Operations Plan

Stephen Lawrence and Frank Moyes

Graduate School of Business
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0419
Management Team
Management
3 most important attributes of start-up
 Company Organization
 Management Team
Management
3 most important attributes of start-up
 Management, management, management
 CompanyOrganization
 Management Team
Management
3 most important attributes of start-up
 Company Organization
 Organizational structure
 Ownership structure

 Board of directors/advisors

 Management Team
Management
3 most important attributes of start-up
 Company Organization
 Management Team
 Key managers
 Duties and responsibilities
 Unique skills
 Compensation
 Planned additions to the team
Management
3 most important attributes of start-up
 Company Organization
 Management Team
 Length: ~2 pages
Management
3 most important attributes of start-up
 Company Organization
 Management Team
 Length: ~2 pages
 Examples
 See sample plans on course website
Operations Plan
Operations Plan
 Introduction(1 paragraph)
 Operations Strategy (~1/2 page)
 Scope of Operations (~1/2 page)
 Ongoing Operations (~1/2 page)
 Total Length: ~2-3 pages
Operations Plan
Operations Strategy
 Added Value
 How will we use operations to add value for
customers in our target market?
 Operations Emphasis
 How will we win in the marketplace on the
dimensions of cost, quality, timeliness, and
flexibility?
 Which dimensions will we stress and which will we
de-emphasize?
 What comparative advantages do we have
with our operational design?
Operations Plan
Scope of Operations
 Make vs. Buy
 What will we do in-house and what will we
purchase (make vs. buy?) Why does this make
sense for our business?
 Partnerships
 What will be our relationship with vendors,
suppliers, partners, and associates?
 Personnel
 What kind of people will we need to hire?
When is Virtual Virtuous?
Type of Innovation
Autonomous Systemic

…exist Ally with

Capabilities

outside Go virtual
caution
Needed

…must Ally or
Bring
be created bring
in-house
in-house

Chesbrough and Teece, “When is Virtual Virtuous,” HBR, 1996

Operations Plan
Ongoing Operations
 Execution
 Describe ongoing operations
 Specific to your business – hard to generalize
 What will you be doing on a day-to-day basis?
 Critical success factors
 Key performance indicators
 Include detail in an appendix, as necessary.
Operations Plan
 Order in Plan  Assignment Order
 Introduction  Introduction
 Operations Strategy  Scope of Operations
 Scope of Operations  Ongoing Operations
 Ongoing Operations  Operations Strategy