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Figure 3.10 each of the ‘new approaches’ positioned in terms of their emphasis on what changes
to make or how to make the changes, and whether they emphasise rapid or gradual change

Emphasis on
rapid change

BPR

Emphasis on Six Sigma Emphasis on
what to do how to do it

Lean

TQM

Emphasis on
gradual change

the way operations resources are organised (with the possible exception of it emphasis-
ing the negative effects of process variation). Its concern is largely the way improvements
should be made: using evidence, using quantitative analysis, using the DMAIC cycle, and
so on. They also differ in terms of whether they emphasise gradual or rapid change. BPR
is explicit in its radical nature; it implicitly assumes a fairly dramatic change. By contrast,
TQM and lean both incorporate ideas of continuous improvement. Six Sigma is relatively
neutral on this issue and can be used for small or very large changes.

These approaches are not strategies but they are strategic decisions
So, can any of the approaches that we have described in this chapter be described as
operations strategies? Remember that our definition of operations strategy is the recon-
ciliation of market requirements and operations resource capabilities. Implicit in this
definition, and indeed in everything we have discussed in this book, is the idea that an
individual enterprise’s market requirements and their operations resource capabilities
are, to some extent, unique to that enterprise. Even companies competing in ostensi-
bly the same market for the same customers will generally have to position themselves

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