OperationsNow.com is an exciting new text that is distinguished in two ways from other operations management textbooks. First, the book is organized around the unique RPVR model (Resources, Processes, Value, Return-on-Investment) developed by the author. This model serves as both a design element of the text and an organizing principle for it. It was devised as a means of showing how the operations function can and should be viewed as integral to the success and profitability of an organization, not ancillary to it or isolated from other functional areas of a firm. By using a framework that emphasizes “value” and “profitability” non-operations majors¿who often represent the majority of students taking the introductory course¿are better able to understand the relevance of operations management to their own area of study. Operations management majors likewise benefit because they are given the opportunity to view operations in the broader context of the entire organization. The exposition of the RPVR model occurs within a unique set of chapters, some of which carry unusual titles. These chapters are neither titled nor organized according to traditional OM decision-making areas, but instead are organized around concepts, such as “Cost” “Value” “Profitability”, “Quality”, and “Timeliness” that resonate across all functional areas of business. By employing a common vocabulary, and organizing chapter material around concepts that are of universal concern to all functional areas of an organization, students are better able to understand not only “what” the operations function involves but also “why” it is pivotal to the success of the entire organization. The second significant feature of OperationsNow.com is indicated by its title, which suggests not only the heightened role that internet now plays in operations-related issues, which is reflected throughout, but also the fact that the author has made full use of internet-based technology in developing this instructional package for students. OperationsNow.com is the first operations management text to make full use of the power of Internet, and has gone further than any other text in the integration of its print and internet-based components. Through the use of web-links to current articles, news feeds, and company tours, and through the incorporation of short essays accompanied by streaming video, Excel tutorials, and interactive analytical graphics, this text delivers to students the most current and relevant information available in the operations management industry along while providing them with rich, internet-based study aids that are more challenging and relevant than many study aids confined to the print medium. Unlike the websites of virtually all other operations management textbooks, which are simply electronic repositories for the print supplements that accompany a main text, the website for OperationsNow.com is fully coordinated with the text material and integral to it. Although the text can be used independently of the website, the richness and relevance of the learning experience is infinitely strengthened when the print and Internet components are used in tandem. Internet components are used in tandem.
