Value Chain Essays (Examples)

This makes the task of managing value chains especially difficult.

Opportunities for Improvement in Lockheed Martins' Value Chain

In evaluating how Lockheed Martin can become more effective in its value chain strategies, there is the immediate need to create a more agile platform to base the entire value chain on. The use of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) and the extension of the value chain to services partners globally to handle Maintenance, epair, and Overhaul (MO) tasks is critical. Lockheed Martin expects to see a majority of their revenue from MO throughout the next ten years, and the fine-tuning of their value chains will be essential for this goal to be achieved. In addition, Lockheed Martin needs to consider bringing their customers into the definition and strategic management of value chains, creating advisory councils to ensure their customers' needs are understood and reflected in the process workflows. The bottom line is…

Value Chain in Social Media Monitoring

According to the value chain construct developed by Michael Porter, value is created by an organization through a fairly straightforward yet many-part array of primary and support activities (VBM, 2011). In this model, firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development, and procurement all provide support to the primary activities of an organization, which can generally be broken down into the constituent parts of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and services (VBM, 2011). In the fairly new industry of social media monitoring, the value chain can be somewhat difficult to pin down and may still be solidifying. By examining the value chain in two social media monitoring companies, an idea of how well the industry value chain matches the ideal value chain -- as well as how these two competitors are doing in terms of establishing and solidifying their value chains, and…

Value Chain Analysis: Overview of Two Approaches for Supervisor

In business, no one wants to be at the helm of what is merely termed a supply chain. Rather, a company wants to boast of its having a value chain, a chain that achieves a maximization of the inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and service. Obviously, the ideal is to obtain the maximum value for the company from each process through continual improvement of the product, with a still-vigilant constant eye upon maintaining quality control of all steps of the chain. But different benefits are obtained through a shift in focus from product to process.

By focusing on continuing improvement of company products, the theory is that reductions in costs often come simultaneously. A firm that continuously improving on the value that customers perceive that they get from company products means that the company will also sell more…

Value Chain Analysis

Manufacturing companies create value by acquiring raw materials and using them to produce something useful. etailers' range of products has to be convenient to customers. Activities that an organization engages in should add value to the service and products that an organization produces. This can only be achieved if the activities are run at optimum level (Mind Tools, 2013). For an organization to gain real competitive advantage the value obtained should exceed the costs of running them. Some of the primary activities involved here include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing, and sales. Inbound logistics are goods obtained from an organization's suppliers to be used for producing end products. aw materials and goods are manufactured into final products (Mind Tools, 2013). Value is added to a product as it moves through the production line. Products that have been produced are distributed to distribution centers, wholesalers, retailers, or…

Management in Healthcare

The value chain is a methodology developed in management studies to understand how firms derive value. There are five elements to the value chain -- inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing & sales and service. A company can develop value through any of these, but most companies will focus on just one or two. This leaves room for improvement by developing the other areas of the value chain (MindTools, 2014). This paper will outline how a health care provider can improve its value chain.

Value Chain

The concept of the value chain has been re-imagined for the health care setting, for a couple of reasons. The first is that many providers are non-profit entities, so deriving profits is not a primary objective. The second reason is that value for the patients is an entirely different issue from value for the organization. There are areas of intersection between…

Value Chain of Marathon Oil

When considering the ever-changing and highly competitive global landscape of business today, firms must stay at the cutting edge of their respective fields in order to sustain profitability in the long-term. Accordingly, companies are faced with the continuous task of finding new ways to understand and subsequently accommodate market demands, while simultaneously securing lucrative business models and job environments. The Marathon Oil Corporation and its counterparts in the global petroleum industry are facing a multitude of barriers on the road to the maintenance of profitability. While trying to contend with ever-increasing crude oil prices, Marathon and its cohorts must find a way to maintain competitive prices at the pump. Marathon Oil, along with its subsidiary Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, operates over 6,000 locations spanning across 18 states in the Midwest and Southeast United States (Marathon Oil Corporation, 2008). Therefore, failing to maintain reasonable retail prices for…

Business

Value Chain Management

In 1985, Michael Porter published Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. In this book, he described how organizations can achieve competitive advantage in their industries. Porter's focus in this book was not on an overall competitive strategy, but on what organizations needed to do on a daily basis to achieve results. As Porter (3) stated, "My aim is to build a bridge between strategy and implementation." To create the link between the overall strategy of a firm and how that strategy could be achieved, Porter referred to value. As Porter (3) stated, "competitive advantage grows fundamentally out of value a firm is able to create for its buyers that exceeds the firm's cost of creating it." This focus on value led to the concept of the value chain, which refers to the internal processes that occur as the organization creates its product or service.

Value…

global value chain management is usually affected by various contemporary issues and their trends such as Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing. Six Sigma is an important element in the global value chain management because it's usually deployed as a quality initiative. During this process, Six Sigma projects are often described as spin-offs from high-level business situations that are geared towards lessening the gap between the existing and target process performance. On the contrary, lean manufacturing is a strategy that is increasingly adopted by many businesses in order to minimize costs and lessen waste in light of the effects of the recent economic recession on the global economy. When implemented effectively, lean manufacturing strategies have proven to be effective in improving production processes, lessening waste, and facilitating the adoption of more sustainable business practices by organizations.

Six Sigma and its Trends:

As a quality improvement mechanism, Six Sigma has attracted an…

Tesco's Value Chain Analysis

Value chain is defined as the special links that exists between the key value adding activities as well as their interfaces with all of the supporting activities (Lynch,2003). The concept of value chain has for along time been implied as a very strategic tool for evaluation purposes and is used for the purpose of distinguishing the various strengths as well as weaknesses that exists within the value chain process as noted by Audrestsch (1995).

CHAIN/NETWOK MAP:

Tesco's cost leadership strategic management initiatives are indicated in its agile and lean inbound logistics functions. According to Abeysinghe (2010), Tesco employs is leading market position as well as economies of scope as its main bargaining powers in order to achieve a relatively lower cost from its numerous suppliers. The other factors is the constant upgrading of the company's ordering system, in-store processes as well as approved vendor lists in…

This occurs especially in the area of CM, order management, supply chain management (SCM, and the continual evolution of Enterprise esource Planning (EP) systems as well (aj, Pedersen, 2010). Taken together, these innovations focus on taking one aspect of the value chain and making it much more efficient than it has ever been in the past. In creating that efficiency there is also the potential for revenue uplift to customers as well, thereby creating greater value for them in the process (Leavy, 2010). This approach to innovation makes it extremely valuable for companies who rely on it and Is to run their businesses, and whose companies align with the Porter value chain and who need to operate in a highly coordinate, synchronized manner.

Conclusion

Innovation in it and IS gradual in many of the enterprise software markets due to the resistance to change in many long-standing users of enterprise systems,…

Oftentimes who is wearing a product is worth more than any other form of marketing. For this reason, Billabong has put together an elite team of board sports enthusiasts, from surfing to skateboarding, to snowboarding, to wakeboarding -- the top names all wear and endorse Billabong products. Surfing legends like Andy Irons, Taj Burrows and popular freestyler, asta, make sure the company brands are proudly displayed as they travel the world looking for the perfect wave. Endorsements and use by popular athletes have been the backbone to Billbong's success since Wayne "abbit" Bartholomew began wearing Billabong gear in the 1970s (Carpenter et al., 2010). Today, even a mention in an article that a popular board athlete prefers the brand, such as longboard champion Schuyler McFerran's preference for Billabong wetsuits ("How I hang," 2008), can drive company sales. Yet, all of these values will add up to nothing if distribution too…

Netflix

The value chain at Netflix is as follows. The inbound logistics reflects the content for which Netflix is able to secure distribution rights. The more content, the better the value to the consumer. The operations are mostly behind the scenes, but this is what allows Netflix to manage the physical DVDs in its collection. More importantly these days, operations are what allow for high-quality streaming, without which that line of business would have gone nowhere. ith respect to streaming, operations and outbound logistics are closely linked, the process happening nearly instantly. ith the DVDs, the use of USPS and the policy of not having deadlines work together to provide a positive customer experience. Marketing and sales provides value for Netflix as well, because the company is able to reach its customers, and promote new content to them. A key element of marketing is the queue, something that has attracted…

sugar value chain MORE LABELS

Sugar: it gives us energy, in more ways than one. But this comes at a huge cost that is becoming more recognized, which will eventually have to be tallied up as population growth and resource depletion force humankind to re-evaluate consumption patterns all over the globe. The environmental consequences of sugar production have been apparent for centuries but are growing more urgent as production expands, releasing pesticides, crop pests and pathogens, high nitrogen and phosphorus concentration which poisons soils and water; carbon, dust and pollutant emissions from power generation and refining, coliform bacteria and radiation, to name a few examples (International Finance Corporation 1-8). hile more carbon emissions from sugar production are becoming offset by converting sugar byproducts into biofuels, this has its own consequences. To the list of environmental externalities from processing sugar, increased production drives deforestation with the resulting loss of emissions depletion,…

Value Chain Concept of McDonalds

The concept of value chain is helpful in understanding how business organizations create or lose value across their various activities and operations. This is primarily because value chain is based on the economic principle of competitive advantage over rivals. In this case, business organizations are considered successful by operating in segments where they have a relatively productive advantage as compared to others within the same industry. The significance of value chain in an organization's competitive and productive advantage is because it incorporates a series of activities relating to developing, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing products. An example of a company that has achieved tremendous competitive advantage over its rivals through effective value chain practices is McDonalds' Corporation.

Component of McDonalds Cost Structure

The growth and development of McDonalds Corporation has been characterized by widespread reputation for its value proposition. This value proposition is based on constant…

Lowe's Supply Chain Integration

Lowe's Companies. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina and currently employs approximately 262,000 people as of January 31, 2014, making it one of the largest home improvement retailers in North America (Lowe's Investor Relations, 2014). The company is renowned for its enterprise IT expertise, including integration of a large-scale SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system throughout its globally-based supply chain (Songini, 2002). For Lowe's, supply chain integration is essential to the successful operation of their business model, which includes home decorating products, maintenance and repair products and supplies and an extensive supply chain that provides the foundation for the company to grow its market share in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) consumer market segment. Lowe's has found that integrating their supply chain management and execution systems across the many geographies they source from, in conjunction with integrating to the centralized ERP system, is essential to…

Logistics Planning

Businesses strive to influence product and service differentiation -- fully aware that the phenomenon occurs in the mind of the customer. Additive to differentiation of brands, products, and services, retailers are increasingly focused on differentiation of their stores as shopper destinations (Flint, 2010). Indeed, differentiation is a key element in the microbrewery industry, in which the customers' capacity for making product distinctions is foundational to competitive strategy. As a case in point, this paper will discuss the relation between differentiation and service-supply chain management in the microbrewery industry.

Service-dominant logic. As businesses move away from a product-focused to a customer-centric orientation, a service dominant logic has developed into a throughline (Flint, 2010). That is to say that, upon close examination of business configurations, service and servicing emerge as primary components of the value proposition -- fundamental components of the value chain. For their part, supply chain managers (SCM)…

HP has been able to distinguish itself, despite the increasingly pluralistic industry structure, to stress its ability to provide helpful advice to home customers and small and medium size businesses, thus enhancing its differentiation in the industry, and creating a friendly yet professional image for itself in the minds of consumers. This makes consumers specifically look for HP products, rather than relying on middleperson's advice, and other aspects of the value chain that increases cost and necessitates more advertising dollars to be spent on the part of the company.

The superiority of its support services for current users and its alliance with wireless services such as Noika have enabled it to create new business networks and enhance its competitive scope and advantage in the technology industry. HP has made a commitment to technical innovation in transforming the products sold, by making products cheaper for the consumer and more common by…

FINANCE -- VALUE CHAINS, PORTER'S 5 FORCES AND ECONOMIC ATTRIBUTES

The analyses of The Home Depot and Lowe's will involve value chain analysis, Porters 5 forces framework and economic analysis framework. These three perspectives complement rather than conflict with each other. Furthermore, they view a business internally and externally within a specific industry. The combination of all three perspectives will give an effective "picture" of The Home Depot and Lowe's individually, head-to-head and within their industry.

Value chain analysis -- Information and Value for Financial Analysts

Value chain analysis separates a business into a series of value-generating activities called a "value chain," often including primary and support activities. This assists a financial analyst in discerning which activities a business uses to create a competitive advantage and generate shareholder value. The activities ideally offer more value to customer than cost to the business, causing a profit margin (Internet Center for Management…

Thus risk management in its various guises must be present in the scope, schedule, and spending, and management of any given project. Careful management is necessary for such successful project management and for maximizing the value of our project-based efforts. Above all the management of uncertainty and risk by accepting that spending, scope, scheduling, and management in general may go awry is better than simply ignoring this possibility in today's volatile business climate.

Some of the pitfalls, as discussed in the Critical Chain, of using traditional cost accounting to manage project costs and project investments are a failure to appreciate the impact of a multi-project environment on single project success, and thus a minimization of risk. Also, total risk avoidance can result in projects of too limited a scope that does not do justice to today's business environment. A lack of task dates that are replaced by time buffers are…

Chain of Command

In Vietnam, the rules of engagement were designed to limit the impact of operations in select areas (most notably: North Vietnam). This is because there were concerns that the conflict could escalate. If this were to happen, it was believed that the Soviet Union or China could be drawn into the war. To prevent this and destroy the North's ability to fight, the policy concentrated on: annihilating their supply lines, command / control centers and training South Vietnamese forces to defend themselves. To fully understand how this took place, there will be an emphasis on the limited war ideology and its various assumptions for the six levels of command. Together, these elements will highlight the impact of this policy and its long-term effects. ("Effects of estrictive ules," 1995) (Lewy, 1978)

Soldiers in the field: In the field, the OE became more restrictive as the war continued. This…

Value Stream Mapping Toyota's Global Supply Chain

Toyota is considered one of the world's innovators when it comes to the principles of lean manufacturing. It introduced two concepts which, though they seem self-explanatory, were revolutionary at the time of their introduction. The first concept is called Just-in-Time (JIT). The second concept is called Jidoka. JIT refers to the idea that parts arrive when they are needed; they do not sit on the factory floor. It also refers to the ordering process; the factory does not have a significant overstock of parts; it is stocked with the parts it needs to meet production demands. The concept of Jidoka refers to the idea that automation should not mean losing the human influence on manufacturing. At the Toyota factories, the workers are expected to play a continued role in quality control, so that any worker…

Specifically the use of information technology can be used to streamline communications, enforce business rules, manage knowledge, etc. It can either make existing processes more efficient or enable processes that hitherto were impossible if attempted manually or with archaic technology. The scope of enablement includes internal functional areas as well as the external value chain comprised of vendors and customers. In general, Functions it can help in Permitting communication between value chain activities that could not take place otherwise Making communication situations between value chain activities more effective

Eliminating unnecessary person-to-person communication by making information available through the web or other computerized means

Making communication systematic between the value chain to minimize wasted effort and confusion. For example, it can help in outbound logistics through point-of-sale: (POS) that allows a system that uses barcodes to generate customer bills. Many supermarkets now give their repeat customers an ID card. Using ID…

Measuring IT Value

The progression of how enterprises measure information technologies' (IT) performance has been a progression from inward-centric metrics of performance to advanced analytics that capture contributions to strategic objectives. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) often measure their performance by cost reduction and system consolidation while Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) measure IT by the contribution to new business growth (Trkman, McCormack, de Oliveira, Ladeira, 2010). There are many strategic frameworks that enterprises use to map the contribution of IT, with the Porter value chain being the most prevalent (Porter, 1986). The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the most critical metrics that an enterprise can use to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of IT. These metrics also fuel the methods used to measure toe economic value of an IT department to a given enterprise as well. This aspect of measuring IT value will be defined in addition to evaluating…

4, pp. 262-262-266.

Carter, C.. & ogers, D.S. 2008, "A framework of sustainable supply chain management: moving toward new theory," International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 360-360-387.

Keating, B., Quazi, A., Kriz, A. & Coltman, T. 2008, "In pursuit of a sustainable supply chain: insights from Westpac Banking Corporation," Supply Chain Management, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 175-175-179.

Krause, D.., Vachon, S. & Klassen, .D. 2009, "Special Topic Forum on Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Introduction and eflections on the ole of Purchasing Management*," Journal of Supply Chain Management, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 18-18-25.

Mann, H., Kumar, U., Kumar, V. & Mann, I.J.S. 2010, "Drivers of Sustainable Supply Chain Management," IUP Journal of Operations Management, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 52-52-63.

Pagell, M. & Wu, Z. 2009, "Building a More Complete Theory of Sustainable Supply Chain Management using Case Studies of 10 Exemplars,"…

Whirlpool

Whirl Pool Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

Critical appraisal of Whirlpool's Supply Chain Management

Company Overview

Products and Services

Critical review of Operations

Contribution to business performance

System Changes

Changes in Internal Forecasting Process

usiness Performance Results

Criteria for trade Partner Fit

Competitive advantage

Critical Evaluation of System

Customer Centric-Supply Chain Management System

Collaborative Supply Chain

Whirlpool's production

Current System Changes

Planning and sourcing decisions

Planning

Sourcing

Drawbacks of Whirlpool delivery system

Inventory

Delivery

Factors for taking supply chain management decision

Figure: Supply Chain Performance factors

Gap Analysis

Strategic partnership

Integration

Reduced Cost and Inventory

Future trends in home appliances supply chain management

RFID usage

RFIDs to Individual Products

Vendor Managed Inventories

Challenges for home appliances businesses in managing supply chain

Complex features

Multiple Channels Conflicts

Short life Cycles

Conclusion

ibliography

Executive summary

Whirlpool is renowned as a global electronic appliances manufacturer and marketer. The company's products and…

Executive Summary

This document considers the various points of correlation between human resources, management information systems, and supply chain management in relation to critical IBM concepts of managing an organization. It identifies how these three areas intersect and their long term value for organizations as a whole. Ultimately, they are vital aspects of operations in the contemporary business world.

Introduction

There are a number of eminent facets involved in the management of contemporary organizations. Encompassing a wide range of characteristics, the most notable of these pertain to information technology, resource allocation, and varying elements of procurement. Effecting competitive advantage today no longer requires simply being able to create superior products and services. Instead, there is a growing reliance on both operations and operational efficiency which influences an organization’s overall sustainability. Some of the key facets of operations include the prudent management of human resources, information systems, and supply chain. Organizations…

Organization Behavior

Internal Supply Chain Management

ABOUT HAVEY NOMAN

Harvey Norman is a large scale retail chain owned and operated by Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. It is one of the most successful retailers in the Australian region. It promotes and sells all kinds of consumer products of world's top quality brands. The major product lines include personal computers, cameras, gaming, mobile phones, audio and video players, home appliances, furniture & bedding, gifts, home decoration and interior designing, fitness machines, leisure, etc. Headquartered in New South Wales, New Zealand, Harvey Norman operates with more than 230 stores in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Malaysia, Croatia, Singapore, Slovenia, and Northern Ireland. It was established in 1982 by Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman. The holding company, Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. has also franchised a number of retail chains in Australia; including Space Furniture, Joyce Mayne, Ariston Appliances, Domayne, etc.

Harvey Norman has a wide…

Product and Supply Chain

Because of globalization world economies are increasingly becoming interdependent. The global market forces have made some business enterprises more vulnerable to economic crisis. Manufacturers have to take cognizance of the fact that global food prices are soaring because of supply constrains occasioned by bad weather. Surge in interest rates for investors who depend on bonds to provide a steady yield is an aspect of global market forces. Periods of long ultra-low interest rates steadily erode these investors income. ising interest rates also erode these investors principal. obust growth in emerging markets is a boon for the entire global economy. However, it comes with a price. Soaring inflation in emerging markets is majorly caused by ultra-low interest rates and strong capital flows. This is something that manufacturers in emerging economies have to be wary of. The global economy is becoming more connected. With the complex flows of…

falling into a functional rut. This is exemplified in the approach Kuiper Leda also takes with regard to optimizing lead times throughout the productions scheduling and fulfillment processes as well.

In summary, Kuiper Leda has many of the foundational processes, systems and roles in place to enable an efficient demand-driven supply chain network (Barrett, 2007), including the ability to synchronize suppliers, inbound quality management and inspection, production scheduling, manufacturing, and fulfillment. The maturation from MP to EP is evident in the same factors which illustrate how the company is becoming more adept at accomplishing its lean manufacturing objectives, beginning with attainment of JIT. Outsourcing excess demand for the ECUs also indicates a relatively high level of process maturity, knowledge management (Ferdows, 2006) and quality management expertise as well (Yamazaki, 2003). Kuiper Leda shows the potential to scale into more collaborative processes with their suppliers, opening up the opportunity to create…

The Black & Decker DOM system aligns with the Distributed Order Management (DOM) Hierarchical Model shown in Figure 1 as is shown in the Appendix of this study. This model conceptually illustrates how the Black & Decker supply chain, DOM, and distribution networks are integrated with each other (Johnson, 2003, et.al.).

The Data Services of Black & Decker, as defined by its customer- and shipment history databases, anchor the model, followed by Application Services, Presentation Services, and a separate Presentation Services specifically for Internal and External Constituents of the logistics provider.

The Master Data Services component is where Black & Decker 'normalizes and synchronizes data on customers, products, accounts, and suppliers is the primary building block. There are several techniques Black & Decker relies on building a system of record from database consolidation to the development of virtual objects that are a composite of various systems. egardless of the overall…

Supply Chain Integration

How Defining Supply Chain Standards Can Improve Integration and Performance

Supply chains by their very nature of often disorganized, lack a cohesive data model or taxonomy for sharing information and knowledge and over time can become exceptionally myopic and inward centered. When these conditions exist in conjunction with dominant firms who seek to create their own unique, proprietary supply chain integration standards, the fragmentation or balkanization of an entire industry and its value chain often occurs (Jayaraman, Rardin, uyurgan, et.al. 2011). Nascent efforts to resolve this issue have been taken on by industry standards organization RosettaNet (Thibodeau, 2002), yet this organization's focus has only been on the high technology industry. The Enterprise Integration Act of 2002 (Thibodeau, 2002) looks to create a more unified series of integration standards so that the fragmentation of supply chains does not occur.

How Government-Defined Standards Will Improve Supply Chain Management

For…

Supply Chain Integration

Defining Integrated Supply Chains in the 21st Century

Collaboration and the ability to orchestrate complex purchasing, procurement, quality management and fulfillment strategies typify integrated supply chains today. These lessons learned and more are found in the article, Integrated Supply Chains to be Explored (Johnson, 2007). Also alluded to in the article is the concept of having a 360 degree view of global supply chains, with the added benefit of being agile enough to adapt to business models that are changing rapidly in the marketplace (Johnson, 2007). These concepts are only a partial definition of what an integrated supply chain is in the 21st century. This paper defines in greater detail what an integrated supply chain is today, where it is going in the future, and what the key elements and challenges are to creating and successfully managing one over the long-term. Presented in the following sections is…

supply chain challenges facing the company which the chosen application addresses.

4(b) Explain how the chosen application addresses these supply chain challenges

8Q2"IT should be considered as an integral part of the supply chain re-engineering process." Discuss this statement using appropriate references from the course module. Case studies or other source material.

(a) The major supply chain challenges facing the company which the chosen application addresses.

The Levi Strauss e-business and supply chain integration

Levi Strauss is a firm that was very successful and competitive in the manufacture of denim jeans. Like several other companies, it faced a lot of competition and changes in the market conditions. This subsequently led to a decline in its sales and profitability. The company's sales were at a peak value of $1.7 billion in 1996 (Leon-Pena 85). This later declined to about $4.1 in 2002 as pointed out by Girard (Girard). The corporation realized…

Supply Chain

The Current State, Objective and Future Trends of isk and disruption management in supply chains

States and Trends of isk and Disruption Management in Supply Chains

After suffering for years, managers' gain ground in supporting supply and demand market of today, yet the effective assessment of managing risk as well as disruption is still an active conversation amongst project managers. Management takes a new position and arranges new strategies to support potential critical paths in product development and distribution. The supply chain is now global, thanks to the help of the internet, and thus needs active plans to support the future growth of distribution of products to a diverse and otherwise complex sociological environment. By evaluating the current state, revealing potential trends and discussing the support of potential disruptions, a better understanding for problem solving and preventative measures will ensue.

Current State

The current state of affairs for…

business clusters and supply chains, first supply chain must be properly defined. A supply chain comprises of all parties either indirectly or directly involved, performing actions that satisfy a customer demand. Supply chains include several parts that work together to supply the customer. The manufacturer and suppliers are in one part of the chain with retailers, transporters, warehouses, and customers being in the other end. The supply chain includes all the processes necessary to get the desired product or service into the hands of the consumer. A good example of this is milk production. The farmers involved in supplying the milk to the consumers must first deal with packagers, followed by distributors, then shippers, and finally vendors who sell the product, in this case, a carton of milk, to the consumer.

Supply chains are managed by several individuals and bodies involved in business. Utilizing the model of milk, the supply…

Business easons for Supply Chain

Business easons for the Supply Chain Management

There are many factors or reasons why companies choose to invest in and grow their supply chains over time. The intent of this paper will be to analyze the most common reasons why supply chain management is such a critical part of any business strategy today. Managing supply chains effectively can mean the difference between launching a new product on time and at a high quality level

(Amini, Li, 2010), in addition to managing high variability in demand for a given product or service as well (Georgiadis, Tsiakis, Longinidis, Sofioglou, 2010). Supply chains are indispensible for managing any business effectively, across all manufacturing and service sectors.

Better Demand Management

Supply chains are a critical part of the complete value chains of a business and often the make the difference of their being able to fulfill demand or not…

The Helferich analysis also supports the findings of other researchers as well in the area of supply chain risk management and security. It has been found that the supply chain design characteristics of complexity of logistics and information sharing, node criticality, density of supply chain partnerships geographically and from a product perspective all influence the capacity for risk mitigation and minimization (Craighead, Blackhurst, ungtusanatham, Handfield, 2007). Simply put the greater the complexity of a supply chain and its logistics and collaboration functions the greater the need to have an agile, parallel-based supply chain and sourcing strategy in place (Stecke, Kumar, 2009). The need for an integrated framework is crucial if supply chains are able to anticipate and react quickly to disruptions, whether they are from natural disasters or acts of terrorism (Peck, 2005). The need then is for a framework that put agility ahead of formality and response times ahead…

Starbucks Supply Chain Needs: Coffee vs. Tea

There is an intrinsic difference in the supply chain needs of Starbucks in regards to its production of coffee (which is largely based on its access to, refinement and transportation of coffee beans) and that of tea (which hinges upon the access to, processing and manufacturing of tea leaves into tea bags). The principle difference in the these needs explicitly related to Starbucks has to do with the quantities involved -- Starbucks is principally a coffee company, and produces considerably more coffee beans than it does tea bags as a result. Therefore, its supply chain needs for tea will always be considerably less so than for coffee, a fact which is most notably underscored by the reality that as of 2010, the organization had five coffee roasting plants owned by the organization in the four corners of the continental U.S. versus a single…

supply chain integration important to organizations?

Proper supply chain integration allows organizations to save both time and money. A "totally integrated supply chain enables an end-user to more efficiently and cost-effectively manage manufacturing, inventory, and transaction costs" through streamlining (Sims 2013). With an integrated supply chain "every aspect of the supply chain process -- including acquisition, storage, logistics, installation, post-shipment support, and information systems" is focused upon "eliminating redundancy of effort and cost, and improving service levels" (Sims 2013). For example, by having the manufacturing department in constant dialogue with the companies providing inventory and providing up-to-the-minute information on the parts that are needed, companies can reduce the need for high levels of inventory and thus contain costs. Lower inventory reduces the risk of product obsolescence and waste (which occurs when too much inventory builds up) or, conversely the company losing revenue if it is under-stocked.

However, effective supply chain…

Supply chain professionals who seek to transform supply relationships need to think beyond pricing competition or availability constraints and think how they can turn knowledge into a competitive advantage over time. This is a long-term strategy yet it does deliver higher quality products over time and streamlines quality management initiatives as well.

For supply chain professionals there is also the continual battle of inbound audits of product quality and the commitment from suppliers to meet or exceed the quality standards as defined as part of the strategic framework both agree to. Navigating product audits can range from the relatively simple, as is the case in low-end manufacturing to the very complex and demanding, highly precise medical products auditing processes. Medical products can be audited at any time during their production cycle, which makes supplier management and quality standards all the more crucial. For the supply chain professional, they must continually…

The keystone species of this ecosystem is pricing and the systems to support their definition, management and exception management. Pricing as the keystone specifics of selling and service systems also acts as a catalyst of the quantity and profitability of transactions. Pricing also acts as the defining element of how elastic or inelastic demand for products will be as well. Pricing is so potent as a keystone species it can communicate in an instant what the value of an entire business is. Consider the pricing for a diamond ring that is real, over 4 karats large, versus a cubic zirconium imitation and the example becomes very clear. The price of a Yugo car vs. A new Mini also shows this point, and even in commoditized products pricing still sends a very clear message of implied value and market position.

The information ecology of a selling and service ecosystem also requires…

Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy by Michael Porter

Michael Porter first published his article about his ideas regarding competitive forces in the Harvard Business Review in 1979. Since that time his ideas have become mainstream and a component of nearly every business curriculum available today. Porter rewrites his article on competitive forces every few years for the Harvard Business Review and provides updated content and new examples of how his model still applies to the modern business environment. The five forces that he includes in his model are (1) the barriers to entry in the industry; (2) the bargaining power of the suppliers; (3) the threat of any substitute products; (4) the bargaining power of buyers; and (5) the level of rivalry among companies within any given industry. When these forces are intense, it is argued that there is generally less room for profitability and the structure of the industry…

Shared value as a business approach is integral in conducting business because it both creates economic value and societal benefit. Businesses create shared value when they can make profit while also meeting important social needs like improving environmental performance, reducing health related problems, improving nutrition, reducing disability among other factors. When businesses create shared value to make profit and meet societal needs. Shared value should not only be thought of in the context of doing more good. It also encompasses aspects of capitalism (Driver, 2011). Capitalism has relegated many important aspects of society like improvement of environmental performance, safety, and focus on the local community to the periphery of the business operations because of a notion that these are social and not business related activities. The shared value concept includes all these social items into capitalism. For profit firms that engage in these social activities stand to gain a lot…

An Overview and Explication of the Importance of Organizational Supply Chains
Although every organization has one, far too many companies of all sizes and types fail to analyze their supply chain in order to identify opportunities for reducing input, warehouse and transportation costs and optimizing the delivery of products and services to end consumers. To help determine the facts, the purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of supply chains and why they are critically important for all organizations. Including a description of a value chain and the corresponding flow of structure, the type of inputs and outputs that are typically used in supply chains and a discussion concerning inventory points and forecasting. In addition, a description of sourcing activities and associated risks as well as the implications of locations and logistics are also provided. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the importance of…

Question One

As for how one company can be part of both the internal and external supply chain networks, this is actually easier than it seems to be. The external supply chain refers to factors such as political, economic, technological and geographical. Internal refers to the departments and machines that go into getting items and supplies to where they go. An easy example of a situation where a company obviously and extensively touches both, one can speak about Fedex or UPS. If the supply chain of those companies is not working well, there will be obvious implications of both an internal and external supply chain nature as the consequences will relate to both getting the job done and to the political factors that come with not getting the job done properly. To use a less obvious example, a volcano erupting would create havoc for both methids since it is a…

Transitioning of the Defense Transportation System Toward Complementing Best Practices in Supply Chain Management Efficiently and Securely

Distribution managers need to appreciate that management of defense supply chains is a rapidly-growing global phenomenon, with an overlap existing in management levels; right from the strategic national-level stakeholders to lower sustainment units at the activity levels. Strategic distribution changes have the potential of immensely impacting tactical implications. This paper aims to help address a few important precepts required for globally receptive logistics decisions. Distribution and material managers ought to review and internalize defense supply chains early on in the course of their career. The process of distribution is complex. Thus, material distribution management must include electronically sustainable supply-chain information systems for realizing true synchronization. After all, defense transport systems are CAS's (Complex Adaptive Systems) integrating comprehensive, dynamic components, and aim at discussing complex supply-network systems together with their co-evolutionary, dynamic processes. A…

Dresser-Rand has an established reputation in the world of energy conversion. In recent years the company has incorporated e-business solutions into the company's overall business strategy. The purpose of this discussion is to develop a business model for a customer relationship management and supply chain management system to support Dresser-Rand's e-business. Before we can develop a business model, we must clearly define the terms; business model, customer relationship management and supply chain management.

Defining Terms

An article entitled "Business Models on the eb" explains that a business model contains the techniques that a business utilizes to maintain and produce a profit. The article also explains that "the business model spells-out how a company makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chain...Internet commerce will give rise to new kinds of business models." ("Business Models on the eb") A business model is the most essential component in creating…

Strategic Management Class: Corporate Social Responsibility and Value

What are the problems and challenges with creating value in the supply chain?

Supply chain managers face a number of challenges as they strive to create value in the chain they manage. Increasing challenges have hampered ways of creating and maintaining efficient and effective supply chain activities. Cost control occurs as a prominent challenge for most businesses. The escalating operational costs fueled by the rising freight/energy costs, increasing labor rates, and rising commodity prices have made created a major hurdle in the supply chain. Planning and risk management also occur as a challenge in creating value in the supply chain. Redesigns and periodic assessments of risk factors are essential for staying productive and efficient in the business. Creating value implies that customers should be satisfied right from the timing, quantity, and quality of goods and services provided. However, fulfilling the aspects mentioned…

Clusters and Supply Chain Management

Managing and Improving Business

Clusters, or geographic concentrations of businesses that are linked together and create competitive success in their industry, exhibit three broad characteristics: Physical proximity, core competencies, and relationships. Clusters are beneficial to each of the businesses involved, and play a significant role in how a company is able to create a niche in their competitive advantage strategy. The communication and involvement between linked companies creates a significant growth in competition, productivity, innovation, and coordination improvement, and trust building (DeWitt, Giunipero, & Melton, 2006).

Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of intertwined businesses and stakeholders that are involved with a product or service (Harland, 1996). The process of supply chain management involves all firms in the integration process and process of building long-term relationships. In the development of involving the members with the integration, as well as strengthening long-term relationships, all those…

espoused the fact that "a supply chain consists of many organizations acting together, with each organization dependent on the performance of other organizations in the chain" (Xu, Beamnon, 2006, p. 4). Based on this definition the problems arising within Potters, a company specializing in product sourcing of construction materials, are not just the concern of the company, but the various organizations that are affected by the problems as well. The authors of the article further state, "coordination within a supply chain is a strategic response to the challenges that arise from these dependencies" (Xu, 2006, p. 4).

The first event to take place, therefore, would be to examine the problem in a head-on fashion to determine what exactly is taking place. Deriving the problem from that examination should lead to further discussions, and the results of those discussions will lead to discovering a solution to the supply chain problems.

The…

In reality, entire segments of the value chains of these companies, and a core part of how they promised to deliver value, was erroneous or only partially true. After the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act and full auditing of the Enron finances it became clear that there were multiple sets of financial records, each designed for a specific audience (Petrick, Scherer, 2003). What had happened is that the undefined, ambiguous and difficult-to-audit areas of the value chain, left unchecked, began to gravitate into unethical practices and reporting to further support the unrealistic projections of profit (Petrick, Scherer, 2003). The same dynamic occurred at Tyco, MCI and others. Arthur Anderson was responsible for the auditing of the Enron financials and was guilty by association, perpetuating the fraud involved in the massive operations underway (Petrick, Scherer, 2003).

Conclusion

In analyzing these companies who rise and fall so quickly, key lessons can…

Wal-Mart and the Delivery of Superior Customer Value

The paper will identify Wal-Mart's value proposition and their strategies for optimizing communications and delivering superior customer value.

esearches will be made on the Wal-Mart, the history of Wal-Mart and their status on customer service, market and organizational responsiveness and how they create/deliver superior customer value.

The paper will review the strategies and methodologies, which are used by the management of the Wal-Mart regarding the delivery of the customer values.

The findings and researches will be used to identify the methodologies, which the Wal-Mart's management follow in delivering the superior customer value.

The analysis of the Wal-Mart's success history and its relative background will be further presented in the paper, a conclusion will also be added in order to provide the reader with the overall analysis of the study.

In order to comment on the strategies of Wal-Mart's management regarding superior customer…

Product Returns is a third process area that Imperial Tobacco has to contend with, specifically from its distributors and channel partners. Typically Tobacco products are returned if a specific lot of tobacco or packaging has been found to be defective. There have at times been product recalls as defined by governments. A third reason for product returns is when a product has been discontinued and Imperial is not willing to pay price protection to cover the distribution partners' inventory carrying costs until they are sold. The Product Returns process begins with the issuance of a Return Material Authorization (RMA) that specifically states how much of a given product is being returned and for what reason.

The RMA is then sent to the distributor who then ships back the tobacco products to Imperial. Once the products have arrived back at the company, if they are defective, they are sent to Quality…

Transitioning of the Defense Transportation System Toward Complementing Best Practices in Supply Chain Management Efficiently and Securely

Distribution managers need to appreciate that management of defense supply chains is a rapidly-growing global phenomenon, with an overlap existing in management levels; right from the strategic national-level stakeholders to lower sustainment units at the activity levels. Strategic distribution changes have the potential of immensely impacting tactical implications. This paper aims to help absorb a few important precepts required for globally receptive logistics decisions. Distribution and material managers ought to review and internalize defense supply chains early on in the course of their career. The process of distribution is complex. Thus, material distribution management must include electronically sustainable supply-chain information systems for realizing true synchronization. After all, defense transport systems are CASs (complex adaptive systems) integrating comprehensive, dynamic components, and aim at discussing complex supply-network systems together with their co-evolutionary, dynamic processes. The…

Amazon

How is data different from information? How is information different from knowledge? How knowledge is different from experience? hat are examples of each?

Data can be thought of in different ways but one explanation is that computers dwell in data, a building block for storage and retrieval. In this analogy, information would be the aspect that is able to give data the meaning and context needed, at which point, the human process of using data and information to build knowledge which can eventually lead to the broader concept of wisdom, which represents creating principles, or patterns, from knowledge (Doyle, 2014)

The Company chosen is Amazon for the following questions.

Using a company of your choosing as an example, detail the components of their value chain? hich components comprise the primary activities? hich components comprise the support activities? hat is the extended value chain?

Amazon has grown to an online…

Tredegar Industries Analysis: Connecting With the Value Chain

Summary of the Case

Tredegar Industries has emerged as a conglomerate that has the potential to expand globally in the plastics, aluminum and vinyl, and energy segments they compete in today predominantly in the U.S. The case study indicates that they have also had extensive investments throughout technology early-venture funds including their Tredegar Investments. The intent of this fund is to invest in communications, IT and life sciences technologies. Molecumetrics Ltd. Is another acquisition that also adds to the conglomerate-based approach Tredegar is taking to growth. The case study indicates that profitability as measured by Net Income continues to increase, yet there is little progress in the more niche-based markets the company initially invests in yet sees only small to non-significant growth. The reset on strategies is a step in the right direction yet not enough, as the conglomerate still lacks a…

Integration of Anti-Counterfeit Technology in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

Organisational Background

ationale for Strategic Action Plan

Strategic Aims and Objectives

Levers and Obstacles

Analysis of Internal Capabilities -- Strengths and Weaknesses

Trends and External Forces -- Opportunities and Threats

Stakeholder Influence

Strategic Action Plan

Key Actions, Actors, and esponsibilities

Timeline and Milestones

Cost Analysis

isk and Barriers

Mechanisms to Track Progress

Organisational Background

The organization, Cure Pharmaceutical (Cure), operates in the pharmaceutical industry's drug delivery technology segment. Cure is considered a small pharmaceutical company with revenues of one hundred and fifty million. A technology designed by the firm enables patients to take medications without water. This patented Oral Thin Film Technology (OTF) is small, light and occupies much less space after packaging. The technology can be shipped in single dose form or in bulk rolls to the site of patient care. Cure's core business integrates generic drugs that are an…

Logistics

The manufacturing of products such as cars or computers has shifted from take-what-you-get to made- to-order. Identify three ways this change has been beneficial to the logistics management process?

The shift from assembly line manufacturing to a wide variety of mixed mode manufacturing techniques including assemble-to-order, build-to-order, configure- and engineer-to-order are all predicated on highly responsive, agile logistics and supply chain processes (oehrich, Parry, Graves, 2011). Three ways this has been very beneficial for the logistics management process include the following.

First, mixed mode manufacturing and the wide variation in to-order strategies continually forces new constraints on logistics and supply chain systems that require immediate interpretation of demand signals and a shift in procurement and sourcing priorities (Volling, Matzke, Grunewald, Spengler, 2013). Second, the role of logistics and supply chain analytics and reporting become essential for optimizing the variety of mixed mode manufacturing systems and environments (oehrich, Parry, Graves,…

EBay Contracting Case

eBay Creates value not by actually producing, distributing, or selling any goods and services, but rather by facilitating this sale through its online site. This is a service provision of sorts, however it is a service that depends on their being another buyer and another seller at both ends of the service and would be considered simply a supportive element of the value chain in a more traditional construction (QuickMBA, 2012). As a facilitator of the sale of goods in a more traditional setting, eBay creates value by matching buyers with sellers in a secure environment that optimizes price for all involved in the auction model (Case, n.d.). Although the company only serves as a facilitator and thus avoids many contracting issues, there are still potential problems that eBay could face. Because the company offers a guarantee of a certain measure of security to both buyers and…

However, asking specific, open-ended questions about what the individual actually eats at Subway yields more interesting data than simply asking him or her if health is a question when ordering -- perhaps he gets a highly caloric meatball sub, and feels comforted that Subway is a 'diet restaurant.' In contrast, an individual with small children who frequents fast food restaurants might be marked as an unhealthy eater in a closed-question quantitative study if he or she is merely asked 'do you go to fast food restaurants that sell burgers more than three times a week?' That individual might order a salad at McDonald's while her children get happy meals, while someone who goes to Subway and orders the unhealthy food options will not have his or her food choices adequately recorded. A more accurate portrait of different ways of patronizing restaurants and what was consumed on the premises would be…