Building and Managing the Strategic Architecture

This chapter explains the connection between operations and strategy. There is, or should be, a direct connection between this functional area and the organizational plan. The strategy provides the foundation for the operational decisions made daily. In other words, as an operations manager, you choose tactics based on the developed organization's corporate, business, and functional level strategy. Take time to complete the action checklist activity at the end of the chapter.

Overview

We now have everything we need to develop and use a complete picture of your organization's performance. This chapter will show you the following:

  • how to assemble a complete strategic architecture of your business involving performance, resources, flows, and interdependences
  • how to use this architecture to manage the system, understanding past performance, likely developments, and alternative possibilities
  • how to control performance into the future

Remember the strategy challenges that we highlighted in "Performance Through Time"? These were

  • Why has performance followed the path that it has?
  • Where is it going if we carry on as we are?
  • How can we change it for the better?

Now that you understand the way a system of resources works, you are in a position to answer these questions in detail.

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