Operations management is the set of managerial activities that organizations use in creating their products and services. Operations management is important to both manufacturing and service organizations. It plays an important role in an organization's strategy.

The starting point in using operations management is by designing appropriate operations systems. Key decisions that must be made as part of operations systems design relate to product and service mix, capacity, and facilities.

Technology also plays an important role in quality. Automation is especially important today. Numerous computer-aided manufacturing techniques are widely practiced. Robotics is also a growing area. Technology is as relevant to service organizations as to manufacturing organizations.

After an operations system has been designed and put into place, it must then be implemented. Major areas of interest during the use of operations systems are purchasing and inventory management.

Quality is a major consideration for all managers today. Quality is important because it affects competition, productivity, and costs. Total quality management is a comprehensive, organization-wide effort to enhance quality through a variety of avenues.

Productivity is also a major concern to managers. Productivity is a measure of how efficiently an organization is using its resources to create products or services. The United States still leads the world in individual productivity, but other industrialized nations are catching up.