Operations management and decision making selected organization: Toll Group Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note: Introduction This assignment is a business report of the Toll group, which is one of the largest logistic companies, head quartered in Australia. This assignment highlights the details of the organization, along with the operational strategies chosen by the company. How the company has evolved with time, is also highlighted in this assignment. The decision- making processes of Toll group, along with a details of the product and the service designs have been shed light upon, in this report. The importance of the process design has been addressed. An in-depth analysis of the value chain, supply chain, along with the planning and control strategies have been highlighted. The importance of quality management and the strategies adopted by the Toll group to ensure quality are also a part of this assignment. Finally, a conclusion has been drawn along with providing various recommendations for the enhancement of business of Toll group. Description of the organization The Toll Group is a major part of the Japan Post and is one of the largest transportation and logistics companies operating with focus on Asia Pacific (Tollgroup.com, 2017). Head-quartered in Melbourne, Australia, the Toll Group operates in roadways, sea, and air and in warehousing (Tollgroup.com, 2017). It operates with a network of 1200 sites across 50 countries (Tollgroup.com, 2017). The various operational divisions of the Toll group include the Toll Global Forwarding, Toll Global Logistics, Toll Resources and Government Logistics, Toll Global Express and Toll domestic Forwarding (Tollgroup.com, 2017). The number of employees is more than 40,000. Albert Toll was the founder of the Toll group and he founded in company in 1888. Initially, the operations started with coal, horse and cart (Tollgroup.com, 2017). Gradually, the company grew to the size that is seen today. The overall strategy of the company is to provide a variety of logistic services to the various countries and sites in Asia Pacific. It is a service based industry and not a product based one (Tollgroup.com, 2017). It is dedicated to provide the best logistics solution to its clients and customers, thus establishing the position of a leader in the Asia Pacific region. Toll group is a service based group of companies. The various services provided by the toll group are document parcelling and courier services, warehouse logistics, freight services, remote and resource logistics, aviation services, fleet services, maritime services (Tollgroup.com, 2017). Consultancy and project services are also given by the Toll group. Operational strategies The Toll group uses the transparent operational strategies. This strategy is evolved seamlessly from with the group of organizations, rather than evolving from outside. The operational strategy use by the Toll Group has evolved from the employees and the mangers, rather than outsiders imposing it. In the Asia pacific region, the Toll group uses the policy of acquisition and merger policy. It acquires a lot of similar companies such as BALtrans Holding Limited to strengthen its current operations and reduce the threat from competitors. Outside the Asia pacific zone, the company offers a wide range of transport services as well as logistic solutions (Goh 2015). The operations have changed a lot over time, along with the growth of the industry. Earlier the services and solutions offered were limited. However, with the expansion of the industry, the other services such as consultancy and project services have been introduced later (Tollgroup.com, 2017). Thus, as the acceptance and popularity of the existing services increased, the new services were introduced. One of the enhancements that have been done in the operation of the Toll Group is that, previously the works such as packing, loading and unloading were done manually by labours. However, with the advent of the technology, the manual labour was easily replaced by automation (Vega and Roussat 2015). This was a significant change in the operations, since the logistic system was enhanced and improved. Moreover, the changes in the operations caused significant expansion and enhancement in the business. Decision making processes and innovation The process of decision making is a critical one, for any business organization. The strategic decisions taken by the management of the organization, often determines the success or failure of the business organization (Tollgroup.com, 2017). The strategic and operational decisions are made in the Toll Group after consultation with the managers of the various departments, along with the stakeholders. Moreover, the employees are also encouraged to put in their suggestions and inputs before a strategic decision is taken. Innovation is encouraged throughout the business organizations. The employees are encouraged to come up with innovative ideas, such that the organization could flourish. The leadership practiced at toll is transformational style, and hence, there is much scope on innovation (Tollgroup.com, 2017). The encouragement of the employees along with empowering them results in the rapid growth of the Toll group. The corporate social responsibility has a key role to play in the decision making. The business and the operational decisions are taken in such a way that the CSR activities are also facilitated, along with the enhancement of the operations. The Toll Group engages in CSR activities such as community programs, sponsorships and donations (Tollgroup.com, 2017). The operational decisions are taken in such a way, that the environmental sustainability is also ensured and maintained (Tollgroup.com, 2017). Thus, while the decisions for improving the logistic services are taken, the Toll group ensures that the consumption of fuel and energy is reduced. Thus, the CSR is one of the deciding factors for operational decision making at Toll group. Product and service design Toll group is the part of Japan post. It is a transportation company, which is an integrated service provider. It provides the transport service to the single package from the bulk cargo. Moreover, it provides services to the warehouses of the goods from the digital data. They manage the delivery of integrated solution, which are logistic across the town as well as across the world (Tollgroup.com. 2017). The organization can face operational challenges in servicing due to the lack of supporting infrastructure. This can be of two types that are physical and technological. The physical damages of the transport system can be an operational challenge for the organization. The software can exist in permitting the use of the electronic work diaries. The other compliance tools can be lag of governance frameworks. Toll Group can continue their services with different approaches to overcome the problems. Other challenges are the software problem and road problems (Tollgroup.com. 2017). In the organization, there are issues regarding the research and development function. The company do not have proper communication with the senior management. Therefore, it is necessary to build a strong communication with the senior groups so that the problems can be overcome. Moreover, the CoR resources are insufficient w, which needs to be established and maintained appropriately (www.tollgroup.com 2017). However, the company has appropriate survey strategies and data analysis techniques, which help the organization to expand their business. Moreover, the organization has appropriate business strategies that help Toll group to overcome problems and progress in the international market (www.tollgroup.com 2017). Process design Toll group tries to provide the best quality of services to their customers. They have well- structured business process that helps them to expand their business in the international market. They have various business processes that enable the services, which can include the various things. The services can include the multi- channel capture, intelligent document recognition, optical mark recognition, barcode recognition (www.ntc.gov.au 2017). The multi channel capture includes the web, fax, paper and email. On the other hand, the optical mark recognition can include the registration on the mark sense objects such as tick boxes and bubbles. They use this type of business process to gain profit, which is visible and help to improve the efficiency. Moreover, it is a cost effective business process (Tollgroup.com. 2017). The retailing and manufacturing facilities help the business and also provide the support to the business process. The enabled service can include the exceptions management as well as the straight through process (Tollgroup.com. 2017). The retailing system helps the business to deal with the customers and improve their business strategies. Their transportation system is of high quality, by which they can win the trust of the customers. The business needs improvement in the manufacturing techniques to develop the business process. However, Toll group provide end- to– end management and latest version of the intelligent document recognition te4chnilogies for the automate processes (Tollgroup.com. 2017). By using the business process, they are able to develop the products and services. They use the secured network to protect the important data of the clients and the company (Tollgroup.com. 2017). Value chain Toll group advocates the value chain concept. The main vision of the organization is to provide the best quality service to the Asia Pacific region. They want to provide the logistic services successfully. Their vision is to provide the unrivalled set of the global supply chain abilities. Moreover, they aimed to have the integral component of the success of the customers. This is a group of company, which is excellent individually and i9s unbeatable collectively (Tollgroup.com. 2017). People know the organization as the logistics provider of Asia Pacific regions. The value of the organization is to create the sustainable value. The values of Toll group includes the integrity and trust, safety, continuous development, teamwork, and being open and transparent. The company believes that all injuries can bed preventable. Everyone has the right to go safely to his or her houses. People try to give their best performance to improve their placement (Tollgroup.com. 2017). The demand of the products is high. Therefore, they try to hire logistic professionals to improve the value chain management. The value chain management of the organization include the material, capital and information. The material includes the products and parts. Information includes the capacity and delivery schedule. The finance includes credit terms, pricing and invoices (Tollgroup.com. 2017). Planning and control Toll group gives their best effort to meet the requirements of the clients. They provide the value- add distribution to their customers. They help to optimise the distribution through the consolidation programs as well as the non- consolidation programs (Tollgroup.com. 2017). The overall strategy of the company is to provide a variety of logistic services to the various countries and sites in Asia Pacific. It is dedicated to provide the best logistics solution to its clients and customers, thus establishing the position of a leader in the Asia Pacific region. The various services provided by the toll group are document parcelling and courier services, warehouse logistics, freight services, remote and resource logistics, aviation services, fleet services, maritime services (Tollgroup.com. 2017). In the Asia pacific region, the Toll group uses the policy of acquisition and merger policy. However, with the expansion of the industry, the other services such as consultancy and project services have been introduced later (Tollgroup.com. 2017). With the advent of the technology, the manual labour was easily replaced by automation. Moreover, the changes in the operations caused significant expansion and enhancement in the business. Innovation is encouraged throughout the business organizations. The encouragement of the employees along with empowering them results in the rapid growth of the Toll group. The operational decisions are taken in such a way, that the environmental sustainability is also ensured and maintained (Tollgroup.com. 2017). Thus, the CSR is one of the deciding factors for operational decision making at Toll group. Quality management Toll organization use the lean six sigma approaches to improve their service. This tool helps to identify as well as select the key strategic projects. This helps to develop the detailed project charter that is staffed with the balanced team. The tool helps the organization to determine the appropriate scopes of the project (www.ntc.gov.au 2017). The quality strategy use by the Toll Group has evolved from the employees and the mangers, rather than outsiders imposing it. The quality management have changed a lot over time, along with the growth of the industry. Earlier the services and solutions offered were limited. However, with the expansion of the industry, the other services such as consultancy and project services have been introduced later. This was a significant change in the operations, since the logistic system was enhanced as well as improved. Moreover, the changes in the operations caused significant expansion and enhancement in the business. The importance of quality management and the strategies adopted by the Toll group to ensure quality are also a part of this assignment. Thus, as the acceptance and popularity of the existing services increased, the new services were introduced. Conclusion Based on the above function, it can be said that The operational strategy use by the Toll Group has evolved from the employees and the mangers, rather than outsiders imposing it. Earlier the services and solutions offered were limited. However, with the expansion of the industry, the other services such as consultancy and project services have been introduced later. One of the enhancements that have been done in the operation of the Toll Group is that, previously the works such as packing, loading and unloading were done manually by labours. The strategic and operational decisions are made in the Toll Group after consultation with the managers of the various departments, along with the stakeholders. The business and the operational decisions are taken in such a way that the CSR activities are also facilitated, along with the enhancement of the operations. While the decisions for improving the logistic services are taken, the Toll group ensures that the consumption of fuel and energy is reduced. References Aschauer, G., Gronalt, M. and Mandl, C., 2015. Modelling interrelationships between logistics and transportation operations–a system dynamics approach. Management Research Review, 38(5), pp.505-539. Goh, M., 2015. Urban Logistics in Asia. In TA-Q-BIN (pp. 3-22). Springer Singapore. Tollgroup.com. (2017). Corporate Responsibility | Toll Group - Providing Global Logistics. [online] Available at: http://www.tollgroup.com/corporate-responsibility [Accessed 24 May 2017]. Tollgroup.com. (2017). 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