Competing supply chains, impact

Thus far, we have focused on alternate performance metrics and associated supply chain architecture. Now we will consider the impact of competitors who independently make decisions to maximize their performance. The presence of competitors may often benefit individual customers but may also decrease the profitability of supply chain entities. A key concept is that competing supply chains generate equilibrium results, in which each supply chain makes decisions independently, anticipating but not knowing decisions by competitors. There are several ways that supply chains affect the competing choices and performance of a given supply chain. 

But what is the impact of all of this used clothing It is very difficult for the local Afiican textile industry to compete with the economics of this supply chain. As a result, the local apparel industries in many African countries have been devastated. What started off as a noble gesture of charity is transformed by the global supply chain to have the opposite impact in another part of the world. 

The reuse of products in secondary markets also entails some challenges for manufactorers, retailers, and even researchers. The availability of used products with lower prices in the market that compete directly with new products, the pricing of those new products, and frequency to upgrade ver-simis of a product are some of the topics that are the subject of concern for manufacturers. When e-commerce is the only source of contact with the customers, the customer service is totally dependent on the supply chain logistics. Thus, the continued process improvement, development of innovative software applications, and cost reductions become critical to compete in the current aggressive internet markets. Issues such as the impact of secondary markets in the supply chain, the impact on the strategy of original manufacturers, and retailers are topics of research interest. 

Supply Chain Management - the "Right" Way Different views of SCM Examples of the impact of the supply chain in competing... 

The concept of core competency is important to SCM. Traditional views of roles in the supply chain are giving way to new views. Chapter 18 describes the emerging model for supply chain partnerships. The traditional and emerging models reflect the impact of both cost reduction and competence building in the evolution of supply chain partnerships. 

One of the most successful and well-known internet retailers is Amazon.com. In less than 10 years of existence, they have become a retailing giant with 2002 revenue of nearly 4 billion, coming entirely from online sales. They neither manufacture the products they sell, nor maintain a traditional retail channel. They participate in a supply chain that includes product manufacturers (Random House, HarperCollins, Sony, etc.) that are separate entities from the traditional retailers (Barnes Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks, etc.) against which Amazon competes. The pricing decisions made by new, online retailers will have an important impact on the performance of all the members of the supply chain. 

We discuss this last view in depth in this book. This is not intended to lessen the importance of the other views. But those views are subordinated to the strategic context in which implementation projects are conducted. All projects to implement a new supply chain or to change an existing one will affect the organization s ability to compete. This impact is better planned than left to chance. We present what we hope are valuable tools for putting the supply chain to work strategically. 

What capabilities can local suppliers in high-cost countries develop if they are to effectively compete against overseas suppliers in low-cost countries Discuss how each capability impacts the level of inventory in the supply chain. 

Supply chain and operations departments have the distinct capability of impacting a corporations financial performance from several vantage points. Moreover, they are in a position to carry out the corporation s mission and business strategies, enabling the company to compete in the marketplace. It has also been demonstrated that revenue streams, material cost, use of assets, and resultant cash flows are greatly affected by supply chain and operations activities. This chapter summarizes and connects many of the ideas presented in this book and where supply chain and operations managers can make substantive improvements within their companies. 

W. Ke and K.K. Wei (Trust and Power Influences in Supply Chain Collaboration) looked at the issue of information sharing from a socio-political perspective. They distinguished between two types of trust - competence and benevolence, and five types of non-coercive power, and studied their impact on firm s predisposition to sharing information and know-hows. They identified competence-based trust as more important for know-how sharing. 

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