consumer behavior
1. What are the factors that might influence how important purchasing is to an organization? (Ch. 1, question 5)
Several factors are driving an emphasis on supply chain management. First, the cost and availability of information resources between entities in the supply chain allow easy linkages that eliminate time delays in the network. Second, the level of competition in both domestic and international markets requires organizations to be fast,agile, and flexible.
Third, customer expectations and requirements are becoming much more demanding.
Fourth, the ability of an organization’s supply chain to react rapidly to major disruptions in both supply and downstream product or services will lessen the impact on lost sales. As demands increase, organizations and their suppliers must be responsive or face the prospect of losing market share. Competition today is no longer between firms, it is between the supply chains of those firms. The companies that configure the best supply chains will be the market winners and gain competitive advantage.
2. Why are supply chain innovation and risk management two future areas that will consume more of the supply manager’s day?
(1) Supply chain innovation and different supply chains to meet different customer segments will be key to future revenue and market share growth, for example, having different supply chains for short product life cycle cell phones versus mature and longer product life cycle televisions at a consumer electronics firm. In tomorrow’s world, the ability to respond to change will be the price of admission to compete. “Competitive advantage will require agility, while supply chain excellence will be defined by the ability to:
• Anticipate changes worldwide in customer requirements, product offerings, supply conditions, regulations, and competitor actions
• Adapt to the changes by reconfiguring existing supply chains or creatively assembling new ones
• Accelerate implementation of the transformed supply chain to
Several factors are driving an emphasis on supply chain management. First, the cost and availability of information resources between entities in the supply chain allow easy linkages that eliminate time delays in the network. Second, the level of competition in both domestic and international markets requires organizations to be fast,agile, and flexible.
Third, customer expectations and requirements are becoming much more demanding.
Fourth, the ability of an organization’s supply chain to react rapidly to major disruptions in both supply and downstream product or services will lessen the impact on lost sales. As demands increase, organizations and their suppliers must be responsive or face the prospect of losing market share. Competition today is no longer between firms, it is between the supply chains of those firms. The companies that configure the best supply chains will be the market winners and gain competitive advantage.
2. Why are supply chain innovation and risk management two future areas that will consume more of the supply manager’s day?
(1) Supply chain innovation and different supply chains to meet different customer segments will be key to future revenue and market share growth, for example, having different supply chains for short product life cycle cell phones versus mature and longer product life cycle televisions at a consumer electronics firm. In tomorrow’s world, the ability to respond to change will be the price of admission to compete. “Competitive advantage will require agility, while supply chain excellence will be defined by the ability to:
• Anticipate changes worldwide in customer requirements, product offerings, supply conditions, regulations, and competitor actions
• Adapt to the changes by reconfiguring existing supply chains or creatively assembling new ones
• Accelerate implementation of the transformed supply chain to