Final Submission

Nissan Motor Company

Student’s Name

University Affiliation

Nissan Motor Company

Thesis statement: The operations management efforts of Nissan Company are major contributors to the success of the company in the market.

A brief description of the organization and industry they selected

The Nissan Motor Company as the name can suggest is a company operating in the automobile industry. Commonly called Nissan this is a Japanese multinational company which is specialized in the manufacture of automobile products it is headquartered at Yokohama (Takeuchi, 2012). It is one of the biggest players in the automobile industry and t is considered the biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles in the world, it is the leading brand of car manufacturers in Japan and ranks number 6 in the globe in the making of normal fuel charged automotive vehicles (Takeuchi, 2012). The cars that are sold by this organization usually fall under 3 brands that are the Nissan brand, the Datsun brand, and the Infiniti brand. Under these three brands, the company has more than 6 brands for sale out in the market. Other than manufacturing and selling cars, buses as well as trucks, the company also designs some other products on the side including satellites for communication, machinery as well as boats mainly the pleasure boats (Holweg, 2007).

At least four key concepts relevant to Operations Management in your organization

Operations management can be described as all the activities that revolve around the manner in which an organization develops their products and in the case of this company that is how it develops its cars, buses as well as trucks and how they ensure the availability of these products in any market they serve, in the case of this company it is the global market. Operations management basically involves all the functions that are dedicated to the production of the automobile products for the Nissan Company as well as the delivery of these products. It is mostly concentrated on the manner which inputs are converted into outputs and then made available in the market. The four key concepts relevant to operations management for this organization that we are going to explore are lean production, kaizen, and risk management in the supply chain and customer care service.

1. Customer care services

They refer to the functions of operation that are dedicated to supporting the activities of the consumer. Customer care involves providing services for the customer before they make a purchase, at the time which they are making the purchase and after they have made the purchase. The goal of customer care is to ensure that the customer is treated in the best manner possible and that the entire process of purchase is smooth and that they are able to enjoy the value of the automobile products even after the purchase. For the Nissan Company being covered in this assignment, customer care is an element that is taken very seriously and they have incorporated it in the overall culture of the organization.

For them, the treatment that a customer is offered by the organization is as important as the automobile products that they purchase (Takeuchi, 2012). The company is committed to putting every possible effort to ensure that all the expectations of the consumer are adequately met and even exceeded. The customer care process for the organization’s consumers starts right in the design and the manufacture of the vehicles since as they do this they have their consumers in mind all this time and they ensure that the products produced are only those that will optimize the driving experience of their end user (Holweg, 2007). To show commitment to great customer service the company has drafted and is guided by various promises that they have made to their consumers which include (Takeuchi, 2012):

• Respecting the time of the consumer.

• Ensuring honesty in marketing

• Treating every customer as a guest in their premises.

• Ensuring that customers are served by well qualified and well-trained personnel.

• Making products that meet the needs of the customers

• Maintaining comfort and cleanliness in their facility

• Ensuring that all paperwork is clear and provided and that all prices are well accounted for.

2. Lean Production

The Nissan Company is one among them many players in the automobile industry which make use of the lean production strategy in their production process. This is a strategy that focuses on reducing the amount of waste in the production process and into the processes of distribution and optimizes on the quality of the products. To ensure lean production the Nissan company makes use of the just in time production strategy or the build-on-order production model. This involves producing products that meet the exact demand without having any surplus. The Nissan Company, therefore, manufactures their vehicles, not in anticipation of demand but when there already is demand (Holweg, 2007). Vehicles are manufactured after an order has been placed. To ensure great service to consumers, the company has been working on ensuring that the wit time between the times the order is place is reduced as much as possible. To ensure this the company relies on the precision of their machinery (Holweg, 2007).

3. Kaizen

This is a word that is very big in the Japanese manufacturing industry and Nissan is one of the companies that make use of it majorly. Kaizen is a Japanese word that means enhancement. In the manufacturing industry of the country, this is a word that is mainly applied in ensuring the continuous improvement of products during the manufacturing process. This is one of the elements that have been incorporated in the Nissan's company culture as a total quality management aspect. The company is big on continual improvement of their function and also their products to help make sure that at any particular time they are able to live up to their promise of meeting the needs and expectations of their consumers effectively and that this is done in a manner that is effective and efficient. The company is very welcoming of contributions from various stakeholders from time to time including the customers and employees among many others in helping to find ways improvement can be done in the production process.

4. Risk management in the supply chain

Lack of proper risk management is the reason for the collapse of so many companies all across the globe. The case is however different for Nissan Company and they have proved this over and over against by the manner in which they handle risks and crisis. A good example to elaborate this is the case of the earthquake in Japan that greatly affected the production levels in the company. The earthquake which happened in March that year which is one of the most powerful ones that ever occurred led to the suspension of production for 80% of the company’s plants. Compared to any of its other competitors, it was the worst hit by the earthquake.

The next 6 months after the earthquake, it is unbelievable that the company only decreased its production by only approximately 4% and by the end of the year the company had already recorded an increase in production by about 9 %( Takeuchi, 2012). This is a disaster that disrupted the supply chain of the company majorly but the company was able to maneuver through it thanks to the fact that they maintain a very comprehensive, practical and effective continuous readiness plan with their suppliers as a major part of it to ensure a proper response in cases such as these. The company is also very big on training their stakeholders including their suppliers in how to handle such cases and with these capabilities the company is able to manage risks in their entire supply chain system (Sako, 2004).

An explanation of how these elements directly related to Operations Management

As defined above operation management involves the functions involved in manufacturing a product and making it available for the intended end users. Having this in mind, customer care directly relates to operations management since it is an important process which helps to ensure that the products are made available to the consumers and that the consumers enjoy the product. This element also directly relates to operations management since it majorly influences the production functions and decisions of a product. This is because as mentioned above the company ensures that during the design and manufacturing of any of the vehicles the overall intention is to make sure that the driving experience of the consumer is optimized and also to ensure that the company lives up to its promise of adequately meeting the needs of the consumer(Takeuchi, 2012). This means that the organization is continually executing customer care during the production process. In general, customer care enhances the effective and efficient availability of products to consumers.

Second, there is a very direct relationship between lean production and operations management since lean production is basically the strategy that is used by the organization to manufacture their automobile products (Holweg, 2007). Third, kaizen also has a direct relationship to operations management since it is an element deeply incorporates in the production stage of the organization. Continuous improvement helps to make sure that the production process is effective and efficient and that innovation and invention are also encouraged in the production process. Finally, risk management in the supply chain relates to operations management because the supply chain is the channel through which products are availed to consumers and this is a part of operation management from the definition provided above. All the four elements discussed above work together effectively to ensure that utmost value is enjoyed by the consumer at all time through the products, services, and operations of the business. They all work to ensure quality, continuity and effective meeting of consumer needs.

An analysis of how these concepts work together to resolve business problems

All the business problems that the Nissan company is concerned with all revolve around the mission statement of the company which is to make sure that the lives of people get enriched by delivering automobile products that are innovative and at the same time unique and services whose value can easily be recognized by the customers of the company (Takeuchi, 2012). Each of the four elements discussed above helps the organization to handle business problems and align all operation and function to the mission of the organization in different ways. The lean production helps to ensure value addition to the consumer by the organization by helping to improve the flow of production and consequently ensure that better products are manufactured and the needs of consumers are met in a more effective manner.

Kaizen helps to add value by ensuring quality is maintained and improved and by encouraging innovation. Risk management helps to solve risk-related problems of the business making sure that the operation of the organization and their services towards their consumers are not in any way majorly affected or interrupted due to risk (Sako, 2004). Risk management in the supply chain helps to make sure that the effects of risks in the organization are mitigated. Finally, customer care service helps the organization to build a strong relationship with their consumers and thus enhancing understanding and loyalty.

An analysis of how these (4) concepts reflect effective management and efficiency

Lean production is a clear reflection of effective management in that production and flow of products and operations is improved while efficiency is at the same time improved by minimizing the level waste in the production process (Holweg, 2007). Efficiency is also enhanced by drastically cutting down on the level of extra inventory that the company handles. This does not only cuts down on the cost of handling inventory but it also the cost of purchase. This form of production also reflects effective management by ensuring that the needs of consumers are effectively me since this method of production allows specialization and customization.

Proper customer service is a reflection of effective management since the relationship that an organization has with its consumers tells a lot about how well the company is managed. Further, Kaizen is a reflection of effective management as it enhances quality, engagement of stakeholders and greater value addition and a reflection of efficiency in the organization by minimization of waste. Finally, risk management in the supply chain is a great reflection of effective management since it out rightly displays the strength and ability that the management of an organization has in handling crisis situations (Sako, 2004). Proper risk management equals great management in an organization.

An evaluation of operations concerns in global markets

The greatest concern there is about the manufacture of vehicles around the globe is the quality of the vehicles. This is because we have had cases of accidents and recalls for faulty vehicles all across the globe. There is a need for more prudence during the manufacture of vehicles to ensure the safety of the end user who may not be able to identify a fault area until they get themselves in an accident as a result of the fault. The Nissan Company, for example, recalled more than 215000 vehicles in September this year as a result of the risk of fire. Such faults in vehicles already released in the market have the potential of causing a lot of deaths and therefore it is a big concern.

An evaluation of corporate social responsibility issues with regards to quality and industry standards.

Nissan Company defined corporate social responsibility with the ability of sustainably conserving the environment by producing automobile products which are friendly to the environment. The organization, therefore, is committed to producing cars of high quality and those that meet the industry standards of emission. The organization producing vehicles with the capacity of producing the least possible levels of emission (Takeuchi, 2012). This is the reason why the organization is highly invested in producing electric cars whose level of emission is zero. The company’s quality standards are however undermined by small faults in some of their manufactured products in the market which leads to the recalls mentioned above. This is a show of corporate irresponsibility since such faults have the potential of causing a lot of harm to users. Recalling these vehicles in good time is, however, a sign of care.

References

Holweg, M. (2007). The genealogy of lean production. Journal of operations management, 25(2), 420-437.

Sako, M. (2004). Supplier development at Honda, Nissan and Toyota: comparative case studies of organizational capability enhancement. Industrial and corporate change, 13(2), 281-308.

Takeuchi, A. (2012). Nissan motor company. The Corporate Firm in a Changing World Economy: Case Studies in the Geography of Enterprise, 36, 166.