Production Management
Production management involves planning and control of industrial processes to ensure that they move smoothly at the required level. Techniques of production management are employed in service as well as in manufacturing industries. It is a responsibility similar in level and scope to other specialties such as marketing or human resource and financial management. In manufacturing operations, production management includes responsibility for product and process design, planning and control issues involving capacity and quality, and organization and supervision of the workforce. Production management's responsibilities are summarized by the “five M's”: men, machines, methods, materials, and money. “Men” refers to the human element in operating systems. Since the vast majority of manufacturing personnel work in the physical production of goods, “people management” is one of the production manager's most important responsibilities. The production manager must also choose the machines and methods of the company, first selecting the equipment and technology to be used in the manufacture of the product or service and then planning and controlling the methods and procedures for their use. The flexibility of the production process and the ability of workers to adapt to equipment and schedules are important issues in this phase of production management. The production manager's responsibility for materials includes the management of flow processes – both physical (raw materials) and information (paperwork). The smoothness of resource movement and data flow is determined largely by the fundamental choices made in the design of the product and in the process to be used. The manager's concern for money is explained by the importance of financing and asset utilization to most manufacturing organizations. A manager who allows excessive inventories to build up or who achieves level production and steady operation by sacrificing good customer service and timely delivery runs the risk that overinvestment or high current costs will wipe out any temporary competitive advantage that might have been obtained.
Exercise 13. Identify the correct meaning of these words from the text.
Exercise 14. Read the article about management during the current recession. What managerial mistake does the author single out? What is the main idea of the text? There is a general rule in business life: market share is won or lost during transitions. These periods can be times of technological or economic change, or when buying habits or other norms shift suddenly with a new generation. For example, the movement to digital from film cameras abruptly moved market share to Sony from Kodak. When American switched to fuel-efficient cars from SUV's, Toyota won customers from Detroit. We should expect to see similar changes in market share as companies respond differently to the financial crisis. The analyst community will be lauding major cutbacks in spending and head counts, and moderating production capacity to align with demand makes sense. But companies that cut back on research and new product development do so at their peril. In the high-tech marketplace, for instance, companies that cut deep into R&D will probably fall behind competitors who continue to invest. In autos, aerospace, consumer electronics and many other industries, the same imperative holds true: you cannot save your way out of recession, you can only invest your way out. The United States has put itself into something of a competitive struggle with other countries in part by cutting back on investments in basic research in the physical sciences over the past two decades. It makes no sense to repeat this mistake at the corporate level. CEOs must screw up their courage to buck the conventional wisdom of Wall Street and invest through the downturn (after all, by now we should recognize that Wall Street is hardly wise). It's time for long-term thinking in an environment that has too often been dominated by quarterly statements.
Exercise 15. Look through the text again and find synonyms for the following words and word combinations. Market segment, change, economical automobiles, reduction, to lag behind, rivals, to oppose, downturn, barely sensible.
Exercise 16. Explain the meaning of some English proverbs dealing with bad work, mistakes and their correction. Find the corresponding Russian proverbs. 1. A bad workman always blames the tools. 2. Don't carry coals to Newcastle. 3. God helps those who help themselves. 4. It is never too late to learn. 5. It is never too late to mend. 6. Jack of all trades and master of none. 7. Live and learn. 8. Prevention is better than cure. 9. Practice makes perfect.
Exercise 17. Find information about management of a company in the period of recession. Analyze typical mistakes.
7.2. Ways to Make Management Effective Exercise 1. Focus on the topical vocabulary. willing ['wIlIN] a готовый (охотно) (сделать что-л.) to get smb to do smth заставлять кого-л. делать что-л. to stem (from) [stem] v происходить, возникать (в результате) to bring in a profit ['brIN In q 'prPfIt] приносить доход to meet the demands of ['mJt…dI'mRndz] удовлетворять требованиям market research изучение рыночной конъюнктуры, изучение возможностей рынка market analysis анализ рынка, анализ рыночной конъюнктуры stagnation [stxg'neISqn] n застой, стагнация article ['RtIkl] n предмет, вещь, товар; статья article design ["RtIkl dI'zaIn] дизайн, внешний вид товара alliance [q'laIqns] n союз, объединение, слияние, интеграция to merge [mE:G] v поглощать; сливать(ся), соединять(ся) merger ['mE:Gq] n объединение (компаний, предприятий) mergee [mE:'GJ] n одна из объединяющихся компаний to acquire [q'kwaIq] v приобретать, получать; купить acquisition ["xkwI'zISqn] n приобретение to collaborate [kq'lxbqreIt] v сотрудничать collaboration [kq"lxbq'reISqn] n сотрудничество partnership ['pRtnqSIp] n партнерство to take over ['teIk 'qVvq] phr v присоединять (фирму) takeover ['teIk"qVvq] n приобретение контрольного пакета акций (какой-л. компании другой компанией); слияние компаний; поглощение одной компании другой to operate at a profit ['PpqreIt] работать с прибылью mediocre ['mJdIqVkq] a посредственный space [speIs] n пространство, место to empower [Im'paVq] v уполномочивать; давать возможность, право to participate in [pR'tIsIpeIt] v участвовать в corporate management-improvement program ['kPpqrIt 'mxnIGmqnt Im'prHvmqnt 'prqVgrxm] корпоративная программа повышения квалификации менеджеров
Exercise 2. Try to understand the meaning of the derivatives. Willing, willingly, willingness; correct, correction; merge, mergence, merger, mergee; partner, partnership; collaborate, collaborator, collaboration; acquire, acquisition; person, personal, personality; power, powerful, empower; participate, participation; perfect, perfection; recess, recession; meet, meeting; survive, survival; constant, constantly; trouble, troubled; deep, deepen; conserve, conservation; dismiss, dismissal; ally, alliance; conclude, conclusion; know, knowledge, knowledgeable.
Exercise 3. Guess what these international words mean. An American expert in management, industrial products, to direct business activity, company personnel, industrial production, an intuition for business ideas, sectors of economy, services, constantly, stagnation, business firms, perspectives, to organize service, to balance the interests of a company and clients, the correct business strategy and tactics, bankruptcy, planning, finance, manufacturing, marketing, to form corporate alliances, corporate partnerships, the democratic style of leadership, to operate, cooperation, to manage subordinates, modern effective leaders, creative professionals, to maximize productivity, to stimulate productivity, to inform subordinates, a professional career, theory and practice.
Exercise 4. Form adjectives from nouns using the negative suffix -less. Model: use – useless польза – бесполезный Help, use, mother, father, hope, care, tact, job, home, friend, power.
Exercise 5. Find synonyms in List A and В, С and D, E and F. Model 1: to destroy – to ruin A. To meet the demands, to survive, to improve, to destroy, to do one's best, to direct, to look for, to merge, to be a representative, to acquire, to bring in a profit, to hire, to promote, to operate, to fire, to encourage, to link, to collaborate. B. To ruin, to manage, to cooperate, to search for, to produce a profit, to help, to stimulate, to employ, to dismiss, to meet the requirements, to join together, to work, to gain, to connect, to make better, to do everything possible, to represent, to stay alive. Model 2: quality – grade C. Quality, a drawback, acquisition, recession, a merger, a mistake, personnel, an alliance, trade, collaboration, articles, production, a company, a leader, a client, employees, goal, environment. D. Goods, takeover, staff, partnership, manufacture, a union, cooperation, a firm, a customer, workforce, surroundings, an executive, a shortcoming, commerce, grade, an error, downturn, aim. Model 3: effective – successful E. Effective, main, certain, constant, loyal, poor, willing, intelligent, inefficient. F. Permanent, true, ready, specific, unskilled, major, clever, bad, successful.
Exercise 6. Read the following word combinations and give their Russian equivalents. An expert in management, success in business, to improve professional skills, to correct mistakes, theoretical knowledge, a profitable business, to manage personnel, major responsibilities, to meet the requirements, to meet the needs, to rely on something, to improve quality and design of articles, to put new products on the market, to look for new markets, to stem from something, to remain profitable, to give an opportunity, to increase market shares, to gain control, middle-size company, to advise somebody to do something, to hire people, to fire workers, a strong team, a mediocre team, to inform employees, to empower people, to participate in a program, to make a professional career, inexperienced workers, inefficient managers.
Exercise 7. Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tenses. 1. If he ___ (not to do) his work properly, he ___ (to be fired). 2. I ___ (to come) and ___ (to see) my friend when I ___ (to have) time. 3. If you ___ (to work) hard, you ___ (to be promoted). 4. After she ___ (to finished) her report, she ___ (to go) home. 5. If I ___ (to go) on business, I ___ (to be able) to keep our appointment. 6. By the time the delegation ___ (to come), the documents ___ (to be examined) thoroughly. 7. Unless something unexpected ___ (to happen), do not disturb me in my office. 8. If you ___ (to work) at your English hard, you ___ (to pass) your exam. 9. Give my regards to your wife when you ___ (to come) home. 10. I ___ (to return) home in time unless I ___ (to be detained) at work.
Exercise 8. Choose the correct form of participles in brackets. 1. At that time the parties were ___ (discussing / discussed) the terms and conditions of the contract. 2. The company was ___ (founding / founded) in the late 1960s. 3. The shop was ___ (closing / closed) yesterday. 4. I heard the director ___ (paying / paid) special attention to market research. 5. The manager wants everything ___ (finishing / finished) today. 6. The economists studied the factors ___ (contributing / contributed) to the growth of large corporations. 7. The goods ___ (producing / produced) by the company are exported to many countries. 8. ___ (Signing / Having signed) the contract, the president left for Germany.
Exercise 9. Read these sentences and express the same in Russian. 1. The documents having been prepared, the secretary took them to the director's office. 2. The morning being hot, the air-conditioners were on in the building. 3. Having read the letter, the manager summoned the chief engineer and the chief bookkeeper. 4. Time permitting, we will go to the theatre. 5. The trade fair will be held next month, (with) many firms taking part in it. 6. The windows being closed, it was stuffy in the room. 7. The negotiations having been finished, the partners returned to their companies. 8. Having finished the work, we went home. 9. Circumstances permitting, we will go to the exhibition. 10. The depression of the twenties and thirties was a time of great reduction in the economic activity, (with) many people being jobless. Exercise 10. Work in pairs. Speak about products which are sold at a profit and at a loss. Use the model and list of words and word combinations below. Model. A: What products are sold at a profit / at a loss? B: Quality goods are sold at a profit. Low-grade goods are sold at a loss. Consumer goods, old-fashioned clothes, trendy clothes, quality goods, low-grade goods, cars, electronics, household appliances, cosmetics, furniture, stationary goods, books. Food products, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, meat, beef, pork, mutton, dairy products, sugar, flour. Exercise 11. Read the text and find out how to make management successful.
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