3e2a1b56-dafb-454d-87ad-86adea3e7b86

Chapter 3
Operations strategy
Key questions
➤ What is strategy and what is
operations strategy?
➤ What is the difference between a
‘top-down’ and a ‘bottom-up’ view
of operations strategy?
➤ What is the difference between a
‘market requirements’ and an
‘operations resources’ view of
operations strategy?
➤ How can an operations strategy be
put together?
Introduction
No organization can plan in detail every aspect of its current or
future actions, but all organizations need some strategic direction
and so can benefit from some idea of where they are heading
and how they could get there. Once the operations function has
understood its role in the business and after it has articulated
its performance objectives, it needs to formulate a set of
general principles which will guide its decision-making. This is the
operations strategy of the company. Yet the concept of ‘strategy’
itself is not straightforward; neither is operations strategy. This
chapter considers four perspectives, each of which goes partway
to illustrating the forces that shape operations strategy. Figure 3.1
shows the position of the ideas described in this chapter in the
general model of operations management.
Figure 3.1 This chapter examines operations strategy
Check and improve your understanding of this chapter using self assessment
questions and a personalised study plan, audio and video downloads, and an
eBook – all at www.myomlab.com.