Beyond competition: A framework for the 21st century

In the new millennium, global economics and political spectra are getting more dynamic and tense. Companies of all types and sizes, particularly in the manufacturing sectors are finding that their survival in the market place is increasingly in doubt. What has been lacking is a robust solution in terms of new methodologies, techniques and tools to meet their own particular challenging needs. Some of the three-letter acronym programmes such as TQM, JIT, BPR and DFM are not highly effective because employees did not focus on those issues of strategic importance and significance in the market. This paper explores the role that a set of strategic functions plays in the long-term success of a company. The paper proposes a framework comprising those interrelated functions that may help to explain the extent to which companies fail to realize the importance of these functions as an integrated organism that cannot be individually focused.