Elephants and Cheetahs: Systems, Strategy and Bottlenecks
‘Elephants and Cheetahs: Systems, Strategy and Bottlenecks’ is an unconventional treatment of Operations Strategy. It presents the dimensions of competition in the operations domain through the lens of the natural world and systems thinking. The fundamental premise of the course is that systems are not just a collection of interconnected parts – the whole is greater than the sum of parts. A well-designed system is thus like a living entity with its own structural characteristics, peculiarities, capabilities, constraints and vulnerabilities.
The course builds on the core OM courses taught in first year and would be beneficial for participants who are planning a career in management consulting or general management roles. The relationships between the firm-level strategy and operations strategy are explored and the interlinkages between marketing, HR and operations strategy are highlighted, leading up to a balanced scorecard approach to tracking organizational performance.
Course Outline
Module 1: Understanding Systems
Session 1: Topic: What is a system?
Reading: 1. Introduction (Autopoiesis and Cognition)
2. Chapter 1 (Autopoiesis and Cognition)
3. System Typologies in the light of Autopoiesis
Session 2: Topic: System Structure, Behaviour and Typologies
Reading: 1. Chapter 4: Structure and Behavior of Complex Systems (Business
Dynamics)
2. The Second Cybernetics
Session 3: Topic: System Constraints and Bottlenecks
Reading: 1. Variety, Constraint, And The Law Of Requisite Variety
2. On Being the Right Size
Module 2: Operations Strategy
Session 4: Topic: Operations Strategy
Case: The Morrison Company
Reading: The Strategic Power of Saying No
Session 5: Topic: Operations Strategy – Cost Leadership
Case: McDonalds Corporation (Abridged)
Reading: 1. The Rise and Fall of Mass Production (The Machine that Changed
the World)
2. The McDonaldization of Society
Session 6: Topic: Operations Strategy – Cost Leadership vs. Cost Cutting
Case: Kanpur Confectioneries Private Limited (B)
Session 7: Topic: Operations Strategy – Time Responsiveness
Case: Crocs (A): Revolutionizing an Industry’s Supply Chain Model for
Competitive Advantage
Session 8: Topic: Operations Strategy – Superior Quality
Video: 1. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
2. Begin Japanology – Conveyor Belt Sushi
Reading: Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality
Session 9: Topic: Operations Strategy - Flexibility
Case: Stermon Mills Incorporated
Reading: Agile Product Development – Managing Development Flexibility in
Uncertain Environments
Session 10: Topic: Operations Strategy – Risk Minimisation
Case: Boeing 767 – From Concept to Production
Reading: Prepare Your Organization to Fight Fires
Session 11: Topic: Operations Strategy – Convenience
Case: Commerce Bank
Reading: Understanding Service Convenience
Session 12: Topic: Operations Strategy – Superior Design
Case: Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple
Readings: Enlightened Experimentation – The new imperative for Innovation
Session 13: Topic: Operations Strategy – Imitation
Case: Rocket Internet: Rise of the German Silicon Valley?
Readings: 1. Reverse Engineering, Learning, and Innovation
2. Imitation is more valuable than Innovation
Session 14: Topic: Operations Strategy - Collaboration
Case: Wikipedia: Project Esperanza
Readings: 1. The Collective Intelligence Genome
2. Swarm Intelligence: A Whole New Way to Think About Business
3. New Principles of a Swarm Business
Module 3: System Evolution
Session 15: Topic: Evolution and Clockspeed
Case: Shimano and The High-End Road Bike Industry
Readings: Chapter 4: The Secret of Life (Clockspeed)
Session 16: Topic: Resilience and Growth
Case: Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis
Readings: 1. What I learned from Taiichi Ohno (The Birth of Lean)
2. The Rise of Lean Production (The Machine that Changed the World)
Session 17: Topic: Resilience and Innovation
Case: Managing Innovation at Nypro Inc (A)
Module 4: System Performance
Session 18: Topic: Focused Factory
Case: Managing Orthopaedics at Rittenhouse Medical Center
Readings: 1. Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System
2. All Kinds of Dilemmas, but Just a Few Types
Session 19: Topic: Evaluating System Performance – Non-profits
Case: 1. Greenpeace
2. World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF)
Readings: All Kinds of Dilemmas, but Just a Few Types
Session 20: Topic: Comprehensive Case
Case: 1. Benetton (A)
2. Zara – Fast Fashion
