The objective of this empirical investigation is to gain insights into the operational strategies, practices and characteristics of 130 manufacturing, 61 services and 86 public sector organizations. Based on this survey-based research conducted in the USA, it is concluded that operational lessons learned from the manufacturing experience may improve the operations of service and public sector organizations. In this context, benchmarking manufacturing organizations' operational know-how may prove to be a worthy investment for service and public sector organizations.