A Survey of Operations Management Practices Applied by Pharmaceutical Companies in Kenya

Abstract

Operations Management is the function of managing the operating core of an organization. These are activities associated with creation, production, distribution and the flow of the organization‟s goods and services. This study was a survey on operations management practices applied by pharmaceutical companies in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the operations management practices adopted by the companies and the extent of application of operations management practices. This is to provide a better understanding of the status of operations management practices in the pharmaceutical industry. An appropriate survey was designed to enable the researcher achieve his objectives. The study used exploratory design. Stratified random sampling was used to group the companies according to their country of origin. Data was collected using questionnaires that were divided into three parts to reflect the various operations management practices in a company. Data was then organized, tabulated and analyzed to answer the specific objectives of the study. The study revealed that 36% of the companies had operations department. This indicates the significant role of operations management activities in their companies. The study established that operations management practices were indeed being undertaken within the companies. It was found that companies undertook to a little extent most of the required practices. Though they did not have dedicated operations department, most of the critical decisions in operations were being made under other divisions.