Page 90 - Operations Strategy

Judging OPERATiOns PERfORmAnCE AT An OPERATiOnAl lEvEl? 65
Order-winning factors are things that directly and significantly contribute to win-
ning business. Customers regard them as key reasons for purchasing the product or
service. They are, therefore, the most important aspects of the way a company defines
its competitive stance. Raising performance in an order-winning factor will either result
in more business or improve the chances of gaining more business. Of course, some
order-winning factors are more important than others. In Figure 2.7 the slope of the
line indicates how sensitive competitive benefit is to an operation’s achieved perfor-
mance in the factor.
Qualifying factors may not be the major competitive determinants of success, but
are important in another way. They are those aspects of competitiveness where the
operation’s performance has to be above a particular level just to be considered by
the customer. Below this ‘qualifying’ level of performance many customers probably
won’t even consider the company. Above the ‘qualifying’ level it will be considered,
but mainly in terms of its performance in the order-winning factors. Any further
improvement in qualifying factors above the qualifying level is unlikely to gain much
competitive benefit.

Delights
In addition to order-winners and qualifiers, some authorities add a third category,
generally known as ‘delights’. Notwithstanding its rather off-putting name, ‘delights’
are aspects of performance that customers have not yet been made aware of, or that are
8
so novel that no one else is aware of them. If an organisation presents a customer with
a ‘delight’, the implication is that because the customer is unaware of it, no competi-
tor has offered it to them. For example, health care companies that supply products
and services to clinics and hospitals have always been aware that they need to supply
their customers in a fast and efficient manner. Factors such as the range of products
supplied and the dependability of supply would be regarded as qualifiers, with speed

Figure 2.7 Qualifiers, order-winners and delights expressed in terms of their
competitive benefit with achieved performance note. There is an erosion of delights
and order winners over time

Positive
Delights

Competitive benefit Neutral Time Order-winners

Qualifiers

Negative
Low High
Achieved performance

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