Operations and Competitiveness - How does a firm remain competitve?

Background:

Performance of a publicly held firm is usually measured in stockholder value. Operations managers are key to a firm's performance in a competitive, dynamic global economy. Sometimes people are referred to as "business saavy" or having good "business sense" and many attribute their success to this. However, to be successful organizations continually must strive to develop a competitive advantage and enhance productivity in the marketplace and in turn drive up stockholder value.

Questions for Thought:

1. Thorton Melon brings up a number of good points during the discussion with his professor. Do you think Thorton Melon had good "business sense" or was he just "crooked"?

2. Can you think of examples in real life where businesses went out of business because the lost how to be competitive?

3. Many times you here someone has "book smarts" versus "street smarts", for operations managers to be successful a combination of both usually are required.