Explain the ways in which mass customization can be applied to service firms as well.
Mass customization of products has become a common approach in manufacturing organizations. Explain the ways in which mass customization can be applied to service firms as well. Mass customization is when technology is used to quickly assemble goods that are exclusively designed and tailored to the demands of individual customers. It is cost-effective. You can order a vehicle or computer with specific features and components that you want. This done within manufacturing firms. They rely on mass production. Service firms achieve their primary purpose through the production and delivery of services, such as education, healthcare, transportation, banking, law firms, and hospitality. These services do not necessary produce a physical product, but brings about an intangible product once it is requested by a customer. It is provided when the customer wants and needs it. Service companies are more labor and knowledge demanding. The concept of mass customization can be applied with service firms such as customer service. The company may handle a large volume of orders all together, while still providing customized service based on each person’s needs. A top executive claimed that superior management is a craft technology because the work contains intangibles (such as handling personnel, interpreting the environment, and coping with unusual situations that have to be learned through experience). If this is true, is it appropriate to teach management in a business school? Does teaching management from a textbook assume that the manager\’s job is analyzable and, therefore, that formal training rather than experience is most important?
Teaching management in business school is suitable and needed so that it prepares the students with the necessary tools to manage a business in the future. It is important to be taught through experience and education with every field that a person may enter in order to advance to a higher level in the future. Some businesses will choose to hire an employee today with the appropriate work experience without the education, but it all depends on the job. A new degree may assist as evidence that you have learned the knowledge and technical skills that are essential for an entry-level job with minimal on the job training (Mueller, 2020). A study showed that individuals that applied for a job with a college degree were more ready for the job than those without a degree because they “possess more hard and soft skills” (Pelta, 2021). Another study showed that employers from large organizations (more than 10,000 employees) believe that experience is more important than education 44% of the time (Pelta, 2021).
Do you believe that technology will eventually enable high-level managers to do their job with little face-to-face communication?
More people are relying on technology more than ever this year due to the pandemic of the Coronavirus with our nation and worldwide. Zoom meetings and other online ways to conduct conference meetings are growing rapidly. There are less face-to-face communications happening today than ever before. Zoom is a free and easy app to use and it allows a group to have a 40-minute conversation with up to 100 attendees. There are however some risks involved due to not having required passwords or having a randomly created ID access code in order to join a join. This risk is called “zoombombing” which is where other people are logging in to other group meetings without being invited. There are other competitors out there trying to catch up to them though (Carman, 2020). High-level managers can still conduct business with little face-to-face communication as long as the technology works. Video conferencing would allow more employees to participate due to no travelling (which in turn saves more money) and it would provide an opportunity to meet more people and develop a relationship with those that you would not normally see in a face-to-face meeting (McMahon, 2018). Look through several recent issues of a business magazine (Fortune, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, etc.) and find examples of 2 companies that are using approaches to busting bureaucracy.
Explain the techniques that these companies are applying.
Bureaucracy is an organization made up of many departments and divisions that are administered by lots of people. It is set up by rules and procedures and a hierarchy of authority. One of the companies that are eliminating bureaucracy is Walmart. Walmart made a decision to make some changes in their stores in order to “reduce bureaucracy, improve customer service,” and allow the front-line workers to provide feedback on how their section of the store is conducted (Wahba, 2015). This was done to simplify operations within the store. Walmart is the world’s biggest retail company. Another example of a company that has chosen to eliminate bureaucracy is Zappos, which is a shoe retailer that is owned by Amazon. They have decided to go with a more “holacracy” approach in which removes job titles and allows everyone to be in charge of their own work and how it gets done (Hill, 2016).
Do you believe that a no growth philosophy of management should be taught in business schools?
The ultimate goal for most organizations is growth. The “no growth” philosophy is a mindset that a company’s success is not based by its growth rate. It should be taught in business schools because it provides another component of management that should be addressed for a business. Large companies have a challenging time adapting to change within the environment compared to smaller companies. Smaller companies are more suited to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship compared to larger companies (Daft, 2016). It is better to prepare individuals going into the business environment to know how to manage a company that is not growing. There is a time in every business where you go through a period of no growth, but you need to learn the importance of maintaining the needs of the present without compromising the future. The environmental, social and financial demands need to be managed to ensure ongoing success.
How can/should a biblical worldview be applied?
Organizations determine their success by the size of the company and growth rate. The church building’s size or number of attendees have no bearing on your success in God’s kingdom. Churches should be focused on the souls that are on fire for God and hungry for Him (Romans 12:11) not how many total attendees are in the church. God does not want us to be lukewarm in our walk with him or he will spew us out of his mouth (Revelation 3:16). We need to love Him more than anything or anyone on this earth. Small businesses can be considered the economic backbone of many communities. Small churches are the backbone of the faith community. Smaller churches provide important support and intimate relationships for their members. Megachurches struggle with personal connections among their members. Another scripture that came to mind while studying these questions was Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (KJV). Providing the needs of the others is very important in a business and personal life.
References
Carman, A. (2020). Why Zoom became so popular. The Verge. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/3/21207053/zoom-video-conferencing-security-privacy-risk-popularity
Daft, R. L. (2016). Organization theory & design (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781285866345.
Hill, A. (2016). Business: How to topple bureaucracy. Financial Times. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/aa284852-0096-11e6-99cb-83242733f755
McMahon, K. (2018). Can Virtual Conferencing Really Replace Face-to –Face Meetings? West Unified Communication Services. Retrieved from https://www.westuc.com/en-us/blog/conferencing-collaboration/can-virtual-conferencing-really-replace-face-face-meetings
Mueller, A. (2020). Education vs. Experience: Which One Gets the Job? Investopedia. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0511/work-experience-vs.-education-which-lands-you-the-best-job.aspx
Pelta, R. (2021). Education vs Experience: What Do Employers Want More? Flexjobs. Retrieved from https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/education-vs-experience/
Wahba, P. (2015). Wal-Mart to shed some in-store management in bid to improve shopper service. Fortune. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2015/04/17/walmart-management-cuts/
Answer preview to explain the ways in which mass customization can be applied to service firms as well.
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