Trade-Offs in the Design of Operations Systems 

When contemplating a change in business strategy, it must be borne in mind that an operations system can be designed to do certain things well, but at the expense of others. A parallel may be drawn with the design of a vehicle. A small motor car will typically feature low price, low running costs, ease of parking, and readily available spares and service centres. A fire engine may offer none of these but, instead, should excel in transporting a team of fire-fighters quickly to a fire and carry the necessary equipment to help in extinguishing the fire and rescuing survivors. 

Consider the trade-offs between: