Page 46 - Operations Strategy

WHAT is OPERATiOns sTRATEgy And HOW is iT diffEREnT fROm OPERATiOns mAnAgEmEnT? 21

Figure 1.8 the four features of the VrIO framework

Organisation + value +
Organisation + rarity = short/medium-
value = at least term competitive
parity with advantage
competitors
Are your Are your
capabilities capabilities
valuable? rare?
Operations
contributes to
sustainable
competitive
advantage

Is operations
organised to Are your
exploit your capabilities
capabilities? inimitable?
Organisation = Organisation + value +
potential to rarity + inimitability =
contribute to long-term competitive
competitiveness advantage
Source: From Slack N. (2017) The Operations Advantage, London: Kogan Page. (Reproduced by permission.)

the firm. Of course, this assumes that these strategic resources beyond the boundaries
of the firm can be readily accessed. In other words, the relationships between opera-
tions within a supply network are suitably strong and/or collaborative, and the synergy
between resources within each firm sufficiently close, to make access to another firm’s
resources valuable.
A theatre lighting example (continued)
As an example of the operations resource perspective, we return to the lighting business
described earlier. Its market requirements analysis had indicated a shift towards target-
ing commercial companies who needed lighting designs (and often specialised equip-
ment) for sales promotion events, conferences, displays and exhibitions. An analysis
of the firm’s resources, processes and capabilities revealed that the company’s history
and experience of advising theatrical producers was a valuable asset, particularly in the
conference market. It allowed them to excel at understanding how to translate some-
one else’s vision into theatrical reality. Furthermore, their lighting and sound techni-
cians were experienced at reprogramming equipment and configuring equipment to
fit almost any concept their clients wanted. These skills, combined with an intimate
network of contracts with equipment and software suppliers, enabled the company to
outperform competitors and eventually dominate this (for them) new market. In order
to maintain its competitive advantage, it opened new sites in a number of locations
where existing and potential customers were located, all of which had a resident light-
ing and sound design expert. The company also developed a virtual reality simulation,

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