Operational Decision Making

Operational Decision Making Company Description Rotana Jet Aviation, also known as Rotana Airways, is one of the leading domestic airlines in the United Arab Emirates. This airline company has its main operating base in Al†Bateen Airport, which is about 10 kilometers from Abu Dhabi City. The company offers travel services to both the domestic and international passengers.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Operational Decision Making specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company has been keen to offer quality services to its customers. This is reflected in its mission statement that says, â€Å"To offer quality travel services to domestic and international travelers at reasonable costs.† The company has been experiencing growth in the market, especially after adding new international routes to the previously existing routes. Description of Operations It is important to understand the operational activities of Rotana Jet, and the m eans through which it turns its inputs into output. As stated above, this firm offers travel services to its clients in the market. One of the main inputs of this firm is the planes used to deliver the service. The firm purchases the planes (input) which it uses to offer the travel services (output) to the clients from one location to another. Another important input that the firm has been using is the entertainment facilities, especially the music system fitted in the seats. This input is used to offer entertainment services to its clients. The firm uses coffee, water, and sugar as inputs, to make coffee as the product for its clients while on board their planes. As Bruce (40) observes, the current competitive market in the airline industry is forcing the airline companies to offer better quality products in order to attract a pool of loyal customer. This explains why Rotana Jet is keen on offering their clients drinks and entertainment services. Another important input that this f irm uses in its operations is the human labor, which includes pilots and cabin crew. The pilots work to ensure that clients are flown from one location to another, while other cabin crews work as a team to ensure that the journey is more enjoyable for the customers. Supply Chain Decisions In the current competitive market, firms are keen to ensure that they employ the best strategy in their supply chain management. This is because they are under pressure to ensure that they are efficient in their operations. Sauter (73) observes that there is need to ensure that acquisition of raw materials, their movement to the firm, and distribution strategies used by a firm are very efficient in order to increase profitability.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Rotana Jets has been keen to ensure that its supply chain is managed appropriately to deliver the desired results i n the market. The diagram below shows some of the most important activities that the operations manager will be concerned with in supply chain management. The products, especially the jets will be coming directly from the manufacturer to the firm. Once this is received, the firm will use the input to offer travel services to the customer. Operations manager will always need to make a decision of whether to make such orders through well-established agents in the market, or to contact the manufacturer directly. This decision will always be guided by the associated costs. One of the main strategies that this firm has been using in the market to increase its productivity is cost leadership. This means that Rotana Jet’s operations manager would determine the options available in the supply chain, and determine the associated costs at each stage in the activities identified above. The firm would then make a decision on the option that is most efficient and cost effective. Accordin g to Sauter (51), in supply chain management, firms are always concerned of the best approach to use in order to ensure that they get inputs in time and at the most desirable plans so that a chain of other activities can begin. Given the cost leadership strategy that this firm has been using, it is important for the operational manager to ensure that the decision on the approach to take in acquiring the inputs is conscious of these factors. The management should ensure that the product is always ready whenever the customers need them. Operational Decisions Understanding critical operational decisions within a firm is one of the ways through which a firm can gain competitive advantage in the market (Mahadevan 81). One of the most important critical operational decisions is the choice of product design. Rotana Jet must devise a way to design its products in a manner that will give it an advantage in the market.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Operational Decision Making specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is a fact that all airlines offer travel services to their customers. However, Rotana must design its products in a unique manner that will help differentiate its services in the market. The management should make a decision to design unique seats, customized entertainment services, high quality customer care, and other unique qualities to its products. These decisions would have a direct contribution to the overall strategy of the firm. The identified decision areas focus on improving quality of services of this firm in the market. They are directly concerned of how Rotana Jet will offer positively unique service to its customers. This means that the operations manager must consider making these decisions out of the desire to offer quality service to its customers at reasonable prices. For this to be achieved, the management must ensure that costs of production are maintained as low as po ssible. Productivity According to Anderson (56), a firm should have a clear way of measuring productivity. This will help it when determining the sustainability of its operations. At Rotana Jets, the need to measure productivity is very strong. This is because of the increasing competition in this market, and the rising costs of production. The main approach of measuring productivity in this firm is through determining the output that is made of the operational activities. The output will be measured through sales made after a given trading period. The firm would then determine the associated costs during that period. The productivity would then be determined by deducting the costs from sales to find the profits. The profits will help in understanding the productivity of the firm. The profits generated should be reasonable enough to sustain operational activities of this company, and be able to foster development. To improve productivity of this company, the operational manager shou ld expand the scope of the firm’s internet marketing to include social media marketing. This is because social media such as Facebook and Tweeter are used by a large number of people who can form part of the customer base of this firm. This strategy will also help this firm create viral marketing in the internet.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Anderson, David. An Introduction to Management Science: Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making. Mason: South-Western, 2008. Print. Bruce, Peter. Understanding Decision-Making Processes in Airline. New York: Cengage, 2012. Print. Mahadevan, Bernard. Operations Management: Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2010. Print. Sauter, Vicki. Decision Support Systems for Business Intelligence. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons, 2011. Print. Appendix Cabin Crew Offering Value-Added Service to the Customers