ABSTRACT
In this book, we have developed a strategic understanding of operations management by considering how manufacturing and service operations have developed over the last 100 years. During this time there has been a marked transition, exemplified by the Fortune 500, which lists the top 500 US-based companies. When it was first compiled, all of these firms were manufacturing based. As the US economy shifted towards a service base, with service firms growing in size and economic significance, a separate listing called the Service 500 was developed. Over time, some companies moved from the Fortune 500 to the Service 500, as their stream of revenue from their services outstripped their income from the sale of manufactured goods. By the 1990s, the distinction between manufacturing and service companies was so slight that the two lists were combined. Moreover, most, if not all, of these firms are now global in scope, with operations on a worldwide basis. It is this notion of a modern, global, integrated product/ service firm that has been the focus of previous chapters’ discussions on contemporary operations management practice.
