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Chapter 2
Operations Strategy and
Competitiveness

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OBJECTIVES
Operations Strategy
Competitive Dimensions
Order Qualifiers and Winners
Strategy Design Process
A Framework for Manufacturing Strategy
Service Strategy Capacity Capabilities
Productivity Measures

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Operations Strategy
Strategy Process Example

Customer Needs More Product

Corporate Strategy Increase Org. Size

Operations Strategy Increase Production Capacity

Decisions on Processes
and Infrastructure Build New Factory

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Competitive Dimensions
Cost or Price
Make the Product or Deliver the Service Cheap
Quality
Make a Great Product or Deliver a Great Service
Delivery Speed
Make the Product or Deliver the Service Quickly
Delivery Reliability
Deliver It When Promised
Coping with Changes in Demand
Change Its Volume
Flexibility and New Product Introduction Speed
Change It
Other Product-Specific Criteria
Support It

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Dealing with Trade-offs

For example, if we reduce costs by reducing product
quality inspections, we might reduce product quality.

For example, if we
improve customer Cost
service problem solving
by cross-training Flexibility Delivery
personnel to deal with a
wider-range of
Quality
problems, they may
become less efficient at
dealing with commonly
occurring problems.

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Order Qualifiers and Winners

Defined
Order qualifiers are the basic
criteria that permit the firms
products to be considered as
candidates for purchase by
customers

Order winners are the criteria that

differentiates the products and
services of one firm from another

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Service Breakthroughs

A brand name
car can be an
order qualifier

Repair services can be order

winners
Examples: Warranty, Roadside Assistance,
Leases, etc

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Strategy Design Process

Strategy Map What it is about!
Financial Perspective Improve Shareholder Value

Customer Perspective Customer Value Proposition

Internal Perspective Build-Increase-Achieve

Learning and Growth Perspective A Motivated and Prepared

Workforce

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Kaplan and Nortons Generic

Strategy Map
In the Kaplan and Nortons Generic Strategy
Map, under the Financial Perspective, the
Productivity Strategy is generally made up from
two components:

1. Improve cost structure: Lower direct and

indirect costs
2. Increase asset utilization: Reduce working
and fixed capital

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Kaplan and Nortons Generic

Strategy Map (Continued)
In the Kaplan and Nortons Generic Strategy
Map, under the Financial Perspective, the
Revenue Growth Strategy is generally made
up from two components:

1. Build the franchise: Develop new sources of

revenue
2. Increase customer value: Work with
existing customers to expand relationships
with company

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Kaplan and Nortons Generic

Strategy Map (Continued)
In the Kaplan and Nortons Generic Strategy
Map, under the Customer Perspective, there
are three ways suggested as means of
differentiating a company from others in a
marketplace:

1. Product leadership
2. Customer intimacy
3. Operational excellence

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Kaplan and Nortons Generic

Strategy Map (Continued)
In the Kaplan and Nortons Generic Strategy
Map, under the Learning and Growth
Perspective, there are three principle
categories of intangible assets needed for
learning:

1. Strategic competencies
2. Strategic technologies
3. Climate for action

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Operations Strategy Framework
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Customer Needs

New product : Old product

Competitive
dimensions & requirements

Quality, Dependability, Speed, Flexibility, and Price

Enterprise capabilities
Operations
Operationsand Suppliercapabilities
& Supplier Capabilities
R&DR&D Technology SystemsSystems
Technology People
People Distribution
Distribution

Support Platforms
Financial management Human resource management Information management

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Steps in Developing a
Manufacturing Strategy

1. Segment the market according to the

product group
2. Identify product requirements, demand
patterns, and profit margins of each group
3. Determine order qualifiers and winners for
each group
4. Convert order winners into specific
performance requirements

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Service Strategy Capacity

Capabilities
Process-based
Capacities that transforms material or information
and provide advantages on dimensions of cost and
quality
Systems-based
Capacities that are broad-based involving the entire
operating system and provide advantages of short
lead times and customize on demand
Organization-based
Capacities that are difficult to replicate and provide
abilities to master new technologies

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What is Productivity?
Defined
Productivity is a common measure
on how well resources are being
used. In the broadest sense, it can
be defined as the following ratio:
Outputs
Inputs

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Total Measure Productivity

Total Measure Productivity = Outputs
Inputs

or
= Goods and services produced
All resources used

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Partial Measure Productivity

Partial measures of productivity =

Output or Output or Output or Output

Labor Capital Materials Energy

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Multifactor Measure
Productivity
Multifactor measures of productivity =

Output .
Labor + Capital + Energy

or

Output .
Labor + Capital + Materials

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Example of Productivity
Measurement
You have just determined that your service
employees have used a total of 2400 hours of
labor this week to process 560 insurance
forms. Last week the same crew used only
2000 hours of labor to process 480 forms.
Which productivity measure should be used?
Answer: Could be classified as a Total
Measure or Partial Measure.
Is productivity increasing or decreasing?
Answer: Last weeks productivity = 480/2000 = 0.24,
and this weeks productivity is = 560/2400 = 0.23. So,
productivity is decreasing slightly.

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Question Bowl
An operations strategy is concerned
with which of the following?
a. Setting specific policies and plans
b. Short-term competitive strategies
c. Coordination of operational goals
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
Answer: c. Coordination of operational
goals

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Question Bowl
Typically a strategy breaks down
into what major components?
a. Operations effectiveness
b. Customer management
c. Production innovation
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

Answer: d. All of the above

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Question Bowl
A criterion that differentiates the
products and services of one firm
from another can be which of the
following?
a. An order qualifier
b. An order winner
c. PWP
d. KPI
e. None of the above

Answer: b. An order winner

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Question Bowl
A travel agency processed 240 customers on
Day 1 with a staff of 12, and 360 customers
the on Day 2 with a staff of 15. What can be
said about the productivity shift from Day 1
to Day 2?
a. An increase in productivity from Day 1 to Day 2
b. A decrease in productivity from Day 1 to Day 2
c. The same productivity from Day 1 to Day 2
d. Can not be computed from data above
e. None of the above
Answer: a. An increase in productivity from Day 1 to
Day 2(Day 1 productivity = 240/12=20
Day 2 productivity = 360/15=24)

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Question Bowl
In addition to traditional financial measures, what
critical questions can a Balanced Scorecard
help a company answer?
a. How do customers see us?
b. What must we excel at?
c. How can we continue to improve and create
value?
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

Answer: d. All of the above

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End of Chapter 2

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