Running Head ROBOTS AT WORKPLACE 1ROBOTS AT WORKPLACE9.docx

Running Head: ROBOTS AT WORKPLACE 1
ROBOTS AT WORKPLACE 9
Replacement of Human Beings by Robots at Workplace
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Introduction
(where is the strategy? and the explanation of the strategy? Here
is only introduction. I want Having a thinking strategy and
explaining the strategy in the introduction)
The current world is very dynamic and human beings are
responding to the changes in the world on daily basis. The
ability of human beings to adapt to changes occurring in the
world has enabled better living and less prone to extreme
effects brought about by natural and human activities. With
increased population for instance, there is rising need for more
production of commodities and services to cater for the needs of
the high population. Taking into consideration limited resources
at their disposal, human beings have devised mechanisms and

techniques aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness
of production, while minimizing costs to the lowest level
possible. The rise in technological inventions and innovations
has been in the forefront of achieving most of the current human
being’s objective for a better and healthy living (Rossi, 2015).
Machines and robots have been a point of concern for
many researchers. The issue of contention is whether robots will
one day replace human beings in the work places. This research
looks into inner depth of the extent to which robots may replace
human beings in industries and other organizations. To get a
better understanding of this issue, this research seeks to identify
whether robots will partly or entirely replace human workforce.
In this regards, the paper will discuss the areas of performance
where robots can work and others where human labor is most
ideal. However, owing to the large and extensive fields where
robots can entirely replace or complement human labor, this
research focuses on manufacturing industry.
Productivity and Efficiency for Robots and Human Beings
The manufacturing industry is one of the most outstanding
and important industries in the world as it is known for
production of commodities which greatly support better living
of human beings around the globe. Due to the increase in
demand for manufactured products, industries have gone to
machine automation where production is more efficient and cost
effective. This is because machines are capable of undertaking
complex tasks and endeavors faster and more accurately than
human beings. In this regard, robots are being popularized and
prioritized over human beings in the manufacturing sector for
their high production with less chances of danger threats since
they are machines and not susceptible to death or injury. Use of
robots therefore has helped industries save money and time and
thus becoming ideal and common providers of labor
requirements to many industries particularly the manufacturing
sector (Rossi, 2015).
As pointed out earlier, robots save time through production
of bulk of products within a short timeframe. In addition, they

greatly reduce the waste products due to their unquestionable
efficacy in their operations. Therefore, they benefit
manufacturing industries through their high return on
investment. This is because they use fewer raw materials due to
reduced material losses and are not prone to injuries and thus do
not require compensation in case of damages as the case with
human beings. For this reason, the adoption and adaptation of
robots in the manufacturing industry serves a great deal for the
industries due to reduced cost of production.
Apart from this direct involvement of robots in the
production sector, there is a mutual relationship between the
robots and human beings in production. Robots have created
new responsibilities and jobs for human beings in
manufacturing industries. For instance, individuals who were
initially directly involved in production have shifted to
programming of the robot. This is an absolutely new task of
workers. Working in a manufacturing industry can be boring to
some workers. This is because they are involved in monotonous
tasks and duties day in day out. Shifting to use of robots gives
the worker an exciting and challenging opportunity as they issue
different commands depending on the task.
Cost Involve for Robots and Human Beings
The increased use of robots and decreased need of human
labor among many manufacturing industries has experienced
tremendous cost implications. Robots are believed to be cost
effective when it comes to industrial production. Human beings
on the other hand have much cost burden to these industries as
they require several compensation benefits such as monthly or
periodic salaries and wages, insurance covers against injuries
and health, various allowances, and other benefits such as
education to their children. All these compensation attributes
are to be met by the manufacturing company not forgetting the
fact that the employees are many thus increasing the production
cost to the industry (Rubenstein, Ahler. & Nagpal, 2012).
Acquisition of computerized machines and robots has a
very high initial cost. This cost involves initial purchase as well

as installation of the relevant devises for full operation of these
machines. They are usually very expensive especially for small
and medium enterprises such that these enterprises cannot
afford the adoption of robot. This has been a serious challenge
to these SMEs such that they have been outcompeted from the
market by the large industries with a large capital base. These
small and medium enterprises have therefore remained to use
the ‘expensive’ human labor thus enduring high cost of
production and consequently low profit margin which does to
allow them to experience any significant growth. On the other
hand, the cost of acquiring human workforce is very low such
that it is always the ideal option for many manufacturing
industries especially for the small firms. However, the long-run
result of human labor is expensive for many organizations when
compared to full operation of machines. The cost effectiveness
of robots relative to human beings has been the baseline why
many manufacturing industries have adopted robot use in their
production endeavors.
Nature of Work for Robots and Human Beings
The task undertaken by either a robot or a human being in the
workplace largely depends on the nature of the assignment.
There are those tasks which robots cannot entirely do and thus
requiring human efforts. Similarly, other tasks prefer robots to
human beings due to their effectiveness and cost implications.
In the manufacturing industry for instance, robots will be most
preferred to undertake most of the physical tasks such as
machine operations, packaging, sorting and grading, in-house
transport, material planning as well as inventory management.
There are those tasks which human beings will be required to
operate such as general planning, manipulation of raw
materials, quality control and maintenance practices. For this
reason, there exists a clear distinction between the duties
carried out by human beings and the robots depending on their
nature.
It is worth nothing that some duties can only be done by human
beings and not otherwise. In addition, human beings have

specific attributes intrinsic in them and which enable them to
undertake some specific duties. These attributes include
intuition, creativity, consciousness and critical thinking among
others. They help individuals in major decision making
processes regarding productivity of the company. Robots lack
these aspects and therefore cannot undertake some duties such
as making decisions regarding the development of the industry.
Generally speaking, the nature of the work will determine
whether a human being or a robot will be ideal for the work
(Degryse, 2016).
Performance Evaluation for Robots and Human Beings
Evaluation of performance of both human beings and
robots is importance to ascertain the level at which each entity
has contributed in the productivity of a manufacturing industry.
Human beings have been used as workforce in many industries
for centuries. For all this time, their performance has been
evaluated based on tasks completed within a given timeframe,
successful projects undertaken relative to the failed endeavors
among others. Therefore, there is a variety of criteria which can
be used to measure the performance of human workforce.
Generally speaking, evaluation of the performance of human
beings is not very complex when compared to the performance
of robots (Kruger, Lien, & Verl, 2009).
Evaluation of the performance of robots on the other hand
is not an easy task. No criteria have been devised by human
beings to evaluate the performance of robots in the
manufacturing industries. The complexity of this issue is borne
upon the fact that robots cannot entirely perform successfully
without human intervention and assistance. The rise of this
issue is a good avenue for future researchers and other
interested parties to devise techniques to evaluate the
performance of robots in industries and elsewhere. The status
quo is that there is human participation in the performance of
robots and which requires attention of researchers to evaluate
performance of each element in the system where human beings
and robots work concurrently. In the meantime, the best way to

evaluate the performance of robots is to set goals before
designing and evaluating the performance. Therefore, an
individual can evaluate the performance based on the outcome
of an activity (Kanda, et al., 2004).
Placement of Robot on a Selected Job
The manufacturing industry is one of industries which
require too much of physical work. Departments such as
production, packaging, sorting and grading, transporting among
other duties require many laborers to complete such duties. The
cost incurred by the company to provide such labor
requirements is high and thus unhealthy for the industry’s
profit. For this reason, adoption of robots to undertake these
duties is a good option owing to their total cost and efficiency.
It will require less robots and less time to complete a given task
compared to human beings. This makes robots a good option for
the production in the manufacturing industry (Rossi, 2015).
In addition, most of the tasks in the manufacturing sector
are very risky and dangerous to human beings. Some machines
are very dangerous when handled without care and thus
exposing human beings to such conditions is risky for the
company and thus increased chances of compensation lawsuits.
In other cases, some manufacturing operations involve
production or use of very toxic and poisonous chemicals which
are dangerous to human beings. Robots are therefore an ideal
solution to the risks these industries engage in during
production. This is because they do not fall sick, get injured,
die or even affected by poison or toxic compounds.
Impact of Placement Robots on The Company and The Society
(Talk about the impact of placement robots on the company
more. Also, talk about, human attitude and human health in this
section (Impact of Placement Robots on The Company and The
Society))
There have been mixed reactions among members of the
society regarding the impact of robots on the society, depending
on how use of robots affects their lives. Adoption of robots has
greatly compromised the jobs of the majority less skilled

workers. This has contributed to a lot of inequality in wealth
distribution as much benefits of robot usage go to the highly
skilled few. This is a challenge associated with mechanization
and the only solution towards mitigating the problem is by
ensuring all individuals have a stake of ownership in the robot
machines, which leads to substantial level of equality in income
and wealth distribution (Freeman, 2015).
Robots have also affected the society in many ways. In the
manufacturing sector for instance, robot usage has helped
improve health of individuals since they have been actively
involved in the production of harmful particles, fumes and
temperatures. The workers in such industries have lived a
healthier and longer life due to reduced risk of death and health
problems associated with interaction of these workers and the
harmful substances. The industrial robots have also facilitated
reduced risks of injury in the workplace and consequently costs
associated with compensation to human beings (Sabanovic,
2010).
Impact of Robot Placement on The Economy
The increased use of robots in the recent past has had
tremendous implications on the world economy. Adoption and
adaptation of robots in the manufacturing industry has been
instrumental in contributing to economic growth and
development. It is important to note that the manufacturing
sector forms the backbone of any economy. This implies that a
growth in the manufacturing sector leads to growth and
development in the economy. Notably, use of robots has had a
double effect on unemployment, through creation of jobs and
loss of jobs. Robots have led to creation of high paying jobs for
the highly skilled workers. At the same time, the majority
workers with fewer skills have been replaced by the robots
(Degryse, 2016).
Adoption of robots however has had a positive impact on
the Gross Domestic Product. This is because of increased
productivity of manufacturing industries. In this regard, the
increased production has contributed to increase in exports and

reduced imports. For this reason, the GDP has been increasing
with replacement of human labor by robots. A research done on
United States and sixteen other countries identified that for
period of fifteen years ending in 2007, use of robots increased
the GDP by an average of 0.37% every year (Graetz &
Michaels, 2015). Use of robots also affects inflation. Increased
use of robots leads to reduced cost of labor and consequently
low cost of production. This result to reduced price of products
thus lowering inflation. In an economy intending to reduce the
problem of inflation, encouraged use of robots is a good
solution (Degryse, 2016).
(write a conclusion)
References
Degryse, C. (2016). Digitalization of the Economy and its
Impact on Labor Markets. European Trade Union Institute
Research Paper – Working Paper
Freeman, R. (2015). Who Owns the Robots Rules the World.
Harvard University and NBER, Germany, and LSE, UK
Graetz, G. & Michaels, G. (2015). Estimating the Impact of
Robots on Productivity and Employment: Industrial
Automation
Kanda, T. et al. (2004). Development and Evaluation of
Interactive Humanoid Robots: Proceedings of the IEEE
Kruger, J., Lien, T. & Verl, A. (2009). Cooperation of Human
and Machines in Assembly Lines. CIRP Annals Manufacturing
Technology, Elsevier
Rossi, B. (2015). Humans vs. Robots: The Battle for the
Workplace. Information Age

Rubenstein, M., Ahler, C. & Nagpal, R. (2012). Kilobot: A Low
Cost of Scalable Robot System for Collective Behaviors.
Robotics and Automation
Sabanovic, S. (2010). Robots in Society, Society in Robots.
International Journal of Social Robotics, Springer
Performance Measures
1
You Can’t Manage What You Can’t Measure?
Please read this:
http://thedx.druckerinstitute.com/2013/07/measurement-myopia/
2
Or is it you can’t manage what you DON’T measure? See the
differences between the slide title and this statement? Which
one is true or truer? While you are at it, read about Peter
Drucker. It would be a shame graduating with a
management/business degree without knowing about him.
Business Performance Dashboard

3
Modeled after a car’s dashboard, business performance
dashboards collect information and present a visual display in a
glance for managers. Dashboards are usually color coded, again,
just like traffic lights with red signaling warning, yellow,
caution, and green, good. Dashboards direct managers’ attention
to where it is needed and enable quick actions taken by the
management.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
KPI is an industry jargon term for a type of measure of
performance, usually used to evaluate success of a particular
strategic activity or some operational goals (zero defects, 10/10
customer satisfaction etc.). (Wikipedia)
KPIs are tied to an organization’s reward system, strategic
objectives, and long term sustainable successes.
KPIs are part of the performance metrics and the overall
performance measure in an organization.
KPIs can change employees’ behaviors with goals and
incentives tied to KPIs.
4
What are your organization’s KPIs? Does everyone know about
them and does everyone agree to their measurements?
KPI: Financial Ratios
Liquidity ratios
Current ratio, quick ratio
Leverage / Solvency ratios
Debt equity ratio
Turnover / Activity ratios

Inventory turnover, average collection period, fixed assets turn
over ratio
Profitability ratios
Gross/net profit margin, return on investment
Valuation ratios
Earning per share, PE, dividend yield
Traditionally, firms use financial ratios to measure their
performance. They are easy to use, standardized, and sometimes
required by regulatory agencies and stakeholders. However,
financial ratios are not all leading indicators and they lack the
performance details that managers need to improve operations.
They are only unidimensional.
5
Other Competitive Priorities
Speed/Lead Time
Flexibility
Quality
Costs
6
2
There are other measurements in addition to fiancials. From the
PPT on competition, these are the other measurable dimensions.
Everything here can be measured: performance, cost, quality,
speed, flexibility. How do we create values and how do we
measure them?

Value Revisited
The value equation
Value = Performance / cost
where Performance = f [quality, speed, flexibility]
When, then, do we mean by:
Quality
Speed
Flexibility
Cost
7
Organizations create values. Everything here in the formulas
can be measured: performance, cost, quality, speed, flexibility.
How do we create values and how do we measure them?
Value Analysis/Value Engineering
These tools seek to improve an existing product’s design while
maintaining its functional characteristics and market appeal.
These methods ask questions such as:
Can the function be eliminated entirely?
Can the function be done some other way?
Can the part or product be simplified?
Can standard materials do the job as well?
Can the specs be changed to enhance the product?
8
What do you find when you Google value analysis and value
engineering? Every component, part, package, color, and
mechanism in your cell phone is there for a reason. Every form,
process, motion, and activity in the manufacturing or service

process serves a purpose as well. Everything has to justify its
existence. The first thing I did when I bought my Harley was to
give it an upgrade by replacing the muffler and the air filter
with more powerful ones. My question is, why the hell did
Harley put them on in the first place? An average Harley buyer
spends 30% of purchase price accessorizing their new “toy.” Is
Harley doing any value analysis?
Scope of Performance Measures
9
Financial measures are the most common and standardized ones.
Customer and market measures are also typical and can compare
across companies and industries. Quality is more subjective and
usually involves customer perceptions, rather than objective
measures. Time is getting more recognized because customers
are becoming more impatient and consistency of deliveries is
getting more important. Time measures include length and
variability. Sustainability has also become an important
measure as more organizations are feeling the need to be
socially and environmentally responsible. The other dimensions
are important to future growth but are more difficult to measure
and cannot easily compare against benchmarks.
Examples of SCM Metrics (SCOR)
10
Developed by the Supply Chain Council, SCOR has over 200

performance metrics for organizations. What are they? What do
they measure? Does your organization use any of these or
something similar to these? Why or why not?
The Balanced Scorecard
11
Kaplan and Norton proposed the balanced scorecard model to
replace the traditional financial measures that overemphasized
one dimension, instead of all four that are critical to
organizational growth.
Benchmarking
BENCHMARKING: the process of comparing your own
practices against similar practices of firms in the same or
different industries, recognized as the most effective at some
specific task.
Types of Benchmarking
Product–goods or services
Process–manufacturing or management processes
Strategic–management directions
Customer surveys and benchmarking are used to establish
standards.
Examples: customer experience against Disney, quality against
Toyota, e-commerce against Amazon
12
What is your organization’s benchmarking? How do you set
standards with or without benchmarking? Do you constantly

measure yourself against competition? Do you change your
benchmarking over time?
Productivity
Productivity is output/input
Different types of productivity measures:
labor productivity
capital productivity
Partial factor vs. total factor productivity
Importance of measuring productivity and productivity changes:
benchmarking, longitudinal studies, management
Ways to increase productivity: increasing outputs vs. decreasing
inputs
13
Output and input can be measured in different terms, money,
time, man-hours, physical units, or otherwise. Each production
factor has its own productivity measurement and combined
factors can measure either partial or total factor productivity.
Productivity changes over time or comparisons between one’s
own organization and competitors are more meaningful than
productive measures alone. Once we know how we compare in
productivity with previous year/quarter/time period or against
our peers, the next question is how we can improve our
productivity? There are only two ways to do it: increase your
output or decrease your input (or both of course). How does one
do it in reality?
Effectiveness vs. Efficiency
Effectiveness is doing the right things
Peter Drucker’s quest
Don’t touch it if you are not adding value…

Teachers should teach while nurses nurse.
Efficiency is doing things right
Fred Taylor’s quest
Do more with less
What’s the one best way to get things done?
14
Fred Taylor asks how we can do things faster with less
resources. Peter Drucker, on the other hand, asks the
fundamental question of why we do it. The fact that we can do
it faster doesn’t mean we are doing the right things. One has to
ensure that one adds value whenever one does things or there is
no reason to do it. Google search Drucker and Taylor to find out
what they advocate and their fundamental differences.
Effectiveness vs. Efficiency
Dr. Wu shredding papers, fastest in the department.
Let nurses nurse and professors profess…
15
Fred Taylor asks how we can do things faster with less
resources. Peter Drucker, on the other hand, asks the
fundamental question of why we do it. The fact that we can do

it faster doesn’t mean we are doing the right things. One has to
ensure that one adds value whenever one does things or there is
no reason to do it. Research Drucker and Taylor to find out
what they advocate and what their fundamental differences are.
(The fact that Dr. Wu shreds papers the fastest in the
department does not mean he should focus on shredding
papers…or does it?)
Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Reporting
Economic
Typical financial reporting
Balanced scorecard: customers, suppliers, employees
Social
Bribery and corruption, political contributions
Child labor, indigenous rights
Training and diversity
Environmental
Energy
Water
Biodiversity
Emissions, effluents, and waste
An increasing number of companies are adopting TBL reporting
standards. What else are they reporting other than the economic
performance of the firm? Are they useful in helping managers
run a better operation? Do consumers pay attention to these
reports?
16
Measuring Academic Success?
What is a successful graduate? Definition first!

Measurements:
17
When a graduate of CSUSB walks in the commencement, what
is this person? How do we measure success?
Competition, Competitive Strategies, CLV, Co-opetition
1
Evolving Competition
Between products:
Coke vs. Pepsi
Between companies:
McDonald’s vs. Burger King
Between supply chains:
Lenovo vs. Dell
Between systems:
Xbox vs. PlayStation
Between eco-systems:
iOS vs. Android
2
2
Ever Heard of Rakuten?

3
2
A Japanese e-commerce company that is taking the world by
storm and could potential be a tough competitor for Amazon.
Think of it as a blend of Amazon and eBay. Rakuten bought
Buy.com a few years ago.
4
2
Rakuten hosts many small merchants, helps them sell their
goods, then processes payment and collects information from
buyers. Rakuten builds a strong user community with reward
points and frequent promotional items via email.
5
2
Rakuten members can ear and spend points on Rakuten and in

other places. Rakuten runs the largest loyalty program in Japan.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
CLV: Lifetime contribution of a customer
CLV=(Average Order Value) x (Number of Repeat Sales) x
(Average Retention Time)
CLV of Amazon,
Apple, Gillett,
American Express,
McDonald’s,
Pampers, Disney,
Netflix, Verizon,
CSUSB, Toyota,
United Airlines?
6
2
CLV or CLTV, value of lifetime customer, value of loyal
customer, etc. helps managers understand the importance of
customer satisfaction and retention. Please research to find
values of lifetime customer of some familiar companies. How
do loyalty programs such as airlines’ or Rakuten’s help increase
such value?
Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies
7

Porter argues that there are only three generic strategies for
organizations. An organization has to excel in one strategy in
order to compete in the marketplace. However, one does NOT
need to be good at more than one area to survive and succeed. A
low cost vendor, for example, does not need to offer unique
features that are not available elsewhere.
Explanations and Examples of Porter’s Generic Strategies
Both cost leadership and differentiation appeal to large groups
of people
Difference between segmentation and differentiation is the size
of the target group
Fill in the blank, if you buy a product because
it’s cheap, then __________ applies
it’s unique, then ___________ applies
you are unique, then _________ applies
8
Some niche players take advantage of the long tail theory. Let’s
say there are only a few people who are interested in your
products in the whole world. If you offer such unique, hard to
find items for them, sooner or later people are going to find you
and do business with you. If you have enough such small, niche
markets to work with, you have a pretty large business to
yourself! Most retailers stock fast moving, best selling items. In
other words, they focus on the top 80% of products. Who is
there to take care of the remaining 20% of the customers and/or
products? The long tail may represent small market niches but
together they account for a good sized market.
Ancillary to Porter’s Generic Strategies
Focusing on and doing well in one strategy is good enough.
(How many Bo Jacksons are out there?)

Never eat in a revolving restaurant for its food.
A restaurant that has the best food may not have the best service
or location.
9
Google Bo Jackson. Read about how he excels in both
professional leagues.
Some say that hole in the wall restaurants have the best food.
Really? Why?
Would you like to be a) 100% better than others in 1% of the
things you do or b) 1% better than others in 100% of the things
you do?
Other Competitive Priorities
Speed/Lead Time
Flexibility
Quality
Costs
10
2
Porter is not the only scholar that researches competitions.
Others have proposed different strategies for organizations to
compete in marketplace.

Speed/Lead Time
Lead time is interval between start and end of activity
Lead Time attributes: mean, standard deviation, range, shape
Total product delivery lead time: from design, sourcing,
manufacturing, distribution, to order fulfillment
Make to order (MTO) or assemble to order (ATO) vs. make to
stock (MTS)
11
2
How long would it take for an organization to deliver its
products or services to customers?
Fast food restaurants are popular because…they are fast!
Why would people pay more to ship something overnight?
How long would you wait for your morning coffee to be
“customized?”
Research MTO, ATO, and MTS to see how these different
processes have different implications of service time.
Time Based Competition (TBC)
Goal: To gain a competitive advantage by offering customers
more value by being either faster to product or faster to market.

Reduce
Lead Times
Less of/System Simplification
As One/System Integration
At Once/Parallel Activities
More of/Excess Resources
Same as/Standardization
Watch It/Variance Control
Better than/Automation
Time to Market
Time to Product
Fast to Market
Fast to Product
12
How did fast food restaurants gain their speed as compared to
traditional restaurants?
How did FedEx deliver overnight mail/packages more
efficiently and reliably than US Postal Service?
Flexibility
Changes Responses
Product mix, new products, new capabilities, product line
breadth and depth
Alternative materials, sourcing, production methods,

distribution, supply chain, customer base, product applications
Mass customization
13
2
A few slogans ago, Burger King stressed that customers could
customize their burgers to make them taste better (Have It Your
Way, Your Way Right Away, When you have it your way, it just
tastes better!) .
Companies like Dell and Harley Davidson let customers choose
different options for their purchases then strive to deliver them
fast. How many choices do you have when you order a
cappuccino at Starbucks?
Customization is nothing new; the key success factor is to scale
it up and deliver fast. That’s what separates large, profitable
companies from mom and pop shops.
Quality
Transcendental, product-based, user-based, manufacturing-
based, value-based views
Functionality, reliability, durability, safety, service, aesthetics,
perceived quality
TQM: philosophy, system, broad-based corporate strategy
14
2
Quality may mean different things to different people. For

example, a quality car may mean high gas mileage for one and
reliability for another. Some shoppers look for higher
horsepower and torque (the Ultimate Driving Machine!) while
others look for safety (Volvo: For Life.) There are many
dimensions of quality and companies have to find the ones that
appeal to their target customers.
Costs
Performance measurement, operations management, value
enhancement
Acquisition cost, repair cost, maintenance cost, operating cost,
salvage/disposal cost
Total cost, life cycle cost concepts
Environmental cost, user cost, external cost
Using Activity-Based Costing (ABC) to control costs
15
2
Costs are always important. Higher efficiency always means
making the same products with fewer people, less time, and
fewer resources. In other words, making them cheaper. It’s one
of the most important KPIs (key performance indicators). In the
1980s, Japanese have shown us how to be lean and how to
control/lower our costs while still maintaining high quality. We
need to include all costs (internal and external) of a product
from its birth to the end of its useful life to really understand
the true costs of producing and consuming this particular
product.
Co-opetition
Question: In the biological world, is there more competition
among species, or cooperation?

Organizations may collaborate and compete at the same time,
hence the term co-opetition.
Examples: when one hotel is full, they usually send guests to
neighboring hotels who are direct competitors; Apple uses
Google Map and Samsung chips yet their smartphones and
operating systems are in direct competition.
How do you handle such love hate relationships?
16
2
Research competition and cooperation in the biological world,
why do we focus on competition and teach more or less a win-
lose philosophy?
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not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly
accessible website, in whole or in part.
OM
Operations Strategy
4
COLLIER/EVANS
5
1

Explain how organizations seek to gain
competitive advantage
Explain approaches for understanding customer wants and needs
Describe how customers evaluate goods and services
LEARNING OUTCOMES
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
2
Explain the five key competitive priorities
Explain the role of OM, sustainability, and operations in
strategic planning
Describe Hill’s framework for operations strategy
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
LEARNING OUTCOMES (continued)
Competitive Advantage

Firm’s ability to achieve market and financial superiority over
its competitors
Requires:
Understanding customer needs and expectations
Building and leveraging operational capabilities to support
desired competitive priorities
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
4
Understanding Customer Wants and Needs
Customers are categorized into various segments based on their
needs and wants
By understanding the unique needs of each segment, a company
can design:
Appropriate customer benefit packages
Competitive strategies
Processes to create goods and services
Order qualifiers: Basic customer expectations for the minimum
performance level required to stay in business
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
5
Understanding Customer Wants and Needs
Order winners: Goods and service features and performance
characteristics that differentiate one customer benefit package
from another and win the customer’s business
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
6
Evaluating Goods and Services
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
7

Search attributes
Experience attributes
Credence attributes
Aspects of a good or service that a customer can determine prior
to purchase
Aspects of a good or service that can be discerned only after
purchase or during consumption or use
Aspects of a good or service that the customer believes in and
cannot be discerned even after purchase and consumption

4.1 How Customers Evaluate Goods and Services
‹#›
OM5| CH4
Exhibit
8
Competitive Priorities
Strategic emphasis that a firm places on certain performance
measures and operational capabilities within a value chain
Types
Cost
Quality
Time
Flexibility
Innovation
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
9
Cost
Each industry has a low price market segment
Low cost results from:
High productivity
High capacity utilization
Economies of scale
Continuous improvement is essential to achieve a low-cost
competitive advantage
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
10
Quality
Businesses offering premium quality goods have large market
shares and were early entrants into the markets
Positively and significantly related to a higher return on

investment for all kinds of market situations
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
11
Quality
Strategy of quality improvement leads to increased market share
High goods quality producers can charge premium prices
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
12
4.2 Interlinking Quality and Profitability Performance
‹#›

OM5| CH4
Exhibit
13
Time
Important source of competitive advantage
Customers demand quick response, short waiting times, and
consistency in performance
Speeding up work processes improves customer response
Deliveries can be made faster and on-time
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
14
Time
Reductions:
Accomplished only by streamlining and simplifying processes
and value chains
To eliminate non-value-added steps such as rework and waiting
time

Drive improvements in quality, cost, and productivity
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
15
Flexibility
Success in global markets requires design and demand
flexibility
Visible in mass customization strategies
Mass customization: Ability to make goods and services that the
customer requires at any:
Volume
Time for anybody, and for a global organization
Place in the world
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
16

Innovation
Discovery and practical application or commercialization of a
device, method, or idea that differs from existing norms
Innovative companies focus on:
Outstanding product research, design, and development
High product quality
Ability to modify production facilities to produce new products
frequently
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
17
OM and Strategic Planning
Strategy: Pattern or plan that integrates an organization’s major
goals, policies, and action sequences into a cohesive whole
Direction an organization takes and the competitive priorities it
chooses are driven by its strategy
Effective strategies to develop key competitive priorities
Low cost or fast service time
Exploit an organization’s core competencies
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
18
Strategic Planning
Process of determining long-term goals, policies, and plans for
an organization
Objective - Build a strong position for the organization to
achieve its goals despite unforeseen external forces
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
19
Levels of Strategy
Corporate strategy - Businesses in which the corporation will
participate and develop plans for the acquisition and allocation
of resources among those businesses
These businesses in which the firm participates are called
strategic business units (SBUs)
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
20
Levels of Strategy
Business strategy - Defines the focus for SBUs
Major decisions involves:
Pursuing the target markets
Best way to compete in target markets
Functional strategy - Set of decisions that each functional area
develops to support its particular business strategy
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
21
Levels of Strategy
Organization will decide on the execution of its chosen business
strategies
Development - Translating competitive priorities into
operational capabilities
By making variety of choices and trade-offs for design and
operating decisions

‹#›
OM5 | CH4
22
Sustainability
Organizational strategy in many firms
Dimensions
Environmental
Social
Economic
Requires major changes in the culture of an organization
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
23
A Framework for Operations Strategy
Operations design choices: Management decisions taken for the
appropriate type of process structure to be adopted while

producing goods or creating services
Key areas it addresses
Types of processes
Value chain integration and outsourcing
Technology, capacity and facilities
Inventory and service capacity
Trade-offs
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
24
A Framework for Operations Strategy
Infrastructure: Focuses on the non-process
features and capabilities of the organization
Workforce
Operating plans and control systems
Quality control
Organizational structure
Compensation systems
Learning and innovation systems
Support services
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
25
4.3 Hill’s Strategy Development Framework
‹#›
OM5| CH4
Exhibit
26
4.4 Four Key Decision Loops in Terry Hill’s Generic
Strategy Framework
‹#›
OM5| CH4

Exhibit
27
Operations Strategy at McDonald’s
Vision - World's best quick service restaurant experience
Worldwide strategies
Be the best employer
Deliver operational excellence
Achieve enduring profitable growth
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
28
Sustainability initiatives
Build a sustainable McDonald’s that involves all facets of
business
Commit to a three-pronged approach
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Strive to provide eco-friendly workplaces and restaurants
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
29
Sustainability initiatives
Work with suppliers and outside experts to continuously
improve:
Purchasing decisions
Evaluation of supplier performance regarding animal welfare
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
30
4.5 McDonald’s Customer Benefit Package
‹#›
OM5| CH4

Exhibit
31
Competitive advantage is required to show the firm’s ability to
achieve superiority over competitors
Customers perceive greater risks when buying services than
when buying goods
Understanding competitive priorities provides basis for
designing the process that create and deliver goods and
services
SUMMARY
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
When an organization takes a direction and the decisions on
competitive priorities are driven by its strategy
Framework for operations strategy is designed for goods-
producing organization and to be applied to service-providing
firms
SUMMARY
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
Competitive advantage
Competitive priorities
Credence attributes
Experience attributes
Infrastructure
Innovation
Mass customization
Operations design choices
Operations strategy
KEY TERMS
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
Order qualifiers
Order winners
Search attributes
Strategy
KEY TERMS
‹#›

OM5 | CH4
‹#›
OM5 | CH4
These are the questions; I will attach power points files to help
you answer the questions in your own words. Please, don’t use
references.
1. Please explain in laymen’s terms: TBL, VLC.
2. Should companies treat customers differently when they
bring different "values" or profits to companies? In other words,
low VLC customers deserve less than high VLC customers.
Defend your position using class materials and with your own
examples.
3. Recall your most recent big (>$500) purchase. What was it?
What made you choose that particular product and what buying
process did you go through? Please identify order qualifiers and
order winners. Did you also experience an order loser as well
when someone or something just turned you off?
4. What information do you need to calculate a CSUSB
student’s VLC for Amazon while he/she is in school?
5. Explain in your own words McDonald’s operations
strategy as you see it from a customer’s perspective.
Human Resource Management Ms. Najwa Aldardeer

Outcomes
· Enabling students to critically think about the impact of
technology on Human being.
· Exposing students to real life cases.
· Enabling students to envisioning the future of HR market.
· Enabling the students to be equipped for the market changes.
Project Outline
The research should answer the question of (To what extend
Robots can replace human been in workplace). In order to
structure the answers, you should divide your research into two
parts; explaining the impact of Robots on companies and the
impact of Robots on societies. Following are points should be
tackled.
1- Productivity and efficiency
2- Cost (Maintenance, training, salaries.. etc.
3- Nature of work
4- Evaluating performance/ Mistakes and errors
Provide a case study of a chosen job that it shows all the privies
points/ impacts on the chosen job if it is being replaced by a
Robot.
Rubric
Section
Maximum point
2
Points earned
Having a thinking strategy and explaining the strategy in the
introduction
Perfect strategy that cover most points
Explaining the productivity and efficiency for Robots and
Human being

Argument is Clear, logical, systematically processed and
structured
Explaining the cost involve for Robots and Human being
structured
Explaining the nature of work for Robots and Human being
structured
Explaining the performance evaluation for Robots and Human
being
structured
Explaining the placement of Robot on a selected job
structured
The impact of placement on the Company and the society
structured
The impact of Robot placement on the economy
· Unemployment rate
· GDP
· Inflation
structured
The impact of Robot placement on the society
· Human attitude
· Human Health
structured

Research Reference
Following the APA style
Following the requirement
Neat and professional
Following the requirement
total
20
Human Resource Management, Najwa Aldardeer, Spring 2016-
2017

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