Sustainable Operations Management

Management is the science of becoming effective and efficient. A business organization is effective when it meets its goals and becomes efficient when it wastes less and optimizes the use of the business’s assets. Effectiveness and efficiency seem contradictory but a good manager finds ways to balance both. Business owners would like to see a profit each month, while customers want to have products or services that meet their needs. Those needs could be related to delivery time, quality, customized features, or sustainability aspects. A manager would design and implement strategies and actions to satisfy both customers and business owners. Without satisfied customers the business will not be able to make any profit. Without a profit, the business will shut down.

The extraction and use of natural resources to produce higher value-added products has become a sensitive issue, since scientists were able to demonstrate the impacts of human activities on the environment. Transformation of raw materials into value-added products releases emissions into the biosphere and atmosphere. These emissions heavily impact living organisms, including humans. Over the last 20 years, the planet has seen an increase in temperature, changes in rain patterns, and reduction of wildlife habitats, among other signs. Businesses looking to mitigate these impacts must carefully look at their products and processes to analyze how and what materials are being used, their energy consumption, packaging materials, and logistical aspects. One particular business model that allows managers to offer products and services that are more environmentally friendly is circular economy which relies on the reuse and recycling of value-added products. If products are designed considering circular economic principles, fewer raw materials and less energy are needed; therefore, fewer emissions would be produced. 

Sustainable Operations Management concentrates on the application of operations management tools to increase efficiency and effectiveness of assets utilization in business organizations with a focus on environmental impacts. Product and process could be improved by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data with the goal of decreasing waste, cost, and emissions.