All operations produce products and services by changing inputs into outputs using an ‘inputtransformation-output’ process. Put simply, operations are processes that take in a set of input resources which are used to transform something, or are transformed themselves, into outputs of products and services. And although all operations conform to this general input– transformation–output model, they differ in the nature of their specific inputs and outputs. For example, if you stand far enough away from a hospital or a car plant, they might look very similar, but move closer and clear differences do start to emerge. One is a manufacturing operation producing ‘products’, and the other is a service operation producing ‘services’ that change the physiological or psychological condition of patients.