It is an unfortunate fact of life that most companies seem only to address fundamental issues such as make or buy strategy when facing an imminent crisis. It appears that many management teams make the assumption that their business will survive and possibly even thrive without any major interventions. The difficulty with this position is that deterioration in the business situation is often imperceptable, and the loss of market share, slippage compared with competitors or detachment from actual customer requirements may only be realised too late. The analogy of the frog sitting happily in a pan of water, being slowly heated up until it is boiled alive, springs to mind. The grin on its face seems strangely at odds with the circumstances to the outside observer! How much better to anticipate changing circumstances, by maintaining an ongoing assessment of a company's match to its environment. The make or buy strategy formulation, together with the maintenance of the strategy is one way to do this. You can start by asking a few simple questions of your current practice.

Chapter Contents:

• 8.1 Do we really need to make any change?
• 8.2 How to get started
• 8.3 Top management commitment
• 8.4 Other sources of practical help

Inspec keywords: strategic planning; manufacturing industries; management

Other keywords: market share; management team; make-or-buy strategy formulation; manufacturing business

Subjects: Planning