Defining how firms compete An organization’s operations strategy provides an overarching framework for determining how it prioritizes and utilizes its resources to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Today’s operations managers face many new challenges with respect to strategy issues, from developing effective strategies to properly implementing them throughout the organization. As we shall see, there are several external factors that affect operations strategy decisions, including an increase in competition that has resulted from the globalization of business and advances in technology. Consequently, operations managers, in many instances, are now being asked to do more with less: more, in terms of faster delivery times, more variety, and higher quality; less, in terms of lower material costs, lower labour costs, and less available time. At the same time, managers know all too well that competitors can copy successful strategies and can usually implement them quickly, thereby neutralizing, to some degree, their advantage. As a result, these same managers, from a strategic perspective, must keep a watchful eye to the future, constantly looking for the next strategy that will separate their firms from those of competitors....