GMS 401 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Operations Management, Cost Leadership, Product Differentiation

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Global Management Studies
• Course: GMS 401
• Professor: Wally Whistance- Smith

Document Summary

Competitive advantage: the creation of a unique advantage over competitors. Idea is to create customer value in an efficient and sustainable way. Pure forms of these strategies may exist, but operations managers will more likely be called on to implement some combination of them: competing on differentiation. Differentiation is distinguishing the offerings of an organization in a way that the customer perceives as adding value. A firm"s opportunities for creating uniqueness are not located within a particular function or activity but arise in virtually everything the firm does. Effective operations managers assist in defining everything about a product or service that will influence the potential value to the customer. In the service sector, one option for extending product differentiation is through an experience. Differentiation by experience in services is a manifestation of the growing. Experience differentiation is engaging a customer with a product through imaginative use of the five senses, so the customer experiences the product: competing on cost.