Operation Management

Dell has recently switched from allowing customers a great deal of flexibility in designing their own computers to having a few standard models with few options that can be selected by the customer. Based on this information, respond to the following:

• What operations strategy could Dell be attempting with a move such as this?
• What impact would this change have on Dell’s capacity to produce computers? In other words, would the capacity likely be increased or decreased by this decision? Explain your reasoning as to why this would increase or decrease Dell’s capacity.
• Would the acquisition of computer components (hard drives, random access memory [RAM], microprocessors, etc.) be made easier or more difficult by this decision? Explain your reasoning for your choice.