Essay About Work Of Wickham Skinner And Wal-Mart

Operations Strategy
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Operations Strategy
It is generally accepted that the beginnings of what is now referred to
as operations strategy were developed at Harvard beginning in the period
immediately following World War II. Researchers started looking at different
industries and saw that there were many different choices in ways in which
companies were choosing to compete. These were accompanied by further
choices concerning operations technology and management. The success and
failure of the companies studied could be often explained by the choices the
companies made and their alignment to competitive strategies.
Key to the propagation of operations strategy as a strategic
opportunity was the work of Wickham Skinner in his two articles:
“Manufacturing – the missing link in corporate strategy” and “The Focused
Factory”. The first explained the importance of linking operations choices
with an organizations environment and strategy. The second article which I
have referred to often in my own work developed the concept of focus and
the advantages of being consistent and in alignment both internally and
externally.
Since Skinners early work, the writings and practices of operations
strategy have developed on a few broad fronts. We will look at two of them
here. The first can be described as competing through capability by closely
linking the operations capability of the organization with the competitive
realities of the market. Dell computer with is make-to order business model
and Wal-Mart with its distribution system are good examples. The second is
often described as a best practice or “World Class Manufacturing” approach.
Canon and Toyota are good examples of this.