Operations managers are relied upon by a firm’s senior leaders to understand the culture for each country in which they conduct business.

Operations managers are relied upon by a firm’s senior leaders to understand the culture for each country in which they conduct business.

Tamara Elamin

Operations managers are relied upon by a firm’s senior leaders to understand the culture for each country in which they conduct business. Not only is the operations manager accountable to ensure the products and services offered to the customers are appropriate, but they are also responsible for supply chain management. According to Collier & Evans (2019) supply chain management in a country requires a firm to have a strategy, understand how the business will be controlled, and identify a location that will best suit their business model. Incorporating the three components will allow the operations manager to devise a plan that aligns with the country’s culture. Making choices without regard to location can prove to be disastrous for any business. Not only can a business lose customers because their products, services, or advertisement is not appropriate for the county it can also be presented with challenges when it comes to staffing their locations. Local culture can also dictate the availability of products, as well as the cost.

There are many consequences associated with a firm not understanding a country’s culture. Schrobback, et al. (2020) explain when a company lacks awareness of a country’s culture it often results in the company being out of compliance with the employment and operational regulations which could result in penalties that exceed their profits. While being fined by the government for not complying with laws and regulations is a major consequence, not having customers frequent a business is another risk associated with being culturally unaware. Another consequence that can come from lack of awareness is not having people to staff the business due to insufficient wages. Subsequently a company can experience a lack of sales if the operations manager does not take the time to learn how to price merchandise in comparison to the cost of making it.

References

Collier, D. A, & Evans, J. R. (2019). Operations and supply chain management. Cengage Learning.

Schrobback, P., Rolfe, J., & Star, M. (2020). An Agri-Food Supply Chain Assessment Framework: Application to Queensland Case Studies. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, 26(3), 379.