Introduction to Operations Management Essays - Natural Environment

Introduction to Operations Management Professor Thomas By: Andrew K. Lett Salem International University September 21st, 2017 When operating a business, there are a variety of factors that will have a major effect on it, and Environmental factors are one of them. For a business to maintain sustainability product and service design are essential. Cradle to the grave assessment, end of life programs and the three R's are also keys to success. The cradle-to-the grave assessment assesses the environmental impact that a product has during it's use. This process stays with the product from raw material to end product. Energy consumption, pollution and transportation are also considered. Examples of how the assessment works would be for instance, a gas company will test their product, being gas, from the time it's assets are pumped from the ground until it is made into fuel for vehicles. Ultimately what this is trying to do is to create a product that is not only economic, but also friendly to the environment (Stevenson, WJ). End of life programs have a big impact on the environment and in a good way. These programs prevent hazardous products that are no longer of use from being dumped into landfills causing polluted air, toxic ash, and water pollution from runoff. New laws and regulations have been made to stop this kind of pollution and the end of life programs are vital. People used to change their own oil and dump the old oil into creeks or on a hill somewhere. The oil then runs into the streams and then into rivers harming wildlife, marine life, and also affects the people who use that as a water source. That is a direct example of why end of life programs are needed so that pollution does not occur (Environmental, 2017). The three R's are reduce, reuse, recycle. Reducing the use of materials helps environmentally because it keeps some resources from having to be used. Reusing things can be a great way to conserve materials. Recycling is a major factor as well because by doing so, the materials can be broken down and used to make other products. Recycling programs can be found all over the place from bottle recycling bins to companies offering recycling of products. Retailers can gain business from this by bringing customers into recycle their old products and they will probably buy a new product to replace the old. Remanufacturing products and refurbishing them has a good outcome for a business and the environment. It doesn't cost the business much to refurbish a product and then they can resell it for a good profit. This helps the environment by reusing materials and conserving them. References: Stevenson, W. J. (2018). Operations Management(12th ed.). Environmental Factors: Sustainability. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Pgs (144-149). Retrieved September 21, 2017. Environmental Factors of Business (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/environmental-factors-of-business-lesson-quiz.html Internal and External Environment Factors that Influences Organizational Decision Making. (2017, April 01). Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://iedunote.com/organizational-environment-elements What Are Internal External Environmental Factors That Affect Business? (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2017, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/internal-external-environmental-factors-affect-business-69474.html