Question

what are operations of a firm? how can operations be categorized?

Answer 1

Answer)

Well, a firm has to be very specific with what it does. They can't go operating without any goals, right? Imagine how many resources would be wasted if that happens.
See, the main aim of any organisation - medium sized or small, or a very big one, is to earn profits. Earning profits by dealing in goods and services by satisfying the demands of the consumers.
Similarly, a firm has to have a goal on which they can depend on. A goal that also gets improvised if the previous goals have been met.

Mainly there are 5 operations of a business firm. (other than the products the firm deals in) And there are categorised as follows:

1) Planning - The board of directors are the ones at the top authority in a company along with the CEO, so they decide what has to be done, what is the main goal, how long it would take for the goal to be achieved, what resources can be used etc. They layout the whole plan. Possible risks are considered, they prepare for everything, market researches are conducted, other competitor companies are studied, it's long process.
2) Organising - I talked about studying market in the planning process. Well, in this stage, the company organises things. It means the gear has changed and now the company will be organising, say funds for the company, the loans it has to take or it will make sure all the resources are there so that the work can be progressed easily. For example, a cloth manufacturing firm will collect all the possibly needed raw materials needed for the targets to be achieved.
3) Staffing- Another important operation of a firm. In a telecom company, engineers and other staff will be required. Applications are sent and there are different processes of recruitments in every company. They'll slightly differ from each other. For every level, it's different. Applications of the candidates who aren't qualified enough, or don't meet the no. of years experience required for the job will get filtered out. Only the candidates who meet the requirements will get selected and are finally recruited after an interview.
4) Directing - In this stage, the upper authorities on every level will delegate some work. The work is divided into sections and the person or the group incharge makes sure that the work is going smoothly. The incharge or the boss will direct everyone on how to complete a task, and will be the one try to resolve the problems within two employees too (if any arises)
5) Controlling - In a lot of organisations, monthly report is sent to the Board of directors. For the targets to be achieved by a firm, controlling every department's actions is important. For example, in a construction company, the raw materials should not be wasted, and if the quantity is less than what is usually required for construction, the people in authority would take care of it. The resources should NOT be over utilised, they should not be underutilized, the workers should workers should work for enough hours so the goal of the firm can be achieved - all of this is controlled by the people in authority. Because if certain things aren't controlled, the whole process is a waste, there would be nothing useful coming out of all the hardwork that was out in planning the goals for the org., organising the resources, the whole recruitment process would be a waste, teaching them their work would also be fruitless.
Therefore these were the operations of a firm and they're listed above and categorised in the order that they take place.

Hope the answer helped in the better understanding of the topic. :)