Operations management is an area of
management concerned with overseeing, designing, and controlling the process of
production and redesigning
business operations in the production of
goods or
services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that
business operations are
efficient in terms of using as few resources as needed and
effective in terms of meeting customer requirements. It is concerned with managing the process that converts inputs (in the forms of
raw materials,
labor, and
energy) into outputs (in the form of goods and/or services). The relationship of operations management to
senior management in commercial contexts can be compared to the relationship of
line officers to highest-level senior officers in
military science. The highest-level officers shape the
strategy and revise it over time, while the line officers make
tactical decisions in support of carrying out the strategy. In business as in military affairs, the boundaries between levels are not always distinct; tactical information dynamically informs strategy, and individual people often move between roles over time.