Discussion/ Technology and Operations management

Customization is here to stay and has become part of us. An achievement begins with strategies that know what to modify instead of only dealing with difficulties in management. The Working together of both the operations and marketing departments improves results (Orlando, 2007). According to Booz & Company (2008) lack of coordination by the marketing department and project management in doing some particular activities sets prices too high. This in turn affects the performance of customization strategies. Relationship between project management and marketing managementThe o relationship between project management and marketing management is the objectives need to be the same. Marketing’s main objective is to meet the demand and supply of consumers without thinking of prices. The project manager is supposed to find a way to minimize these costs. (Booz & Company, 2008). They need to come to some level of agreement in terms of setting objectives so that they set specific objecti ves that reduces costs and keeps consumers satisfied. The other relationship between marketers and operations is cutting costs and satisfying consumers’ needs.There seems to be a conflict between project management and marketing department. Instead of cooperating with each other, they are at loggerheads. Marketing wants many varieties to choose from while operations want to make those changes at low costs. The other relationship between the two departments is that they are reimbursed differently. Marketing revolves around unit sales while project management main concern is about reducing manufacturing cost. Project managers and marketers do not have the same interests.This factor can strain there relationship between them. Project managers are technicians and doers. While marketers do not deal with specific issues (Booz & Company, 2008). Other relationship that they share between them is reduction of costs. When project managers, cut down costs and do not consult marketersâ⠂¬â„¢ then that becomes a problem. Relevance of project management in the work force Project management and marketing management are important to each other and there is need for harmonization for the two when working together.One department cannot do without the other, they are essential to each other (Booz & company,2008). The operations person assumes that, the sales people do not appreciate the cost factors while the sales people assume that the operations people do not appreciate that consumers are everything (Booz & company, 2008). There is need for a truce because in the event that they do not consult with each other it can bring to much variety of goods or cause costs to escalate (Booz & company, 2008).Another importance is the involvement of top leadership in encouraging dialogue between the two departments. In addition, there needs to be a meeting where both, project management and marketing department discuss about strategies to create teams that are cross -functional. Th e relevance of finding a common ground to discuss these issues is of great importance as it attributes to actions that solely base on costing analysis (Booz & Company, 2008). What is apparent is what choices are made and when to make them.The importance is to know the main objective of your organization’s purpose, as this will boost productions as well as marketing productivity. Appreciating both the real price and worth of the goods is important (Booze &Company, 2008). Organizations should centre there attention on customer understanding and set customizable elements into specific packages as an alternative of giving thousands of variations (Booze &Company, 2008). Incorporating strategic partners is essential in investigating costs productions (Orlando, 2007).Conclusion It is therefore apparent that project management helps in reducing cost productions, in the case of Egol, Booz &company, (2008) remembers a situation where he modified nearly all the machinery in trying to pl ease the consumers wants because they had specific requirements. If consumers are overwhelmed with goods to buy, they get so confused until they do not but at all. If here was an operational management they would have stopped the over indulgence. Reference Booz & Company. (2008).The challenge of customization: Bringing Operations and Marketing together the global commercial consulting firm. Retrieved on 22nd July 2009. Available at http://www.strategy-business.com/press/sbkw2/sbkwarticle/sbkw040616?tid=230&pg= Orlando, F. S. (2007). Centered collaboration2007, Retrieved on 22nd   July 2009. Available at http://www.gmaonline.org/events/2007/isld/presentations/overcomingc.pdf. Discussion/ Technology and Operations Management International Project management is very essential to control resource usage to ensure quality productions. International projects involve many people with different cultures and backgrounds. It is therefore necessary to have management system that harmonizes the cultural, social, political and economic differences amongst them. Project manager should be tactical and wise in decision making to ensure every project member is well catered for and maximum utilization of the resources is achieved to meet project objectives (Kwak, 2002). Development of an international project management plan in workplaceInternational project development environments are affected with many factors originating from within and outside the development environments by nature. International project development plan may be affected by cultural, social, political and economic factors and so the management plan should consider all these factors (Kwak, 2002). The international project management plan should consid er all possible physical factors in the countries involved for mitigation. In addition, the laws and regulations governing different countries should be considered to ensure political stability.With the political factors solved, there will be improved returns on investments due to reduction in risks resulting from uncertainties in the international project development environment. In any business, there has to be legal requirements to be met. An international project development management system has to meet all the legal requires in terms of government policies and regulations. These factors may affect prices, exchange rates in the markets, taxations and even financial management systems. This may lead to some people losing their jobs and others incurring losses in the business.As a business right, political factors should be well managed to ensure market stability for the market users (Kwak, 2002). Cultural factors such as style or values should be considered when developing an in ternational project development management system. Since some countries are not aware of the some cultural resources in other countries, assistance should be provided to facilitate the international projects development process. Cultural value should be put into consideration when designing the management system. When planning for an international project management system, technological factors should be put in to consideration.This is because technological designs and level of use vary from country to country (Kwak, 2002). This may lead to varied participation levels in a project and so a project manager should consider the variation to successfully manage a project. Employing project management techniques to skillfully and ethically lead complex international projects in organizations Project management is a technique through which projects can be evaluated to encourage soft skills application in contrast with the hard skills to achieve the project goals.Soft skills are mostly ba sed on the technical resources required to carryout a project such as stakeholders’ contributions, collaboration or teamwork, organizational behaviors and management strategies (Marques, 2005). According to Harold (2005), for a successful project management in an organization, skillful and ethical techniques for a success in a complex or large organization are as follows. First, there has to be process integrations in the organizations. Integration of processes involves forming teamwork or collaborations in a project to ensure every member’s requirements are catered for in the product design.In addition, teamwork ensures success because of improved participation amongst members. Second, incorporation of cultural values at the design stages of a management system. Incorporation of the cultural values in multicultural organization will ensure equitable presentation of all members rights and therefore not to lower their dignity or abuse their rights (Harold, 2005). Third, information and support managements, which includes monitoring and assessing the communication systems to capture everyone’s views in terms of comments or suggestions.Forth, trainings should be provided to all members of an organization particularly in technology use to enable them to embrace technology use. In many occasions, management well trained employees in an organization are highly empowered and they participate fully in all areas within the organization to improve productivity. Fifth, behavioral excellence that involves instilling ethical values to the employees. Employees have to know their rights and how to protect them in the organization.Management system should provide fro a way in which petitions in the working environment can be solved fairly to create unity and harmony amongst workers (Harold, 2005). Diversity & cross-cultural perspectives, Team building skills, Decision making in the workplace In a multicultural environment, there has to be change managemen t, which enables new members in the organization to be induced well and successful fit in the new working environment. Decision-making based production methods should be put in to considerations to avoid resource wastages and satisfy all internal requirements in an organization.Lean manufacturing should be adopted to only produce when needed to minimize resource consumption in the organization (Joomla, 2009). In addition to lean manufacturing, project management should be carried out in all projects in an organization. This is to ensure quality performances to continuously improve in productions. Project management will also ensure cost effective use of resources particularly in a large and complex organization. In diverse and multicultural organizations, conflicts are likely to happen due to the cultural and environmental differences.Conflict management system should be availed to provide fair judgments to the organizational members. Teamwork or collaboration should be encouraged t o facilitate decision-making and enhance innovativeness (Joomla, 2009). Enhanced decision making and innovativeness will lead to quality production through making good plans for investments. Innovation may also lead to improvements in the supply chain levels. A well-managed supply chain model can be improved through innovation or technology use to eliminate non-value adding processes to production processes.Conclusion Project management is very fundamental in all projects whether in large or small organizations. International project management is just as necessary as the local ones (Marques, 2005). In multicultural organizations, the employees have to be trained on various social, cultural, political and economic factors to ensure uniformity during a joint project. Project managers are required to consider the cultural factors when designing a management structure for all the members to be accommodated and be free to fully participate in the organizational tasks. Reference: Harold, K. (2005). Advanced Project Management best Practices on Implementation, 2nd ed, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey Joomla. (2009). Certification, Innovation, Decision Making, Project Management, Team Building, Conflict Management: Certification Programs for Educational and Business Organizations Standards or Courses Custom Designed for your Organization. Joomla. Viewed on 13th June 2009, Available at http://endeavourprojects.com/Joomla Kwak, Y. H. (2002). Critical Success Factors in International Development Project Management. Viewed on 13th June 2009. Available at http://home.gwu.edu/~kwak/Kwak_CIB65_2002.pdf Marques, G. M. (2005). Discussion of the distinguishing features of Project Management in the 21st Century. Viewed on 13th June 2009. Available at http://www.caaei.org/anexos/65.doc