| dc.description.abstract | Operations management has evolved and the field has extended to incorporate service
systems since an operation penetrates each utilitarian area of an organization. At the
beginning of the twenty first century a number of manufacturers started harness and
technology and supplier strength to support innovation and product development
efforts. The aim of this research was to establish the operations management practices
in alcoholic beverage firms, to determine the relationship between operations
management practices and supply chain performance in alcohol beverage firms and to
establish the challenges faced by alcohol beverage firms in the implementation of
operations management practices. descriptive research design was used in analysing
the data collected. The target population in this study was manufacturers and
registered importers of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The firms selected for the
study were from a list of licensed excise manufacturers of alcohol and alcoholic
beverages. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of
48 respondents. Primary data was used in the study. It was obtained using
questionnaires self-administered questionnaires. The mechanism was to drop and
picked them later. The questionnaires consisted of open ended, closed ended
questions and likert scales. Once the questionnaires were collected, grouping and
arranging of data with respect to specific questions was conducted. In the case of the
first objective, descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviation, mode and
median were applied in analyzing the qualitative data that is obtained. The findings
revealed that there were practices of quick product development and introduction time
in the organization. There was simplification of component parts and earlier supplier
investment. High costs associated with technology, cost of labour as well as
miscellaneous costs were among the challenges that faced the firms during the
implementation of operations management practices. The study recommends that
alcoholic beverage firms should get some insights on how to implement operations
management practices which will enable them increase productivity and enhance
competitiveness. Management skills within the firms also need to be addressed. | en_US |
