Operations & Sourcing method guide
Key Success Factors
Key Success Factors captures what determines competitive success in each product-market group.
Beginner-friendly guide · 4 min read
What Key Success Factors does
Key Success Factors captures what determines competitive success in each product-market group.
Key success factors describe the small number of conditions an organisation must meet to compete effectively in a defined product-market group. They translate external market requirements into internal attention.
A success factor is not a generic aspiration such as quality or innovation. Explain what the market requires, why it matters, how it differs between groups and what evidence supports it.
The make-or-buy method sequence uses success factors to connect external competitive requirements to the internal activities that support them.[1][2]
Success factors connect product-market evidence to the activities and capabilities that must deliver it.
- 1Product-market group→
- 2Customer and industry evidence→
- 3Success factors→
- 4Activities→
- 5Sourcing and roadmap
InnovationFlow explanatory schematic, synthesised from the method sources[1][2].
Understand the method
The parts in plain language
When to use it
- After product-market groups have been defined.
- When internal capability discussions are not connected to customer or market success.
A practical workflow
- 1
Select a product-market group.
- 2
Capture customer, competitive and regulatory success requirements.
- 3
Prioritise factors and record evidence and confidence.
- 4
Map the factors to the activities that enable them.
Fictional worked example
Example: remote diagnostics for regulated plants
This example is illustrative rather than a reported case. A team identifies the conditions needed to win and retain customers.
Observation:Customers need traceable and reviewable recommendations.
Implication:Model governance and expert confirmation are essential.
Observation:Sites operate continuously across regions.
Implication:Service availability and escalation design matter.
Observation:Customers have mixed legacy systems.
Implication:Interoperability becomes a key activity and capability.
From analysis to decision
How to interpret the result
- 1Limit the list to factors that truly distinguish success from failure.
- 2Use evidence from the defined market group.
- 3Connect factors to activities before making sourcing decisions.
The interpretation guidance is an InnovationFlow synthesis of[1][2].
What a useful output looks like
Common pitfalls
- Avoid generic claims such as quality or innovation without definition.
- Separate table stakes from factors that create advantage.
References and method basis
- [1]Probert, D. (1997). Developing a Make or Buy Strategy for Manufacturing Business. Institution of Electrical Engineers. Source ↗Original method source
- [2]Canez, L.E., Platts, K.W. and Probert, D.R. (2000). Developing a framework for make-or-buy decisions. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 20(11), 1313-1330. Source ↗Peer-reviewed research
This guide synthesises the named sources into practical questions for strategy and innovation work. It does not claim that using a tool by itself produces a successful decision.