Competitive priorities for service operations strategy: an analysis of the perceived-value criteria of a fitness center

Abstract

The setting of priorities among the various performance objectives is one of the main activities in the formulation of manufacturing strategy. Recognizing the importance of this activity and using the nomenclature of “perceived-value criteria”, this paper reports an analysis of competitive priorities of a fitness center, which was an essential part of a broader process aimed at the formulation of operations strategy for the company. After a brief literature review, the article proposes a model for the analysis of perceived-value criteria in service operations that, among other tools, makes use of importance-performance matrix and trade-off analysis. To validate its applicability, the proposed model was field-tested in an action research approach, in which one of the authors of this paper played the role of external facilitator of the process of organizational intervention. The application of the model allowed identifying the processes and the perceived-value criteria (PVC's) that should be prioritized by the company, using for this, two bases of comparison: the direct competitors of its influence area and the benchmark fitness centers (best practices). As a result, the firm's managers were able to better decide about the different strategic alternatives to improve its operations.