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Operations produce goods and services by coordinating “input” resources and deploying them to either “transform” other resources (or be transformed themselves), thereby creating “outputs” of goods and/or services. This open systems theory‐derived construct (see figure 1 ) is commonly used to describe, at a suitably generic level, the transformative nature of all operations, regardless of whether it is manufacturing operations producing tangible goods or service operations producing intangible outputs. Figure 1  The general transformation model The inputs to an operation can be classified as either transformed resources (the resources that are treated, transformed, or converted in some way) and transforming resources (the resources that act upon the transformed resources). The transformed resources that operations coordinate are usually some mixture of materials, information, and customers, although one of these types is often dominant in an operation. There is less variation between different operations' transforming resources. Two types of transforming resource are usually identified as forming the basic structure of all operations, namely, facilities, which are the buildings, equipment, plant, and process technology of the operation, and staff, who operate, maintain, plan, and manage the operation. Also, sometimes included as transforming resources are consumable items which, ... log in or subscribe to read full text