Operations Strategy

OPERATIONS STRATEGY OPERATIONS STRATEGY Fourth Edition Nigel Slack Michael Lewis Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow CM20 2JE United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1279 623623 Web: www.pearson.com/uk First published 2002 (print) Second edition published 2008 (print) Third edition published 2011 (print and electronic) This edition published 2015 (print and electronic) © Pearson Education Limited 2002, 2008 (print) © Pearson Education Limited 2011, 2015 (print and electronic) The rights of Nigel Slack and Michael Lewis to be identified as authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The print publication is protected by copyright. Prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, distribution or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, permission should be obtained from the publisher or, where applicable, a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom should be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. The ePublication is protected by copyright and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased, or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors’ and the publishers’ rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of any trademark in this text does not vest in the authors or publisher any trademark ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation with or endorsement of this book by such owners. Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third-party internet sites. ISBN: 978-1-292-01779-2 (print) 978-1-292-01782-2 (PDF) 978-1-292-01780-8 (eText) British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for the print edition is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Slack, Nigel. Operations strategy / Nigel Slack, Michael Lewis. – Fourth edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-292-01779-2 (paperback) – ISBN 978-1-292-01782-2 (PDF – ISBN 978-1-292-01780-8 (eText) 1. Production management. I. Lewis, Michael, 1969- II. Title. TS155.S563 2015 658.5–dc23 2014036012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 19 18 17 16 15 Print edition typeset in 9.5/12 and Stone Serif ITC Pro by 73 Printed by Ashford Colour Press Ltd, Gosport NOTE THAT ANY PAGE CROSS REFERENCES REFER TO THE PRINT EDITION Brief Contents List of figures, tables and exhibits from case studies Preface Acknowledgements Publisher’s acknowledgements   1 Operations strategy – developing resources and processes for strategic impact xi xix xxiii xxiv 1   2 Operations performance 43   3 Substitutes for strategy 85   4 Capacity strategy 117   5 Purchasing and supply strategy 148   6 Process technology strategy 189   7 Improvement strategy 225   8 Product and service development and organisation 264   9 The process of operations strategy – formulation and implementation 298 10 The process of operations strategy – monitoring and control Case studies Index 329 357 443 This page intentionally left blank Contents List of figures, tables and exhibits from case studies Preface Acknowledgements Publisher’s acknowledgements Chapter 1  Operations strategy – developin