Operational excellence is achieved through continuous improvement, collaborative decision-making, employee empowerment, and a culture of innovation. It requires clear objectives, a plan to achieve objectives, and accountability. These same elements are also key to effective strategy and innovation. Achieving operational excellence, strategy, and innovation requires considering internal factors like culture and processes as well as external pressures from the economic, political, social, and technological environment. It can be modeled through elements like leadership and culture, process design and execution, partnerships, and technology integration.