objectives of operations management have to do with

a) performance improvements;

b) acquiring a competitive advantage;

c) an overall strive for continuous improvement, or perhaps

d) some combination of these aspects?

Requirement:

1. 200 words or more;
2. Please focus on the question with some analysis in depth.
3. Examples are preferable
4. With some academic reference in Harvard Style
5. Based on the essay as a reference

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Introduction

This essay is based on the facts collected for the famous online organization called EBay. Thus online store focuses on many products which range from electronic items, cosmetics, and others. This is the reason, why the number of eBay users is tremendously increasing every year. Buyers these days prefer to purchase their favorite stuffs through online method, as it saves them time and money. Managing online stores is not an easy task, as there are lots of challenges involved in the process.

Objectives

a. The first objective of online stores is easy communication with customers from different part of the world. This is in fact considered to be one of the most effective ways to communicate with them and talk about the products.

b. Marketing is quite easy.

c. With enough security, the online stores assure secured payment methods for the users.

d. All the latest information about the product can be communicated with the potential customers, without any efforts.

e. Improve the quality of services

Implications

What implications do these objectives have for how the organization conducts its operations?

Every company sets objectives with an intention of increasing the sales of the company. Strategic management helps the management to achieve the set target, and will indicate any variations from the actual plan. EBay has also planned the sales of the products in the same way as the stores would do. However it has to be done in an effective manner, which means the product and its benefits would confirm the same message to the potential buyers, as the stores would do. Though many think that online stores are different from the actual shops, and this is true to some extent. The method to advertise the products is quite simple, and has to precise. Only then the attention of the users can be easily grabbed, without any hassle. Customer service plays a key role here, and eBay has taken care of the same. The experts have been trained to provide prompt and accurate information to the potential clients, so that they can make their decision quick. This is the same case, with the stores where sales representatives would personally attend the customers and cater their buying needs. The targets are set based on the realistic facts that are collected by the marketing department. In order to achieve the same, it is necessary to make the best use of the available resources like money, manpower, and technology. The company has set clear the promotional objectives, and this has been planned by experts. Every step involved in the process is closely monitored by experts, through strategic management (Johnson K, n.d).

Advantages and disadvantages

What advantages and disadvantages result from the organization stressing some objectives over others?

Online stores offer lots of advantages to the existing and potential buyers. One of the biggest advantages is the possibility of reaching to maximum number of clients, across the globe. EBay has customers, who always visit the site to check the better options. The management thus looks forth for effective ways to advertise different products. All the goods are categorized in proper sessions, which make it easy for the clients to check the availability of the products. Shipping the product has to be done in the manner as promised? EBay has constantly worked on improving the quality of services rendered by the company. With efforts and hard work, the company has indeed brought down the number of complaints that were initially lodged with the organization. This is one of the reasons that have made this site quite successful as compared to others. Marketing policy is constantly updated with the site, so that maximum clients can be reached within no time. As compared to the conventional methods, the cost of advertising is quite les and effective (Smart Objectives, n.d).

The customer's feedback need to be taken into consideration for improving the quality of the services. Now that is possible by addressing their grievances and ensuring that it doesn't happen again. Sometimes, solving the customers complain takes longer time than expected, which is not liked by many clients. For instance, if the product was returned back by the clients, the turnaround time required for sending the other product is long. This doesn't happen with physical stores, as the products at many times are exchanged over the counter.

Real time examples

For the sake of the customers, the company re-launched eBay's homepage, which had a "the Feed" which helped the business to progress. This in fact helped the management to know that the customers love to consume potatoes, which was found through effective methods. This helped in creating a visual environment (Rubin T, 2005).