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Operations Management

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Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science

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Introduction

Organizations exist to meet the needs of society that people working alone cannot. Operations are part of an organization and they are responsible for producing the tremendous array of products in the quantities consumed each day. Operations are the processes which transform inputs (labor, capital, materials, and energy) into outputs (services and goods) consumed by the public. Operations employ people, build facilities, purchase equipment in order to change materials into finished goods such as computer hardware and/or to provide services such as computer software development.

Services are intangible products and goods are physical products. According to the classification scheme used by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor, services include transportation, utilities, lodging, entertainment, health care, legal services, education, communications, wholesale and retail trade, banking and finance, public administration, insurance, real estate, and other miscellaneous...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Toledo, Stranahan Hall, 2801 W. Bancroft St, Toledo, OH, 43606-3390, USA

    Mark A. Vonderembse

  2. The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

    William G. Marchal

  3. Eastern Michigan University, 300 West Michigan Ave, Ypsilanti, MI, 48197, USA

    David Dobrzykowski

Authors
  1. Mark A. Vonderembse
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  2. William G. Marchal
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  3. David Dobrzykowski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark A. Vonderembse .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Saul I. Gass

  2. Robert H. Smith School of Business and Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Michael C. Fu

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Vonderembse, M.A., Marchal, W.G., Dobrzykowski, D. (2013). Operations Management. In: Gass, S.I., Fu, M.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1153-7_702

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1153-7_702

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1137-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1153-7

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