Summary Of Skinner's Trade Off Principle

One principle that we studied this week is Skinner’s trade-off principle. Skinner and others argue that “that a manufacturing system cannot be good at everything and so managers must decide which one or two performance objectives they want to be good at – the rest will have to suffer” (Spring & Boaden, 1997). This was one of the earliest manufacturing strategies which used specific criteria to evaluate what will make the company the most competitive in its field. At the present time, most companies consider cost, quality, delivery speed and dependability, flexibility, and innovativeness when looking at competitiveness (Spring & Boaden, 1997). Skinner also categorized decision areas which affect the manufacturing strategy. As he pointed

As students for example, if we become easily frustrated with math, we may decide that a Criminal Justice degree is better than a business or management degree. A management job may pay better, but would the trade-off in stress and reduced job satisfaction be worth the difference in pay? The reverse can also be true. If you do not have the patience to deal with the public on a regular basis, Criminal Justice may not be the career for you. Another deciding factor can be the flexibility of the career. A military career means time spent away from your family, while other professions allow you to work from home, and adjust your schedule to meet your family’s needs. Choosing a career path, like many other decisions we are asked to make, means weighing the costs and benefits to determine what you want to stand firm on and what “will have to

You need to balance the cost of the yarn and other supplies, while creating a quality item at a reasonable price. You need to make sure that your delivery promises are reasonable yet flexible enough to meet your customer’s needs. At this point, you have everything balanced to maximize quality and profit while limiting costs. Suddenly, the price of your yarn doubles. The company will need to make additional trade-offs. Do you purchase a lower quality yarn, accept a lower profit, or raise your prices? If orders increase, you will need to spend more time crocheting, so deliveries may slide. Businesses are never static, so it is important to keep reevaluating your decisions to be sure your company is on