Operations and Supply Chain Management, 8th Edition

CHAPTER   1

Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:

• Describe what the operations function is and how it relates to other business functions.
• Discuss the key factors that have contributed to the evolution of operations and supply chain management.
• Discuss how and why businesses operate globally, and the importance of globalization in supply chain management.
• Calculate and interpret productivity measures used for measuring competitiveness.
• Discuss the importance of operations and supply chain management to a firm's strategy, and the process of developing, aligning and deploying strategy.

YOUR JEANS ARE YOU

There is no more popular garment worldwide than jeans. Jeans symbolize the American west, youth, and hard work and, because they shrink and fade with wear, YOU and the life you've lived in them.

Although jeans are most associated with the German immigrant to the United States, Levi Strauss, the name jeans comes from the “Genoese” sailors in Italy who wore trousers made of indigo fabric, called “serge de Nimes,” made in Nimes, France. De Nimes fabric, or denim, is cross woven of white and indigo cotton yarn. Since the indigo dye does not penetrate both yarns, the cloth fades with time. The precise ...