Analyzing the Efficiency and Competiveness of Operational Structures & Essay

Analyzing the Efficiency and Competiveness of Operational Structures & Information System in Argos - Essay Example The paper tells that Argos is one of the largest brands that Home Retail Group boasts of. Argos is a unique multi-channel retailer that has made a special place with the consumers because of their varied choice, strong values and convenience. Apart from having over 700 stores across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, they also sell products online, over the telephone, via a tele-partner – Vodafone, a special mobile website and so on. With their 33,000 employees, they are one of the biggest organizations and consumers seem to love them. Their website was the most visited high-street website in UK in 2008. What probably separates Argos from competitors is the commitment they show in their work. They indulge in what they call ‘Responsible Retailing’, better known as Corporate Responsibility to the layman. By taking various measures, they do much more for the economy and the environment than many other organizations in their category. They play a great role in preser ving the environment by dealing with issues such as waste management and energy consumption. They take steps to ensure that the consumer also is being environmentally-friendly. To do this, they ensure that they provide the consumer with information about their sources of timber, and so on. They also play a very important role in supporting the ecology, by giving back to the community that they are a part of. They believe in recycling and ensure that it is a strictly-followed policy in all of their stores. Another important thing that they have done is: taken measures to ensure that people with disabilities can have an easy shopping experience in their stores. (argos.co.uk) From all this we can see how much Argos is a part of the community. They are not only taking from the community, but are doing the best they can to ensure that whatever they take, they return more to the community. By being supportive of the ecology, they are also showing that they are not a corporation that just cares about profit, they care about the planet and the people on it! Operations Management Operations Management is a function that basically is responsible for managing the operating core of an organization. This includes various activities such as ‘creation, production, distribution and delivery of the organization’s goods and services’ (iiml.ac.in).  This means that Operations Management revolves around all the activities that are involved in the daily functioning of an organization. Let us take a retail chain for instance. Here, Operations Management would revolve around the designing, production, distribution and delivery of the products to the different stores, or even directly to the consumers if need be. Operations Management is very essential for any organization, as it gives direction and a structured plan to follow. Without it, we’d probably be lost. (mitsloan.mit.edu). One can only imagine the amount if chaos an organization, especially a ret ail store, could be in, without a properly designed Operation Management system. Take for instance