Operational Challenges Marine Laboratory - myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Write about theOperational Challenges-Cquest Marine Laboratory Case Study. Answer: Introduction Just like any other managers who may be lacking the ability to make right decisions, CQuest Marine Laboratory managers are unable to decide what is right for their customers as well as for the future of their business. In the modern operation management field, managers face significant problems, and it will be difficult to overcome them if they are not equipped with the right tools and the necessary operation knowledge(Christine Mechling, 2015). Lack of operation knowledge is well evidenced in the case of CQuest Marine Laboratory. Douglas and Amy Patterson are unable to unravel crucial business operations that will improve value to the services they offer to the tourists. Their suggestions, views, and decisions appear to conflict and therefore making it difficult to decide what is right for the company. Cquest Marine Laboratory Operational Problem Overview To solve operations problems, operation managers must have the full understanding of the business flow, technology, operation, the customers and the products(Drake Spinler, 2013). According to Lipman (2014) when operation managers have this in mind they will be able to deal better with different organization groups to improve operations and processes of production. Besides, operation managers should be endowed with the technical skills and knowledge to be able to solve various operational issues. Both Douglas and Amy Patterson lack operations management skills. It is also important to highlight, that CQuest Marine Laboratory managers are dealing with service management, which a big challenge for operation managers especially in a competitive environment. The Cquest Marine Laboratory is facing stiff competition from Cairn Hotel that has ninety-five percent occupancy level. This is a big operational challenge for Marine service provider that anticipates accommodating only ten tourists out of the two hundred and forty tourists who visits their platform daily as per their planned operations. The CQuest Marine Laboratory is also suffering from the global competitive environment. As noted in the case study, the service provider relies on the international tourists. However, the company lacks sound strategies that can enable it to take advantage of the international tourists market. The managers operating the marine are only concerned about how the problems that seem to affect the international tourists without setting laying down plans on which they can capitalize on. In todays business operations management, managers should be fully aware that there is not permanent approach that should be relied upon as the solution to the operation problems(Northouse, 2010). Therefore, they should be situational to solve the problems as they arise. If they are tied to the same approach of solving operational problems they may become rigid and allergic to the business changes that may require a different approach. In the CQuest Marine Laboratory case, managers have relied on doing the same thing throughout without having plans in place to upgrade their services. From the above brief analysis of the CQuest Marine Laboratory, it is evident that the company is suffering from globalization, resource productivity and customer satisfaction, workforce and social trends, economic and environmental and technology operational changes. In the next discussion, this report will explore each operational problem and highlight how it can hamper the dream of CQuest Marine Laboratory company of having maximum tourists at their platform at all times. Globalization It is evident that the world has become a global village. Globalization of services is becoming a big challenge for both domestic and international organizations(Akkermans Van Aken, 2015). The CQuest seems to suffer from the ability to manage international tourists appropriately. Despite that the company knows the right time when the international tourists, especially from Australia and New Zealand, arrive at their platform, they fear that the fluctuations in the ocean will affect their business. This means that the company lacks an appropriate mechanism to manage business operations as result of global changes. The CQuest Marine Laboratory is unable to meet to establish proper measures to woo the international tourists to visit their site. The company wants to go global by maintaining the same competitive advantage of offering quality services at low prices. If the company maintains the same business operations, they are likely to suffer from the ability to satisfy customers. Besides, the globalization problem of the company is further strengthened by the poor cash flow problems that are affecting its operations. The CQuest Marine Laboratory receives tourist fees three months after customers consume their services. To make matters worse, the tourist agent demands forty percent from of the total fees paid. This dilutes the profits of the company as well as ability to go global. The above problems attributable to the globalization problem, has hampered the ability of the CQuest Marine Laboratory ability to develop a right product that can attract the international market. Besides, the company has been unable to identify an international target market that will be interested in their products. Instead, CQuest Marine Laboratory seems to be concerned about the customers of its competitors such as Cairn without having sound mechanisms in place to claim its market share. As noted in an earlier discussion in this paper, for operations managers to successfully manage business operations must understand the unique product that will capture its target market(McFarlane, 2014). However, this not the case for the CQuest Marine Laboratory because it has not had a specific product that can attract international tourist from Australia and New Zealand. Finally, on the problem of globalization, the CQuest Marine Laboratory lacks comprehensive and extensive understanding about their international competitors. The company is only focused on what is happening to the local competitors but not to the other international tourist sites. Bearing in mind that this organization has a unique tourist destination that comprises of science experiments and tourists activities, it stands in a good position to have an international image. This attributable to the uniqueness of it services that are not offered by any other international tourist destination. Therefore, it is high time CQuest Marine Laboratory established itself by applying appropriate business operations practices that will facilitate the promotion of their services not only in the domestic market but also in the international arena. Resource Productivity and Customer Satisfaction The quality business operations management emphasizes on using the available organizational resources productively to meet the customer needs appropriately (Hayes, 2012). The CQuest Marine Laboratory is endowed with funds to help them in adding value to their services to meet the needs of their customers appropriately. However, the managers are confused on how to put the available resources to use to improve the Marine Laboratory business operations. The two managers lack business operations skills on they can invest three million dollars to expand their platform to accommodate more tourists. According to Spector (2010) to satisfy customer needs properly and remain competitive in the market, firms must have the ability to provide their customers with the right high-quality services and goods. The CQuest Marine Laboratory lacks the skills and knowledge to provide high-quality services, at a low price and at the right time. The planned business operations by the Marine managers will create overcrowding in the Marine and push the tourists to enjoy their stay at the platform within a half a day. This plan fails to cater for the needs of the tourists who may be willing to stay a whole day in the park. Again, the transportation arrangement appears to be a major concern that the CQuest Marine Laboratory managers are unable to resolve. The current transportation facility available to offer travel services to tourists seems unreliable. According to the marine managers, the current transportation facility will be unable to meet the company planned business operations. Having a fast transport facility that will be able to make two trips a day is one of the major challenges that hamper the satisfaction of the Marine customers. Besides, the available transportation vessels in the marine platform cannot accommodate the needs of all the 120 tourists at once. The CQuest Marine Laboratory is unable to offer services in the state that is needed by the customer. According to Heizer Render (2009), operation manager should ensure that company products and services meet the standards required by the customers. This is another major challenge facing CQuest Marine Laboratory. The managers can improve service quality through employing right production means. Latamore, (2011) noted that customer satisfaction will be derived by improving productivity that in turn will translate into customer satisfaction. Besides, the employees involved in the production of the services at the marine platform seems to be dissatisfied with the current business operations. One of the employees argues that the marine has lost it scientific identify as it has been turned largely into a tourist site. The current management of the CQuest Marine Laboratory is unable to motivate it, employees, to deliver the best quality as per the customer needs. For example, Dr. Fiona Fullbright, the leader of the scientific put across her team is struggling to maintain the scientific authentic that is the core identity of the marine. Fullbright goes further to note that her team has been turned to be trained to become the swimming seal instead of being engaged in a scientific study that that will contribute understanding the impact of global warming. Operational Sustainability Challenges Operational sustainability emphasizes on the business maintaining the current practices without exposing future resources at risk(Drake Spinler, 2013). Ideally, the operational sustainability encompasses three core pillars, which is economic, environmental and social. Operations managers should be concerned about the outcome of each pillar including how business operations will impact them. For the CQuest Marine Laboratory, there are a few challenges associated with the operational sustainability. Douglas and Amy Patterson are only concerned about adding value to the business services without evaluating the planned business operations will be social, economically, and environmentally supportable. Business operations should be supported by the current and future business environment both in the short run and in the long run (Roth Menor, 2008). However, this appears to be a different situation in CQuest Marine Laboratory. Douglas and Amy Patterson perceives that the current economic condition facing the marine does not support the planned business operations. The company receives payment from the tourist agent three months after their tourists have visited the site. This payment agreement has seen the marine suffer from the cash flow problems. If the same continues, it will be difficult for the marine economic status to support the new planned operations. Secondly, the marine operations lack ecological sustainability. From the ecological standpoint, ecological operational sustainability should emphasize on effective utilization of the available natural resources with no possible signs that they will be depleted(Drake Spinler, 2013). Ecological sustainability looks at the ability of the business to effectively use resources in its production and sales(Minavand Minaei, 2013). The suggestion by Douglas and Amy Patterson to expand the marine platform to create accommodation for the ten tourists may affect the Coral Cay. Additionally, increasing the number of tourists visiting the marine may accelerate the depletion of the available resources making it difficult to undertake the same marine business operations in future. Conclusion This report will conclude that many rampant businesses face rampant operational challenges. The operations of the business do not only focus on producing and selling products but also addressing the interests of all other stakeholders. Businesses operations should also put into considerations their impacts to the environment. If the business positions itself to achieve success, it should make sure that the critical issues are observed to avoid losses and risks associated with the poor business operations planning. The CQuest Marine Laboratory has an opportunity to expand and meet the needs of the tourists satisfactorily. However, its planned operational strategies may lead to the collapse of the whole business. This is why the managers of the CQuest Marine Laboratory needs an operational manager who will help them plan for the anticipated business operation changes. References Akkermans, H. A., Van Aken, J. E. (2015). Problems in Operations Strategy Development: Reconciling Theory with Practice. Achieving Competitive Edge Getting Ahead Through Technology and People, 3-10. 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