Lesson 2

• COMPETITIVENESS- Relates to the effectiveness of an organization in the marketplace relative to other organizations that offer similar products or services. Operations and marketing have a major impact on competitiveness.
• MARKETING influences competitiveness in several ways these include:
• IDENTIFYING CONSUMER WANTS AND/OR NEEDS - is a basic input in an organization’s decision making process, and central to competitiveness.
• • PRICING is usually a key factor in consumer buying decisions. It is important to understand the trade-off decision consumers make between price and other aspects of a product or service such as quality.
• ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION - are ways organizations can inform potential customers about features of their products or services, and attract buyers.
• OPERATION has a major influence on competitiveness through:
• • PRODUCT AND SERVICE DESIGN should reflect joint efforts of many areas of the firm to achieve a match between financial resources, operations capabilities, supply chain capabilities, and consumer wants and needs.
• COST - of an organization’s output is a key variable that affects pricing decisions and profits. Cost-reduction efforts are generally ongoing in business organizations.
•  LOCATION - can be important in terms of cost and convenience for customers. Location near inputs can result in lower input cost.
• QUALITY - refers to materials, workmanship, design, and service. Consumers judge quality in terms of how well they think a product or service will satisfy its intended purpose.
• •  QUICK RESPONSE can be a competitive advantage. One way is quickly bringing new or improved products or services to the market. 
• FLEXIBILITY -  is the ability to respond to changes. Changes might relate to alterations in design features of a product or service, or to the volume demanded by consumers.
• INVENTORY MANAGEMENT - can be a competitive advantage by effectively matching supplies of goods with demand.
•  SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT - involves coordinating internal and external operations  (buyers and suppliers) to achieve a timely and cost-effective delivery of goods throughout the system.
•  SERVICE - might involve after-sale activities customers perceive as value-adding such as delivery,setup, warranty work, and technical support.
• • MANAGERS AND WORKERS are the people at the heart and soul of an organization, and if they are competent and motivated, they can provide a distinct competitive edge by their skills and the ideas they create.
• STRATEGIES are plans for achieving organizational goals. The importance of strategies cannot be overstated; an organization’s strategies have a major impact on what the organization does and how it does it.
• MISSION An organization’s mission is the reason for its existence. It is expressed in its mission statement, which states the purpose of an organization.
• GOAL mission statement serves as the basis for organization’s goals, which provide detail and describe the scope of the mission.
• TACTICS Are the methods and actions used to accomplish strategies. They are more specific than strategies.
• PRODUCTIVITY is a measure of the effective use of resources, usually expressed as the ratio of output to input.