OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
BBA Student 2026
Second Semester Second Year
Professor: Gyusuk Lee
,Chapter 1: Operations Strategy
Operations Strategy
Operations and supply chain strategy
- Setting broad policies and plans for using the resources of a firm.
- Must be integrated with corporate and business strategy.
Operational strategy → implementation level.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Operations strategy: part of a planning process that coordinates operational goals with
those of the larger organisation.
Operations effectiveness: performing activities in a manner that best implements strategic
priorities at a minimum cost.
Competitive Dimensions
Customers have various products and services choices:
- Customers have different preferences.
- Companies provide different products and services.
Companies must find a competitive position to survive.
1. Price and cost: make and deliver the product or service cheaper.
2. Quality: make a great product or deliver with great service.
3. Delivery
- Delivery speed: deliver the product quickly.
- Delivery reliability: deliver the product when promised.
4. Coping with changes in demand: the quantity.
5. Flexibility
- New-product introduction speed.
- Variety in product/service option.
6. Other competitive dimensions
- Innovation.
- Sustainability.
- Customisation.
- After service & support.
7. Trade-off
A company cannot excel in all competitive dimensions → they must focus on specific
competitive dimensions.
Management must decide which parameters of performance are critical and
concentrate resources on those characteristics.
When positioning themselves, companies should carefully consider the trade-off and
strategic alignment issues.
Straddling: seeking to match a successful competitor while maintaining its existing
position (often a risky strategy).
Order Qualifiers and Order Winners
Order qualifiers: dimensions necessary for a firm’s products or services to be considered
for purchase.
- Features that must exist and available.
- Features that customers will not give up.
Order winners: criteria that differentiate a firm’s products and services from its competitors.
1
, Productivity Measurement
Productivity: measure of how well resources are used.
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑠
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑠
Productivity is a relative measure → it must be compared to something else to be
meaningful.
- Partial productivity measures compare output to a single input.
2
BBA Student 2026
Second Semester Second Year
Professor: Gyusuk Lee
,Chapter 1: Operations Strategy
Operations Strategy
Operations and supply chain strategy
- Setting broad policies and plans for using the resources of a firm.
- Must be integrated with corporate and business strategy.
Operational strategy → implementation level.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Operations strategy: part of a planning process that coordinates operational goals with
those of the larger organisation.
Operations effectiveness: performing activities in a manner that best implements strategic
priorities at a minimum cost.
Competitive Dimensions
Customers have various products and services choices:
- Customers have different preferences.
- Companies provide different products and services.
Companies must find a competitive position to survive.
1. Price and cost: make and deliver the product or service cheaper.
2. Quality: make a great product or deliver with great service.
3. Delivery
- Delivery speed: deliver the product quickly.
- Delivery reliability: deliver the product when promised.
4. Coping with changes in demand: the quantity.
5. Flexibility
- New-product introduction speed.
- Variety in product/service option.
6. Other competitive dimensions
- Innovation.
- Sustainability.
- Customisation.
- After service & support.
7. Trade-off
A company cannot excel in all competitive dimensions → they must focus on specific
competitive dimensions.
Management must decide which parameters of performance are critical and
concentrate resources on those characteristics.
When positioning themselves, companies should carefully consider the trade-off and
strategic alignment issues.
Straddling: seeking to match a successful competitor while maintaining its existing
position (often a risky strategy).
Order Qualifiers and Order Winners
Order qualifiers: dimensions necessary for a firm’s products or services to be considered
for purchase.
- Features that must exist and available.
- Features that customers will not give up.
Order winners: criteria that differentiate a firm’s products and services from its competitors.
1
, Productivity Measurement
Productivity: measure of how well resources are used.
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑠
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑠
Productivity is a relative measure → it must be compared to something else to be
meaningful.
- Partial productivity measures compare output to a single input.
2
