Evaluates the benefits and problems of applying the experience curve in two very different service organisations. The first case shows how an experience curve has been calculated at a macro (organisation) level for British Airways over a 20 year period, including the time at which it was...

An attempt is made to define productivity in the context of service operations. In so doing some of the difficulties in relating this term to service are explored. The main part of the article takes a strategic approach and identifies three key strategic determinants of service productivity;...

Purpose – The aim of this review and of the papers in this special issue is to critically examine different approaches to teaching operations management (OM) in order to provoke and stimulate educators within the discipline. Design/methodology/approach – The papers within this special issue...

The word “flexible”, when viewed in an industrial context, although accepted by users and suppliers equally, does not bear uniformity of meaning, as different types of flexibility require different manufacturing responses. Change can be capacity‐related, induced by customers or...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate whether an employee reports an accurate view of the relative performance level of the organisation for which they work. Design/methodology/approach – Utilizes a survey of 2,517 senior managers, managers and team leaders from 120 different...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying reasons why providing process improvement training, by itself, may not be sufficient to achieve the desired outcome of improved processes; and to attempt a conceptual framework of management training for more effective...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate whether an employee reports an accurate view of the relative performance level of the organisation for which they work. Design/methodology/approach – Utilizes a survey of 2,517 senior managers, managers and team leaders from 120 different...

Purpose - The paper seeks to analyze the evolution of competitive advantage using both "classic" and "extended' resource based theory (RBT) The aim is to examine the different ways in which classic" and extended resource based advantage develops and how they might combine to create long term...

Service organisations do not always manage those items which affect customer satisfaction to the same level as manufacturing organisations, which indicates a possible mismatch between what customers think they are buying and what service organisations seem to be providing. Efficiency is...