These appeals for a strategic perspective to operations management have been heard. The organizations that expect to compete successfully in global markets are incorporating operations decisions in their strategic plans and are returning manufacturing executives to a place of prominence in the organization's power structure. For instance, Compaq computer of Houston, Texas, made significant investments in production and operations and developed a manufacturing system that allowed quick response to the need of retail are and businesses rather than just selling whatever computers it happened to have in inventory. Also looking back at our chapter-opening Manager Dilemma. Lorenzo Zambrano discovered that manufacturing excellence is critical. He closely examined the operations of his cement factories and made needed changes in order to ensure his company long –run success.