Page 143 - Operations Strategy

118 CHAPTER 3 • SubSTiTuTES foR STRATEgy
slightly differently. Certainly, given that there are an infinite number of ways that they
can organise their resources, they are likely to have different operations resource capa-
bilities. The essence of an operations strategy is that it is individual and specific to one
organisation at one point in time. By contrast, the approaches we have described in
this chapter are generic in nature. That is, after all, why they are attractive: they offer
generic advice that is broadly applicable across a range of businesses. That is also why
they are not strategies. And that is why senior managers who adopt them as operations
strategies are deluding themselves.
Nevertheless, none of them is incompatible with a sensible operations strategy. They
can all be considered as part of a strategy, either in terms of its content or its process. In
fact the choice of which, if any, approach to adopt is an important strategic decision.
Before adopting any of the approaches, at least some of the following issues should
be considered.

● Does the approach have the potential to add value in terms of the requirements of
our customers?
● Do we have the resources (expertise, capacity and, budget) to adopt the approach?
● Have similar organisations to ours adopted this approach and what is their experi-
ence of using it?
● Is this approach compatible with other strategic decisions that we have made?
● Are we capable of communicating the ideas behind the approach and carrying out
the necessary training and development to ensure that all staff understand how it
fits into the company’s strategy?

Avoid becoming a victim of improvement ‘fashion’
Finally, remember that operations improvement has, to some extent, become a fashion
industry, with new ideas and concepts continually being introduced as offering a novel
way to improve business performance. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this.
Fashion stimulates and refreshes through introducing novel ideas. Without it, things
would stagnate. The problem lies not with new improvement ideas, but rather with
some managers becoming victims of the process, where some new idea will entirely
displace whatever went before. Most new ideas have something to say, but jumping
from one fad to another will not only generate a backlash against any new idea, but also
destroy the ability to accumulate the experience that comes from experimenting with
each one. Avoiding becoming an improvement fashion victim is not easy. It requires
that those directing the strategy process take responsibility for a number of issues.
1 They must take responsibility for improvement as an ongoing activity, rather than
becoming champions for only one specific improvement initiative.
2 They must take responsibility for understanding the underlying ideas behind each
new concept. Improvement is not ‘following a recipe’ or ‘painting by numbers’.
Unless one understands why improvement ideas are supposed to work, it is difficult
to understand how they can be made to work properly.
3 They must take responsibility for understanding the antecedents to a ‘new’ improve-
ment idea, because it helps to understand it better and to judge how appropriate it
may be for one’s own operation.
4 They must be prepared to adapt new ideas so that they make sense within the context
of their own operation; ‘one size’ rarely fits all.

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