COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Essential Competencies in Operations Strategy course. This program will equip you with the knowledge and capabilities required to understand the importance of operations strategy and the operations strategy framework, including how organisations balance internal and external performance. You will explore the five dimensions of internal performance, the dynamics of performance management, and what operations strategy truly means within the broader organisational context. You will also examine positioning, resource and reconciliation decisions, the three techniques that help managers make positioning decisions, and the best practices that underpin effective operations management.

This course begins by analysing the tools used to support strategic decision-making in operations. This section explains the use of operations strategy charts, the stages of the operations strategy process, and how the generic model of the operations strategy process guides organisational alignment. You will explore the characteristics of top-down approaches to operations strategy, the structure of bottom-up approaches, and the shared characteristics of models that build strategy from operational learning. This section also examines the concept of trade-offs, the strategic trade-off debate, and how innovation enables organisations to avoid trade-offs. You will explore the theory of performance frontiers and how performance limits shift through capability enhancement.

Another area of learning focuses on strategic location decisions and their complexity. You will examine the structure of location decisions, the three generic steps that guide location choice, and the wide range of strategic factors that influence these decisions. This section explains location decision techniques, how capacity is measured, and the importance of differentiating key concepts related to capacity. You will also explore how capacity decisions are adjusted in response to demand shifts and how process alignment influences operational outcomes.

A further area of learning explores process design and layout decisions. You will examine the service process matrix, capital intensity, and the characteristics of process (functional) layouts and product layout design. This section explains assembly line balancing, service layout design, and the ways in which layout configurations affect efficiency, cost, and customer experience. You will explore how technology management supports strategic development, including technology transfer, technology diffusion, and the importance of absorptive capacity and technology readiness when adopting new systems.

The next area of learning examines flexibility as both a capability and a performance dimension. You will explore the four traditional strategies for competing on flexibility, how organisations invest in process flexibility, and how real options thinking strengthens long-term strategic investment decisions. This section explains real options and their role in evaluating investments, the types of real options available to decision-makers, and how real options are applied within international operations management to manage uncertainty and capital risk.

By the end of this course you will be able to understand operations strategy frameworks, assess internal and external performance dimensions, analyse positioning and resource decisions, diagnose strategic trade-offs, evaluate location and capacity decisions, design effective operational layouts, integrate technology strategically, develop flexibility as a competitive capability, apply real options thinking to investment decisions, and lead operations strategy initiatives that improve organisational performance in dynamic and competitive environments.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

• The importance of operations strategy
• The operations strategy framework
• Internal versus external performance
• The five dimensions of internal performance of an operations system
• The dynamics of performance management
• What is operations strategy?
• Positioning resource and reconciliation decisions
• The three techniques that can be used to help managers make positioning decisions
• The best practices which are important in operations management
• The operations strategy charts
• The operations strategy process
• A generic model of the operations strategy process
• The top-down approaches to operations strategy
• The characteristics of the top-down approach
• The bottom-up approaches to operations strategy
• The common shared characteristics of bottom-up models
• What is trade-offs?
• The strategic trade-off debate
• How to avoid trade-offs through innovation?
• The theory of performance frontiers
• The nature of location decisions
• The complexity of location decisions
• The structure of location decisions
• The three generic steps to location decisions
• The strategic factors in location decisions
• The location decision techniques
• How to measure capacity?
• The importance of differentiating several concepts related to capacity
• How to adjust capacity decision?
• The process alignment
• The service process matrix
• The capital intensity
• The process (functional) layouts
• The product layout design
• Assembly line balancing
• The service layout design
• Technology management
• Technology transfer
• Technology diffusion
• Absorptive capacity and technology readiness
• Flexibility as a capability
• Flexibility as a performance dimension
• The four key traditional strategies for competing on flexibility
• How to invest in process flexibility?
• Real options thinking
• Real options and the evaluation of investments
• The types of real options
• Real options in international operations management

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.