Page 48 - DMGT206_PRODUCTION_AND_OPERATIONS_MANAGEMENT

Unit 2: Strategy and Operations Strategy

Functionality: It is a measure of the extent the product, when properly used, is able to accomplish Notes
the intended use.
Generic Competitive Strategies: Competitive strategies that can be used by the organization to
outperform competition and defend its position in the industry.
Quality: It is broadly defined as the extent to which a good or service is delivered consistent
with what the customer has been led to expect.

Speed: It is a measure of how long a customer must wait for the product once it is requested, and
how long it takes to design, develop, and introduce new products.

2.7 Review Questions

1. Explain the important issues associated with the key decision areas in Operations
Management.
2. What are some of the current challenges that operations managers face in each decision
area?
3. To what extent will the sustainability of competitive advantage depend upon the
organization’s strategic capabilities or its position within the industry?
4. What are the three generic strategies with which operations strategy must be consonant?

5. ‘The scope of Operations Management encompasses value creation and support processes
and is best explained by the types of decisions that operations managers face’. Explain.
6. ‘As a developed nation becomes more industrialized, people gain in skills and affluence.
Many more people enter the labour force and very often, both the spouses are working’.
How do these changes reflect on the role of the operations manager? Explain.
7. How do the three generic strategies differ and provide ‘competitive advantage’?

8. ‘Some say that, Porters’ Generic Strategies reflect the concerns of OM better than the
framework developed by Richardson, Taylor and Gordon’. Do you agree? Give reasons
for the position you take.
9. From the point of view of the Operations manager, what would you do in changing
market conditions? Would you adapt your operations capabilities or find new markets to
fit your existing capabilities? Explain.
10. Is it important to understand the complex tradeoffs involved in operational decisions as
well as how the different decision areas may be affected by such decisions? Give reasons
to support your answer.

Answers: Self Assessment

1. value equation 2. lower
3. stream of income 4. value
5. bargaining 6. lines of defense
7. narrow 8. standardized
9. low volume 10. quality

11. Customizers 12. three-stage
13. Process 14. expectations
15. controlling

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