Operations Management

Operations management is important, exciting, challenging … and everywhere you look!

• Important, because it enables organisations to provide services and products that we all need
• Exciting, because it is central to constant changes in customer preference, networks of supply and demand, and developments in technology
• Challenging, because solutions must be must be financially sound, resource-efficient, as well as environmentally and socially responsible
• And everywhere, because in our daily lives, whether at work or at home, we all experience and manage processes and operations.

About the authors

Nigel Slack is an Emeritus Professor of Operations Management and Strategy at Warwick University, an Honorary Professor at Bath University and an Associate Fellow of Said Business School, Oxford University. Previously he has been Professor of Service Engineering at Cambridge University, Professor of Manufacturing Strategy at Brunel University, a University Lecturer in Management Studies at Oxford University and Fellow in Operations Management at Templeton College, Oxford. He worked initially as an industrial apprentice in the hand-tool industry and then as a production engineer and production manager in light engineering. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Master’s and Doctor’s degrees in Management, and is a Chartered Engineer. He is the author of many books and papers in the operations management area, including The Manufacturing Advantage, published by Mercury Business Books, 1991, and Making Management Decisions (with Steve Cooke), 1991, published by Prentice Hall, Service Superiority (with Robert Johnston), published in 1993 by EUROMA, The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Operations Management (with Michael Lewis) published by Blackwell, Operations Strategy together with Michael Lewis, the fourth edition published by Pearson in 2014 and Perspectives in Operations Management (Volumes I to IV) also with Michael Lewis, published by Routledge in 2003, Operations and Process Management, with Alistair Brandon-Jones, Robert Johnston and Alan Betts, now in its 4th edition 2015. He has authored numerous academic papers and chapters in books. He also acts as a consultant to many international companies around the world in many sectors, especially financial services, transport, leisure and manufacturing. His research is in the operations and manufacturing flexibility and operations strategy areas.

 

Alistair Brandon-Jones is a Professor in Operations and Supply Management and Associate Dean for Post-Experience Education at the University of Bath School of Management, He was formerly a Reader at Manchester Business School, an Assistant and Associate Professor at Bath School of Management and a Teaching Fellow Warwick Business School, where he also completed his PhD. His other books include Operations and Process Management, Essentials of Operations Management, and Quantitative Analysis in Operations Management. Alistair is an active empirical researcher focusing on e-enabled operations and supply management, healthcare operations, and professional services. This work, supported by a range of grants, has been published in many leading management journals. Alistair has consulting and executive development experience with organizations around the world, in various sectors including petrochemicals, health, financial services, manufacturing, defence, and government. In addition, he has won several university, national, and international awards for teaching excellence.

 [DC1]Copy-editor to check if the authors want to update this