Competitive Advantage in Operations Management

The Nissan Motor Company Limited

The Nissan Motor Company Limited is a multinational company engaged in the business of manufacturing and sell of sell of automotive products as well as marine equipment. Based on the case study by Schmidt & Simchi-Levi (2013), the company employs operations management functions in the provision of products and generation of value for its customers. The company manages the entire process involved in the creation of its products through proper planning, proper organizing, good coordination and control of the required resources for product production. As a borrowed idea from Toyota, the company no longer practice push manufacturing, but rather adopted the just-in time principle whereby it reduced its buffer stocks. Raw materials as well as the works in progress are not pushed towards creation of the final product but are instead pulled along with demand. The automobile components are manufactured in small amounts to reduce piling of stock. More so, the company adopted a supply chain structure that is decentralized and based on regions. In addition, the company exercises a strong central control in case of an emergence or any form of crisis that may affect its global operations.

Competitive Advantage through Operations Management

The adoption of operations management has earned the company a competitive advantage over its competitors. Competitive advantage maybe defined as some of the features that are unique for a company together with its products that makes the company and its products appear superior to competitors and their products. This is what creates brand loyalty among the consumers. To achieve this goal, Nissan had to capitalize on comparative and differential advantage by introducing the “Leaf” model that marked the first and a true zero vehicle in terms of emissions (Kawamura, Ito, Karikomi, & Kume, 2011). Its newly employed power source consisting of the battery made the price of the vehicle low. Its Partnership with Nec gave it the ability to control the price for some of the highly priced vehicle components but still retaining its quality. This has given the company a competitive advantage over its customers.

Similarities and Differences between Service and Manufacturing Operations

At Nissan Company, a similarity exists between the serve operations and manufacturing operations since the two are customer centered and work in collaboration to achieve a common goal that is mainly to meet the demands of their consumers. However, the two differ in the sense that they are answerable to different questions and are responsible for formulating strategies that slightly differ from one another with regard to planning and managing the operation of the organization.

Comparison of Critical Path Method and Project Management and Review Technique

Critical Path Method (CPM) and Project Management and Review Technique are similar in that they are used to manage and control activities of a project. However, the two differ in that PERT is used to manage activities that are uncertain while CPM is used to manage activities that are defined. In the case of Nissan, PERT will be employed to a project aimed at preventing damage from future calamities such as earthquakes since it involves the management of uncertain activities. On the other hand, CPM would be employed for the management of predictable activities such as costs in the company.

Steps in Building a Forecasting System

The steps involved in building of a forecasting system involves first the definition of the problem. This is the problem that is likely to face the company. Problem identification is followed with information gathering regarding the problem and potential losses. This is often followed by carrying out a preliminary analysis before choosing models that best fit the problem. The final step involves the use and evaluation of the forecasting model employed to see its effectiveness. Nissan needs to adopt such steps to develop a system that is able to forecast damage that may result from future calamities.

Risks Associated with Supply Chain and Risk Management Strategies

Some of the risks associated with supply chain include strategic risks. Such risks can be reduced by adopting a favorable supply management strategy. The other risk market strategy and can be reduced by establishing the quality of the product and its associated tolerance. Implementation risks represents another set of risks and can be reduced introducing new suppliers to gain knowledge of any risk that may arise. The fourth risk is performance risk followed by demand risk and the two can be reduced by carefully monitoring the suppliers to establish whether they have started new business. For the case of Nissan Motors Co, its focus is on risks associated with disasters. The company will be able to deal with such interferences by sharing information within their global regions and allocating supply based on risks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Nissan has gained a competitive advantage through the application of operations management. The company is successful due to its ability to remain conscious with regards to risks management and if this is maintained, it will be able to shine over its competitors.

References

Kawamura, H., Ito, K., Karikomi, T., & Kume, T. (2011). Highly-responsive acceleration

            control for the nissan LEAF electric vehicle (No. 2011-01-0397). SAE Technical Paper.

Schmidt, W., Simchi-Levi D. (2013), nissan motor company ltd.: building operational resiliency