PHYSICS 102 Lecture 25:
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2.1 Elements of the business
• Business is defined by two elements; structural and infrastructural elements
• Structural elements: tangible resources, e.g. buildings, equipment and information
technology
▪ Require large investments; difficult to reverse
▪ Changed infrequently and only after much deliberation
• Infrastructural elements: people, policies, decision rules and organizational structure
choices made by the firm
▪ Invisible, but equally just as important as structural elements
➔ Developing these elements can take years and millions of dollars, so managers have to
ensure that their decisions are appropriate and consistent with one another
2.2 Strategy
• Strategy: mechanism by which businesses coordinate their decisions regarding their
structural and infrastructural elements long-term game plan
• Mission: explains why organizations exist, what its core values are, and what the
organization’s domain is
• Business strategy: strategy that identifies a firm’s targeted customers and stets time
frames and performance objectives for the business
▪ Identify firm’s targeted customers and indicate what the operations and supply
chain functions need to do to provide value to these customers
▪ Set time frames and performance objectives that make it possible to track the
firm’s progress
▪ Identify and support the development of core competencies in operations and
supply chain areas
• Core competencies: organizational strengths or abilities, developed over a long period
of time that customers find valuable and suppliers find hard to copy
Chapter 2 – Operations and Supply Chain Strategies
Document Summary
Chapter 2 operations and supply chain strategies. Invisible, but equally just as important as structural elements. Developing these elements can take years and millions of dollars, so managers have to ensure that their decisions are appropriate and consistent with one another. Identify firm"s targeted customers and indicate what the operations and supply chain functions need to do to provide value to these customers: set time frames and performance objectives that make it possible to track the firm"s progress. Identify and support the development of core competencies in operations and supply chain areas: core competencies: organizational strengths or abilities, developed over a long period of time that customers find valuable and suppliers find hard to copy. 1: functional strategies: strategy that translates a business strategy into specific actions for functional areas such as marketing, hr, and finance. Functional strategies should align with the overall business strategy and with each other.
