About the Module

The module on Operations has been designed to assess management graduates on their understanding of basic concepts involved in Operations Management. It lays greater emphasis on the practical aspects of operations. The test checks on the analytical concepts, utility of various management tools & techniques used and the decision making involved in the various steps of the supply chain. The questions in this test are not just based on the theoretical knowledge of various frameworks but also include numerical problems, graph interpretation and drawing conclusions to check if the candidate is able to analyze and develop solutions to business operational problems. The scenarios covered are a mix of both hypothetical as well as real-time business scenarios thereby giving a flavor of different kind of issues that a candidate might face in an entry profile in the Operations domain.

The module tests a candidate on broadly three categories: Planning & Development, Supply Chain Management and Quality Management thus covering almost every aspect of operations management.

An effective operations manager working in an organization directly contributes to its success and therefore the top skills that an operational manager must possess:

• Understanding the customer needs: An operations manager requires an in-depth knowledge of his customer needs in order to meet both deadlines and expectations; in order to ensure a long-term relationship with the clients, they should be able to deliver a professional approach in every transaction.
• Effective communication skills: An ability to communicate the message across different levels in the organization and most importantly the clients is an essential skill that is required in an operations manager.
• Possess team motivation skills: An operations manager is responsible for building a strong team and developing positive work environment among the team members and therefore must possess team motivation skills for accomplishing operational excellence.
• Should be able to maximize staff utilization and enforce best practices: Managing organization's most critical asset – people for ensuring proper staffing; and that the staff adheres to the policies and practices chalked out by the organization.
• Operations Management is all about operating the core of an organization – right from production, distribution to delivery of the goods and services. People skills, creativity, rational analysis and knowledge of the technology being used, all are important pre-requisites for being a successful operational manager.

Tips to improve:

• Try to look at the existing processes in the organisation, examine them, and come up with necessary solutions. Operations unlike the usual presumption, isn't as boring as it seems and does involve a lot of creativity.
• Besides being a good communicator, operations managers are expected to be proactive. So in case you are a fresher, you should prepare yourself to take up the initiative and propose changes to how an organisation works and justify your recommendations.
• Since an operational manager plays a pivotal role in managing quick delivery of tangible results, lot of emphasis is given to technology and hence, a good operations manager should be aware of the latest technology that involves the processes.