| Activity-System Map | A diagram showing how a company’s strategy is delivered through a set of supporting activities. |
| Core Capabilities | Skills that differentiate the manufacturing or service firm from its competitors. |
| Efficiency | Doing something at the lowest possible cost. |
| Effectiveness | Doing the right things to create the most value for the company. |
| Operations and Supply Management (OSM) | Design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the firm's primary products or services. |
| Operations and Supply Strategy | Setting broad policies and plans for using the resources of a firm to best support the firm’s long-term competitive strategy. |
| Order Qualifier | A dimension that is used to screen a product or service as a candidate for purchase. |
| Order Winner | A dimension that differentiates the products or services of one firm from another. |
| Straddling | Occurs when a company seeks to match what a competitor is doing by just adding new features, services, or technologies to existing activities. This often creates problems due to the compromises that may need to be made. |
| Value | Ratio of quality to price paid. Competitive happiness is being able to increase quality and reduce price while maintaining or improving profit margins. (This is a way operations can directly increase customer retention and gain market share.) |
