2. Read the case: Prime Bank of Massachusetts, available in the Operations Management textbook, Chapter .

1.In the fast growing, the companies face many global and unpredictable challenges. In this article, my purpose is to find out what must companies do in order to survive in today’s environment.   

The must take into account the local context. Although with the trend of globalization, this is a myth that distance between places doesn’t matter. A company should give priority to the local context in which it operates.

In the recent years there have been a heightened pace of change. So the company should accept that constant and fast change is normal. They need to embrace the change in order to grow. Traditional organizational structures need to undergo some changes in order to be more agile.

The companies which focus on the opposition and strategies to beat them, they only get short term victories. But in the long run, the benefit lies with the companies which focus on the entire business environment, not just the opposition. We must not run after the market share rather we should focus our time on how we can secure our position with such fast changing world. Capturing bigger market share from the competition is only of critical significance when the game remains unchanged (Botha, Kourie & Snyman, 2014).

It is the normal behavior to respond in a protesting manner to the changes, to try to make things back to the way they were. But the organization must deal with these feeling and should come forward as a cohesive group. For in a globalized society and in a universe that keeps on changing constantly, we need to adapt ourselves, see change for what it is: the natural order of things! (Prajogo, 2016)

2.In the case of prime bank of massachusets, the main concern is shortage of tellers in the drive through windows, increasing competition, poor staffing and other facilities. Such problems can be solved by some operation management decisions such as, human resources, job designing, maintenance, laying out new designs and strategies, drive through services etcetera. These decisions will help the bank to organize the ongoing operations in a much better way and also help to handle all the kind of issues (Reid & Sanders, 2016).

To overcome the ongoing complications in the bank, prime bank should introduce some changes like, some new kind of portals that can be operated by easily by any person on their own. it will save the customers from waiting for long hours. This will also solve the problem of teller and labor shortage in the bank.

Another way to solve the issue can be through launching online platform which can provide many bank services. This way many people will be able to perform their transactions or any other finance related work directly through their laptops or mobile phones.

HR department can work on the job designs and hire some new tellers for the bank or on the other hand the pre- existing bank system could be modified in such a way that it should be more efficient and user friendly.

3.For successful new product development, one has to start identifying good product ideas and plan out a way to choose the best idea. Following are the steps; these are the steps which need to be explored:

One must have the idea about the limitations of the product. This can be done by a variety of methods. This is also known as idea generation.

There should be one another team for brainstorming product issues. The staff already has the knowledge as they interact with people and get to know their feedback. We must compile the feedbacks and then there are chances to improve. Ensure that you have a broader understanding of products available in your market. Speak to manufacturers, retailers and sales reps for the purpose of capturing their knowledge of your products and thoughts for improving them(Cui, Peng & Flores, 2015).

The research and development process must be used in order to improve the quality of the product. Look for the areas where improvement is needed. Research is an important part of any business. The costumer research and market research should be reviewed and then the market should be planned accordingly. There should be a proper idea about the opposition (Lee & Tang, 2017).

These were some of the points which need to be considered in the product screening stage of new product development.

4.Online shopping has revolutionized our life to a great extent. There is no need to step outside your door; everything is available at the click of the button, from electronic gadgets to grocery. In this article, we would discuss how customers can use online shopping in a smarter way.

Check out sale aggregation and cash back offers -

In online shopping when you are spending a bog amount, you need to put a little more effort. Don’t just login to your favorite site, rather explore. Prefer third party websites, they offer amazing cash backs offers and discounts. They work on affiliate marketing, for example shoptrades.com , techbargains.com

No doubt that online shopping has proven a boon for our times, but it is not that simple also. Sometimes when we buy clothes, we are not satisfied by just looking at their pictures on the site, we want to feel their texture and try them on (Grabowski 2018).

There are some websites, on them, if you enter some basic parameters like height, weight and others, they would suggest the perfect item for you

Always compare -

We find different prices for the same product on different websites. We must always do comparisons; otherwise we would lose a great deal. Like it is mostly cheaper on eBay. So always compare (Wang, Malthouse & Krishnamurthi, 2015).

Return policy-

If one is unhappy with the purchase, it can be easily returned online. They send their delivery executive at your doorstep for the same (Al-Debei, Akroush & Ashouri, 2015).

But before shopping online, we must check the return policy and the time period for which it is valid. So consumers, you just need to find the perfect deal for yourself and enjoy the benefit of online shopping.

References

Al-Debei, M. M., Akroush, M. N., & Ashouri, M. I. (2015). Consumer attitudes towards online shopping: the effects of trust, perceived benefits, and perceived web quality. Internet Research, 25(5), 707-733.

Botha, A., Kourie, D., & Snyman, R. (2014). Coping with continuous change in the business environment: Knowledge management and knowledge management technology. UK, Elsevier.

Cui, G., Peng, L., & Florès, L. P. (2015). Selecting ideas for new product development: Comparison of monadic test and adaptive concept screening under the G theory framework. European Journal of Innovation Management, 18(3), 380-396.

Grabowski, P. (2018). Key factors influencing online consumers behavior- Backed by research, [Online]. Retrieved from: https://ecommerceinsiders.com/key-factors-influencing-online-consumer-behaviour-backed-research-1981/.

Lee, H. L., & Tang, C. S. (2017). Socially and environmentally responsible value chain innovations: New operations management research opportunities. Management Science, 64(3), 983-996.

Prajogo, D. I. (2016). The strategic fit between innovation strategies and business environment in delivering business performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 171(2), 241-249.

Reid, R. D. & Sanders, N. R. (2016). Operations Management: An Integrated Approach, 6th Edition. Wiley.

Wang, R. J. H., Malthouse, E. C., & Krishnamurthi, L. (2015). On the go: How mobile shopping affects customer purchase behavior. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 217-234.