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October, 2005 | SAGE Publications Ltd

Operations Management

A Strategic Approach


Alison Bettley - The Open University
David Mayle
Tarek Tantoush - The Open University
328 pages | October, 2005 | SAGE Publications Ltd
Hardcover
ISBN: 9781412919029
$217.00
Paperback
ISBN: 9781412919036
$70.00
`This reader is an outstanding piece of work. It captures the essence of operations management by providing an interesting and sometimes provoking set of readings. It also provides an excellent review of the topic. Its approach to operations management is both topical and comprehensive. The editors have done an outstanding job of including many of the significant recent developments in the area, particularly in the technology and operations strategy areas' - Nigel Slack, Professor of Operations Strategy, Warwick University

How have consumer demands, environmental and ethical concerns, the advancement of technology and the globalization of business changed and redefined operations management?

This Reader explains new and emerging areas and re-evaluates some important mainstream issues. Leading specialists contribute their experiences and thoughts on four key areas. They are:

- Strategy - makes the case for regarding operations as a strategic asset in their own right

- Methodology - examines the myriad of approaches taken towards process improvement

- Technology - asks why problems associated with the implementation of technology continue to dog organisations

- Human Issues - repositions human input to the top of the operational agenda

Introduction
THEME 1: OPERATIONS AS STRATEGY
Operations-Based Strategy
Resource-based Competition and the New Operations Strategy
Stakeholder Capitalism and the Value Chain
Managing the Transition from Products to Services
In Defense of Strategy as Design
THEME 2: APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES
Leveraging Management Improvement Techniques
A Critical Examination of the Business Process Re-Engineering Phenomenon
Best Practice in Business Excellence
The Fallacy of Universal Best Practices
THEME 3: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Technology, the Technology Complex and the Paradox of Technology Determinism

From Automation to Business Scope Redefinition

Technology and Strategic Advantage
Technology Infusion in Service Encounters

An Agenda for Research in Operations Management
THEME 4: HUMAN ISSUES
Seven Practices of Successful Organizations
A Framework for Linking Culture and Improvement Initiatives in Organizations
Empowering Service Employees
Client Co-Production in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services