Business Operations Models: Becoming a Disruptive Competitor

Alan Braithwaite · Martin Christopher

May 2015 · Kogan Page Publishers

About this ebook

Most successful companies have operations management at their heart. It enables strategy and should be part of boardroom discussions. However, Cranfield research has shown that business strategy barely recognises the world of operations management.

Recognising that operations management needs to be more strategic, Business Operations Models is a revolutionary new title that looks at the interrelationship of operations management and strategy.

In Business Operations Models, Martin Christopher and Alan Braithwaite identify the characteristics of market-leading businesses that have transformed their markets and delivered super performance for their stakeholders. It points to the theory gap between strategic thinking and operations and how many high-performing businesses arrive at their new operating models as much by chance as judgement. Unpacking those observations leads to some clearly defined features of winning competitors, including eliminating waste, leveraging technology, and utilising transformative business models. Business Operations Models offers a framework for achieving super performance and understanding when and how a company may be able to leverage its capabilities to outperform.

The book provides detailed international case studies that illustrate how the principles work in practice, including Apple, Dell, Amazon, John Lewis, Southwest airlines, Aldi, Toyota and many others.

About the author

Alan Braithwaite is Visiting Professor at Cranfield University and specializes in supply chain strategy and operational excellence in the retail, manufacturing and service sectors. He is the founder of LCP Consulting, which collaborates with over 400 companies internationally.

Martin Christopher has been at the forefront of the development of new thinking in logistics and supply chain management for over 30 years. He is Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Logistics at Cranfield University, where he helped build the Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management into a leading centre of excellence. His published work is widely cited by other scholars and he has been invited to participate in academic and industry events around the world.