Research Paper on Companies Succeeding by Meeting Customers' Needs Through Technology

Introduction

In society, people have various needs that have to be attended to for them to be satisfied. Most of these needs can be satisfied through the presence of various products and services. As a result, various companies have been developed with the aim of providing these services or products to their consumers. Most of these businesses have developed strategies that would ensure they succeed and meet the needs of their customers. The rise of technology has further helped these companies to succeed and reach their customers better. One of the approaches that have been aided by the rise of technology is the shift to online business. However, the main factor that defines whether a business will be successful or not is the operational strategies. The operational strategies refer to the methods that the company employs to meet its goals and objectives. An example of an online business where buying, as well as selling transactions, are made is Apple Inc.,[ which focuses on selling various electronic equipment such as a computer, phones, and software. Apple Inc. started as a small company, but it has put in place various strategies that have enabled its success with the main focus on the operational strategies. Therefore, this paper seeks to analyze the operational strategies that have been employed by Amazon.

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Structural Strategic Decisions

New Product/Service Design

Operation plays an important role, such as the development of a new product. In this case, the operation can be decided on which products to produce based on efficiency. In the event developing a particular product is efficient and does not involve complex processes, it should be developed if it will bring in more income. The other way that the operation may decide what to produce is the demand for the product (Dogan, 2013). If the demand for the product is high, the operation will ensure that the product is produced since it will be needed by many customers. This issue will ensure that the company gains good revenue from the product.

The development process can be managed by making sure that all the resources needed to produce the new product are available. The resource includes the human workforce, who will be able to handle various activities that will ensure the new product is developed(Dogan, 2013). Also, the development process can be managed by making sure that there is proper planning. Planning ensures that all the required activities are done within the required time and that the products are effectively developed.

Supply Network Design

One of the major goals that every business hopes to achieve is to expand its operation. Expanding operations means that more products will be produced, and the revenue will increase due to the high number of customers. Therefore, the company can expand its operations by seeking for new customers (Ranangen, 2015). New consumers will help in raising the demand for the business product. Therefore, operations will be expanded to ensure that more products are produced to meet the demands of the new consumers. Apple should consider looking for young customers, mainly aged between 18 to 40 years old, since they are more concerned about the recent trends and developments in technology.

Apple Inc. can take various measures into place to be able to empower its customers as well as the suppliers. One of the approaches that can be used to empower the customers is to provide affordable products. The presence of affordable products will make it easy for customers to purchase them (Mezhov, Rastova & Shmatko, 2014). On the other hand, the suppliers can be empowered by Apple Inc. by purchasing the materials frequently and paying them on time. The suppliers can then use the money to expand their operations and be able to supply more materials needed by the company.

In the supply network design, various operations have to be done. Every operation within the supply network design should have the ability to stand by itself so that in case one of the operations is affected, and the business can continue usually. The other capacity that each of the operations within the network should have is the ability to communicate with each other. Communication is essential because it will help every operation to understand what action they should take at a particular point.

The supply network chain design of Apple Inc. includes how various products or businesses can reach consumers. One of the best ways that the product can reach the intended consumers is through physical distribution. Apple Inc. should develop various geographical sites in every place where the demand is high to ensure that the customers can access the products easily. These geographical sites should be easily accessible to allow easy access for more customers.

In every plant that Apple has developed, there have to be certain activities done as well as capacity. Every plant that deals with producing Apple products should be able to produce the products. In this case, the production plant should be allowed to hire its workforce to handle various tasks. Also, every operation plant should have the capacity of sourcing the raw materials to be able to create the products effectively without depending on other plants.

Process Technology

Process technology refers to the chemical process used within the company to transform raw materials into finished products. An example of process technology that can be used by Apple to turn the raw materials into finished products is the robotics. Robotics can be used to carry out some functions that may be deemed complex for human workers. Another process of technology that can be used is a computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacture (CAM) (Kushwaha, 2012). These features can be combined to help in product design as well as the manufacturing instructions. The third process of technology that can be used by Apple Inc. is Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) (Kushwaha, 2012). The CIM integrates all the aspects of manufacture as well as through design as well as manufacturing database.

Since Apple Inc is a technological company, it has to be at the leading edge of technology. Currently, the world is largely defined by technology, and more people have embraced it. Many people have the urge to feel new features brought about by technology(Kushwaha, 2012). Therefore, Apple Inc. has to make sure that it is always on the leading edge in technology to attract new customers rather than waiting for new technology to be developed. This action requires that the company should have innovative minds that can come up with new ideas for the company.

Infrastructural Strategic Decisions

Job Design and Organization

The people who staff the operation have various roles that they should perform to support the management. One of the roles that the staff have to play is to ensure that every person is doing their assigned duties. This role assists in management as it will ensure the operations move effectively. The other role that the staff have to play in management is to motivate each other (Urban & Naidoo, 2012). The role of the management is to motivate the staff to work much harder, but the staff can motivate each other to put in more effort. The Third role that the staff in operation can perform is leading. Leadership is not the sole responsibility of the management. The staff in operation can act as their own leaders by providing directions to their colleagues who seem not to be doing the right thing.

Assigning responsibility in a company depends on various factors. One of these factors is the available tasks. In this case, the complex tasks should be assigned to employees who are experienced while the simple task should be left for the staff who have less experience. Another way that responsibilities should be assigned should be based on skills that the workers have. For example, workers with more computer skills can be assigned to monitor or carry out activities that involve the use of computers. Also, responsibility within the company can be assigned based on the time that is available. In this case, an urgent task should be assigned to the workers first so that it can be completed before the required deadline.

The staff in the operation department should develop certain skills so that they can be productive. One of the skills that have to be developed is proper time management. Proper time management will help the staff to carry out various activities at the required time that ensuring the product and service from the operation department are delivered on time. The second skill that the staff should develop while in operation is the self-discipline. In this case, the staff should ensure that they perform their duties with minimal supervision. Also, the staff in the operation department should be able to develop good communication. In this case, the staff members should be at a position where they can communicate with their colleagues effectively as it will enable most activities to flow smoothly.

Planning and Control

Operations can be used to forecast or monitor the demand for products or services. One of the ways that can be used to forecast the demand for the product or service is when the production rate is slowly increasing. An increase in the production rate means that the product is attracting new customers slowly, and within a short time, the demand will be high (Oakland, 2014). Also, the demand for the product or services can be monitored by looking at the number of sales made. The number of sales made will help to understand the demand for the product or services by looking at the number of customers who have acquired the product or service.

Demand fluctuations are common in any form of business. There are times when the demand may be high and other times low. In times when the demand is low, the operation can adjust its activity levels by reducing the number of tasks assigned to the staff. Also, the activity levels can be reduced by increasing the time need to produce the products. In this case, the activities will be handled at a slower rate (Chopra, Meindl & Kalra, 2013). On the other hand, the demand for a product or service many go up. In such scenarios, the activity level can be increased by increasing more staff to handle various tasks that are present to meet these demands. Also, activity levels can be increased by reducing the time needed to accomplish various tasks. Activity levels will increase when there is little time required to accomplish tasks that need to meet the rising demands.

It is essential for the operation to plan and control its activities, and this can be made possible through the use of various systems. The main system that can be used is the managerial information system. The managerial information system provides regular reports on the operation of the company. Therefore, the managerial information system can be used to ensure that every activity in operations is undertaken effectively. The second system that can be used to control and plan operations is the management control system (Krajewski, Ritzman & Malhotra, 2013). The management control system gathers information and then uses it to evaluate the performance of the company. If the performance of the system is below the expected level, the management control system will provide suggestions on how it can be improved. After, the management control system will oversee to make sure that all activities are done correctly.

Various products are involved in the production of goods and services. However, this issue may not be effective unless there is adequate resources. The operation can decide on how the resources can be allocated to various activities. One...