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Managing the fit between the views of competitive strategy and the strategic role of service operations

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  • Lillis, Bob
  • Sweeney, Mike

Abstract

Previous research has verified the positive impact that internal strategic fit can have on business performance. However, many service organizations experience the difficulty of managing the fit between competitive and operations’ strategies. Inherent within the problem has been insufficient understanding of the substantive relationships between the dimensions of competitive and operations’ strategies. The purpose of this service-based business research was to investigate the characteristics of the competitive and operations’ strategies of a business in order to assess the degree of fit. Strategic profiling was used as the method to investigate the characteristics of the different relationships between competitive and operations’ strategies in 21 service businesses. The research results in the identification of a diverse range of organizational relationships developed by the adoption of different approaches to competitive strategy formulation and their consequences upon the strategic role of operations. The findings should be of particular interest to both strategic and operations managers as they detail a means of assessing the perceived level of strategic fit between the current competitive and operations’ strategies of a business. Such an assessment can facilitate the planning of interventions for its future improvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Lillis, Bob & Sweeney, Mike, 2013. "Managing the fit between the views of competitive strategy and the strategic role of service operations," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 564-590.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:31:y:2013:i:6:p:564-590
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2012.10.001
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    1. Donnemore Majukwa & Abubaker Haddud, 2016. "Operations management impact on achieving strategic fit: A case from the retail sector in Zimbabwe," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1189478-118, December.
    2. Nguyen Phong Nguyen & Samuel Adomako, 2021. "Environmental proactivity, competitive strategy, and market performance: The mediating role of environmental reputation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 2008-2020, May.
    3. Adomako, Samuel & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Frimpong, Kwabena, 2022. "Human capital, reverse engineering and new venture growth: The moderating role of competitive strategy," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).

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