ABC Clinic - Coursework Example

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: ABC CLINIC Executive Summary The operations management process of a firm not only depends on the resource base but also includes internal aspects such as capacity of the resources, production rate, compatibility of production process with demand generation etc. The case of ABC Clinic reflected crucial issues wherein the resource base of the company was reduced against the increasing demand for their services. In this context, the researcher analuse the work process of the company and measured the capacity of production. The capacity analysis revealed multiple options for ABC Clinic wherein the company can either employ an additional minor surgeon or can also acquire technological resources for accelerating the output delivery process. Further analysis performed in context of productivity concepts also revealed that managing the queuing of the patients can also help ABC Clinic in improving their service structure and priority model can be hence considered as an alternative. Analysis of these options in regards to their potential implications for the stakeholders of the clinic showed that hiring a new employee in the position of minor surgeon can help the company in enhancing their capacity. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Operations Process of ABC Clinic 4 Analysis of ABC Clinic’s Existing Capacity 9 Current Operations of ABC Clinic and Service Level Impact 13 Probable Implications of Solutions on Stakeholders of ABC Clinic 14 Conclusion 16 Reference List 18 Bibliography 20 Introduction Lewis, Pun and Lalla (2010) considered operations management as an accumulation of design and processes wherein design includes the methods of planning and processes are the implementation of the plans for deriving a particular end product or service for their customer base. This definition highlights the role of operations management and also the process of implementing operations process. According to Anderson, Rungtusanatham and Schroeder (2007), the need for operational process management arises from the forces of demand and supply. In the prevailing business environment, firms are trying to reduce their operational expenses and hence, redesigning their work structure. Other factors that can initiate process management and redesign includes productivity increase, changes in customer needs, product or service design, diversification, etc. Corbett and Rastrick (2009) mentioned that value of the operations process is a fundamental criterion for implementing changes in the work structure of a company. In this report, the given case of ABC Clinic will be analysed in context of their capacity of production and the required changes in the productivity concepts that needs to be implemented. It has been reflected that ABC Clinic is experiencing an increase in demand but because of reduced workforce they are not able to fulfil the customer requirements. Based on the analysis of the existing operations process of the company, suitable alternatives will be suggested for business development process. Operations Process of ABC Clinic As given in the case study, the work structure of ABC Clinic has two major portions namely, minor surgeries and pre-operation consultation. The capacity of service production for ABC Clinic differs in both their service structures. The consultant doctors can check around 7 patients per hour and works for 5 days a week out of which every Wednesday is scheduled for training and development during the 1st half. Meanwhile, the minor surgeons can perform 4 surgeries per hour on average. Based on this information, it can be calculated that, each day around 56 patients are checked by consultant doctors and 32 surgeries are performed. However, as one of the minor surgeons is off for 2 weeks, the capacity of minor surgeries has reduced by half. Another factor that influences the capacity of ABC Clinic is that each patient has different needs and thus, the time allocated for each patient is not steady. Critical patients tend to take more time for consultant doctors as well as minor surgeons. The process flowchart of the company can highlight the existing system of process registration and consultant doctors’ role in ABC Clinic. Figure 1: Process Flowchart of ABC Clinic (Source: Created by Author) The above given process flowchart shows the activities being carried out in ABC Clinic for providing the service to the patients. In accordance to the process chart, there are three decision making points, out of which two are carried by the nurses in the registration area and the other by the consultant doctor. The estimated wait time for each patient is 12 minutes on average. It can be noted that most of the functions in the above process is being carried out by the nurses as they have to check records, update them, schedule appointments and also have to assist the consultant doctors and the minor surgeons. The functions of the general consultants and the surgeons can be further explained by creating a process chart that adheres to their roles. The following process chart starts from the point when patient enters the doctor’s cabin and ends with the exit of the patient: Figure 2: Process flowchart for Doctor and Surgeon Services of ABC Clinic (Source: Created by Author) In the above given flow chart, the activities performed in ABC Clinic after the patient is moved from the reception room has been shown. The actvities that follow have two key decision making nodes out of which one rests with the patient, while the other is managed by the consultant doctors. The consultant doctor has to decide if the patient is ready for the surgery or needs further tests and medication before the surgery is performed. On the other hand, the patient after understanding the process of surgery can chose to go ahead with it or decline the treatment. Upon this, the patient is again registered for another appointment in order to clarify the matter. The actvities have a mandatory waiting period of 1 hour after the surgery has been performed. During this period, nurses ensure that the vitals and other records of the patients are appropriate and the surgery has been successfully completed. It can be noted that updating of records are an obligatory function of the nurses in response to any activities being performed during the operational hours. Analysis of ABC Clinic’s Existing Capacity Capacity analysis has been defined by Brown et al. (2010) as a process of optimising the potential output of a firm by improving their internal capabilities. Capacity management and planning requires extensive information and analysis of the existing production and operations mechanisms of a company in order to identify the gaps in the performance of the firm. In case of ABC Clinic, it has been given in the case study has the consultant doctors can check 7 patients on an average per hour and the number of minor surgeries performed per hour is 4. Nevertheless, the service time and process can vary depending on the needs and requirements of the patients and the process of treatment to be followed. However, as one of the minor surgeons is not present, the number of surgeries has reduced by half. On the other hand, the demand for the minor surgeries is increasing in the clinic which has resulted in a crisis situation in the work structure of ABC Clinic. Considering these information, the capacity of ABC Clinic will be measured with the help of the following framework: Figure 3: Framework for Capacity Management (Source: Zhang, 2008, p.436) ABC Clinic has work period of 8 hours each day in a five day week. Out of this, every Wednesday, the working period is of 4 hours as the first half is dedicated to training and development of the employees. However, as noted previously, the demand for minor surgeries has increased as opposed to the reduced workforce of the company. Based on the future scope of the operations at ABC Clinic, the need for minor surgeries is expected to increase along with the increase in the need for consultant doctors. Furthermore, this will also result in boosting the requirement for better equipment and treatment processes of the firm. According to Meidani et al. (2012), capacity improves of a firm can be made in terms of quality as well as quantity. In case of ABC Clinic, the present situations demands capacity improvement in terms of quantity but the nature of their services mandates the quality aspect of their service output. Table 1: Existing Capacity of ABC Clinic Service Per Hour Working Hour Each Day Each Day number of Patients Checked Patients checked by Consultant Doctors 7 8 56 Patients Checked by Surgeons 4 8 32 Present Scenario 2 8 16 (Source: Created by Author) As per the observations of Ben-Tovim et al. (2008), capacity of a firm depends not only on the performance of the workforce, but also considers other elements such as changes in the service structure, resource base of a firm, shifts in demand and the variation in the types of demands required by the customer base. In relation to the case of ABC Clinic, all these factors seem to be relevant. It has been mentioned that workforce of the clinic has changed, there has been extensive growth in the demand of services and also the nature of services differs in accordance to the issues of the patients. Guerriero and Guido (2011) added that time is a crucial factor in the capacity management process. It is essential to identify the time required for producing the output. As the treatment time of the patients can increase or decrease based on the appropriate method and consent of the patient, the time factor is not under complete control of the employees of the clinic and hence, they need to adjust as per the need of the situation. This shows that the work structure of ABC Clinic is flexible in nature which can help them in improving their output production. Brandao de Souza (2009) focused on the concept of rate of utilisation and noted that the performance of one functional department can increase or decrease depending on the demand generated in any other department. For instance, in case of ABC Clinic, the demand for the minor surgeons is also influencing the work processes of the nurses and consultant doctors as they have to handle more number of patients and also perform additional roles because of limited employee base. Considering the concept of rate of utilisation and the above mentioned factor of flexible workforce, ABC Clinic can implement chase demand method wherein the employee base needs to constantly adjust with the dynamic nature of demand in order to fulfil customer expectations. The process of chase demand does not provide an exact measurement of the demand but allows the operational process to achieve a near perfect solution under the variable of time. However, the chase demand concept will also require ABC Clinic to employ an additional minor surgeon for handling the prevailing pressure and also build the output range on a long-term basis. Current Operations of ABC Clinic and Service Level Impact In accordance to the above made suggestion of hiring a minor surgeon, ABC Clinic also needs to ensure that the firm is initiating optimal resource and skill utilisation in their service development process for reducing unnecessary expenses. In this regard, the concepts of productivity can be brought into lime light. Colligan et al. (2010) mentioned that the concepts of productivity are used to measure the output of a firm in relation to its capacity of production. Measuring the productivity of a firm can be performed by observing an increase in the production of output or the amount of decrease in the use of raw materials. Both input and output needs to act in a counter manner for effective productivity process of a firm. However, Kanchanachitra et al. (2011) stated that in case of simultaneous effects such as decrease or increase in both input and output, the rate of decrease will be considered as the primary element for measuring the productivity and capacity of a firm. This notion suitably fits into the case of ABC Clinic wherein the reduction of human resource has led to the reduction of productivity against a constantly growing demand. The theory or cumulative representation has often been considered as an effective means for production improvement. In cumulative representation process, a firm needs to maintain a higher level of inventory in comparison to the market demand. However, Morel et al. (2009) criticised that cumulative representation increases the cost of operations because of inventory management costs and also result in resource wastage. The application of cumulative representation can be mostly noticed in case of manufacturing houses wherein the demand remains a constant high. On the other hand, queuing concept is being widely accepted in service related firms because of the time and process alignment with the work culture. Queuing process can be implemented via many methods such as First in First Out (FIFO) or Last in First Out (LIFO) or on the basis of priority. The primary variable needed for implementing queuing concepts is to measure the time gap between the entrance of a customer and the service providing time. The changes in the service delivery process can initiate modifications in the service production process and help a firm in improving their overall capacity. Muhammad Butt and Cyril de Run (2010) noted that queuing theory allows a firm to predict the wait time of the patients and hence, design their operations accordingly. The application of FIFO will allow a firm to serve the customers on the basis of their arrival time; meanwhile, LIFO is exact opposite of FIFO wherein the customers to appear most recently will be served first. Priority process on the other hand focuses on the need of the customers and prioritises them accordingly, based on which service is delivered. Another method for application of priority concept is to measure the service compatibility with the customer needs and serve them in accordance to the workforce capability. In case of ABC Clinic, the nature of services requires the firm to prioritise the list of patients based on the emergency and thus priority can be an effective form of queuing to be implemented in the firm. On the other hand, priority concept will also urge the nurses to develop sorting criteria for measuring the precedence of the customers and will increase the work pressure. Thus, based on the capacity and productivity analysis of ABC Clinic, the selected options is to hire a minor surgeon, implement chase demand concept by improving the equipments for treatment or implement the priority model of queuing concepts. Probable Implications of Solutions on Stakeholders of ABC Clinic As opined by Porter (2010), changes that take place within the internal or external environment of a firm is bound to influence the stakeholder base of the company. Considering this statement, it can be gathered that, the above selected alternatives for ABC Clinic will also influence the behaviour of the stakeholders. As per the given case, the primary stakeholder groups to be considered in the study are the employee base and the customers i.e. patients of ABC Clinic. The need for ensuring that the business process of a firm is able to handle the demand of the customers is crucial for improving the capacity of production (Seddon, Calvert and Yang, 2010). The implications of all the suggested options will be measured in context of the stakeholders of ABC Clinic. Hiring a Minor Surgeon: Hiring of an additional hand in the minor surgeon will help the organisation in reducing the work pressure and also adjusting to the growing demand of the patients. However, it will also add to the operational cost of the firm. The potential implications of this option on the employees will be beneficial as the minor surgery department can be self-sufficient. Moreover, the nurses will be able to increase the inflow of patients in the surgery room as the service production will increase. Another advantage will be the reduction in the wait time of the patients after their initial registration. In context of the customers, enhanced service production process can also help in improving the level of customer satisfaction for ABC Clinic which can lead to long-term influence on the brand image and the revenue generation process of the firm. However, the clinic also needs to improvise the price structure of their services in relation to the increase in their resource base. This needs to be communicated to the patients and can also create some resistance among them. Implement Chase Demand Concept by Acquiring New Equipments: Implementation of chase demand concept can be one of the most suitable options for ABC Clinic. This will allow the firm to accelerate their process of treatment without introducing another head in the payroll. The implications for this concept for the employees will be varied in nature. For instance, installation of new equipments will require more training and hence, the time limit for the training sessions needs to increase. On the other hand, the resource acquiring cost will also add up to the service structure which can influence the compensation and pay structure of the company. The customers will again face the price hike in the service structure but the duration of wait time may or may not improve based on the effectiveness and the relevance of the equipments. Priority Model of Queuing Theory: The priority model will mainly be used for managing the rush in the reception area of ABC Clinic. In order to implement the priority model, nurses need to develop a steady framework that will allow them to measure the urgency of the situation and the patients and design their order accordingly. This will increase the work pressure on the nurses. In case of the customers, the standard process for priority management can be an issue as it may not align with their requirements and interests. Furthermore, the nature of services of ABC Clinic is non-pre-emptive and thus cannot be interrupted which nullifies the influence of priority model. Conclusion The condition of ABC Clinic in the present scenario reflects a rapid surge in demand against falling output production process. It can be observed that the existing process map of the firm does not include any major gaps except the 12 minute wait time being served by the patients. In response to their situation, the capacity analysis revealed that the firm can employ another minor surgeon or acquire new equipments for treatment of the patients under the concept of chase demand. On the other hand, the priority model of the queuing theory was also suggested. However, based on the implications of these alternatives on the stakeholder groups of the firm, hiring of a minor surgeon seems to be best option for ABC Clinic. Reference List Anderson, J.C., Rungtusanatham, M. and Schroeder, R.G., 2007. A Theory of quality management underlying the Deming management method. Academy of Management Review, 19(3), pp. 472-509. Ben-Tovim, D. I., Bassham, J. E., Bennett, D. M., Dougherty, M. 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