The Salve of Strategy: Operations vs. Marketing through the Theory of Constraints
To understand the difference between how Operations and Marketing perceive value, we look to the ancient Taoist text, the Zhuangzi (Chapter 1, "Free and Easy Wandering"), which tells the story of the "Ointment for Chapped Hands."
The Story: The Ointment for Chapped Hands
In the state of Song, a family had a secret recipe for a salve that prevented hands from chapping or frostbite. For generations, they used this ointment to survive their trade as silk-bleachers, working in freezing river water.
A traveler heard of the salve and offered the family one hundred pieces of gold for the recipe. The family gathered and reasoned: "We have bleached silk for generations and earned only a pittance. Now we can sell this secret for a fortune in a single day. Let’s do it."
The traveler took the recipe to the King of Wu, who was at war with the state of Yue. It was winter, and the armies were engaged in a naval battle. The King’s soldiers used the ointment, keeping their hands healthy and nimble, while the Yue soldiers suffered from crippling frostbite. The King of Wu won a decisive victory. For his contribution, the traveler was rewarded with a fiefdom and a high title, becoming a wealthy lord.
The Theory of Constraints (TOC) Analysis
In the Theory of Constraints, a "constraint" is anything that prevents a system from achieving more of its goal. This story illustrates how a single product can be viewed as a cost-saving tool or a throughput-generating weapon.
1. The Operations Perspective: The "Cost World"
The silk-bleaching family viewed the ointment through an Operations lens. To them, the ointment was a "support tool" used to maintain their local process.
The silk-bleaching family viewed the ointment through an Operations lens. To them, the ointment was a "support tool" used to maintain their local process.
- The Constraint: Their physical discomfort and skin damage.
- Focus: Local efficiency. The ointment allowed them to keep washing silk in winter, maintaining a steady but low Throughput (money generated through sales).
- Value Perception: They saw the value of the recipe relative to their manual labor. To them, 100 gold pieces was the "maximum price" because they only measured the ointment by the cost of the time it saved them.
2. The Marketing/Strategist Perspective: The "Throughput World"
The traveler viewed the ointment through a Marketing and Strategic lens. He ignored the silk and looked for a Global Constraint.
The traveler viewed the ointment through a Marketing and Strategic lens. He ignored the silk and looked for a Global Constraint.
- The Constraint: The biological limit of human endurance in winter warfare. This was the bottleneck preventing the King from winning the war.
- Focus: Global Optima. He saw the ointment as a Competitive Edge that removed a massive barrier for a high-value "customer" (the King).
- Value Perception: He understood that the value of a product is not what it costs to make, but the magnitude of the problem it solves. By removing the constraint of frostbite, he transformed a commodity hand cream into a high-leverage "Throughput Generator" that won a kingdom.
The Manager’s Lesson:
Operations ensures the "ointment" is made efficiently so the "silk" can be washed (minimizing Operating Expense). Marketing finds the "war" where that same ointment is worth a province (maximizing Throughput). To scale your business, stop looking at what your product is and start looking at what constraint it removes for the market.
Operations ensures the "ointment" is made efficiently so the "silk" can be washed (minimizing Operating Expense). Marketing finds the "war" where that same ointment is worth a province (maximizing Throughput). To scale your business, stop looking at what your product is and start looking at what constraint it removes for the market.
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