Do you equate "Operations Management"

with "Process Management"?

Dr. Arturo Perez
Adjunct Professor at University of Maryland University College/Houston Community College

Operations Management and Process Management must be defined first. Giving us a better

understanding of both terms.

According to MIT Sloan Management, Operations Management deals with the design and

management of products, processes, services and supply chains. It considers the acquisition,

development, and utilization of resources that firms need to deliver the goods and services their

clients want. Here we can say it is the supervision component of management.

According to Jrg Becker, Martin Kugeler, Michael Rosemann (2011) authors of the Process

Management a guide for the design of the business process, Process management is the ensemble

of activities of planning and monitoring the performance of a business process. The term usually

refers to the management of business processes and manufacturing processes. Business process

management (BPM) and business process reengineering are interrelated, but not identical. Here

we can say it is the steps that need to be taken in management.

Operations management and process management are not the same. Both need to work together

to achieve successful management. Process Management can be considered as the program

processes to address the projects within the operations.

Operations are ongoing and require standing roles and responsibilities supervising things are

done right. Process management is also ongoing and provides the needs of projects to

accomplished and start doing the right thing.

A process has an objective that is typically defined by the ongoing operation of the process. A

process is a repetitive sequence of tasks, and the tasks are known at the outset since it is

repetitive. A project has an objective or outcome to be accomplished and the project ends when

that objective is accomplished. That objective might be broadly-defined and might change or be

further elaborated as the project is in progress. The sequence of tasks in a project is not normally

repetitive and may not be known at the outset of the project.

Operations, Process, and Project management are the essentials of management all work together

to achieve success in the organization.