Operations and Process Management Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact Essay Example

Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact Essay PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project management can be said to be the management or control of a unique set of co-ordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or team to meet specific objectives within defined time, cost and performance parameters. There exist various methods for managing projects. The most common which is most suitable for large size projects is PRINCE2 Pons (2008). New Product Development (NPD) New product development (NPD) is an important organisational activity since it provides future business opportunity for the organisation. It involves the executives of an organisation taking risks in achieving specific aims and objectives. The process of developing a new product needs considerable efforts from the employees dedicated to it. Sometimes, new product development could involve a complete change and this could bring about having to carry out quite a number of individual projects. Customers’ needs identification: Women want to spend less in acquiring sanitary pads for each month. Some women avoid spending so much on packs of sanitary pads each month by wearing each sanitary pad for hours longer than normal. This is bad for personal hygiene but in most case cannot be avoided due to the unequal income distribution in the economy. Quality evaluation of existing products: the normal sanitary pads are good at absorbing substance and keeping the users dry but each pack of sanitary pads contains a small number of individual sanitary pads that a single sanitary pad is often not enough for most women during their monthly menstrual cycle. We will write a custom essay sample on Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Objectives of new product: the new product will allow women spend less than would for their monthly menstrual cycle and still have enough individual sanitary pads to keep them dry and improve their personal hygiene. Idea generation: As the operation manager of company XY, I would initiate a change to achieve increased patronage of the company’s sanitary pad brand. A cloth sanitary pad (see pages 34) could be included in some packs of disposable sanitary pads. This would be put in bigger packs and the contents will be indicated on the pack. The percentage of the switch from the regular pack to the new one would show how much the idea is accepted by the end consumers. To carry this out, specialized machines for the production of cloth sanitary pads will have to be bought as well as materials for the cloth sanitary pads. This means an increase in the cost of production. The price of each sanitary pad will be increased to meet the extra cost of production. In order for these products to attract a great patronage to the increase in their prices, they should be of very good quality. StakeHolder Identification for the Production of Sanitary Pads Stake holders according to Bill, Don and Danny (2005) are â€Å"groups or individuals with whom the organization interacts or has interdependencies† and â€Å"any individual or group who can affect or is affected by the actions, decisions, policies, practices or goals of the organization†. There exist two categories of stakeholders; the internal stakeholders who affect the product and the external stake holders who are affected by the product. Internal stakeholders: The internal stakeholders for the production of sanitary pads include; the project manager and the project staff. Objectives: Project manager; needs to produce sanitary pads that will make consumers switch from the regular full disposable pack to the cloth and disposable pack without an itch and that will attract high patronage in order to cover the cost of production. Project staff; need to produce pads that will be readily available and meet the lead times for sanitary pads. External stakeholders: The external stakeholders include; women and girls who are the end consumers of sanitary pads and the second tier of buyers and the retailers who buy directly from the producers and supply to the consumers and are the first tier of buyers Objectives: Women: the sanitary pads should be of good quality. It should be able to keep them dry for as long as possible and be comfortable to wear. It should be affordable as well, even with the increase. Retailers: the sanitary pads supplied should be accepted by the end users enough to still be highly demanded for even after the retailers have added their profit prices on the products.