Introduction
The primary strategy of interest that I attempted to implement was to build a positive relationship with the majority of suppliers by ordering raw materials from the same companies. I have done this in an attempt to increase the capacity of the organization and respond to the shift in demand if the latter occurs. Eventually, it allowed me to avoid long lead times, even though the latter could aid me in gaining access to a reasonable discount. A thorough relationship with suppliers had to be established in order to prevent the depletion of resources and reduced product quality. I managed the majority of supplier relationships as if I were their customer, supervising the available budget and cutting back on expenditures where possible. I did not come up with a specific supplier management plan during the game, but I tried to remain as consistent as possible in terms of business relationships with suppliers. Delivery and quality performance became the key drivers of my operations management strategy, as I created enough room for adequate lead times.
Another strategy that played an important role when I walked through all six training exercises was a proactive approach to quality management. My intention was to react to expected product quality requirements established by retailers and provide them with products on time. I met an excessive number of issues related to this strategy along the way because proactive planning forces managers to think at least three to five steps ahead. I did not foresee the outcomes of some of my actions, leading to incomplete contracts. Despite the inspection of resources and timely restocking operations, the overall status of completed assignments could be seen as dependent on manufacturing processes as well. This was one of the main reasons why I took the time to upgrade the available machinery and purchase new tools to extend the production line. Thus, I also tried controlling operations by looking into real-time statistics, as the majority of modern businesses have already switched to big data and machine learning to achieve corporate objectives.
The third operation management strategy I successfully implemented to complete the game was the timely delivery of products through strict scheduling. Irrespective of available resources and capacity, my objective was always to remain a reliable production and transportation agent that provided corporate clients with high-quality products on time. The process of planning and scheduling could be outlined as majorly intuitive, but I was still able to predict production capacity during the early stages of production and purchase raw materials in advance. The available equipment’s effectiveness was also enhanced by constant upgrades intended to alter the manufacturing process. The process of communication between departments was as smooth as it could be, allowing me to focus on planning procedures, human resource management, and equipment assessment. The biggest challenge I met trying to adhere to this objective was an extremely high chance of not being able to follow the delivery schedule due to the untimely delivery of raw materials. Thus, some of the mistakes could not be corrected on the fly.
Analysis
There were three essential drivers that I considered when designing the strategy that I tried to follow when completing the game. The first one that I picked was production because I was looking for opportunities to develop a responsive supply chain that would become interconnected with flexible manufacturing. In the beginning, it was harder to follow suit because the range of items not being too wide. Consumer demand fluctuations had to be curbed with the help of production drivers in order to turn the company into a reputable distribution center. The production facility I was able to achieve closer to the sixth unit of the game was exceptionally responsible because it considered optimization opportunities and excess capacity. Nevertheless, this driver alone had to be optimized in order to increase the efficiency of organizational operations. Centralized production efforts were scaled after the first two units of the game to improve delivery times for customers with higher standing and shorter waiting times.
The second driver that I consider the most important out of all three is inventory. Throughout all six units of the operation management game, my primary objective was to remain responsive enough in order to restock raw materials, train employees, hire a new workforce, manage the production line and delivery, and take care of necessary machinery. Therefore, the production level is a complex variable that is mostly affected by the existence of fluctuations in inventory. Even though my actions were not efficient at all times, the fundamental intention was to minimize the occurrence of unexpected events and complete contracts without putting a strain on the workforce or the available budget. With the storage costs not changing over time, the game allowed me to achieve higher levels of inventory management by creating an economy of scale. Cost savings allowed me to complete more contracts within the expected time frame and alter the process of delivery.
The third driver that I would like to cover within the framework of this report is the existence of significant alterations in transportation. The reason for including this variable is the possibility of increasing the company’s reputation by manufacturing and delivering products precipitately. Despite some of the contracts being completed in a last-minute fashion, my core objective was to attain a certain level of response flexibility to have more time to adapt to urgent contracts. That was the key to urgent transportation as well since consumers prefer shorter delivery times regardless of their initial deadlines. The experiences of such delivery moguls as UPS and FedEx motivated me to shorten delivery times as much as possible and emphasize the importance of larger batches of products for customers of all calibers. Despite having access only to a single means of transportation, I tried to make it way more efficient by reducing wait and delivery times. In the end, it allowed me to exchange reasonable monetary expenditures related to delivery on an omnipresent reputation that unlocked more expensive contracts.
Reflection
Table 1. Reflection notes from every game unit.
Overall, some of the decisions were completely ineffective, but they did not avert me from attaining the ultimate objectives of every unit of the game. I believe that I could have paid more attention to raw materials procurement and inventory management. Even though I had open access to machinery, I disregarded the importance of upgrading the existing tools and purchasing new instruments extending the list of products that could get on the manufacturing line. By losing two to three turns without realizing my mistake, I negatively affected the company’s income and missed consequent deadlines that hit the company like an avalanche at the end of the day. If I were to replay the game, I would think at least four steps in advance and only take and negotiate for contracts that could be completed before the deadline. There were too many instances of missed deadlines that caused the company’s reputation to diminish and killed its net worth. Accordingly, my personalized piece of advice for myself could be not to rush into things and take one step at a time while reviewing all the potential consequences.
Organisation Report
General Information
Qatari Al Meera hypermarket boasts more than 30 retail stores across the country. Nevertheless, the size of the organization does not avert it from becoming a victim of decreased employee performance and consumer satisfaction. These risks have been successfully mitigated over the years by means of branding, but the overall attractiveness of the brand might not be enough to protect the organization (Al Meera, 2021). The high level of competition in the industry requires stronger operations management and a larger supply chain that is going to improve the flexibility of the business. The strategic vision and culture of Al Meera lack a management background that could bring back consumer confidence and help the organization conquer the market. Therefore, a strong brand has to be in line with supply chain management operations so that a good brand name would eventually become a synonym for decision-making flexibility and fair relationships with employees. The current research is going to focus on how supplier management and capacity planning could benefit Al Meera and other Qatari organizations engaged in fierce competition.
Methods, Assumptions and Procedures
The method that was picked by the researcher is a narrative literature review. The importance of this method can be validated through the opportunity to gain insight into the required subject while processing statistical insights with no complications. On the other hand, the use of a literature review is one of the best ways to reinforce the relevance of the problem of operations management while swotting a certain company as an illustration. The insights generated via the current literature review also contributed to the ability to justify the need to address Al Meera’s approach to operations management. The author also got a chance to outline the respective trends across Qatar as a whole.
Operations management was picked as the central topic of the given literature review. A Google Scholar search was completed, with a total of 170 results obtained. I picked ten articles that I believed related to the subject of operations management the most, with the issues of inventory management and human resource management being at the forefront. Google Scholar was the best instrument for finding all the related information because it did not discriminate against any of the databases. Thus, I gained access to the most relevant articles that could be located quickly. The information was then synthesized into sequential knowledge that could be utilized to explain the importance of operations management for Al Meera and Qatari organizations in general.
The primary assumption that was made before the start of the literature search was that hypermarkets and supermarkets across Qatar could boast an exceptionally positive reputation. Supply chain management methods and operations were hypothesized to improve drastically over the past decade, allowing Al Meera to take one of the leading spots in the market. Hence, business management could bring stronger customer loyalty to the table while also affecting employee performance. A literature review on Al Meera allowed the researcher to outline some of the potential issues with the supermarket’s supply chain. Also, expansion opportunities and strategy effectiveness were reviewed in rich detail.
Results and Discussion
Based on the results of the literature review, it can be concluded that operations management significantly depends on the effectiveness of supply chain collaboration established across the organization. With Al Meera trying to integrate new solutions and improve the Qatari retail business strategies, it is evident that the contribution of this company is too complex to be ignored (Albasoos, Hassan and Al Zadjali, 2021; Mehrez, 2019). Nevertheless, it took the company a lot of time to develop a network of reliable suppliers and only high-quality retail products. At the moment, the organization also pays enough attention to how the channel distribution should be set up as well (Al Rabeay and Sherif, 2019). Ben Hassen, El Bilali and Al-Maadeed (2020) stated that operations management across Qatar was aligned against exceptionally high standards. That was a sign of a strong supply chain that had to be altered slightly in order to pave the way for an even more robust supply chain. With the key strength of Al Meera being the capability of managing suppliers, the overall success of the organization can be outlined as reasonably expected.
The company could also boast heavy capacity planning and a flexible approach to human resources. According to Elnemr et al. (2021), Al Meera and other Qatari retailers mainly focus on the quality of the workforce and products before implementing any supply chain upgrades. Timely delivery of goods and relentless stock replenishment represent the other side of the operations management coin for Al Meera. The administration focuses its efforts on building as many competitive advantages as possible while only partnering with reliable stakeholders and employees (Durugbo et al., 2021). Compared to the past decade, Qatari organizations have become much more disciplined while also preserving the eagerness to showcase their flexibility and capability of operating in the global market. For the current literature review, this means that supply chain integration is one of the fundamental go-to choices for Al Meera when it is necessary to operationalize and achieve new objectives (Al-Josaiman and Faisal, 2021). Also, supply chain collaboration and warehouse management can be significant contributors to the efficiency of administrative operations. There are numerous Middle Eastern companies forcing Al Meera to develop an enhanced supply chain and pay more attention to employee training and supplier management.
Another significant finding that cannot be overlooked is that Al Meera only partners with stable suppliers that are able to provide effective and mostly work with high-quality raw materials. This is why the literature review also highlighted the importance of Qatari supply chain management strategies by means of linking the latter to supply chain collaboration (Alfaisal, 2019; Nair and Choudhary, 2018). As a means of operationalizing corporate objectives, joint efforts remain one of the shortest pathways toward improving the food sector and showing other Qatari companies how to enhance supply chain management. Even if production and forecasting processes are not altered often, Al Meera possesses numerous competitive advantages that lead to the deployment of an integrated supply chain (Al-Shaiba, Al-Ghamdi and Koc, 2019). In turn, such a view of capacity planning and stakeholder management brings even more advantages to the table. The primary objective of Al Meera is an all-around improvement of organizational performance that could be turned into monetary profit later.
Conclusions
The information that was obtained during the literature review uncovered a number of relevant techniques and strategies that could be used by Al Meera management to enhance supplier management. Some of the core demands displayed by the chain of hypermarkets are safe product shipping and consistent employee training and education. With these possibilities in mind, the organization has an opportunity to process orders quicker than most rivals and engage in much more efficient inventory management operations. Even though warehouse management was only mentioned several times in the literature on the subject, its importance has to be reinforced due to Al Meera’s ability to restock raw materials in time. The organisation carefully ensures that it develops a trusting relationship with suppliers while selling high-quality products that appeal to the majority of consumers. Operations management is employed at Al Meera to enable flexibility and alter the local retail industry. Hence, Al Meera is a trendsetter that expects all of its suppliers to be just as flexible as itself. An increased customer demand does not seem to faze the retail mogul.
Recommendations
The first recommendation that can be made by looking at the results of a comprehensive literature review on Al Meera is to respond to competition in a timely manner by tightening supply chain decision-making. This means that the increasing popularity of retailers has to be mediated by means of proactive planning in several areas, including human resources, organizational capacity, and supplier management. These three variables are also essential for a better understanding of how more investors could be attracted to the Qatari hypermarket business. At the same time, improved decision-making would require the administration to increase investments in the retail market. It becomes harder for Al Meera to dominate the field because of numerous new players emerging across Qatar and the whole Middle Eastern region. The increasing popularity of hypermarkets hints at the fact that Al Meera’s administration should be willing to reinvent supply chain management to remain a unanimous industry leader.
While other organizations are visibly stagnating, Al Meera should take the time to improve its image in the local market and match consumer needs with its decisions. Having the opportunity to restock in a timely manner and provide stakeholders with high-quality products, Al Meera is going to enhance the gap even more due to an increasing demand variety in Qatari consumers. Forecasting operations should be expanded even more to give the hypermarket an opportunity to take advantage of premeditated decisions. With different types of products at hand, Al Meera should exert a reasonable effort to capitalise on the benefits offered by the local market. This is going to work only in the case where the management reinforces the importance of human resource training and long-term capacity planning. Qatari consumers expect high-quality products and competitive pricing strategies, meaning that Al Meera has to adjust its operations management to customer satisfaction in the long run.
Reference List
Al Meera, 2021. About us. [online] almeera.com.qa.
Al Rabeay, A. A. and Sherif, K. (2019) ‘Critical success factors for enterprise resource planning system implementation in Qatar’, International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management (IJCRMM), 10(4), 25-42.
Al-Josaiman, S. K. and Faisal, M. N. (2021) ‘State-of-the-art literature review of sustainable supply chain management: a developing countries perspective’, International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 26(1), 82-109.
Al-Shaiba, A. S., Al-Ghamdi, S. G. and Koc, M. (2019) ‘Comparative review and analysis of organizational (in) efficiency indicators in Qatar’, Sustainability, 11(23), 6566.
Albasoos, H., Hassan, G. and Al Zadjali, S. (2021) ‘The Qatar crisis: challenges and opportunities’, International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 10(1), 158-167.
Alfaisal, H. M. (2019) ‘The impact of board composition on firm performance: case of minority and company employees’ representative directors’, Journal of University Studies for Inclusive Research, 3(2), 292-316.
Ben Hassen, T., El Bilali, H. and Al-Maadeed, M. (2020) ‘Agri-food markets in Qatar: drivers, trends, and policy responses’, Sustainability, 12(9), 3643.
Durugbo, C. M. et al. (2021) ‘Wisdom from Arabian networks: a review and theory of regional supply chain management’, Production Planning & Control, 32(15), 1265-1281.
Elnemr, I. et al. (2021) ‘Monitoring the effect of environmental conditions on safety of fresh produce sold in Qatar’s wholesale market’, International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 1-19.
Mehrez, A. (2019) ‘Investigating critical obstacles to entrepreneurship in emerging economies: a comparative study between males and females in Qatar’, Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 25(1), 1-15.
Nair, G. K. and Choudhary, N. (2018) ‘Influence of inventory management, capacity forecasting, price management and capacity outsourcing on hotel performance: a case study in Qatar’, International Journal of Knowledge Management in Tourism and Hospitality, 2(1), 50-71.