Issue 1 How important is operations management for international competitiveness?
A major reason for the growing importance of operations management is the need for firm to compete more effectively on an international stage. The start of the Euro on 1 January 1999 was one of the European developments that forced firms such as Tesco ans Kingfisher to look beyond Britain. And it is not only about UK firms looking to Europe. The 'shrinking' of the world through the improvements in transport and communications have made many British firms develop a more international perspective. All areas of business need to be effective for a company to compete internationally. But the most important areas are the costs to succeed in the international market. However, getting everything right internally is still not a guarantee of success. External factors such as high exchange rates can damage the competitiveness of the most efficient firms.
Issue 2 when does a fad become a trend?
The 'Japanisation' of UK business has become widely established in recent years. The idea of kaizen ( a focus on continuous improvement of processes), quality circle groups and aiming for zero defects are now common in both business literature and the workplace. There are, however, people who feel that these idea are either: