As one of the three core functions of any organizations, operations function is ubiquitous, yet differentiates itself noticeably in different organizations. In the following paragraphs, we are going to compare and analyze the similarities and differences of operations function in four different sectors: • Debenhams, a retailing company which owns 102 department stores around UK; • Toyota, a well-known Japanese automobile manufacturer; • SINA.com, the leading online media and internet product provider in China; • The British Library, the national library of the UK and an international research library of world renown. First of all, the transformation process of the four organizations is described in the following table: Table 1 Transformation Process Inputs Transformation Process Outputs Debenhams Goods, Employees, Stores, Warehouses, Customers Acquisition, Stocking, Pre-sale advice, Order taking, Selling Goods Delivered, Customers Satisfied Toyota Designs, Raw materials, Workers, Assembly line, Plants, Computer system Press and weld, Paint, Plastic, Engine and Assembly Automobiles Assembled SINA.com High academic requirements for most employees Collect, Process, and Provide information to website visitors Classified information The British Library Moderate academic requirements for most employees Acquiring collections, Making catalogue, Taking readers¡¯ orders Information and Knowledge released to readers Although these four companies have different business natures, they all need to input resources into their operations, transform the resources, and then deliver their outputs to customers. However, the transformation process for each company is different in terms of transformed resources and transforming resources. The department store Debenhams is a material processor. According to the demand of the market, Debenhams stocks different types of goods and try to transfer the stock to the customers by various promotion strategies. Toyota is also a typical material-dominated company. The raw materials such as steel and rubber are made into bells and wheels and then assembled into cars. On the other hand, Internet product providers and public services are information processors. For instance, SINA.com, the Internet product provider, collects and updates a great deal of information from all over the world and presents it to website visitors. The British Library brings in a lot of knowledge and information in the form of books, CDs or other digitized materials. They catalogue the books and sort them into different categories so that the public could easily get the information they need.
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