Functional Strategy - a game plan to reinforce the 3 levels of Strategy Hierarchy - Corporate, Business and Operations Strategy.

Functional Strategy
Functional strategy refers to the strategies used by the functional areas in business organizations, such as marketing, HR, Finance, R&D, production/operations, to support corporate and business strategies. Each functional area has a number of strategic choices that interact with and must be consistent with the overall company strategies. Functional strategies are concerned with the effectiveness and efficiency of methods/tactics used in implementing strategic choices; and commitments regarding resources. Functional strategy comprises the set of management decisions and actions taken in an organization's functional areas, to enhance resources and organizational capabilities to better achieve the organization's strategic goals and objectives. Functional strategies deal with how each of the functional areas/units in the organization will carry out its functional activities to be efficient and effective, and maximize resource productivity. Each functional area within a business organization can then derive its own strategy in support of the firm's overall business strategy. Functional strategies are linked through agenda set by markets to corporate, business and operations objectives.

Functional strategy is the short-term game plan for key functional areas, within a company, required to reinforce the implementation and execution of the organization's strategy. Functional strategies are relatively short-term activities that each functional area within a company will carry out to implement the broader, longer-term corporate-level and business-level strategies. Functional strategies are concerned with the effectiveness and efficiency of methods/tactics used in implementing strategic choices; and commitments regarding resources. Development of functional strategies help in implementation of strategic choices - corporate, business and operations levels - by organizing and activating specific sub-units of the organization to pursue the organization's business strategy in daily activities through tactics. Functional strategies are those put in place at the operational level of an organization and will facilitate the implementation of the corporate/business strategy. The functional strategy defines the 'HOW are we going to support business objectives at the departmental level?'. Some typical examples of functional strategies may include: Human Resource Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Financial strategy, production strategy, etc.

Tactics
Tactics are the actionable decisions that pertain to everyday moves in functional areas in a company to improve for example, its market share, competitive pricing, customer service, sales, or other aspects in response to current real world conditions, that can give it a competitive advantage. Tactics are most meaningful in the service of long-term goals. They involve seizing opportunities and managing risks as they arise. A tactic is an immediate action/task designed to respond to fast changing realities. Tactical control emphasizes the current operations of an organization. Managers determine what the various parts of the organization must do for the organization to be successful in the near future (one year or less). Tactical planning is the shorter-term planning of an objective that will take a year or less to achieve. It is usually carried out by an organization's middle management. Tactical planning is usually aimed at a specific area or department of the organization, such as its facilities, production, finance, marketing or personnel.

Marketing
HR
Finance
Operations
Sales
Production

Marketing Management and Strategy
Marketing in business is the business function that controls the level and composition of demand in the market. It deals with creating and maintaining demand for goods and services of the organization. It involves exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services. Marketing function comprises the activities, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offers that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large. Typical marketing function within an organization might include performing tasks such as: market research, producing a marketing plan, product development, as well as strategically overseeing advertising, promotion, distribution for sale, customer service and public relations, sales and communications. Traditionally, markets were viewed as a place for exchange of goods and services between sellers and buyers to the mutual benefit of both.

Marketing management encompasses the analysis, planning, organizing, leading and controlling marketing programs and initiatives designed to bring about the desired exchanges with target audiences for the purpose of personal or mutual gain. Marketing management involves planning, organizing, coordinating and executing procedures designed to increase customer engagement, drive sales, and create product/service awareness. Some examples of marketing management activities may include:

Selection of a target audience;
Selection of certain attributes to emphasize in advertising;
Operation of advertising campaigns;
Attendance at trade shows and public events;
Design of products and packaging attractive to buyers;
Defining the terms of a sale, such as price, discounts, warranty, and return policy;
Product placement in media or with people believed to influence buying habits of others;
Agreement with retailers, wholesale distributors or resellers;
Attempts to create awareness of loyalty to , and positive feelings about a brand.

Marketing management identifies market opportunities and comes up with appropriate strategies for exploring those opportunities profitably. It involves determining which market segments the company is capable of serving the best, and the design and promotion of appropriate products and services to satisfy the needs and wants of that market. The goal is to attract and retain customers through appropriate and effective marketing strategies. These marketing management functions focus on implementing business strategy, as well as managing the process of the exchange of ownership of goods and services from seller to the buyer. Strategy development is a marketing management function; it involves formulation of marketing strategy.

Marketing Strategy Formulation
Marketing strategy formulation is a decision-making process of using available knowledge from marketing research, market analysis,competitor analysis, etc., to define and document your marketing strategy. Formulating marketing strategy is a process of defining your business goals and objectives, identifying your target market and value proposition, and choosing the best ways to reach and communicate with your audience. The following are some steps to follow to create an effective marketing strategy for your business.

Establishing marketing goals and objectives - You need to establish clear vision of what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts, and how they align with your overall business goals. Some examples may include: increasing brand awareness and engagement, generating leads, boosting sales, growing your email list, or improving customer loyalty..
Define Target markets - Target markets are smaller, discrete segments of of customers companies have identified or pulled out of a larger target market. Companies want to target the most profitable potential customers first and follow up with other market segments that offer good opportunities. Segmentation is the process of classifying existing and potential customers into particular groups or segments characterized by their 'needs'. It involves identifying these groups and their needs through market research and market reports, and then addressing those needs more successfully than the competition.
Determining market positioning - This involves defining marketing mix which outlines the specifics of a product and how it will be sold. The Marketing Mix is configured to serve the characteristics and needs of the target market, as identified, in the market analysis, and should fully reflect your Unique Selling Proposition. Marketing mix should cover: Product - What you are trying to sell; Price - Profit margins, marketing budget, etc..; Place - What channels or platforms will you use?; Promotion - What are you trying to achieve? (Are you hoping to build your social media presence, increase brand perception. promote a new product, or something else?); People - Who is your target audience? What drives them? Marketing-mix is developed by evaluating the basic information about the parameters/variables associated with each of the selected elements of the marketing-mix configured for a selected market segment.
Define Value proposition - This is a statement of what a company is offering to customers and what they are paying.
Define Unique selling proposition - The USP is a statement on why customers should buy from you instead of someone else. It is more about creating that emotional connection with your customers. The USP is defined in terms of the promise of of particular benefits to potential customers from using your product - goods/services. The USP should distinguish your products from those of your competitors. The USP is expressed concisely, in just one sentence that summarizes the essence of your business. This then acts as the focus of all marketing efforts. The question that your USP must answer for your customer base is "That's why you have to buy from us instead of the competition." The key to a successful USP is to provide your potential customers with specific benefit they find attractive.
Define Total customer experience - The total customer experience is defined in terms of the Marketing Mix parameters. These variables determine the total experience of your customers from the products - goods/services - you sell. The overall experience of your customers is determined by the combination of Marketing Mix parameters you provide.
Market positioning - Your Marketing Mix compared to that of your competition determines market positioning. This involves aiming to sell to the market segments that will be most profitable for your business. Your product/service offering must meet the needs of your chosen target market.
Create buyer personas - Buyer personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers based on their demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and needs. These help you segment your market and tailor your marketing messages and offers to each group of customers.
Brand positioning - Brand positioning is concerned with the way a company's brand fits into targeted market segments relative to competitors. Companies try to establish differentiated brand benefits to stand out from competitors. Positioning analysis is the process of analyzing how a company's current brand is perceived by the marketplace. When identifying market opportunities, a company needs to compare the way the brand is perceived with the needs of the targeted market. When constructing positional analysis, the key is to determine what position the company intends to have and how its brand is actually perceived by customer markets. Ultimately, customers decide how to react to a company's brand and position relative to others.
Marketing techniques and Methods - Determine what techniques, methods and tactics you will use to reach and engage your target audience. For example, you may choose to use email marketing, SEO, or paid advertising, depending on your budget, resources, and objectives.
Create Marketing Plan - Marketing plan is about bringing your marketing strategy to life - implementing your strategy. A marketing plan puts the marketing strategy into actionable and practical tasks, duties and goals that are easy to understand and have directed guidance.
Analyze performance - Define key performance indicators and metrics for evaluating the performance of your marketing campaigns and activities.

Strategy formulation documents the series of decisions regarding target audience, value proposition, and the configuration of marketing mix variables/parameters that the business will use to reach its target audience, as well as brand messaging. A well crafted/formulated marketing strategy can help you make sense of your situation and cut through all the noise and be your vehicle to guide successful marketing and sales decisions. The marketing strategy to be successful has to be implemented by developing a marketing plan.

Marketing strategy
Marketing strategy is an organization's overall game plan for reaching and influencing customers - business or consumers of its products and turning them into customers of the products the business offers through building brand awareness. Marketing strategy establishes how to engage the audience through branding. Marketing strategy is the system of decisions that establish how you are going to get your company in front of the people who are going to buy from it. Marketing strategy is concerned with the decisions about markets, their development and how to leverage the opportunities the markets offer. Marketing strategy guides the development and implementation of marketing tactics sich as the marketing-mix, as well as the evaluation and control of the marketing performance.

A marketing strategy highlights what your marketing goals are, and details how you can achieve them through your plan. A marketing strategy is essentially, an extension of your overall business strategy, and it should align with your business and marketing goals. Marketing strategy sets specific long-term vision to work towards and review performance against. It is the reasoning part that informs your future marketing decisions.

Marketing Techniques and Methods
Marketing techniques or methods encompass actions you take to bring in more business or increase your firm's visibility and reputation. Some examples of types of marketing methods, include:

Inbound Marketing - Inbound marketing strategy is a business methodology that attracts customers and pulls them in by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them. Inbound marketing forms connections customers are looking for and solves problems they already have. Inbound marketing focuses on putting the right structures in place to allow customers to find you. Some examples of Inbound marketing may include email (marketing) lists, and blog posts. If someone has subscribed to your mailing list, chances are they are, at least, somewhat interested in what you have to say. People will only see blog posts relevant to their search terms and interests, meaning they have expressed a need that, at least, somewhat relates to what you are selling. Inbound marketing is about lead generation using people who have shown interest in your products, services, or brand as a whole. Some examples of potential channels used, may include SEO, social media, local search, and mobile marketing.
Content Marketing - A content marketing strategy is likely to overlap inbound marketing strategy, but it is more specific. With content marketing strategies, you focus on content creation that will draw people in and build interest. It involves promoting your website and business with various forms of quality content through channels such as: blogs, search engine optimization, social media, infographics, newsletter, podcasts, white papers, eBooks, etc. The useful content pulls visitors towards your website, brings them closer to your brand, engages them and converts them into customers as well as loyal followers. In content marketing a mix of Inbound and Outbound tactics are deployed to maximize effectiveness. Content marketing is another form of digital marketing strategy in which marketing professionals create internet content to build excitement around a company or product. Many initiatives in content marketing spend more time and effort producing content that's engaging and has the potential to attract new customers.
Relationship marketing - This is a facet of customer relationship management (CRM) that focuses on customer loyalty and long-term customer engagement rather than shorter-term goals like customer acquisition and individual sales. The goal of relationship marketing (or customer relationship marketing) is to create strong, even emotional, customer connections to a brand that can lead to ongoing business, free word-of-mouth promotion and information from customers that can generate leads. This type of marketing is basically focused on customer building. Enhancing existing relationships with customers and improving customer loyalty. Organizations capitalizing on long-term and trustworthy customer relationships can help design value-enhancing marketing strategies that will subsequently generate competitive advantages and lead to superior performance. This type of marketing is basically focused on customer building. Enhancing existing relationships with customers and improving customer loyalty. A relationship marketing strategy uses a mix of tactics to promote long-term satisfaction and customer loyalty. Examples of relationship marketing include: proactive customer service, loyalty programs, encouraging feedback, and promoting the benefits of a product rather than just its features. Affiliate programs are part of relationship marketing.
Public relations - This is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals, and serve the public interest. Public relations is more than managing the flow of information between an organization and its public. It is a communications discipline that engages and informs key audiences, builds important relationships and brings vital information back into an organization for analysis and action.
Cause Marketing - Cause marketing links the services and products of a company to a social cause or issue.
Word of mouth marketing - It totally relies on what impression you leave on people. It is traditionally the most important type of marketing strategy. Being heard is important in business world. When you give quality services to customers, it is likely that they’d promote you.
Interactive Marketing - Interactive marketing involves interaction between the employees of your company and customers. It occurs at the retail stalls, customer service counter of banks, hotels, restaurants, and all those places employees and customers get in contact with one another. Interactive marketing influences the decision-making of buyers, because the customer needs help to make the choice, and the employees of your company help him to do so.
Search engine optimization - Search engine marketing is a form of digital marketing that focuses on bringing new traffic to a company's website. Taking advantage of true search engine optimization skills and incorporating SEO strategy into content marketing strategy on a blog or website is the best way to stimulate traffic and unique visitors.
Transactional Marketing - Transactional marketing strategy is based on more traditional approach that concentrates on acquiring the highest number of new sales. With the emphasis on increasing traffic and conversions, transactional marketing encourages you to look for quick wins.
Social media Marketing - Social Media Marketing is a form of digital marketing strategy that allows consumers to interact with advertisement and promotions on the internet.Local search - Local search marketing is all about putting your business on the map in local searches when customers are searching for a business like yours. For a more formal definition, local search marketing is a form of search engine optimization that helps local businesses show up in relevant local searches.
Mobile Marketing - Mobile marketing is a type of interactive digital marketing that focuses on making online advertisements compatible with mobile devices.
Advertisement - Advertising strategy is a company's outreach effort to buils brand awareness and drive sales. Advertising strategy is a long-term plan for reaching customers to position our brand's/products. It includes products offered and pricing, as well as brand marketing and the promotion of products.
Outbound marketing - Outbound Marketing is any kind of marketing where the company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience. Outbound marketing focuses on creating advertisements that bring your products or services to the customer. Outbound marketing may use a variety of channels, including, for example; email marketing,, direct mail, cold calling, radio ads, TV ads, trade shows, and telemarketing.
Brand Management - [TBD]

Marketing techniques and methods are concerned with generating the opportunities that drive sales. There are methods for targeting promising markets, building your brand, and generating and nurturing leads to drive faster growth and higher profits.

[TBD]

Brand positioning strategy works to position you as a certain "something" in the mind of your prospects and customers. Brand strategy defines; (1) What the company stands for, (2) A promise you make, and (3) The personality you convey. And while it includes your logo, color palette, and slogan; those are only creative elements that convey your brand. Instead, your realized/actual brand lives in everyday day-to-day interactions you have with your market, such as:(1) The images you convey, (2) The messages you deliver through e.g., your website, etc., (3) The way your employees interact with customers. Brand strategy, when successful, can help you capture market share. Brand marketing strategy recommends effective marketing channels based on reaching your target market/customers. Brand strategy brings your competitive positioning to life; Brand marketing strategy contributes to and reinforces corporate level strategy. .
Brand strategy is a part of brand positioning. Brand strategy outlines a brand's approach to who they market, how they differentiate and how they influence perceptions and decisions. Brand strategy defines how a company will build rapport and favor within the market. It defines how to engage the audience. This involves considering how your business can appeal to audiences through key messages including message architecture, and tone-of-voice.
Product positioning strategy, like brand positioning strategy, is about identifying and committing the unique thoughts you want to own in the minds of your customers and prospects versus your competition. It is a process that involves creating an identity/image of the brand or product within the target customers' minds, and allows the company to differentiate itself from competitors. The process indicates how you differentiate your product/service from that of your competitors and then determine which market niche to fill. Positioning in marketing may be based on pricing, quality of goods/services, differentiation, convenience, customer service and relationship-building factors e.g., personal contact. An effective market positioning strategy combines elements of the marketing mix; and It is designed to meet the organization's marketing objectives by providing its customers with value. Marketing positioning strategy contributes to and reinforces the business and competitive strategy.

[TBD]

Marketing (Communications) Channels
Marketing channel refers to medium or communications channels organizations use to get their messaging and brand across to prospects and customers. Communication is important because it verses people on the different things that the business has to offer. A marketing communications channel, also sometimes referred to as a marketing media channel, is a delivery vehicle to your customers for your message or offer. A marketing channel is any platform or medium that helps you reach your target audience. Marketing channels can be classified into the following categories:

Traditional Media - This refers to media channels such as; direct mail, telephone, Television, Radio, and Print media, Bill boards, etc. These will be the offline focus used for introducing your audience to your products and services through advertising.
Digital Media - Digital media channels refers to platforms such as; Internet; Search Engine platforms such as Google; Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.; Email platforms, such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo mail. etc., used for connecting with carefully targeted individuals to cultivate a lasting relationships.
Owned Media - These are channels that the organization owns, such as: Website, Social media accounts, Blogs, etc.)
PPC (Per per Click) Advertising - This is a paid media. It is a way to advertise by paying search engines for each user that clicks on your brand's content. PPC monitors the performance of ads.
Free Media - []
Social media Ads - []
Influencers - []
Affiliate marketing - []
Public Relations - This refers to types of communications such as: Press releases, exhibitions, sponsorship deals and conferences. Used for getting news worthy attention.
Event Marketing - This refers to meetings, conferences and trade shows.
Partnerships and joint ventures

A marketing channel consists of the people, organizations and activities necessary to transfer the ownership of goods from the point of production to the point of consumption. It is the way products get to the user. An example of marketing channel is a target audience member's email inbox, pay-per-click (PPC) marketing tactics, referral marketing tactics, event marketing tactics, and more .

Marketing Plan
Marketing plan is about bringing your marketing strategy to life - implementing your strategy. A marketing plan puts the marketing strategy into actionable and practical tasks, duties and goals that are easy to understand and have directed guidance. A marketing plan details the steps and resources required to execute your marketing strategy. The marketing plan includes information about the company's resources, goals, and step by step instructions to implement the campaign successfully. A marketing plan takes your long-term plans and turns them into clear processes - marketing workflows, tasks templates, and check lists, and marketing Kanban boards. With a marketing plan, goals and projects are broken down into workflows and individual tasks. Then, as tasks get assigned, their owners know how their work impacts everyone else’s work. A marketing plan, like any project plan, defines the objectives, of the campaigns and the requirements to fulfill them. Marketing strategy execution is the process that turns your marketing plan into action. It brings your marketing goals and tactics to life. Your marketing strategy is a guide that helps you choose, prioritize, plan, and execute projects that ultimately improve your company’s bottom line. With marketing execution, you’ll turn your strategy into real-life activities so you can deliver the right content to the right people at the right time. A marketing plan can be adjusted at any point based on the results from the metrics. If digital ads are performing better than expected, for example, the budget for a campaign can be adjusted to fund a higher performing platform or the company can initiate a new budget. The challenge for marketing leaders is to ensure that every platform has sufficient time to show results.

Marketing Tactics
Marketing tactics are the actual strategic actions that direct the promotion of a product or service to influence specific marketing goals. Marketing tactics are high-level concepts that direct content creation and intentional marketing funnel experiences. Marketing tactics support the overall direction of the business as defined by the corporate and business strategy. Tactics involves the best way Some examples include:

Marketing mix - The marketing mix decision are used to achieve the general marketing strategies by guiding the decisions within important marketing areas such as product, pricing, distribution/placement, and promotion for goods marketing; and product, pricing, distribution/placement, promotion, physical evidence, people and process for service marketing.

Product - The product element of the marketing-mix refers to what you are offering, as a whole, to your customers. Product decisions include functionality, branding, packaging, service, quality, appearance, and warranty. When thinking about your product consider the key features, benefits, and the needs and wants of customers. The options selected by an organization is guided by the marketing strategy and dependent on whether the organization is attempting to reach new or existing customers, and whether the products - goods or services - are new or already exist.
Pricing - Pricing element refers to the model or method used to establish the best price for a product - goods or service. This is the way you set prices for your product or services. Your pricing will also depend on your businesses position in the market. Pricing is concerned with decisions on influencing increase in volume or communicating brand value. For example, if you advertise your company as targeting budget conscious customers then your price should reflect that. Pricing is how the seller uses pricing to achieve a certain business objective. Pricing decisions are set at a higher organization or brand level, and is aimed at the life-cycle of the product.
Promotion - Promotion refers to all the activities and methods you use to put products - goods or services - in the public eye or target market. This may include sales, public relations, direct marketing, advertising, sponsorship, social media, and word of mouth.
Distribution/Place - The Place element refers to how you get your product or service to your customers at the right time, at the right place, and in the right quantity. It includes distribution channels, location, logistics, service levels and market coverage. It identifies, "where", "when", and by "whom" the products - goods or services - are to be offered for sale.
People - This refers to the customers, service personnel whose presence and actions define the service that satisfies the wants and needs of the consumer to whom the service is directed. The People element of service marketing-mix includes anyone directly or indirectly involved in the business-side of the enterprise; these include employees who are involved in selling the product - service, designing it, managing teams, representing customers, recruitment, culture, etc. Employing and retaining the right people is imperative in both the long and short term success of the organization. People decisions are usually centered around customer service - how do you want your employees to be perceived by the customers?
Process - The Process element describes a series of actions that are taken in delivering the service product to the customer. The process may comprise a number of parts such as: sales funnel, payment systems, distribution procedures, and managing customer relationships. Assessing, adjusting and optimizing the different parts of your process helps you streamline your business efforts while also ensuring your methods are up-to-date and in line with current trends.

Branding - Branding can also be considered at the tactical level, for example, which brand identity or color-ways to use.
Email marketing - Email marketing is a form of interactive digital marketing that involves sending email messages directly to consumers. An email marketing campaign might work by sending informational and promotion emails to existing customers to encourage them to make more purchases with a company. Another email marketing method is to create a newsletter that consumers can subscribe to and receive periodically to learn about company updates or new products.
Service Marketing - []
Direct Mail - [TBD]
Direct Marketing - Direct Marketing strategy refers to an approach based on directly connecting with carefully targeted individuals to cultivate a lasting relationships. Used for direct outreach to prospects in a database or sales list.
Influencer Marketing - []
Referral Marketing - []
Affiliate Marketing - []
Partner Marketing - []
Employee Advocacy - []
Market Segmentation - Defining groups (segments) in your audience based on specific traits.
Targeting - Deciding which segments you should market to.

These marketing strategies contribute to and reinforce business strategy.

Marketing Activities
A marketing activity is anything you do to help you acquire customers. Marketing activities aim to create brand awareness, generate leads or direct sales,or retain existing customers using different marketing channels. They are the methods companies use to sell and promote their products or services to returning and new customers. Some examples include:

Advertising - Advertising in business is a type of communication that persuades and encourages people to take a particular action. Communication is important because it verses people on the different things that the business has to offer. Advertisements also shows the advantages, features and values of a certain product. Advertising is any paid form of communication from an identified sponsor or source that draws attention to ideas, goods, services or the sponsor itself; essentially commercials and ads (whether digital or print).
Content Marketing - This aspect of content marketing involves creating helpful content for a company's target audoence. Content marketing helps establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry. This builds trust with your audience.
Direct Marketing - Communicate directly with customers and prospects through ail, email, texts, fliers and other promotional material.
Marketing Research - Process of collecting and analyzing information about a company's target audience, current customers,and competitors in the market.
New Product Development - This is concerned with development of product marketing campaigns; brand development campaign; email marketing campaign, content marketing campaign, etc.
Content Creation - []
Design -[]
Promotion -
Email Marketing - This is the process of obtaining customer or potential customers' email address and distributing messages.

[TBD]

[TBD]
Public relations - This is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals, and serve the public interest. Public relations is more than managing the flow of information between an organization and its public. It is a communications discipline that engages and informs key audiences, builds important relationships and brings vital information back into an organization for analysis and action.

There are myriad of different marketing strategies available to companies. Picking the appropriate marketing strategy for your business situation requires analyzing the needs of business, your target audience, and specifications of your product.

Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is a document that outlines a business's marketing strategies for a certain campaign. It provides the overall, high level strategy based on the brand's objectives over a period of time. Marketing plan offers clear and clear-cut statement about the strategies and actions that is to be implemented. Fundamentally, a marketing plan is a way to lay out the marketing for business, products, and services. It envelops everything from information about target market to specific step-by-step processes company use to develop certain marketing systems (programs) and strategies. It typically follows a specific period, such as throughout a quarter or fiscal year. The purpose of the marketing plan is to describe who your clients are and where they are, and how you can reach them.

Elements of Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is an overview of all your marketing initiatives. This will include all the campaigns you intend to run over a set period of time, your goals and ambitions for the projects as a whole, and any research you have compiled to support these aims.

Marketing plans detail specific strategies to reach the company's goals, and contain the time tables for when certain marketing strategies will take place and details the logistics of marketing campaigns. The logistical details of executing your strategy include elements such as budgets, more detail time scales for objectives and goals, who in the organization will manage the various points in the strategy, the logistics of various distribution channels and their incumbent costs. etc.

Organization Mission - Organization's purpose and reason for existing.
Objectives - This resents the expectation of the organization with its marketing effort.
Marketing strategy - This defines the most effective courses of action to fulfill the objectives. Generally, marketing strategy involves the accomplishment of marketing objectives through the determination of target markets, the setting of competitor targets and the creation of a competitive advantage. Some examples of marketing strategies that can be part of a marketing plan are: online advertising, email marketing, content marketing, social media management, events, etc.
Tactics - The strategy must be explained in depth regarding the 4Ps (7Ps in the case of service marketing strategy) and the actions that will be taken in schedule time by particular individuals who implement the plan. Marketing strategy sets the stage for specific actions that will take place. Marketing procedure are the day-to-day actions that marketers take on and involve the major marketing decision areas.
Implementation Activities - This is a list of the tasks to be performed to implement each marketing strategy.
Marketing Budget - [TBD]
Controls - The main intent of control systems is to appraise the results of the marketing plan so that corrective action can be taken if performance does not match objectives.

A marketing plan consists of all the strategies that a company will execute to reach its marketing goals over a period of time. Marketing plans usually outline marketing activities on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis.

Marketing plan is the framework from which all your marketing strategies are created. The marketing strategy is outlined in the marketing plan, which is a document that details the specific types of marketing activities a company conducts and contains timetables for rolling out various marketing initiatives. Marketing Initiatives are typically new ideas, campaigns, or solutions to solve either a new or previously existing problem.

The plan helps you connect each strategy back to the larger marketing operation and business goal. A marketing plan sums up the ideas for what a company wants to accomplish its objectives. The marketing plan is a more lively document than your strategy, and will need to be updated more frequently and adjusted to accommodate changes in costings, market conditions, economic conditions and other factors.

Marketing Campaigns
A marketing campaign is a focused tactical initiative to achieve a specific marketing goal. Campaign plan is a plan to achieve an objective, usually of a large-scale over an extended period of time. It usually coordinates many activities and uses of resources involving multiple organizations. A campaign plan could also have subordinate objectives or intermediate milestones and is often broken down by phases.

A campaign is typically focused on an event or particular asset. The process of campaign planning helps you organize your thoughts, identify appropriate target markets and craft effective messages to reach them. Campaign plans sit within your overall marketing strategy to promote specific products, performances, exhibitions or services. Marketing campaign types may include:

Customer acquisition campaigns
Conversion campaigns
Retention and trust campaigns
Brand awareness campaigns.
Advertisement Campaigns

Most marketing campaigns focus directly on promoting a product. The choice of marketing media strategy is one important element of a successful marketing campaign. Combined with your messaging and the right creative for the channel, it can resonate with your ideal customers and encourage them to do business with you.

Marketing Programs
A marketing program is all the people, processes, technologies and activities involved in making connections and building relationships to achieve an end goal. In B2B and B2C markets, that end goal is to engage potential customers and improve sales of products and services. A program focuses engaging, nurturing, and converting buyers with relevant content that aligns to the needs and buying processes of the customer. A programmatic approach (unlike campaigns) does not start with the asset or tactics in mind. A programmatic approach is first built to be perpetual - always-on. This is in stark contrast to a one-and-done campaign.

Some examples of marketing programs include:

Brand awareness - This is basically creating awareness; generating traffic, for example, to your site.
Lead Generation - This is about sparking a relationship with the traffic created by awareness and capturing for instance email address.
Customer Acquisition - Prospect for new customers
Customer Retention
Past customer reactivation

A program is a group of projects that are similar or related to one another, and which are often managed and coordinated as a group instead of independently. Programs are continuously optimized by analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) and using the business intelligence, that is derived, to make mid-course adjustments that will improve the program's overall performance. A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken by a company or organization such as: the creation of a new service, goods, or result. A marketing program needs to be implemented and executed to be of any use, this requires some sort of framework. to help in execution of the plan

Marketing Projects
A marketing project is a series of related action plans (workflows) that further the implementation of your marketing strategies. A project has a clear beginning and end. For example, advertising takes place on a weekly or monthly basis, but developing the ads for the first quarter of the year is done once, and that woud be a marketing project. The first step in any marketing project is to determine the budget for the project.

For example, setting up an advertisement campaign consists of several projects, such as:

Determining the most effective media outlets to place the ads in, is a project. The possible media channel may include TV, radio, News Papers, Magazines, and online venues .
Determining the message of the ad and its graphics, design and size is another project.
Developing a procedure to analyze the ads to see if they were effective as another project. ..

A campaign is typically focused on an event or particular asset.

Human Resource Management and Strategy
Human Resource Management (HRM) is defined in terms of the set of functions, and activities designed and performed in order to maximize both employee as well as organizational effectiveness. It is a management function that helps organization in recruiting, selecting, training, developing and managing its members. Human Resource Management functions include planning, organizing, leaning and controlling company's activities in recruiting, staffing, and effective utilizing of the organization's workforce. The scope of HRM include workforce planning, recruiting and hiring, performance management, and learning and development.

Human Resource Function
Human Resource is the function within an organization that focuses on developing the capability for planning, recruitment, management, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization. Human Resource function area business capabilities include:

HR Strategy and planning,
Workforce management,
Talent management,
Learning and Development,
Compensation and Benefits management,
People Relationship Management,
Recruitment and Hiring
HR Analytics and Reports

A business capability is what a company needs to be able to do to execute its business strategy. Another way to think about capabilities is as a collection of people, process, and technology gathered for a specific purpose.

HR Management Goals and Objectives
The primary objective of resource management is to ensure seamless experience for the staff and other people associated to management and organizational goals. HRM objectives are basically influenced by organizational goals. Some of the main objectives of HR are:

Achieve Organizational goals - To help the organization reach its goals. Fulfil organizational goals by utilizing human resources to achieve business goals. Organizational objectives include: workforce handling, staff requirements like hiring and onboarding, payroll management and retirement.
Work Culture - Foster better work culture through automation of activities like leave approvals, reimbursement request acknowledgement to help create positive vibes in the work place. Developing good team culture through developing and maintaining healthy and transparent relations among team members and teams.
Team integration - Ensuring teams coordinate efficiently through better communication.
Training and development - To provide the organization with well-trained and well-motivated employees. Ensure effective utilization and maximum development of human resource. Enhance employee’s capabilities to perform the present job.
Employee Motivation - To increase to the fullest the employee’s job satisfaction and self- actualization. Attend to employee needs to keep them motivated ; keep them on the right path and keep distractions and negative vibes away.
Workforce Empowerment - Empowering the workforce improves employee morale, motivation and ensures workforce engagement.
Retention - To achieve and maintain high moral among employees.
Data and Compliance - Managing company and employee data, and managing compliance. Managing payroll compliance and keeping the company out of any penalties or fines.

HRM objectives are basically influenced by organizational goals, and encompass ensuring availability of resources, easy access to data, on-time payroll, ensuring compliance, on-time payroll, ensuring compliances, etc. And ensuring a stable work environment with data at one place and efficient operations.

HR Strategy
HR strategies are internally consistent bundles of human resource practices. HR strategies set out what the organization intends to do about the different aspects of its human resource management policies and practices. The purpose of HR strategies is to guide HRM development and implementation of programs. They provide a means of communicating to all concerned, the intentions of the organization about how its human resources will be managed. They provide the basis for strategic plans and enable the organization to measure progress and evaluate outcomes against objectives.

HR strategies provides a vision for the future, but are also vehicles that define the actions required and how the vision should be realized. Because all organizations are different, all HR strategies are are different. HR strategies however, can be categorized into two (2) types; overarching strategies and specific strategies.

Overarching Strategies Examples
These describe the general intentions of the organization about:

How people should be managed and developed,
What steps should be taken to ensure that HRM processes of the organization can attract and retain the people it needs, and ensure as far as possible that,
Employees are committed, motivated and engaged.

These strategies are likely to be expressed in broad statements of aims and purpose that set the scene for more specific strategies.

Specific Strategies
These relate to the different aspects of human resource management. They set our what the organization intends to do in decision areas such as:

Talent Management - How the organization intends to win the war for talent,
Continuous Improvement - Providing for focused and continuous incremental innovation sustained over a period of time,
Knowledge Management - Creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing and using knowledge to enhance learning and performance,
Resourcing - Attracting and retaining high quality people,
Learning and Development - Providing an environment in which employees are encouraged to learn and develop,
Reward - Defining what the organization wants to do in the longer term to develop and implement reward policies, practices and processes that will further the achievement of its business goals and meet the needs of its stakeholders,
Employee Relations - Defining the intentions of the organization about what needs to be done and what needs to be changed in the ways in which the organization manages its relationships with employees and their trade unions.

They are concerned with the overall organizational effectiveness. - achieving human resource advantage by employing 'better people in the organization with better processes', developing high performance systems and generally, creating a great place to work.

Finance Management and Strategy
S.C. Kushal defines financial management as: “Financial Management deals with procurement of funds and their effective utilization in the business”. Financial management is an area in financial decision-making, harmonizing individual motives, and enterprise goals. Financial Management is the activity concerned with the control and planning of financial resources. Financial management entails the process of planning, organizing, monitoring, and also controlling the financial resources of an organization. It controls every single thing regarding the company’s financial activities which includes the procurement of funds, use of funds, payments, accounting, risk assessment, and other things that are related to finances.

Financial Management functions include:

Financial Planning and Forecasting
Determination of capital composition - Decide the capital structure after planning and forecast has been made.
Fund investment - Ensure funds made available to the business are used adequately to grow the business.
Maintain proper liquidity - Cash is the best source for maintaining liquidity.
Disposal of surplus - Increase the ROCE.
Financial Controls - This is the analysis of a company's actual results, compared to its short, medium, and long-term objectives and business plans.

Successful financial management contributes to and supports the reason for establishing a company, i.e., make a profit and thrive (run for many years).

Finance Function
The Finance Function is a part of financial management. In a business, the finance function involves the accounting and utilization of funds necessary for efficient operations. The financial function is concerned with two sets of activities;

Strategic management - Acquiring funds to meet the organization's current and future financial needs, and
Operations management - recording, monitoring, and controlling the financial results of the organization's operations.

The accounting aspects of finance function brings business to life, and passes through every part of the firm's operations. It is the operational activities of business that is responsible for obtaining and effectively utilizing the funds necessary for efficient operations.

Finance function can be classified into the following categories:

Long-Term Finance - Acquiring funds to meet the organization's current and future financial needs, Sources may include owner capital, share capital, etc.
Medium-Term Finance - Acquiring funds to meet the organization's current and medium term needs. Sources may be bank loans and institutions.
Short Term Finance - Finance needed with a year; sources may be bank overdrafts, commercial paper, trade credit, etc.

The finance function is important in helping establish the business and run the business.

The objectives of the finance function are:

Investment Decisions - Decisions on where to put the company's funds. These decisions relate to the management of working capital, capital budgeting decisions, management of mergers, buying or leasing assets, etc. Investment decisions should create revenue, profits, and save costs.
Financing Decisions - Where to raise funds from.
Dividends Decisions - Decisions on how much, how frequently, and in what form to return cash to owners.
Liquidity Decisions - Liquidity means that a firm has enough money to pay its bills when they are due and have sufficient cash reserves to meet unforeseen emergencies. This decision involves the management of the current assets so you don’t become insolvent or fail to make payments.

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Financial Management Goals and Objectives
The main focus of financial management must be set up to follow the best practices, use the required financial management tools, and also deploy the right strategies to minimize cost, and ensure production or business activities function smoothly.

Financial Management Goals
The goals of the financial function includes:

Strategic Budgeting - The goal is to create and monitor the overall company budget, and the variety of functional departments' budgets. Budgeting requires research to estimate revenue levels based on demand forecasting. Using annual budget projections, the accounting staff can help you set targets for profit goals and for overhead and production spending levels. Overhead includes costs such as phones, rent, and marketing; while production costs are those related to making your product. Create monthly or quarterly budget variance analyses to see if you are on track with your revenues and spending or if you need to make changes before expenses get out of hand.
Cost Containment - To ensure you get the best quality at the lowest price for materials, supplies, and services, make purchasing management one of the duties of the finance department. Require that employees get multiple bids or present some justification for large purchases; and have vendors, suppliers and contractors rebid their contracts every year. Look for trends in spending lvels to determine where you can cut costs without sacrificing quality.
Cash Flow Management - Cash flow management is about knowing when your bills are due and when you can expect payment from your customers, or other sales revenues; and its critical to your financial health. Its not enough to show a profit on paper, the financial function to should help you manage your working capital and credit to ensure you have enough to pay your bills at all times. Make receivables management a key role of the financial department.
Debt Service - Keep an eye on credit use, including interest amounts you are generating, the scheduling of your payments and the status of credit report and scores.
Tax Planning - Use proactive strategies to lower your tax burden, such as deprecisting assets, and offering voluntary benefits to employees that help you lower payroll taxes.
Accurate Record Keeping - The most important objective of any finance department is to keep accurate financial records. This includes you meet your legal requirements and ensuring you don't spend more than you have by accident. Consider audits to prevent fraud and institute policies and procedures for controlling contacts and payments.

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Financial Management Objectives
There are objectives or reasons firms implement these management strategies to grow their business.

Profit Maximization - Maximize profit while managing the finances of the company. Ensure the company is making sufficient profit to survive and grow.
Proper Mobilization of Finance - Collection of funds to run the business. Securing the required amount of funds needed/estimated for the business process.
The Company's Survival - Make adequate financial decisions to ensure the company is successful.
Proper Coordination - Proper understanding and cooperation among various departments.
Lowers cost of Capital - Reduce the cost of capital; ensure money borrowed attracts little interest rates so the company can maximize profits.

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Financial Strategy
Financial strategy is concerned with the choices and commitments regarding acquisition of financial resources, analyzing cost structure, estimating profit potential, allocation of financial capital, dividend policy, or accounting functions in managing investment/working capital/cash flow. Most businesses require substantial amount of capital to both develop and operate; and therefore, cost and availability of capital have an enormous impact on the business. When demand is high, large amounts of cash is generated, and when demands drops cash gets used up very quickly. Financial strategies concern objectives in key results areas such as: profitability, liquidity and cash management, leverage and capital management, asset management, investment ratios, and financial planning and control.

Businesses respond to and operate under a variety of financial strategy options. Strategy selection is influenced by the company's overall goals, objectives, and mission statement.

Finance and accounting operations implement strategies to reduce functional and operational complexity, streamline processes, optimize the use of technology, and efficiently use resources to deliver cost effective, high quality services.

Return on On Investment Capital
The following financial strategy options can b mixed to achieve various business objectives such as accelerate growth, minimize investment, and improve returns and the timeliness of those returns. For example, for business objective such as Return on Investment, the mix of financial strategy options include:

Manage Contracts
Rollover Asset
Additional Capacity
Franchises
Management contract with limited equity investment
Buy out of negative leases
Acquisitions
Joint Ventures
Management contract with major equity investment
Ownership (Construction)

Improve Return on Investment Capital (ROIC) involves the following financial strategy options:

Rollover Asset (sale)
Manage Contracts
Additional Capacity (assumes demand is high)
Buy out of negative leases
Buy in to joint ventures with management contracts.

Cash Generation
Understanding how to generate cash in relationship to your business' time horizon is essential to survival. The fastest way to generate cash is to rollover an asset. The longest time to generate cash is to develop a concept - opening an operating business model that is successful and worthy of franchise investment - and then providing for the marketing of the franchise.

Rollover of an Asset
Ownership
Acquisitions
Manage Contract
Franchise

Operations Management and Operations Strategy
Operations is a term used to refer to the steps/tasks an organization performs in the process of producing and delivering value to customers. A company's operations are the core activities that produce and deliver products and services. Operations constitute many processes, such as material acquisition, manufacturing, inventory management, delivery, etc. An organization may consider each step they take toward producing/delivering a product, an operation, and all decisions regarding these various operations are the Operations Strategy. Operations strategy is concerned with the overall direction and scope of an organization's operations, including its market focus, competitive position, and resource allocation. Operations strategy refers to the system of decisions an organization implements to achieve its long-term goals and mission. Operations management is concerned with the design, implementation and improvement of operations infrastructure - the systems that create the organization's goods and services.

Operations Strategy Formulation
Operations strategy formulation is the process of selecting the most appropriate and efficient ways (means) to realize the organization's vision and help it achieve its goals and objectives. It is a complex and dynamic process that requires careful planning and analysis. There are many factors to consider when formulating an operations strategy, such as:

The type and scope of product and services the organization offers, and how they are designed and manufactured, and delivered to customers.
The demand and supply of the products or services, and how the organization forecasts, schedules, and manages its inventory and capacity,
The quality and performance standards the organization sets for its products and services, and how it ensures and measures customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The resources and capabilities the organization has or needs to acquire, such as human, financial, physical, technology and information assets, and how it allocates and optimizes then across its operations.
The competitive environment and market conditions the organization face, and how it differentiates itself from its rivals and creates value for its stakeholders.

Operations strategy is part of strategic management and involves using several analytical tools to figure out the best way to use the organization's resources. Some of the steps involved in formulating operations strategy include:

Analyzing competitive dynamics of the marketplace - This involves analyzing the market place in the external environment to understand its dynamics. This help management in understanding the issues that it must consider while formulating its operations strategy. It involves detailed analysis of current market structure, existing competitors and their offerings, and the competition intensity level. This also involves understanding the customer needs and preferences, and the competitive positioning of the organization. This analysis helps organizations identify which aspects of its products and services can provide competitive advantage over its competitors.
Identify key factors that influence customer satisfaction - [Order-qualifiers and Order-winners] - Analysis of the competitive dynamics leads the organization to identify the order-qualifying and order-winning attributes/factors for a product/service it is offering. Identifying these key factors involves determining the criteria that customers use to evaluate and select products and services, and the attributes that differentiate the organization from its competitors. Order-qualifying attributes are the minimum requirements that customers expect, while order-winning attributes are the ones that provide competitive edge/advantage to the organization.
Identify Strategic Options - Identify strategic options for sustaining competitive advantage; the organization must identify the order-winning attributes of its products and services and try to sustain them for a competitive advantage. The order-qualifying and order-winning attributes give a set of strategic options that may help the organization is sustaining a competitive advantage. Strategic options are action-oriented responses to the external situation that an organization faces. An organization must analyze and weigh each strategic option, and select the most suitable one to achieve the competitive advantage.
Devise the overall corporate strategy - Organizations may not use all the strategic options available to them. The organization should match available strategic options (those for sustaining the competitive advantage) with available resources and constraints. Based on the selected strategic option, the organization develop a strategic plan to fulfill organizational objectives by taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This results into the development of the overall corporate strategy. The corporate strategy specifies the business that the organization will pursue; examines new opportunities and threats in the environment and identifies growth objectives. It provides an overall direction for carrying out the organization's functions.
Create Operations Strategy - Once corporate strategy is developed, it serves as the basis for the operations strategy. In other words, the operations strategy specifies the way through which operations implement the corporate strategy. Operations strategy may also focus on continuous cost-improvement, maximizing productivity, and cost control by planning and control activities and thereby reducing overall costs. Arriving at an appropriate operations strategy can help an organization develop capabilities that the organization needs to achieve its corporate strategies.

The process of operations strategy formulation helps in generating a specific course of actions for running the operations system.and thereby, providing operational excellence and competitive advantage to the organization. The Operations System, for an organization, is the joint configuration of resources and processes such that its resulting competencies are aligned with the organization's desired competitive position. An organization's Operations System provides the best match (fit) of supply (of tangible resources) with customer demand for the mix of products and services. Besides the efficient operations strategy formulation, an organization requires a strong support process for the effective implementation of operations strategies. The support process provides vial resources and input to support the core process (implementation of operations strategies).

Developing an operations strategy requires managers to consider multiple factors in concert with each other; in addition it demands management take a bird's eye view of the whole organization from multiple perspectives to inform their decisions. These management perspectives on operation strategy include: Top-down, market requirements, operations resources, and bottoms-up.

Top-Down Perspective - What the business wants operations to do. This perspective focuses on the holistic objectives of the whole organization. This perspective is concerned with corporate mandates which as translated into competitive priorities.
Market Requirements Perspective - What the market position requires operations to do. Market requirements are an essential pressure point on operations strategy, and are better understood as performance objectives. The performance objectives are a "translation", into operations terms, of a marketing requirements - marketing professionals view of the market. Performance objectives may include: cost, quality, speed, dependability, and flexibility.
Operations Resources Perspective - What operations resources can do; builds capabilities, knowledge, etc. This is a resource-based view approach which involves moving from a broad understanding of what resources, processes, and capabilities an operation may possess within its resources through to an identification of the key decisions that operations managers will need to take in order to exploit, build on, and develop these capabilities. These decisions can be categorized into the following: Capacity - amount, timing, and type; Facilities - Size, location, and specialization; Technology - equipment and process; Vertical Integration - Direction, extent, and balance; Workforce - Skill levels, wage policies, employment security; Quality - Defect prevention, monitoring, and intervention; Production Planning/Materials Control - Sourcing policies, centralization, decision rules; Organization - Structure, control/reward systems, roles.
Bottom-up Perspective - What day-to-day experience and learning suggests operations should do. This perspective is how the company encounters emerging strategies from its day-to-day experiences in its operations processes. It shapes the company's strategic operations. Operations strategy is a bottom-up activity where operations improvements cumulatively build strategy.

These management perspectives on operations strategy help management examine and implement effective and efficient systems to achieve corporate and business objectives. Operations management perspectives on operations strategy consists of all the strategic decisions, policies, plans, and culture (values) relating to operations. Management considerations and decision choices along these perspectives results in a system of decisions that define possible strategic options from which a valid strategic option can be selected and evaluated against the current operations strategy to determine gaps in the implemented strategy. Strategy implementation is the process of closing this gap.

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In a product-oriented business structure, the daily concerns of operations strategy includes everything from procurement of raw materials to the final logistics involved with delivering final product to the end-user. It also factors in staff, product development, quality assurance and issues, plant capabilities, and forecasting models that focus on long-term objectives.

For manufacturing operations, operations strategy involves decisions based on multiple factors, including:

Product Management,
Supply chain management,
Inventory Management,
Forecasting,
Scheduling,
Quality Management,
Facilities planning and management.

Manufacturing operations refers to the processes and activities involved in the large-scale production of goods using raw materials, machines, and human labor. It encompasses product design, and development to production, assembly and delivery of the final product.

For service providers, operations strategy concerns decisions based on factors such as: financing, marketing, human resources, and customer service that matches the company's goals and mission. Service operations is a term used to describe all the activities and processes that together enable the creation and delivery of value for customers through service delivery.

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Strategy Implementation
Operations strategy binds the various operations decisions and actions into a cohesive consistent response to competitive forces by linking policies, programs, systems, and actions into a systematic response to projected demand products and services resulting from the strategic priorities chosen and communicated by the corporate or business strategy. Strategy implementation viewed as a decision-making process is comprised from two (2) simultaneous processes:

top-down inductive process is often facilitated directive of the business strategy into more fine-grained dub-goals for the development of technological capabilities. Stability is fostered as lower-level actors align their own decisions with the overarching directive of the business strategy (Wheelwright and Clark 1992). This inductive process is often facilitated by "strategy cascading tool" - such as Key Performer Indicator (KPI) system, portfolio selection aids, etc.
Bottom-up autonomous process invites undirected innovation impulses from front line actors to adapt and refine the existing operations system.

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The firm's operations strategy must be conducive to developing a set of policies in both process choice and infrastructure design (controls, procedures, and systems, etc.) that are consistent with the firm's distinctive competency.

Operations Strategy
Operations strategy consists of a series of decisions that organizations make in order to effectively implement and execute their business and competitive strategies. Operations strategy links various short-term and long-term operations decisions to corporate strategy and develop capabilities that an organization needs to be competitive.

Operations strategy drives a company's operations, the part of an organization that creates and distributes value(in the form of goods and services) to customers. With effective operations strategy, operations management and professionals can optimize the use of resources, people, processes, and technology.

"Operations strategy is the total pattern of decisions which shape the long-term capabilities of any type of operations and their contribution to overall strategy." writes authors Nigel Slack and Michael in their book Operations Strategy. Operations strategy has a vertical relationship with overall business/corporate strategy, and a horizontal relationship with functional strategies, such as marketing strategy, etc. Operations strategy underlies overall business strategy, and both are critical for a company to successfully compete in the market place.

An operations strategy is a set of decisions an organization makes regarding the production and delivery of its products - goods and services. An organization may consider each step they take toward, for example, manufacturing or delivery of a product, an operation, and all these decisions regarding these various operations are the operations strategy.

Operations strategy is a whole system of decisions that are aimed at shaping both the long-term capabilities of operations regardless of the type of operations and their contribution to overall achievement of organizational strategy.

Operations strategy is a guiding principle used to plan, analyze and execute a company's operations. Operations strategy guides operations management decisions on the design of operations functions. Operations strategy informs an organization's choices and answers to key strategic issues and questions of strategic relevance, such as:

Which capabilities need to be created or enhanced?
Which processes need improvement or complete redesign?
Do we have the people we need and do they have the right skills sets? (Example,, Talent retention plans through strategic learning and development programs).

These choices and specific market needs influence the type of operations strategy developed and employed by a business.

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Operations strategy decisions are the actual decisions that are taken over time and shape the operations of a company. The realized operations strategy is the total pattern of decisions which shape the long-term capabilities of any type of operations and their contribution to the overall business strategy. Operations strategy supports a company's overall business strategy in order to maximize profits, and drives a company's operations function. Operations strategy focuses on maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of production of service or goods while minimizing operating costs. Operations strategy comprises specific actions management wants to take to achieve a specific aspect of a company's operations.

Operations strategy is concerned more with the total transformation process, that is the whole business, and less with individual processes, and how the competitive environment is changing and what the operation has to do in order to meet current and future challenges. Operations strategy is concerned, for the long-term, with how to best determine and develop the firm's major operations resources so that there is a high degree of compatibility between those resources and the business strategy.

Common Types of Operations Strategies
Businesses and organizations use operations strategy to identify and implement cost-effective processes that give them competitive advantage in creating and distributing goods and services. Operations strategy can be broken down into categories - types of decision/issue areas - that must be addressed. Some common types of operations strategies include:

Customer-Driven Strategies - Operations strategies to meet the needs of a targeted customer segment. These are market based strategies that enable the organization to meet the needs and desires of a target market. These strategies must allow a company to evaluate and adapt to changing environments, continuously enhancing core competencies, and developing new strengths on an ongoing basis. This type of operations strategy aligns with sales and marketing strategies to manage and fulfill customer expectations. Companies using this type of strategy make operations decisions based on the customer experience.
Customer engagement strategy - The focus of this strategy is to improve customer-centricity. In this strategy the company aspires to improve existing operations system for both new and repeat clients. The better this service process is, the higher the company's customer satisfaction rating will be. This builds loyalty and referral business. An example is, a car rental company that eliminate long lines.
Core Competencies - Strategies to develop the company's key strengths and resources. Core competencies are the strengths and resources within a company. Core competency based strategies are resource-based strategies, and may include having well-trained staff, optimal business locations, and marketing and financial strengths. By identifying its core competencies a company can develop processes such as customer satisfaction, product development, and building professional relationships with stakeholders. This type of operations strategy revolves around the main strengths of a company's business model. By identifying the best core business processes within an organization, this type of operations strategy focuses on leveraging existing strengths to maximize profitability.
Product and Service Development - Strategies behind the development of products - goods and service - should consider design, innovation, and added value. When developing a product - good or service - a company should consider the wants and needs of its customers, how it stands against the competition, and how its technical measures relate to its customers' needs. Companies should consider packaging services with immediately observable and psychological benefits and support services. This type of operations strategy resolves around the quality control of existing products or services as well as the development of new products and services. Businesses using this model often determine their operations strategies based on research and ideas from product managers. This operations strategy is focused on developing compelling products or services that resonate with the firms customers. It goes beyond the developing and delivering new products by providing additional ancilliary services in support of products and services.
Market penetration strategy - This focuses on capturing larger segments of the target customer market. This refers to. developing an operations strategy for market penetration - capture a large share of the market. It has several potential focus areas: A business can decide to attract customers away from competitors; It can attract nonusers that have no experience with your business or with a competitor. Another strategy might employ one or more geographic locations, centered around a target demographic. Businesses can also try to add more value to existing clients, thereby enticing increased spending on product or service upgrades. An insurance company might define market penetration success by the number of new automobile policies gained.
Corporate Strategy - Overall company strategy, driving the company mission and interconnected departments/functions. This type of operations strategy adhere to a company's mission statement and aligns itself to a larger corporate strategy. Businesses using this type of operations strategy develop production initiatives, key performance indicators, and decision-making processes based on strategic plan determined by company's leadership and stakeholders.
Supply chain strategy - This strategy refers to the process of creating excellence through superior delivery capabilities.

Each organization strategy requires a tailored operations strategy. These are some common operations strategies an organization can use to enhance efficiency, boost capabilities and improve competitive advantage. Operations strategies help companies examine and implement effective and efficient systems to achieve corporate and business objectives.The role of operations strategy is to provide a plan for the operations function so that it can make the best use of its resources.

Key Elements/Components of Operations Strategy
Operations strategy comprises specific actions management wants to take to achieve a specific aspect of a company's operations. Some of the key elements that go into a company's operations strategy include:

Design of Production Systems - An organization's production system determines the short-term and long-term planning for how resources are turned/transformed into marketable products and services. Once the general specification of a production system have been agreed upon, including precise definitions of needed resources and output expectations, three (3) important decisions remain: (1) Choice and design of technology to be used; (2) Determining the capacity of the production system;(3) Decisions on the adaptability of production system volume to meet the inevitable fluctuations in market demand that the firm will experience. A comprehensive production system includes clear work flows, quality control benchmarks, and supply chain management strategies.

The capacity of the system is designed to be a function of the amount of available capital, the demand forecast for the output of the facility, and many other minor factors.
Decisions on the adaptability of production system volume to meet the inevitable fluctuations in market demand that the firm will experience. Capacity in most production systems is adjusted by hiring or firing workers, by scheduling overtime, or cutting back on work hours, by adding or shutting down machines or whole departments, or areas of the facility, or by changing the rate of production within reasonable limits.

Facilities for Production and Services - The size and number of production facilities influence operational capabilities. To function properly facilities require achievable production goals, clear safety procedures, and inventory management systems. Certain specialization in production allows the firm to provide customers with products of lower cost, faster deliver, on-time delivery, high product quality, and flexibility.
Product or Service Design and Development - Managing product or service quality is one of the important elements of operations strategy. This involves generating the idea, creating the feasibility reports, designing the prototype and testing, preparing a production model, evaluating the economies of scale for production, testing the product in the market, obtaining feedback, and creating the final design and starting the production.
Technology Selection and Process Development - Operations strategy increasingly depends on new technological developments such as: machine leaning, production line automation, real-time metrics, and market forecasting tools. The decisions on choice and design of technology to be used include the choice of equipment and tooling, the layout of plant space and facilities, the selection of workers and work procedures, and many aspects of process design. These choices must be handled carefully; mistakes at this stage can result in business loosing its competitiveness, or the ability to sustain a profitable position in the market.
Allocation of Resources - Operations strategy should take into account the total operations resources available to the organization including location, mechanical and human resources.
Facility, Capacity, and Layout Planning - The location, layout and capacity creation for the production are critical decision aeeas for operations management.

Operations strategies connect the firm's programs, policies, guidelines and workforce in a way that allows each function/branch/department to support the others in achieving a common goal.

Planning Decision Areas
Operations management decisions encompasses decisions in the management process functions areas such as planning (manpower planning, capacity planning, production planning), action implementation and execution - supervision of the production of goods and services. The types of planning decisions include:

Planning the Production Process - These decisions have long range implications. Before making these decisions about operations processes, managers must consider the goals set by business and marketing managers. For example, does the company intend to compete on low cost? Or does the company intend to compete on quality and differentiation? Market performance requirements such as cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, etc. With these factors in mind managers can make specific type of decisions in the production planning process area such as: production methods, site selection, facility layout, and components and materials management.
Capacity Planning - Now that you know where you’re going to locate, you have to decide on the quantity of products that you’ll produce. You begin by forecasting demand for your product. To estimate the number of units that you’re likely to sell over a given period, you have to understand the industry that you’re in and estimate your likely share of the market by reviewing industry data and conducting other forms of research. Once you’ve forecast the demand for your product, you can calculate the capacity requirements of your production facility—the maximum number of goods that it can produce over a given time under normal working conditions. In turn, having calculated your capacity requirements, you’re ready to determine how much investment in plant and equipment you’ll have to make, as well as the number of labor hours required for the plant to produce at capacity.
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These capabilities are called competitive priorities. By excelling in one of these capabilities, a company can become a winner in the marketplace.

Factors Influencing Operations Strategy
Operations strategy focuses on specific capabilities of the operations function that give the company a competitive edge/advantage. The factors that have to be taken into consideration when making operations strategy design decisions include:

Performance Objectives
Competitive priorities
Core Competencies
Structure and Infrastructure

Performance Objectives
Performance objectives are broad performance measures that provide a device for understanding market requirements. Performance objectives are the main device used to understand market requirements. These objective measures represent the various aspects of performance in which the market requirements can be expressed. A performance objective is a specific end result that contributes to the success of the unit or organization, and that an employee is expected to accomplish or produce. Performance objectives are a set of broad performance measures that have some meaning to the operations function. The performance objectives include:

Quality - The quality objective is considered to measure how well a product conforms to certain specifications. It is also how desirable the features of the product are; how reliable the product is; how durable it is; how easily it can be serviced; how well it performs its intended function; and how much the customer believes in its value.
Speed - The speed objective measures how fast a company can deliver its products and generate sales quotes. The objective will be concerned with such issues as: the time that it takes to produce one or more products of the company or the time that it takes to research a new product and develop it.
Dependability - This objective is a measure of company dependability and/or product dependability. Organization dependability objective is measure of how dependable the company is when it comes to timely delivery of products to customers, in accordance with planned prices and costs. Product dependability objective is a measure of the product's ability to function in an intended way consistently over a reasonable period of time. "Dependability" could also mean a proportion of services or goods delivered late, average lateness, proportion delivered early, etc.
Flexibility - The flexible operations objective is a measure of operations that can configure their product lines to deal with various requirements and to also adjust these product lines quickly to new requirements. The latter is also closely related to the speed objective.
Cost - The variation in costs objective looks at how much variation exists in the unit ost of a product as measured by changes in a variety of factors including: the volume and the variety of products.

Each of the performance objectives can be thought of as bundles of issues that will need separating out. Some of these objectives will be more important for some operations than others. One method for distinguishing between performance objectives involves classifying them as order winners and order qualifiers. Marketing requirements are translated into performance objectives which provides operations view of the marketing professionals view of the market.

Competitive Priorities
Competitive priorities, in operations management, are a crucial decision variable that focuses on building specific capabilities in operations/production that can improve the organization's positioning with an advantage vs its rivals in the market. Such focus may guide decisions with regards to the operations structure - facility, technology, production processes, etc. and operations infrastructure - planning and control systems, etc. Fitting operations/manufacturing practices to the competitive priorities is important to developing operations as a competitive advantage. Competitive priorities in operations are the ways in which operations management focuses on the characteristics of cost, quality, flexibility, delivery performance, and innovation.

Cost - A firm competing on a cost/price basis is able to provide consumers with an in-demand product/service at a price that is competitively lower than that offered by firms producing the same or similar product/service. In order to compete on a price/cost basis, the firm must be able to produce the product at a lesser cost, or be wiling to accept a smaller profit margin.
Quality - Firms competing on the basis of quality, offer products/services that are superior to that of competitors in one or more of quality dimensions such as: performance, conformance, features/options, durability, reliability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality. Firms competing on this basis offer products or services that are superior to the competition on one or more of the eight (8) quality dimensions. Quality can be categorized as product quality and process quality. The level of quality in the product design will vary as to the particular market that it is aimed to serve. The higher quality products command higher prices in the market place. The proper level of quality is established to focus n the requirements of the customer. Process quality is critical in every market segment and its goal is to produce defect-free products.
Flexibility - This refers to the ability of a company to offer a wide variety of [products to its customers. It is also a measure of how fast a company can convert its processes from making an old line of products to producing a new product line. Firms may compete on their ability to provide either flexibility of the product or volume. Firms that can easily accept engineering changes (changes to the product) offer a strategic advantage to their customers. This can also apply to services.
Delivery Speed - This relates to the speed and reliability of products to customers. It is an important determinant in the purchasing decision. The ability of a firm to produce consistent and fast delivery allows it to charge a premium price for the product. Products should be delivered to customers with minimum variance in delivery times.
Service - This competency can be defined in a number of ways. Superior service can be characterized by the term "customer service", or it could mean rapid and reliable delivery of goods, stock availability, on-time delivery, or convenient location.

A firm's customers will determine which of the competitive priorities are emphasized. We have to make trade-offs within competitive priorities. In a competitive market, no business can normally be on top in all aspects.

The purpose of the competitive priorities is to assist in the mission of positioning an organization with an advantage versus its rivals. The level of consistency between emphasized competitive priorities and how they match decisions concerning operations structure and infrastructure determines the strength of operations strategy. To develop a manageable strategy, the priorities must be split into decision categories. As a way to prioritize among the list of competitive priorities, the idea of Order Winners and Order Qualifiers may be utilized. Order qualifiers are the qualities requires to be able to compete in the marketplace. Order winners are the qualities of a product - goods/service - which make an organization receive a new order. The main objective of analyzing a company's order-qualifiers and order-winners is to establish a basis for the manufacturing strategy. Competitive priorities signify a strategic focus on building specific manufacturing/production capabilities that can improve a company's product/service position in the marketplace.

In operations management, competitive priorities are crucial a decision variable for operations managers. Competitive priorities operationalize the organization's competitive strategy. The two (2) generic strategies/advantages - cost and differentiation - are operationalized in terms of cost, quality, flexibility, and speed. Competitive priorities are the dimensions a firms production systems must possess to support the demands of the markets in which the firm wishes to compete. The firm's customers will determine which of the competitive priorities are emphasized. Operations managers must work closely with marketing in order to understand the competitive situation in the company's market, before they can determine which competitive priorities are important. We have to make trade-offs within competitive priorities in a competitive market. In fact, the strength of an operations strategy is dependent on the level of consistency between emphasized competitive priorities and matching decisions concerning operational structure and infrastructure. The purpose of the competitive priorities is to assist in the mission of positioning an organization with an advantage vs its rivals/competitors. Fitting a plant’s practices to the competitive priorities is important to developing operations as a competitive advantage.

As a way to prioritize among the list of competitive priorities, the idea of order winners and order qualifiers may be utilized. Order-winners for a product, for example, are the qualities which make an organization receive a new order. Order-qualifiers, in contrast, are required to be able to compete in a marketplace. Identifying order-winners and order-qualifiers is not a one time activity, but needs to be done regularly, because market demands change as time passes and along with that the order-winners and order-qualifiers. The main objective of analyzing a company’s order-winners and order-qualifiers is to establish a basis for the manufacturing strategy. Understanding how to create or add value to customers is key to developing effective production strategy. Specially, value is added through the competitive priority or priorities that are selected to support a given strategy. To develop a manageable strategy, the priorities must be split up into decision categories.

Competitive priorities are a crucial decision variable that focuses on building specific capabilities in operations/production that can improve the organization's positioning with an advantage vs its rivals in the market. Such focus may guide decisions with regards to operations structure - facility, technology, production processes, etc. and operations infrastructure - planning, control, etc. Competitive priorities in operations are the ways in which operations management focuses on the characteristics of cost, quality, flexibility, delivery performance, and innovation. A firm's customers will determine which of the competitive priorities are emphasized. We have to make trade-offs within competitive priorities. In a competitive market, no business can normally be on top in all aspects.

Structural and Infrastructure Decisions
One way of categorizing the various decisions that typically comprise an operations strategy is to consider those that are structural, in that they define the overall tangible shape and architecture (e.g., capacity, technology type) of the operation, and those that are infrastructural, in that they relate to the people, systems, and culture that tie together the operations activities.

Structural decisions:
Structural decisions define the overall tangible shape and architecture (e.g., capacity, technology type) of the operation. Structural elements decisions are grouped as capacity, location, integration/networking, and technology.

Facility Location Strategy - This related to decisions as to how near the company and its products should be to the consumers, suppliers, and talent while taking into consideration costs, infrastructure, logistics, and government.
Layout Strategy - This relates to integrating capacity needs, personnel levels, inventory requirements, and technology in order to ensure that material, people, and information efficiently flow through the company.
Capacity - It relates to decisions about the capacity of the company's facilities, production demands, and personnel that are necessary in order to maintain a reliable and stable production process.
Process Technology - This defines how the product - good or service - is produced (i.e., the production processes utilized and the specific technology, quality, human resource, and capital investments that the management will undertaken order to determine majority of the company's basic cost structure. These involve decisions concerning the type of process, technology, measuring and performance.
Supply Chain Management - This relates to decisions on how to integrate supply chain into the company's operations and strategy It includes decisions on what will be purchased when it will be purchased, whom it will be purchased from and the conditions for such purchases. Procurement is the process of getting the goods and materials your company needs.

Infrastructure Decisions:
These are divided into four categories; planning & control, inventory management, capacity management, and supply chain management. Examples include:

Product Design - This involves designing the products and services to be offered . For instance, product designs normally determine the lowest volume of costs and higher grade of quality as well as other features such as sustainability and human resources required.
Quality Management - This defines the expected quality from the consumers view point as well as established policies and procedures that the company intends to adopt towards attaining such quality levels. What quality system should we use? What impact does quality have on our organization? These decisions are concerned with: the aims, tools and programs for ensuring customer satisfaction.
Human Resources and Job Design - This relates to decisions on how to recruit, motivate and retain the staff with necessary skills and talents.
Forecasting and Capacity Planning - What does the short-term and long-term schedules look like? How much can we make in what period of time?
Inventory Management - This relates to decisions about inventory ordering and holding, and how to optimize the process in order to ensure consumers' satisfaction, enhanced supplier capabilities and effective production schedule.
Scheduling - This relates to the decisions on how to determine and implement both intermediate and short-term schedules that can be utilized effectively and efficiently by both the personnel and facilities in the course of meeting consumers' demands.

Strategic decisions in operations management are the decisions that are concerned with whole environment in which the firm operates, the entire resources and the people who form the company and the interface between the two.

Distinctive Competencies
Distinctive competencies are defined as the dimensions that a firm's production system must possess to support the demands of the markets in which the firm wishes to compete. This type of operations strategy is based on a company developing operations processes in order to distinguish their product or service from competitors. By identifying competitive priorities within a specific economy, businesses can tailor their operations strategy toward gaining competitive advantage whether that's in higher-quality product or service, or faster lead time during production. Trade-offs in operations are the ways we are willing to sacrifice one performance objective to achieve excellence in another.This involves competing on one (1) or two (2) distinctive competencies at the necessary expense of the others. Analyzing markets starts with executive opinion of market order-winners and order-qualifiers, and then testing them with data showing actual demands for different customers, orders and products.

Operations Goals and Objectives
Operational goals are the workflow methods that bring the strategy to fruition, and exist at all levels of the organization, from CEO down to part-time employees. Operational goals are the short-term tactics designed to achieve the company's long-term strategy. Operational goals lay out increments called benchmarks; they streamline the day-to-day activities of the business. They measure daily, weekly, and monthly benchmarks. For example, the monthly budget report shows if a company's financial goals are on track. Manufacturing examines production reports to ensure the number of units produced meets production goals with minimum waste.

Supply or Sourcing Decisions - Supply chain management is the process of transforming those goods into products and distributing them to customers as efficiently as possible. These decisions specify which activities are performed internally, and which activities are outsourced, and how to manage suppliers. Decisions involve defining the process boundaries and interfaces. It includes strategic sourcing decisions, vertical integration, and supply network configuration.
Demand Forecast Decisions - These decisions specify how to match demand to available supply. These decisions characterize the interfaces and relationships with customers and include demand planning and forecasting, as well as tactical capacity allocation and order management. Demand management is an important driver in inflexible supply processes that cannot quickly adapt to changes in demand such as the core processes in airlines, hotels, hospital wards, and car rental companies, It also relates to service and customer relationship management.
Improvements and Innovation Decisions - These are decisions on characterizing the processes and incentives to improve and innovate products and processes.

Market penetration Strategy - This refers to capturing a larger piece of the target market. An insurance company might define market penetration success by the number of new automobile policies gained. Developing an operations strategy for market penetration has several potential focus areas. A business can decide to attract customers away from competitors. It can attract nonusers that have no experience with your business or with a competitor. Another strategy might employ one or more geographic locations, centered around a target demographic. Businesses can also try to add more value to existing clients, thereby enticing increased spending on product or service upgrades.
[TBD]

Operational Action Planning and Plans
Operational action planning involves defining and outlining the actions individuals will take to support the plans and objectives of the executive management team. The operational planning process describes milestones, conditions for success and explains how, or what portion of a strategic plan will be put into operation during a given operational period, in the case of commercial application, a fiscal year or another given budgetary term. Operations teams plan continuous optimizations and improvements to processes and practices in order to meet objectives in areas such as: efficiency, productivity, turnaround time, waste reduction, cost reduction, quality, customer satisfaction, and sustainability.

Operational Plans
An operational plan is a blueprint that details how the organization will achieve long-term strategic goals. It specifies how finances, employees, and other resources will be utilized on a day-to-day basis, while also mapping interim target objectives. The operational plan is the basis for and justification of an annual operating budget request. Anoperational plan is a plan to establish, expand, or improve the day-to-day processes and practices of a business. Some examples of operational plan include:

To cut costs 10% - Single-Use or Ongoing.Continuing Plan[Strategy: Reduce Cost]
Acquire faster or more efficient machinery and equipment - Single-use plan
Reduce inventory levels - Single-use plan
Reduce production waste - Single-use plan [Strategy
Improve material handling procedures - Single-use plan.
[]

Operational plans should establish the activities and budgets for each part of the organization for the next 1–3 years. They link the strategic plan with the activities the organization will deliver and the resources required to deliver them. An operational plan addresses four questions:[citation needed]

Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get there?
How do we measure our progress?

The operations plan is both the first and the last step in preparing an operating budget request.
Operational plans should contain:[citation needed]

clear objectives of the initiatives that supports the strategic goals and objectives.
activities to be delivered
quality standards
desired outcomes
staffing and resource requirements
implementation timetables
a process for monitoring progress

Scope of Operations Planning
Operations planning is the process of establishing, expanding, or improving the core day-to-day processes and practices of the business.

This requires planning and the development of operations plans.

The scope of operations planning may encompass:

Business Plans - The operations plan section of a business plan includes details on how you will make proposed products - goods and services - a reality. This tends to be broad and may include elements of human resources, information technology (IT), manufacturing, supply chain, distribution and customer service.
Go-To-Market Strategy - This is a marketing plan usually formulated in coordination with operations to launch a new product - good or service. For example, a hotel that launches a new pool side cafe requires an operations plan to detail how supplies will be procured, food prepared, and customer service provided.
Risk Management - Risk management related planning such as carried out by a transportation company that has a goal to reduce accidents and incidents with improvement in its operations processes and infrastructure (systems and people).
Budget - Budgeting planning for operations management may include Capex (capital investments) related budgets, or Opex budgets for the day-to-day costs of running the business.
Maintenance Planning - This is a schedule plan for maintaining capital assets used in creating value for customers.
Sales and Operations Planning - This is the planning process of aligning sales forecasts with production.
Production Planning - Production planning is the process of planning the output of an organization. The focus is on utilizing capital assets and labor efficiently in producing goods and services that can be sold at a profitable level.
Projects - Project planning for operations related projects.
Improvements - This is planned in terms of targets for management accounting metrics in areas such as costs, quality, business volumes, and turn around times.
Capability Planning - Capability planning in operations is the process of identifying what your business does and establishing a road map for improving and expanding these capabilities. Operational capabilities are firm-specific sets of skills, processes, and routines, developed within the operations management system, that are regularly used in solving its problems through configuring its operational resources.
Quality Management - Planning for quality management involves establishing targets for quality metrics, and developing actionable plans to achieve those metrics. For example, a hotel may have a target to improve customer satisfaction with improvements to housekeeping services through quality control inspection to ensure rooms are spotlessly cleaned.
Asset Management - Planning for asset management includes maintenance, evaluation of assets, and plans to retire aging assets.
Procurement - This involves planning for the identification, selection, and management of suppliers and contractors.
Supply Chain - Supply chain planning involves planning for the warehousing and transportation of material and parts for production, as well as the finished products..
Distribution - Distribution planning is a process of planning on how to reach the customer to deliver your products - goods and services.

Operational decisions are made to execute the short-term processes with the aim of achieving the long- and medium-term goals that the strategic and tactical level decisions have adopted.

[TBD]

Market-Based Approach to Operations Strategy Development
In this approach, an organization makes a decision regarding its positioning in the markets and the customers within those markets it intends to target. The organizations market position is one in which its performance enables it to attract customers to its products and services in a more successful manner than its competitors. Market requirements are translated into performance objectives.

Resource-Based View of Operations Strategy
Resource-based operations strategy looks at how a firm develops and leverages its unique operations resources to achieve manufacturing objectives with the support of operations capabilities deeply anchored within business processes and organisational routines

The resource-based view (RBV) is a managerial framework used to determine the strategic resources a firm can exploit to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Barney's 1991 article "Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage"

The Resource based view (RBV) analyzes and interpret internal resources of the organizations and emphasizes resources and capabilities in formulating strategy to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. Resources may be considered as inputs that enable firms to carry out its activities.

Choice and design of technology to be used - These decisions include the choice of equipment and tooling, the layout of plant space and facilities, the selection of workers and work procedures, and many aspects of process design. These choices must be handled carefully; mistakes at this stage can result in business loosing its competitiveness, or the ability to sustain a profitable position in the market.
Determining the capacity of the production system is the next decision after choice of technology. The capacity of the system is designed to be a function of the amount of available capital, the demand forecast for the output of the facility, and many other minor factors. Establishing to much capacity, too soon, can burden a company with excess costs and inefficient operations.Too little capacity can make it difficult and expensive to increase output later.
Decisions on the adaptability of production system volume to meet the inevitable fluctuations in market demand that the firm will experience. Capacity in most production systems is adjusted by hiring or firing workers, by scheduling overtime, or cutting back on work hours, by adding or shutting down machines or whole departments, or areas of the facility, or by changing the rate of production within reasonable limits.

[TBD]

Sales Management and Strategy
The Sales function/department advises the marketing department based on its feedback with customers and focuses on customer contact to drive sales. Sales operations is about supporting and enabling front line sales teams to sell more efficiently and effectively by providing strategic direction and reducing friction in the sales process. To do this, sales operations fulfills both strategic and tactical functions. Sales operations teams accomplish their goals through a variety of roles and function including: strategy, data analysis, hiring and training, forecasting, territory design, and sales process optimization.

Sales Management Function
Sales management is instrumental in charting the course of future operations. The activity provides top management with informed estimates and facts for making marketing decisions and for setting sales and profit goals. Sales management and the financial results of a company are related.

There are three general objectives of sales management viz-

Sales volume - Increase units sold by 10% or more.
Contribution to profits - Increase profit margins by 10% or more.
Continuing growth.
Revenue Generation - One of the main objectives of sales management is to generate revenue for the organization. The sales department is solely responsible to bring in the money.
Increase Sales Volume - Through efficient sales management, the organization wishes to increase the number of units sold. This will ensure that the production facilities do not remain idle and are utilized to the fullest.
Sustained Profits - Sales management has an objective of improving the profits of the organization through effective planning, coordination and control. Sales management strives to increase sales and reducing costs, this ensures good profits for the organization.
Organization Growth - With the sustained and continuous sales management techniques, the organization tends to gain market share and results in growth of the organization.
Market Leadership - With increased sales volumes and profits, ‘sales management’ enables an organization to become the market leader.
Converting Prospects to Customers - Getting prospects to become customers is an art and a science, it requires good planning and sustained efforts. This is accomplished through sales management.
Motivate the Sales Force - One of the core objectives of sales management is to motivate the sales force. Selling is a very stressful task, achieving sales targets can become very challenging. Therefore, the sales management task is to ensure that the sales force is continuously motivated through proper incentives and reward systems.
Compliment Marketing Activities - Sales management’s task is to support the marketing functions of the organization. Marketing and sales need to go hand in hand to achieve the desired results.

Objectives often get translated into more specific goals by breaking down and restating as definite goals. Planning precedes goal setting. In planning, sales executives provide estimates on market and sales potentials the capabilities of the sales force and middlemen.

Sales Capabilities
Sales capabilities is a collection of behaviors and skills across the selling process that needs to be honed and mastered. Each of these capabilities falls into one of four categories: create, win, negotiate, and grow. These four segments represent the areas in which sales professionals need to be proficient throughout the sales cycle.

Sales Strategy
Sales strategy is a plan to achieve a sales goal and is what directs the selling activities of any business. Selling is crucial to the success of any business, but it must be orchestrated to deliver success, which is what the sales strategy does. The sales strategy describes how a business will win, retain, and develop customers. Sales strategy is different from marketing strategy - an overall approach to marketing products (it is how you build sustainable competitive advantage for the company's products) through positioning, and differentiation by managing the marketing mix of the 7Ps - .Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Packaging, Positioning, and People.

A sales strategy is particularly important in addressing business challenges such as:

Stagnant sales revenues - Flat/declining sales
Merger of Sales Forces - A need to align sales teams and have them pursue common objective.
Start-up of new Venture - A need to get sales started and realizing the ambition of the founders and investors.
New Product Introduction - A need to deliver the expectations set by management.
Launch by a new competitor - A need to counter the threat from new competitors.
Expansion to new markets - When a company is diversifying and expanding.

When creating a sales strategy be clear as to which challenge(s) you are addressing.

Key Building Blocks of a Sales Strategy
A winning sales strategy has a number of elements/building blocks including:

Goal and Objectives - An effective sales strategy requires you know the goal of your business, i.e., what your overall aim for the business is.
Target Market - You need to decide who will buy your products and services. The Target Market is defined in the Marketing Plan; each plan sets out to determine the effect of the plan on a target market.
Product and Services - Building the best products and services that meet the needs of their target markets.
"What are the competitive advantages?" - This requires identifying the "strengths" and "weaknesses" of competitors that you will need to sell against and exploit.
Route to market - How do you reach and sell to your customers?
Selling Process - [TBD]

Sales Objectives
[TBD]

Increasing your monthly and annual revenue
Reducing customer churn - Keeping your customers is synonymous with keeping the company afloat. Customer churn is the number of customers that leave your business within some specified period e.g., 3 months. This is an account management function that is taken on by the sales team.
Increase units sold/profit margins by 10% or more.
Boost customer lifetime value - This involves the cash value a customer contributes to the company over a specified period, e.g., one year.
Increase number of leads qualified - []
Increase win rates
Lower customer acquisition costs
Reduce cycle times
Track sales time per week
Set activity goals - Increase number of cold calls/scheduled video.

Production Management and Strategy
Production is an act of producing a finished product - goods or services from input resources. Production is a system of processes responsible for making, harvesting or creating something, or the amount of something that was made or harvested for consumers. Production management involves establishing performance objectives and goals, that trying to achieve them through planning, organizing and directing execution of production plans. Production of goods - manufacturing - only converts tangible items, such as raw materials into finished goods. Service production is the process of delivering a service to customers.

Goods Production - Manufacturing
Production of goods - manufacturing, is the process of either manufacturing or mining, or growing of goods (commodities) generally in bulk for trade. Manufacturing is a system of processes responsible for transforming (converting) tangible inputs like raw materials, semi-finished goods, and un-assembled goods/parts into finished products - goods or commodities.

Manufacturing operations means a process in which materials are changed, converted, or transformed into a different state or form from which they previously existed. This includes refining materials, assembling parts, and preparing raw materials and parts by mixing, measuring, blending, or otherwise committing such materials or parts to the manufacturing process.

Manufacturing systems can be classified as:

Job Production - where items are made individually and each item is finished before the next one is started. Designer dresses are made using the job production method. This system type may include: construction, product development, software development, performing arts, healthcare delivery, etc.
Batch Production - where groups of items are made together. Each batch is finished before starting the next block of goods. For example, a baker first produces a batch of 50 white loaves. Only after they are completed will they start baking 50 loaves of brown bread.
Flow Production - where identical, standardized items are produced on an assembly line. Most cars are mass-produced in large factories using conveyor belts and expensive machinery such as robot arms. Workers have specialized jobs, for instance, fitting wheels.

An example of manufacturing/production is the creation of furniture, or harvesting corn to eat, or the amount of corn produced.

Manufacturing Strategy
[TBD]

Manufacturing processes create and deliver products and/or parts that are delivered to customers. Goods production (Manufacturing) work centers are augmented with WIP inventory stores that act as buffers to bottleneck resources and work centers that constrain the flow of products through the system.

Manufacturing systems transform inputs such as material (including parts and products) into finished goods/products delivered to customers.

Service-Production Management & Strategy
Services are economic activities that produce time, place, form, or physiological/psychological utility. For example, A meal in a fast food restaurant saves time. A meal with a date in an elegant restaurant with superior service provides a psychological boost. Wal-Mart attracts millions of customers because they can find department store merchandise, groceries, gasoline, auto service, dry cleaning, movie rental, hair styling, eyeglasses and optical services, and nursery items all in one place.

Service Production
A Service production system is comprised a set of interactions between service providers and consumers within a service production unit. of processes - structured, recurrent activities - that transform inputs into outputs (products). The service production activities involves transformation of inputs into finished goods and/or services using processes that are actually present in the organization. The service production system is the equipment, layout, and procedures used to provide the service and maintain quality and delivery standards. Service production units - work centers - are augmented with Waiting areas/rooms that act as buffers to bottleneck resources and work centers that constrain the flow of patients (customers) through the system.

Service production management is the management of processes involved in service activities, including planning, organizing, staffing and controlling tasks. Service production management is influenced by a number of common characteristics that most services share. These include: degree of contact with the customer, customer participation, and simultaneous production and consumption.

Although many of the principles of good management in a manufacturing goods production environment also apply in organizations that provide service, such as service businesses like banking, professional firms of accountants, etc. Services have a number of distinctive features which have implications on how they are managed, these include:

Standardization - Services are less easily standardized than goods and so service quality tends to be more variable. This makes human resource management and motivation more critical.
Tangibility - Services are often intangible and multi-dimensional; this can make attracting customers more difficult as it often depends on promoting an intangible item.
Simultaneity - Services are produced and consumed simultaneously; this means the service provider and customer will interact during the service delivery process. The amount of interaction is termed the degree of customer contact.
Storage - Unlike manufactured goods, services cannot be stored, but must be consumed as they are produced or they are wasted. This creates additional problems matching productive capacity with customer demand. This is reflected in for example, in the marginal cost to fill empty seats - a plane flying empty to New York is a service provided but wasted.
Service Costs - Ascertaining the cost of individual services is often also problematic, as the cost structure of many services business is such that costs are often shared among different services. This makes pricing and analysis of profitability of different services more difficult.

A service design is the activity of planning and organizing a business's resources (people, infrastructure, processes, communication and material) in order to (1) improve the employee's (or service provider's) experience, and (2) indirectly, the customer's experience. The goal of service design is to improve service quality, and the interaction between the service provider and its consumers.

[TBD]

Competitive Priorities Implications in Manufacturing

We have to make trade-offs within competitive priorities. In a competitive market, no business can normally be on top in all aspects. The purpose of the priorities is to assist in the mission of positioning an organization with an advantage vs its rivals.

Cost - Monitoring costs and distribute it effectively on the different products.
Quality - Making sure the product and its processes perform and comply to specification.
Flexibility - Capability to manage volume and product mix changes, equipment and workforce-related.
Delivery performance - Reliable and quick delivery of goods, stock availability.
Innovativeness - Time-to-market, how quickly new products and processes can be implemented.

[TBD]

Service Offering
A service is generally consumed at the time it is produced, and provides added value in forms (such as convenience, amusement, timeliness, comfort or health) that are essentially, intangible concerns of its purchaser. A service is intangible, yet provides satisfaction to the customer. It is performed by people, or machines; and may or may not be tied to tangible goods. A service involves the application of specialized competencies (knowledge skills) through deeds, processes, and performances for the benefit of another entity itself. Services have a high degree of customer contact throughout the service production process, with the customer frequently participating in the process itself. Customer participation within the process means that there is simultaneous production and consumption; thus, the service cannot be stored for later use, possibly as a buffer to absorb fluctuations in demand.

Service Package
A service is designed based on the concept of a Service Package. A Service package is defined as a bundle of goods and services with information that is provided in some environment. The bundle consists of five elements:

Supporting Facility - The physical resources that must be in place before a service can be offered. Examples are golf course, barbershop, restaurant, etc.
Facilitating Goods - The material purchased or consumed by the buyer, or the items provided by the customer. Examples are golf clubs, skis, food items, replacement auto parts, legal documents and medical supplies.
Information - Data that is available from the customer or provider to enable efficient and customized service. Examples include electronic patient medical records, airline web site showing seats available on a flight, customer preferences from previous visits, etc.
Explicit Services - The benefits that are readily observable by the senses and that consist of the essential or intrinsic features of the service. Examples are the absence of pain after a tooth is repaired, a smooth running car after a tune up, ell shaped hair style and clean appearance after a visit to your barber, response time of a fire department, etc.
Implicit Services - Psychological benefits that the customer may sense only vaguely or extrinsic features of the service. Examples are the status of a degree from an Ivy League school, worry free auto repair, etc.

All these features are experienced by the customer, and forms the basis of the his/her perception of the service. The total experience - the image defined by the service package features - offered to the customer should be consistent with the desired service package.

A service package is a bundle of explicit and implicit benefits performed with a supporting facility and using facilitated goods. When you eat at a fast food restaurant (supporting facility), you may purchase a hamburger (facilitating good) that someone else cooked for you (service).

Take for example, a budget hotel; the supporting facility is a concrete block building with austere finishing; facilitation goods are reduced to the minimum soap, towels, and tissue paper; information is the room availability used to book reservation; the explicit service is a comfortable bed in a clean room; and the implicit service might include a friendly desk clerk and the security of a well-lighted parking area.

[TBD]

The capacity of these systems is defined in terms of the output of products/parts per some specified interval. Production work centers are augmented with work-in-process (WIP) inventory stores that act as buffers to bottleneck resources and work centers that constrain the flow of products through the system.

Production Strategy
Production strategy is a broad long-term action plan made for achieving the main objectives of an organization. Production strategies tell us what the production function/department must do to achieve the top aim of the organization. Production strategy deals with decisions/choices about how and where the products or services will be manufactured or delivered, technology to be used, management of resources, plus purchasing and relationships with suppliers.

Manufacturing Operations Strategies
Manufacturing operations is concerned with the design of manufacturing system that provides significant benefits in your ability to satisfy customer demand, in your ability to bring new products to market, and your ability to apply improvements and new technologies to your manufacturing processes.

The focus in manufacturing operations on meeting competitive challenges are in the following areas:

Total Productive Maintenance - TPM targets zero downtime, zero defects and zero accidents through improved equipment reliability and employee involvement.
Lean Manufacturing - Lean addresses quality, cost and delivery issues by redesigning manufacturing systems to reduce lead times and increase flexibility.
Six Sigma - Six Sigma addresses quality issues through projects to reduce variation and improve process capability.
Manufacturing Leadership Development - focuses on the important role of the team leader or supervisor in managing and motivating the production teams to achieve their objectives.

With the help of operations strategy, an organization can translate its competitive priorities and product plans into processes related to decision-making. Decisions related to operations help in determining different processes for producing variety and volume of products.

A manufacturer can achieve competitive advantage, which is an advantage over other companies that operate in the same industry, by achieving operational performance objectives for its production and storage processes. Such objectives can be categorized as:

Functional Performance Objectives - functional performance can be gauged according to the total dollars spent for such items as warehousing of materials, transportation and order processing as well as the number of complete orders delivered to the customer and the average number of days between order receipt and product delivery.

Customer Accommodation Performance Objectives - customer accommodation performance criteria include the number of perfect orders and the level of customer satisfaction achieved by logistics processes.

Logistics Performance Objectives - [].

However, each performance goal in these categories, as well as the logistics performance objectives category, is defined for an individual business process. As Jan Olhage writes in “Advances in Production Systems,” a manufacturer can define specific objectives for the procurement, production and distribution logistics processes in particular.

Service Operations Strategies
At the service strategy level, the service firm must define its service concept, operating system and service delivery system. The service strategy links the firm's strategic position with tactical execution. The firm begins by determining its competitive priorities, and its order winners and order qualifiers. Competitive priorities are the characteristics of the firm or things that it does better than other service firms (e.g., low cost, quality, service, or flexibility). The firm's competitive priority(s) must be both an order qualifier and an order winner. The order qualifier is a characteristic that the service must possess in order to compete in the market. If the firm lacks this then the consumer will not even consider purchasing the firm's service. The order winner is the characteristic that will cause the consumer to purchase the firm's service over its competitors. The service concept then is the set of competitive priorities that the target market values.

The service delivery system defines the components of the system necessary to execute the service concept. Examples of the needed variables are capacity requirements, quality management systems, and management policies. Each of these should support the firm's competitive priorities so that the firm is clearly distinct from its competitors.

The operations management structure describes how the firm's different functions (marketing, finance, and operations) will support the service concept. For example, if the firm's order winning competitive priority is quality, what will operations do to ensure quality of the service and how will marketing promote this characteristic?

The service delivery system defines the components of the system necessary to execute the service concept. Examples of the needed variables are capacity requirements, quality management systems, and management policies. Each of these should support the firm's competitive priorities so that the firm is clearly distinct from its competitors.