A Career in Operations Management
Operations managers plan, direct, and coordinate company operations. Responsibilities include policy making, managing daily operations, and planning materials use and human resources. Successful operations managers are highly organized, able to communicate clearly and persuasively, and are highly analytical. If you want to succeed as an operations manager, you must also possess leadership skills, self-confidence, motivation, decisiveness, flexibility, sound business judgment, and determination.
What You Should Know About Operations Management
A number of operations career paths are available including:
- Operations Management
- Business Logistics Management
- Logistics Management
- Business Operations Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Systems Operations Management
- Systems Supply Chain Management
Long hours, including evenings and weekends are typical for most general operations managers. To monitor operations and meet with customers, staff, and other executives, general operations managers often travel considerably between office locations, both nationally and internationally, attending meetings and conferences.
Education for an Operations Management Career
Generally, operations managers need at least a bachelor's degree in operations research or operations management science or a related field and considerable experience. However, more opportunities are available if you have a master's or doctoral degree. Positions are also filled from within a company through promotion. Due to the prestigious level of these positions, tight competition exists for hungry applicants.
Operations Management Salary and Career Outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts little to no change in job opportunities and demand for operations managers. The median annual salary of an operations manager in May 2008 was $91,570. Top executives held about 2.1 million jobs in 2008, and 83% of these held general and operations management titles.