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Chapter 3 Operations strategy 81
messages at other times. The launch point is out of sight
and 1.5 km from the cabin but a safe walking route is
signposted. Club members can let themselves onto the
airfield and drive to the launch point. At the launch point the
casual flyers might have to stand and wait for some time
until a club member has time to find out what they want.
Even when a flight has been pre-booked casual flyers may
then be kept waiting, on the exposed and often windy airfield,
for up to two hours before their flight, depending on
how many club members are present. Occasionally they
will turn up for a pre-booked trial flight and will be turned
away because either the weather is unsuitable or there are
not enough club members to get a glider into the air. The
casual flyers are encouraged to help out with the routine
tasks but often seem reluctant to do so. After their flight
they are left to find their own way back to their cars.
Income from the casual flyers is seen to be small compared
to membership income and launch fees but the club’s
management committee views casual flying as a ‘loss leader’
to generate club memberships which are £350 per annum.
The club used to generate a regular surplus of around
£10,000 per year which is used to upgrade the gliders
and other facilities. However, insurance costs have risen
dramatically due to their crashing and severely damaging
four gliders during the last two years. Two of the accidents
resulted in the deaths of one member and one casual flyer
and serious injuries to three other members.
The club’s committee is under some pressure from
members to end trial flights because they reduce the number
of flights members can have in a day. Some members
have complained that they sometimes spend most of
their day working to get casual flyers into the air and miss
out on flying themselves. Although they provide a useful
source of income for the hard-pressed club (around 700
were sold in the previous year), only a handful have been
converted into club memberships.
Questions
1 Evaluate the service to club members and casual flyers
by completing a table similar to Table 3.1.
2 Chart the five performance objectives to show the
differing expectations of club members and casual
flyers and compare these with the actual service
delivered.
3 What advice would you give to the chairman?
Problems and applications
These problems and applications will help to improve your analysis of operations. You
can find more practice problems as well as worked examples and guided solutions on
MyOMLab at www.myomlab.com.
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Explain how the four perspectives of operations strategy would apply to Ryanair and Flextronics.
Compare the operations strategies of Ryanair and a full-service airline such as British Airways or KLM.
What do you think are the qualifying and order-winning factors for (a) a top of the range Ferrari, and (b) a
Renault Clio?
What do you think are the qualifying or order-winning factors for IKEA described in Chapter 1?
Search the Internet site of Intel, the best-known microchip manufacturer, and identify what appear to be its
main structural and infrastructural decisions in its operations strategy.
(Advanced) McDonald’s has come to epitomize the ‘fast-food’ industry. When the company started in the
1950s it was the first to establish itself in the market. Now there are hundreds of ‘fast-food’ brands in the
market competing in different ways. Some of the differences between these fast-food chains are obvious.
For example, some specialize in chicken products, others in pizza, and so on. However, some differences are
less obvious. Originally, McDonald’s competed on low price, fast service and a totally standardized service
offering. They also offered a very narrow range of items on their menu. Visit a McDonald’s restaurant and
deduce what you believe to be its most important performance objectives. Then try and identify two other
chains which appear to compete in a slightly different way. Then try to identify how these differences in the
relative importance of competitive objectives must influence the structural and infrastructural decisions of
each chain’s operations strategy.