Operations management focuses on managing the processes of producing and distributing
products and services. Operations activities often include product creation, development,
production and distribution. It deals with all operations within the organization. Related
activities include managing purchases, inventory control, quality control, storage, logistics
and evaluations. The nature of how operations management is carried out in an
organization depends very much on the nature of products or services in the organization,
for example, retail, manufacturing, wholesale, etc. In operation management a great deal of
focus is on efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Efficiency is when processes are
being completed at the lowest cost possible. Effectiveness is having the right processes that
will create the most value for the company. In addition, operations processes depend solely
on the decisions made by management. When management makes decisions, the concept
of ethics comes in to play. Managers who fail to provide leadership and incorporate
systems that facilitate ethical conduct share responsibility with those who knowingly
benefit from corporate misdeeds. Executives who ignore ethics run the risk of personal and
corporate liability. One example would be Bank of America (BofA), the bank that I
currently bank with. BofA has begun operations of combining its wealth and investment
management operations with Fleet Boston Financial Corp., BofA is looking to expand a
policy requiring employees to keep all of their personal investments with the companys
own brokerage dealers. BofA asset management employees have been generally required
to keep their accounts with the company since 2002, but now the policy could be extended