Selection of Products

Why do you choose to be loyal to Disney every time you go on vacation? Why does your brother always buy Adidas sneakers to wear? Companies must earn consumers’ loyalty and respect, which usually results in sales. We are going to examine order winners and qualifiers and understand the difference between the two terms. Both of the terms were created by Terry Hill, a professor at the London Business School. In addition, let’s look at some examples of each and why the difference is important to developing the operations strategy for a firm.

Order Winners

Why do you choose to buy a specific firm’s goods and services? Order winners are the competitive advantages such as quality, delivery speed, reliability, product design, flexibility, and image that cause a firm’s customers to select that company’s products or services. It is the main reason why customers purchase a company’s product. For example, the Shine family vacations at Lake Tahoe for prestige and quality, while they order all of their products from Pramazon for quick delivery speed. The Shine family’s teenage children are loyal to Pear Products for product design of technology products and purchase Big John backpacks for their reliability.

Order Qualifiers

Order qualifiers are the competitive advantages that a company must demonstrate in order to be a viable competitor in the business arena. For example, if technology company Pear Products does not meet the minimum standards on order qualifiers, then customers will ignore or reject their products and services. In regards to operations, a company only needs to meet the minimum criteria to be considered part of the competitive set. For example, quality is considered an order qualifier for most industries. So for example, the automobile industry faces consumers who expect quality as a given and do not perceive it as an order winner. When auto companies have reports of quality issues or recalls, the business becomes undesirable and is not considered as part of a consumer’s choice set.

Difference Between Winners & Qualifiers

The difference between order winners and qualifiers is that order qualifiers are the competitive standards that make a firm’s products viewed as fit for purchase by consumers, while order winners are the standards that separate the products or services of one firm from another.

In order for a firm to deliver order qualifiers, they have to be at least as good as their competition. If a company wants to deliver order winners, they have to surpass their competitors. Operations, with the help from marketing, usually identify their order winners and focus their internal strategies on delivering those characteristics such as speed, innovation or quality. For example, Pear Products has spent years investing in operations that deliver innovative products quickly to the marketplace.

Lesson Summary

Order winners are the competitive advantages such as quality, delivery speed, reliability, product design, flexibility, and image that cause a firm’s customers to select that company’s products or services. It is the main reason why customers purchase a company’s product. Order qualifiers are the competitive advantages that a company must demonstrate in order to be a viable competitor in the business arena. The difference between order winners and qualifiers is that order qualifiers are the competitive standards that make a firm’s products viewed as fit for purchase by consumers, while order winners are the standards that separate the products or services of one firm from another.

Learning Outcomes

Absorb the details of this lesson on order winners and qualifiers, then:

• Characterize order winners and order qualifiers, and present examples of each
• Compare order winners and qualifiers