Text 4 Production Management

Production or operations management includes planning, coordination and control of industrial processes. Modern industrial enterprises organise themselves either around different products or along product lines in which each division is responsible for a group of products. In this case the focus is always on the product and how it can be improved. Typical production operations are very complex. There are few number of changes that can be made during production cycle. To solve operations management problems there has been developed a body of quantitative methods. Most of these techniques have come from the fields of industrial engineering, operations research and systems engineering. Specialists in these fields are increasingly using innovative technology, computers and information processing to solve production problems. Now many mass production operations could be run without support of industrial engineers and technical specialists.

To improve productivity managers launch lean manufacturing. Its aim is to eliminate waste in every area of production that leads to less human effort, less inventory, less time to develop products and less factory spare.

The aim of production management is to ensure that goods are produced effectively to the satisfaction of customers. In manufacturing a production manager is responsible for a product, its quality and process design, for planning and control issues as well as for organisation and supervision of workers. In small private companies production managers make many of the decisions themselves while in big and public enterprises there are special planners, controllers, production engineers and supervisors who assist them. Much of the work involves full operational control including engineering, output, personnel, logistics and other activities such as sales and marketing.

Production supervisors known as shift managers or shift masters report to operations managers and are responsible for achieving immediate or short-term objectives such as output, quality, waste, yield, safety and overtime costs. Much of this work requires the ability to make immediate decisions.

To conclude, it is important to mention that production management can be formulated as the concept of the five Ms - men, machines, methods, materials and money.

Answer the questions:

1. How do industrial enterprises organise their work?

2. What stages are included into production management?

3. What fields of science did technological processes usually come from?

4. What innovations do industrial engineers use to solve production problems?

5. What is the aim of production management?

6. What is lean manufacturing?

7. How do production managers organise their work in small private companies?

8. What is a production supervisor?

9. What is a production supervisor responsible for?

10. How can the concept of production management be formulated?

Text 5. Railway Management

Railway management is more than just management. In railway management we should distinguish between the strategic and tactical levels of decision making. In other words, the strategic level refers to the fundamental orientations of the railway undertaking, while the tactical level introduces new technologies, organisational goals and changes in human resources.

As customers ask for new products, services and in time delivery of freight, time management has become one of the main sectors of the railway operation.

Consumer protection makes railways increase safety of passengers and compensate their clients in case of accidents and great delays. As railways must adjust their products and policy to external requirements, risk management is extremely acute today.

Project management for railways is the act of directing and administrating a project. It can be divided into four parts - organisation, development, sorting and execution. Management of infrastructure is another essential part of transport management. The primary task of the rail infrastructure managers is to ensure safe operation of rolling stock and to reduce costs. Infrastructure managers are also responsible for track maintenance and signalling equipment.

In the era of international railway cooperation managers should seek for collaboration with other railways. International management is extremely significant now.

The main task of the railway passenger management is to offer safe transportation of people and high quality of services. That is why railways should implement a new strategy combining competition, cooperation and alliances. Railways offer a new and global product to customers by making a railway trip and ticketing easier. Thus, some railways have established Web-sites with useful information and provide e-ticketing services.

As for the rail freight management, its task is safe transportation of goods without delays and damages, reduction of noise level and introduction of modern freight rolling stock. To achieve these goals it is necessary to integrate rail traffic into logistic chains.

The act of motivating people to work in switching yards and sorting stations is a serious problem nowadays. Railway managers should pay more attention to the working environment of their staff.

Answer the questions:

1. What levels of decision making should be distinguished in railway management ?

2. What level refers to the fundamental orientations of the railway undertaking?

3. Why is time management essential for the railway operation?

4. What factors make railways increase safety of passengers?

5. What are the main parts of the project management for railways?

6. Who seeks for collaboration with different railways?

7. What should railways implement in the passenger sector?

8. What did some railways establish to make ticketing easier?

9. Why should managers integrate rail traffic into logistic chains?

10. What should railway managers do to attract workers to switching yards and sorting stations?

Text 6. Information Management

Information management (IM) is collection and management of information from one or more sources with further distribution of that information to one or more audience. Management means organisation of and control over the structure, processing and delivery of information. Throughout the 1970s it was largely limited to files, file maintenance, and the life cycle management of paper-based files, other media and records. However, with the proliferation of information technology, the job of the information management took on a new light, and began to include the field of data maintenance.

No longer was the information management a simple job that could be performed by almost anyone. As information storage shifted to electronic means, data processing demanded a deep understanding of theory and technology. As information was regularly disseminated across computer networks and other electronic means, by the late 1990s, network managers had become information managers. Those individuals found themselves faced with increasingly complex tasks, advanced hardware and sophisticated software. With the latest tools available, information management has become a powerful resource and a large expense for many organisations.

In short, information management includes organising, retrieving, acquiring and maintaining the information. Following the behavioural science theory of management, developed at Carnegie Mellon University, most of what is going on in service organisations is actually decision making and information processes. Thus, the crucial factor in the information and decision process analysis is the individual's limited ability to process information and to make decisions under these limitations.

Answer the questions:

1. What is information management?

2. What does the word “management” mean?

3. What happened with the proliferation of information technology?

4. What does the job of the information management include?

5. Why did it become necessary to have a deep understanding of theory and technology?

6. When did information management as a new profession appear?

7. What has become a powerful resource and a large expense for many organisations?

8. What does information management include?

9. What university developed the behavioural science theory of management?

10. What is the crucial factor in the information and decision process analysis?

Text 7. International Management

International companies compete with each other for global executives to manage their operations around the world. International management is becoming increasingly important as the modern global business requires a new breed of managers and leaders equipped with flexible, transferable business skills and a global vision. The leaders and operations of today’s multinationals are dispersed across the globe so it is necessary for them to be able to do business across time-zones, cultures and languages.

Companies can obtain management development services from internal departments or externally from professional associations, business schools, educational institutions and independent consultants.

Companies doing international business need to be particularly concerned with training their staff to prepare them for overseas assignments. As companies integrate their operations globally, national approaches can send conflicting messages to success-oriented managers. If managers are unfamiliar with the culture and work habits of local people this can result in making critical mistakes. Thus, subsidiaries in different countries operate differently and reward different behaviours based on their unique cultural aspects. The challenge for today's global companies is to recognise local differences and to create globally integrated career paths for their future senior executives.

Today’s business world is characterised by intense global competition, crises, financial uncertainties, protectionism, alliances and joint ventures. Managers are increasingly called upon to make decisions in high risk and crises situations. Risk and return tend to be related, especially at the international level where operations generate higher returns and correspondingly higher levels of risk.

International managers must have a rational outlook, and view the organisation as the co-ordinated network of individuals who make appropriate decisions based on their professional competence and knowledge.

There is no doubt that the new global environment demands more, not fewer, globally competent managers. Global experience is rapidly becoming the only route to the top. A big question for the future is whether global organisations will remain able to attract sufficient numbers of young managers to work internationally. Modern companies need to make plans for growth and survival in the global world of business competition. Some will choose to conduct business from home taking on competitors in the safety of their domestic market. Other companies will decide to go international operating from both domestic and foreign markets.

Answer the questions:

1. Why do international companies compete with each other?

2. What specialists are becoming increasingly important?

3. How can companies obtain management development services?

4. Why do multinationals have to train their staff for overseas assignments?

5. What may happen if managers do not know local culture?

6. What is the main challenge of today's multinationals?

7. How is today’s business world characterised?

8 What qualities must international managers possess?

9. What experience is the only route to the top?

10. What plans for growth and survival can companies work out?

Text 8. Project Management

Modern corporations are ideal for project management as they can organise business into several functional departments or project teams to carry out certain objectives. In such devisions conflicts are minimal as people work in small teams and it is easier to train and manage them. Working in team creates a sense of collective responsibility. Everyone shares in success, learns from mistakes, and works on the same project. There is more harmony, less competition, more support and less isolation. There is a better balance between time, cost and performance. Authority and responsibility are shared among the team. A project manager supervises the team engaged into the project and motivates team members to achieve the agreed goals. He is also responsible for summarizing the work of the team and reports directly to General Manager or CEO. No matter what project it is, project managers follow the same pattern: conceptualisation, definition, planning, execution, control, closure.

Conceptualisation is the first stage in the project life cycle. Conceptualisation is the idea, thought, initial plan, or the first stage of thinking a manager should make to work out a plan for solving the existing problems. The concept may be to set up a new project or to expand the existing operation or to replace it with new technologies.

Definition comprises refinements of the elements described in the conception phase. All sub-systems and elements of the proposed system are scrutinized and defined.

Planning is another important aspect in project management. It includes rendition of plans, identification and management of required resources, manifestation and determination of production.

The operational stage comprises the actual linking of project service to the system, evaluation of technical resources of the project and the adequacy of project supporting.

Feasibility study report is always prepared to support the investment proposal. It is the primary report for the formulation of the investment proposal. Risks have to be analysed at each stage of the project. The impact of risk at each stage of the project should be tracked. Continuous risk assessment is also necessary. Usually a special committee is formed to analyse, identify and track the risks involved in any project. The areas of the project that are identified as risks are reported and recorded.

Answer the questions:

1. How can modern corporations organise their business?

2. What positive factors of working in team can you name?

3. Why are conflicts minimal in project teams?

4. What is a project manager responsible for?

5. What pattern do project managers usually follow?

6. What does conceptualisation aspect comprise?

7. What problems are solved at the stage of definition the project?

8. Why is planning important for project management?

9. What happens at the operational stage of project making?

10. What type of report is prepared to support the investment proposal?