The Difference Between General Operations Management and Project Management

When preparing for the PMP credential exam, there are various subjects to learn about. This blog will show the difference between general operations management and project management.

Before the comparison, let us first see what both terms mean.

What is General Operations Management?

A general operations manager has a broader responsibility than the project manager, and their role is permanent, while that of a project professional is temporary.

Operations management is a continuous function in a company that executes tasks that generate services/products. Some examples of ongoing operations include HR and accounting.

A company requires those roles no matter what objectives they are working on. There are three kinds of systems in production and operation management in both service and manufacturing sectors:

1. Non-repetitive Systems

Systems related to low demands differ from the other two; the systems put more stress on planning, monitoring, and controlling the tasks of services/products. The criteria of these systems result in the development of project management.

Product, process, or project-oriented management is hard to define. To leverage a simplified example, planning and designing a new car model is a project, whereas running a factory that creates the cars is a mass-production system. When it's time to transform the car model, it's time for a more flexible and adjustable process-oriented approach.

2. Mass Production System

Sectors with top-notch services/products and high investment leverage the product-based mass production system, which focuses on the practical procedures that help generate the product or execute the service.

Particular purpose devices, like automated conveyors, are leveraged to execute the activities required for the service/product, making it efficient in generating massive quantities.

3. Batch Production System

When various services/products are needed in the same industry, the batch production system acts as a good substitute, especially when the demand isn't high, the investment is low, and flexibility is utmost.

The system is adjusted when production transforms from one product to the next. Here the complexity of management increases over the batch production system, which is process-oriented, whereas a mass production system is product-oriented.

What is Project Management?

As said, the role of a project professional is short-term, i.e., a project team is a temporary association. However, in a fixed general operations management team, the members report directly to the manager who leads the team; those member roles are generally long-term.

The manager is responsible for developing good team working and setting the rules and behaviors of the group. In addition, they need to build trust and respect within the team, motivate sharing of information, opinions, and feelings for the team's benefit, and set goals to appraise the member's performance.

While a project team will be made of people from various company departments, the project professional's job is similar; sometimes, project teammates may report to the department manager and the existing manager. As the priority of other managers changes, the team's stability can vary.

It can be challenging to maintain teamwork as the members may change periodically to adjust the departments' priorities. In a changing team, the members who don't know each other may find it daunting to share opinions, feeling, and information openly. In addition, as the member often reports to more than one manager, evaluation of their work may pose an issue.

General Operations Management Vs Project Management