PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT – COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

SCOPE 2

INTRODUCTION 3-5

Competitive Advantage and Operations Strategy

THE OPERATIONS STRATEGIES RE: MANUFACTURING COMPANIES 6 - 16

Dell Inc

Toyota Motors Corporation

Evaluation of Order Qualifiers and Order Winners

Evaluation of Order Winners and use of the Value Chain

Discussion re: Operations Strategies for Dell Inc and Toyota Motors Corporation

THE OPERATIONS STRATEGIES RE: SERVICE COMPANIES 17 - 26

Walmart Stores

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

Evaluation of Order Qualifiers and Order Winners

Evaluation of Order Winners and use of the Value Chain

Discussion re: Operations Strategies for Walmart Stores and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

OPERATIONS STRATEGIES RE: MANUFACTURING VS. SERVICE COMPANIES 27

CONCLUSION 28

APPENDICES 29 - 31

REFERENCES 32 - 35

1
SCOPE

This paper provides the reader with an outline of the operations strategy of two manufacturing

companies, Dell Inc and Toyota Motors Corporation and two service companies, Walmart Stores and

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. The paper also provides a comparison and contrast of the

operations strategies followed by the four companies in relation to process design, supply chain,

capacity, human resources, innovation and quality, in order to create a competitive advantage.

2
INTRODUCTION

Operations Strategy and Competitive Advantage

In order for a company to achieve competitive advantage in its particular industry, the company

must first have an understanding of the needs and the competitive drivers in that market. This will

allow the company to develop a strategy that focuses on gaining a competitive advantage over its

competitors. “Competitive advantage is the significant advantages that an organisation has over its

competitors.” (Lynch, 2006) Strategy can be defined as “the direction and scope of an organisation

over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of

resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations.” (Johnson, Scholes

and Whittington, 2008) There are five key components of a strategy as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Five Key Components of a Strategy (Robinson Lecture Notes, Operations Strategy 2010)

With the corporate and business strategies defined and through evaluation of the capabilities and

Operatio
constraints of the operations resources, the company will seek to develop and implement an

operations strategy that supports the company in gaining competitive advantage. Slack and Lewis

(2006) describes operations strategy as “the total pattern of decisions which shape the long-term

potentia
capabilities of any type of operation and their contribution to overall strategy, through the

reconciliation of market requirements with operations resources.” There are four perspectives on

capabilit
operations strategy as shown below in Figure 2.
3
Figure 2 - The Four Perspectives on Operations Strategy (Robinson Lecture Notes, Operations

Strategy 2010)

In defining the operations strategy, operations managers must pay attention to the performance

objectives identified at the business strategy level in order to efficiently deliver the company’s

products or services to the market and maximise profitability. There are five key performance

objectives as shown in Figure 3 below, which a company can focus on in order to achieve a

competitive advantage.

Figure 3 - Performance Objectives (Robinson Lecture Notes, Operations Strategy 2010)

It is critical that companies examine the market to determine the needs and minimum expectations

of customers; also referred to as order qualifying factors. As discussed by Slacks, Chambers and

Johnston (2007) “order qualifiers are those aspects of competitiveness where the operation’s

performance has to be above a particular level to be considered by the customer.” Slacks, Chambers
4
and Johnston (2007) also describe order winners as “the competitive factors that directly and

significantly contribute to winning business.”

The performance objectives identified by the company, can be achieved through efficient

management of the various elements of the value chain as outlined in Figure 4 below. “A value chain

describes the categories of activities within and around an organisation, which together create a

product or service.” (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008) Porter (1985) identified two basic

types of competitive advantage; cost advantage and differentiation advantage. “Cost advantage

exists when the company is able to deliver the same benefits as competitors but at a lower cost,

while differentiation advantage exists when the company delivers benefits that exceed those of

competing products.”

Figure 4 - Value Chain Diagram - (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, Exploring Corporate Strategy,

2008, pg 110)

5
THE OPERATIONS STRATEGIES RE: MANUFACTURING COMPANIES

Dell Inc

Ranked #33 on the Fortune 500 list in 2009, Dell Inc (Dell) is a leading technology company that

designs, develops, manufactures, markets and offers support for a wide range of products. Dell’s

corporate philosophy is outlined in a set of values referred to as the “Soul of Dell”. (www.dell.com)

Current CEO, Mr. Michael Dell founded the company in 1984 with an initial capital investment of

US$1,000; 25 years later, Dell is recording revenues of US$61, 101M and employs approximately

78, 900 employees worldwide. (Dell Annual Report 2009)

Dell executes a differentiation strategy, which incorporates cost, flexibility, speed and quality as the

operations performance objectives as represented in Figure 5 below, in comparison to Apple.

Figure 5 - Polar Diagram - Dell and Apple

Quality
100
80
60
40
Cost Speed
20
0

Flexibility Dependability

Dell Apple

6
Toyota Motor Corporation

Ranked #3 as Fortunes World Most Admired Company, Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) is one

of the leading auto manufacturers in the world producing brands such as Toyota, Lexus, Hino and

Daihatsu for circa 170 countries The company’s operation includes design, manufacture, assembly

and sales and marketing of cars, minivans, buses, trucks and related parts and accessories. (Toyota

Motors Corporation, Datamonitor 2009) Due the current economic climate, Toyota experienced a

drop in sales volumes, recording US$230,819M in revenues for fiscal 2009.

Toyota’s operations strategy, which is recognized internationally, is centered around the Toyota

Production System (TPS), which incorporates a unique production control method referred to as

“kanban system” as illustrated in Appendix 1. TPS is based on two concepts as outlined in Table 1

below and incorporates a great deal of research and development to ensure that innovative, cost-

effective, quality products are made available to customers.

Table 1 - TPS Concept

TPS Concept

Jidoka
Toyota’s operations strategy encompasses flexibility, cost, speed and quality as its operations

performance objectives, as shown in Figure 6 below, in comparison to Mercedes Benz.

7
Figure 6 - Polar Diagram Toyota and Mercedes Benz

Quality
100

80
60

40
Cost Speed
20
0

Flexibility Dependability

Toyota Mercedes Benz

8
Evaluation of Order Qualifiers and Order Winners re: Manufacturing Companies

In the technology industry, customers are always searching for the latest features and technology

solutions, at the best price and quality. Brand also plays a critical part in the industry and has

allowed some companies to achieve huge profits above their competitors. Dell is considered one of

the leading computer brands in the world, outpacing the industry’s computer systems growth and

capturing a global market share of circa 15% in 2008. (Global Technology Hardware & Equipment

Industry Profile, Datamonitor 2009) Table 2 below highlights the order qualifiers for the industry

along with the order winners achieved by Dell. Through effective implementation of operational

activities, Dell maintains a leading competitive advantage in the technology industry.

Similar to the technology industry, the primary competitive factors in the automobile industry are

innovation, price and quality. Safety is a critical factor for the industry and is normally attributed to

quality and brand. As at March 2008, Toyota’s market share in the industry stood at 9.4% (Global

Automobiles & Components, Datamonitor 2009) and the company was ranked 8th by Interbrand’s

"Best Global Brands.” (www.interbrand.com) Table 2 below outlines the order qualifiers for the

industry and the order winners achieved by Toyota, which has allowed the company to create a

competitive advantage.

9
Table 2 - Order Qualifiers and Order Winners re: Dell and Toyota

Company

10
Dell
Evaluation of Order Winners and use of the Value Chain re: Manufacturing Companies

It is clear that manufacturing companies focus on very similar performance objectives, as

evidenced by Dell and Toyota. Tables 3 below highlight the various elements of the operations

strategy for both companies in relation to the value chain.

Tables 3 - Value Chain Analysis re: Dell & Toyota

Process Design

Value Chain Acti

Process Design

11
Supply Chain

Value Chain Acti

Supply Chain

Capacity

12
 Value Chain Acti

Capacity
Human Resources

Value Chain Acti

Human Resources

Innovation

13
Value Chain Activities Dell Toyota
Innovation  Customer-driven  Dedicated design and

innovation (Listen-Solve- research centers

Impact approach) worldwide

 New and enhanced  Introduction of new

technology solutions i.e. innovative vehicles i.e.

client virtualization petrol-electric hybrid

 Five dedicated innovation vehicle

centres (speciality areas)  Invests heavily in

research and

development

14
Quality

Value Chain Acti

Quality

15
Discussion re: Operations Strategies for Dell Inc and Toyota Motors Corporation

Having analysed the operations strategies for Dell and Toyota, one can clearly see the synergies

in the operations strategies executed by manufacturing companies; however, each may company

follow a different strategy to achieve competitive advantage. For example, Dell’s differentiation

strategy incorporates elements of cost focus; while Toyota’s cost leadership strategy encompasses a

great deal of market segmentation. Dell and Toyota have built their operations strategies with a

great deal of flexibility, which allows for continuous enhancements in relation to elements of the value

chain. This is further supported by both companies’ investment in sophisticated manufacturing

systems. Toyota works directly with dealers and sales centers while Dell employs a direct to

customer model; however, both companies employ similar processes, such as Just-in-Time

manufacturing, outsourcing of components manufacturing and “customer pull” approach, which has

allowed them to maximise production capability and market innovative, cost-competitive, quality

products to customers.

Dell’s approach is to maintain close proximity to suppliers, ensuring speedy delivery of orders, which

contributes to the order winner of product delivery and price. Dell also engages in single-source

arrangements where the company sees advantages such as improved performance, quality or price;

this is not the case for Toyota. Toyota ensures that no supplier can account for more than five

percent of major component purchases. Despite these varying practices, both companies work with

16
a global supply network that allows them to achieve competitive pricing, maintain an innovative-edge

and quality standards. Dell and Toyota’s integrated technology systems allow suppliers to see real

time orders and track inventory levels and has resulted in enhanced productivity for both companies.

It is of importance to note that the heavy reliance on suppliers, presents a business risk to both

companies e.g. supplier dependency and increased potential for defective products, as evidenced in

Toyota’s recent product recall. Similar to Toyota, Dell’s quality and brand could be significantly

impacted due to increasing cases of defective parts, resulting in product recalls.

As described by Torrington, Hall, Taylor, (2005) “motivation is the desire to achieve beyond

expectations, being driven by internal rather than external factors, and to be involved in a continuous

striving for improvement.” Both companies clearly understand the importance of managing people

for competitive advantage. Dell and Toyota have cultivated a continuous improvement culture that

encompasses teamwork, individual creativity, training and development and performance based

rewards. Due to dedicated training centers, Dell and Toyota can tailor training based on company

needs, resulting in the employees’ ability to easily relate to the training and apply transferable skills to

their jobs. The companies’ human resources approach has resulted in high employee satisfaction

levels and ongoing employee contribution to innovative ideas and quality improvement.

Both Dell and Toyota have achieved order winners of innovation; however, Dell’s innovation is

customer-driven as illustrated in Appendix 2, supported by five dedicated centers; while Toyota’s

operations consists of many dedicated design and research centers worldwide. Both companies hire

highly skilled workers and the best talents globally who contribute to the companies’ strategy of

marketing innovative products. For fiscal 2009, Dell’s R & D expenses were US$665M (Dell Annual

Report, 2009) whereas Toyota’s R & D expense stood at US$8.07B (www2.toyota.co.jp). Despite

the difference in investment, Dell remains a leader in the technology industry. Dell is listed among

Fortune 500 “America’s Most Admired Companies” and has obtained 48 design awards in 2008.

Dell selects suppliers based on competitive pricing; since customer safety is of the upmost

importance to Toyota, the company cannot sacrifice quality for cost. Toyota has even empowered its

employees to halt production at any stage in the TPS process to ensure high quality standards.
17
Nevertheless, both companies employ stringent quality standards from design to manufacturing

ensuring that the end product meets specific quality standards. Interestingly, Toyota’s recent product

recall suggests that there are gaps in the company’s quality assurance practices that will need to be

quickly evaluated to avoid further impact on the company’s order winners of quality and brand.

OPERATIONS STRATEGIES RE: SERVICE COMPANIES

Walmart Stores

Walmart Stores (Walmart) was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton and is today considered the

world’s largest retailer employing over two million associates (employees) and serving over 200

million customers per week. (www.walmartstores.com) In 2009, Walmart was ranked number two by

Fortune 500 and included on the Most Admired Companies list. Walmart’s discount chain includes

circa 8,424 retail units in 15 different countries under three business segments; Walmart Us, Sam’s

Club and International. (Datamonitor, Company Profile)

Walmart’s operations strategy is focused on cost leadership and is achieved through effective

management of its supply chain, which is critical to the company’s service delivery. Due to Walmart’s

size, global sourcing and procurement capabilities, the company is able to negotiate the best prices

from its many suppliers, which in turn is passed on to customers.

Walmart has established that cost only will not allow the company to maintain a competitive

advantage; therefore the company has incorporated speed to market, flexibility and quality into its

performance objectives as shown in Figure 7 below, in comparison to its main competitor - Target.

Figure 7 - Polar Diagram Walmart and Target

18
 Quality
100
80
60
40
Cost Speed
20
0

Flexibility Dependability

Walmart Target

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company (Ritz-Carlton), established in 1983, is a luxury brand hotel and

resort chain with 70 hotels worldwide in 24 countries. Ritz-Carlton’s strategy is embedded in a set of

standards referred to as “Gold Standards” as seen in Appendix 3 and are considered the foundation

of the company.

Ritz-Carlton executes a differentiation strategy, which includes flexibility, a sophisticated technology

driven information management system, empowered employees and continuous learning of guests in

order to deliver superior service to a niche market of elite guests.

In order to achieve its order winners, Ritz-Carlton’s performance objectives incorporate quality,

flexibility, dependability and speed as shown in Figure 8 below. Even though Ritz-Carlton and

Marriot Hotels & Resorts are part of the same group, (Marriot International) one can clearly see the

difference in the performance objectives.

Figure 8 – Polar Diagram Ritz-Carlton and Marriot Hotels and Resort

19
 Quality
100
80
60
40
Cost Speed
20
0

Flexibility Dependability

Ritz-Carlton Marriot Hotels & Resort

Evaluation of Order Winners and Order Qualifiers re: Service Companies

Price is a critical competitive factor in the retail industry since customers prefer to conduct

business with retailers that are easily accessible, carry a wide product variety and offer the best

value for money. Table 4 below, outlines the order winners achieved by Walmart through an

aggressive cost leadership strategy, which has allowed the company to create a considerable

competitive advantage over its competitors.

The hospitality industry has been impacted by the current global economic conditions. Increasingly,

customers are searching for attractive packages at the best price; ultimately “value for money”.

Companies with flexible operations have adjusted their strategy and marketing efforts to introduce

value-added packages to the market, while brand image has allowed other companies to continue to

outperform their competitors. Ritz-Carlton’s primary order winners of quality and superior service has

allowed the company to maintain a strong brand image in the hotel industry, contributing significantly

to the company’s competitive advantage. Table 4 below outlines the order qualifiers for the

hospitality industry and the order winners achieved by Ritz-Carlton.

20
Tables 4 - Order Qualifiers and Order Winners re: Walmart & Ritz-Carlton

21
 Company

Walmart
Order Winners and use of the Value Chain re: Service Companies

22
 Walmart’s focus on cost leadership has resulted in a heavy investment in its supply chain

management while Ritz-Carlton’s differentiation strategy incorporates a great deal of employee

engagement, empowerment and training. Despite the varying focus, both companies have

successfully achieved a competitive advantage in their industry. Tables 5 shown below, highlights

various elements of the operations strategy of both companies in relation to the value chain.

Tables 5 - Value Chain Analysis re: Walmart & Ritz-Carlton

23
Process Design

Value Chain Acti

Process Design

24
25
Supply Chain

Value Chain Acti

Supply Chain
26
Value Chain Acti

Supply Chain

27
Capacity

Value Chain Acti

Capacity

28
Human Resources

Value Chain Acti

Human Resources

29
Innovation

Value Chain Acti

Innovation

30
Quality

Value Chain Acti

Quality

31
Discussion re: Operations Strategies for Walmart Stores and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

Walmart’s process design can be classified as mass service while Ritz-Carlton follows a mass

customisation approach, ensuring that all guests experience a “wow” factor. Interestingly, Walmart

customers experience a similar wow factor from the final price and product variety offered. Both

Walmart and Ritz-Carlton’s employees contribute to creating a positive customer experience;

however, Walmart associates are more behind the scenes ensuring continuous replenishment of

products while Ritz-Carlton’s process incorporates a high level of customer and employee

engagement as seen in Appendix 4.

Walmart’s mission of saving people money drives its cost leadership strategy resulting in cost being

prioritised over product quality. Even though Walmart has outsourced its merchandise

manufacturing, the company maintains dedicated merchandising centers, a dedicated logistics and

distribution department, advanced technologies and a privately owned transportation fleet, which all

work together to ensure that the best priced products of acceptable quality are made available to

customers. Unlike Walmart, Ritz-Carlton outsources its supply chain management where suppliers

are selected based on quality standards, in order to concentrate on its core competencies. ”Core

competencies are the skills that enable a business to deliver fundamental customer benefits.”

(www.tutor2u.net)

Walmart’s investment in advanced technology and its logistics and transportation infrastructure has

resulted in effective forecasting techniques, tracking of inventory levels and reduced operating costs;

creating operational efficiencies that allow products to be offered at low prices. Ritz-Carlton’s

capacity management includes forecasting techniques based on seasonal trends. It may be of

interest to Ritz-Carlton to introduce special promotions or rate adjustments during seasonal periods

to maximize its capacity potential. Ironically, both companies track customer preferences to ensure

that customer needs and expectations are met. Through analysis via a sophisticated technology

system, Walmart can determine preferred products for specific locations and manage procurement

through to delivery to meet demand. For Ritz-Carlton, this analysis allows the company to record

and anticipate customer needs, contributing to the company’s order winner of innovation.
32
Both companies aim to provide a positive work environment for their employees that encompass

employee training, development programmes and teamwork. Walmart’s training is centered primarily

around supply chain management, which allows associates to gain an understanding of the

advanced processes and systems involved in delivering products to customers; as apposed to

customer service. Ritz-Carlton on the other hand, prides itself on quality and superior service and

invests heavily in employee development and training via its dedicated leadership training center to

ensure that high quality standards are maintained. Whilst Walmart’s generally hires university

students and a more mature workforce; Ritz-Carlton employs a targeted recruitment process,

ensuring that potential employees are a “good fit”. Walmart’s strategy allows the company to pay low

yet competitive wages while reducing operating cost. Even though the company has a history of

promoting and offers various development programs i.e. Career Preference Center, Walmart

constantly undergoes bad publicity for its labor practices and benefits offered to associates. Ritz-

Carlton’s culture incorporates employee empowerment, recognition programmes and annual

employee satisfaction surveys to ensure a highly motivated workforce. Ritz-Carlton was named the

number one company by Training magazine in its “Training Top 125” 2007 survey.

Ritz-Carlton’s innovation is attributed to the hotel’s mystique approach involved in exceeding guests’

expectations, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and brand image. Interestingly,

even though Walmart employs a Quality Monitoring Programme to ensure that products meet certain

quality standards, quality does not appear to be a competitive factor for Walmart customers, who are

primarily concerned with price. Ritz-Carlton’s commitment to quality and superior service is driven at

the executive leadership level and incorporates dedicated quality leaders, quality certification

standards for each role and supplier certification standards; all aimed at supporting the company’s

Total Quality Management strategy.

Evaluation of the operations strategies for Walmart and Ritz-Carlton, confirm that service companies

can adopt different operations strategies depending on the nature of the business, the performance

objectives identified and the markets being served.

33
Comparison of Operations Strategies re: Manufacturing vs. Service Companies

Evaluation of the operations strategies for Dell and Toyota confirm that manufacturing companies

focus on similar performance objectives, such as cost, quality, speed and flexibility; resulting in heavy

focus of the companies’ process design and supply chain management. To the contrary, service

companies focus on different performance objectives, which are driven by the type of strategy

executed. Walmart’s operations present an interesting paradigm for service companies since the

operations strategy executed is very similar to the manufacturing companies. As a result of

Walmart’s cost leadership strategy, the company focuses heavily on its supply chain management

and less on final service delivery. Ritz-Carlton on the other hand follows a differentiation strategy

that requires heavy investment in service quality standards and employee motivation. Similarly, Dell

and Toyota invests heavily in employee motivation strategies in order to create greater efficiencies in

their operations strategies and drive innovation as well as continuous improvements to quality

standards.

For both manufacturing and service companies, capacity planning is of the upmost importance and

incorporates various forecasting techniques. For Dell, Toyota and Walmart, this involves working

closely with suppliers and the use of advanced technology to manage inventory levels. Whereas

Ritz-Carlton’s capacity management is based on the ability to maintain guests rooms and the level of

collaboration between the various departments in order to exceed guests’ demands. Innovation is

high on the agenda for the four companies and is achieved through support from employees and

suppliers, advanced technology and or incorporating customer feedback, as is seen with Dell. Even

though Walmart did not achieve innovation as an order winner, the company’s innovative approach

contributes to its order winner of price e.g. Walmart’s introduction of hybrid tractors and tractors

powered by liquid natural gas and brown grease to create a more fuel efficient fleet.

(www.walmartstores.com) Finally, the four companies have also defined and prioritised quality at

different levels based on their respective operations strategy. Dell and Walmart’s focus on quality is

considerably lower than the quality focus employed by Toyota and Ritz-Carlton.

34
CONCLUSION

Evaluations of the four companies confirm that there are many benefits to developing a flexible

operations strategy that allows for ongoing enhancements to enhance operational efficiencies. This

allows for the introduction of new innovative products that can be marketed at competitive prices,

without compromising product quality. Once this can be achieved through effective coordination of

the various elements of the value chain, companies will create order winners that allow them to gain

a competitive advantage in their particular industry. After careful evaluation, it is recommended that

both manufacturing and service companies should place greater emphasis on quality, if they are to

maintain a sustainable competitive advantage.

Word Count - 3,643

35
APPENDICES

Appendix 1 - The Toyota Kanban System (http://www2.toyota.co.jp)

Appendix 2 - Dell’s Customer-Driven Innovation

LISTEN 36
Appendix 3 - Summary of Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards

The Credo

37
The Credo

The Motto

38
Appendix 4 - Ritz-Carlton’s Employee and Customer Engagement Measure (Robinson, Gallup

Management Journal 2008)

39
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