Page 356 - Operations Strategy

WHAT is oPERATions sTRATEgy imPlEmEnTATion? 331

Figure 9.7 a typology of the ‘central operations’ function

Programmatic

Top-
Trainer down Governor
Instructing operations in the development Controlling the performance of the operations
and deployment of their capabilities through by setting clear priorities and measuring
standardised improvement methods performance against targets
Roles: Roles:
Central operations – messenger/judge
Central operations – teacher/consultant
Capabilities focus Operations requirements Performance focus
Business operation – recipient/defendant
Business operations – pupil/client
Market
resources
Curator
Facilitator
Enabling operations in the development and
deployment of their capabilities through shared Nurturing the performance of the operations
by collecting performance data and
advice, support and learning distributing comparative performance
information
Roles: Roles:
Central operation – mentor Central operations – recorder/analyst
Business operations – member of a Business operations – source of
community information
Bottom-
up
Emergent

as the agent of a central authority, interpreting the Imperial will and arbitrating over
any disputes within the framework of central rule. The word governor, however, is also
used in mechanics to denote the mechanism that prevents an engine running out of
control and damaging itself. Central operations of this type interpret strategy in terms
of market performance, set clear goals for each business operation, judge their perfor-
mance and, if performance is not to target, want to know the reason why. They are likely
to have a set of predetermined responses to ‘fix’ operations that do not perform up to
requirements and tend to expect results to improve in the short term.

Central operations as curator
Central operations can be concerned primarily with performance against market
requirements without being top-down. They may take a more emergent view by act-
ing as the repository of performance data and ideas regarding operations practice for
the company as a whole. We use the term ‘curator’ to capture this idea. Curators col-
lect information and examples so that all can be educated by examining them. Cen-
tral operations therefore will be concerned with collecting performance information,
examples of best practice and so on. They will also be concerned with disseminating
this information so that operations managers in different parts of the business can
benchmark themselves against their colleagues and, where appropriate, adopt best
practice from elsewhere. The term curator can also be taken to mean more than a col-
lector; it can also imply someone who nurtures and cares for the exhibits. So, central
operations acting as curators may also analyse and explain the performance data and
examples of operations practice they collect. In this way, they educate business opera-
tions and encourage debate around operations practice.

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