International Management

Running Head : Operations Management

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University

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Tutor

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1 ) Why are international issues now important in operations management

According to Lawrence and Rosenblatt (2001 ,international issues are said to be important in

operations management because they help to

a . Overcome parochialism

Since operations are now becoming global ,management students have to broaden their thinking past their national boarders . As Lawrence and Rosenblatt (2001 ) states that this is particularly true for students in the United States ,who often suffer from severe national and cultural

myopia , studying international operations and by using cases ,problems and examples set in foreign ' countries , a start can be made in overcoming this parochialism

b . Identify cultural and contextual differences

Business is conducted differently throughout the world depending on the different cultural ,political and legal reasons and students who wish to participate in global operations have to be aware of these differences Also in his statement ,Hill M .I (2000 ) says that the second function of international operations pedagogy must therefore be to raise the sensitivity of students to significant national differences in business practice . For instance ,it is quite common for American managers to insist local management in other countries speak English , rather than learn the local language and culture

c ) Transfer world class management practice

Inclusion of international issues in an Operations Management curriculum is to undertake worldwide operations management benchmarking thereby facilitating the transferring of superior management practices Some of the examples include the concepts JIT , methods of team-management and the importance of transferring and diffusing

successful management techniques should not be underestimated , as recent comparisons

of national productivity trends have illustrated 'these are all described by McGraw hill

d )Address issues unique to the globalization of operations

As Schroeder (2007 ) puts Such s as facilities location logistics , operation planning , sourcing and technology transfer and need worthy of separate study and considerations . Each of these s affects operations in the global in the context and in turn are affected by the globalization of operations

Examples

The following are some of the major companies that have succeeded as a result

of international operations

a ) Boeing-This company has been able to be doing reasonably well since it expanded all

of its operations both locally and internationally (Hill M . I 2000

b ) Benetton- This company also has been able to reach most of its clients world wide faster than any of

its business competitors (Schroeder R .M 2007

c ) Sony- It not only buys components locally but also gets them from other countries such as Malaysia

d ) General Motors- It is expanding its horizons and as a result of this expansion it is building identical plants in other countries such as Thailand , China and many others . They are doing this so that they can also exchange ideas and learn from each other which will lead to the improved product quality (Schroeder R .M 2007

2 )What are the ways you determine the demand of a firms new convertible roadster

According to Lawrence and Rosenblatt (2001...