Operations strategies: includes all activities involved in the production of a good or the provision of a service and influences on operations strategies.

• Operations strategies are designed to achieve performance objectives.
• The strategies help businesses reach their goals and gain a competitive advantage.

Performance objectives: Goals that relate to particular aspects of the transformation processes.

Quality: often determined by consumer expectations, which are used to inform production standards such as design and service.

• Expectations from quality can include: reliability, performance and durability.

Speed: the time is takes for the production and the operations processes to respond to changes in market demand (productivity).

Dependability: how consistent and reliable products/services are, how well designed and made they are and whether they meet expected consumer standards.

Flexibility: how quickly and easily operations processes can respond to changes in the market.

Customisation: individualised goods or services to meet the specific needs of the customers.

• Close contact with customers is required and premium prices can be achieved.
• Mass customisation: process that allows a standard, mass produced item to be personally modified to specific customer requirements. This is increasingly common.
• Full customisation: products are created after an individual order. This can be very costly for businesses.

Cost: keeping costs low to improve profit margins.

• Costs can be categorized as: fixed, semi-fixed, variable, direct, indirect.

Extract from Business Studies Stage 6 Syllabus. © 2010 Board of Studies NSW.