Operations Strategy 6 - Organization

Structural decisions - the physical arrangement and configuration of resources ie hardware Infrastructural decisions - activities that take place in the operation ie software

Key Infrastructural decision - functional support, controls and procedures, tech systems etc.eg push v pull systems

Improvement and systems

Alder and Winograd - basic improvement strategy

• Modularity
• Accessibility
• Inclusiveness

Path based model for development

(as opposed to intallation based) Mcafee

• IT is integral
• Projects are many
• Prototype and evlove
• Ongoing delivery
• common standards
• Technical contl in internal not vendor
• experimentation
• concerns are about integration and flecxibility and progressive delivery - not control, all requirements at once

HR issues and change

• coomoditization coming with focus
• segmentation
• lower skills? / pay?

but also

• X selling
• solving customers probelms not transactions
• buffering front office from back office
• adding value

Organizational design

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Flexible rsponse is efficiency / cost . Resopns to mkt changes. ability to serve range of mkt req's

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It is a mistake to think of these organizational structures as distinct types. Rather, they represent four influences on organizational design. These influences are:

the extent of functional influence (the U-form organization);

the extent of market, regional or operational unit influence (the M-form organization);

the extent to which resources have multiple reporting relationships (matrix-form organizations);

the extent to which organizational groupings form their own reporting relationship alliances (the N-form organization).

==Comparing Forms .......................Ability to meet.Market....................................................Abilty to deploy Resources .......................Service..............flexibility...........Efficiency......Capacity/PT,,,,Devpt/Org......Supply

U-form...........low....................low....................med...............med ...............high.............low M- form...........high..................med..................med...............med.................med............med Matrix............high..................med....................med..............med ................med.............med N-form...........high..................high...................high...............high...................high............high

The role of operations in each form

......deg of.. tech specialisation.....centralization........delegated authority.....realtionship....ext relation U..........................H.......................L.............................L.........................Formal............ltd M.........................M......................M............................M........................f/I....................F/Ltd Matrix...................ML....................ML.........................MH.......................F/I..................F/ltd N.........................L........................L.............................H.........................I....................I/many

Interface with external environment

Increasing buffering operation from external environment is seen as having drawbacks and is now more visible

• hotels
• clothes retailing

This implies faster response/ different skills

It is becoming a deliberate pary or organizational design and is a question of what degree of exposure

Service factories - Showroom, dispatcher, consultant, lab

The role of operations

• to implement, drive and support strategy

The role of central operations - Macgee and Merali [img['|http://www.warwick.ac.uk/~bsscr/images/mod7_slide7.gif]]

Focus and targeted operations

Wickham Skinner Attention to 5 features

• Age and variety of tech
• Type and range placed in marketplace
• Volumes handled
• Key tasks
• Quality Standards

There are barriers and pressures towards and away from focus

Improving operations effectiveness by using and overcoming Trade offs

• Achieving focus
  • Corporate objectives
  • Where are we good at matching marketers requirements
  • Examine each element of operation
  • Reorganize elements so they are congruent

Strategy and Practice 5 - Innovation-Based Strategy

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