications etc.
• Small companies generally tend to avoid ethical practices in some cases. For an operations manager it is extremely crucial and mandate to drive maximum ethics in company and customer side operations. Many start up companies or small businesses get closed or shut down, when they are not able to comply with set or expected ethic standards
• Operational design with a fine back has always remained a challenge due to lack of sufficient fund investment in technology and process, making it hard to work with desired efficiency

Lack of right infrastructure, team motivation, and other basis resources are important to company’s success, as they are the basic necessities when it comes to execution of a customer order/ service delivery/ customer acquisition or retention, maintaining or reducing attrition in a company, customer churn out etc. issues. Hence, should be dealt with delicacy.