The Development and Management of the Supply Chain - Coursework Example

The necessity for change in the organizational culture for bringing out the effectiveness of the supply chain management is also discussed. This paper using the qualitative research method analyses the effectiveness of supply chain management on the basis of the activities and capabilities that the organizations seek from their supply chain partners. The research basically supports the argument that effective supply chain management is dependent upon the effective operational and relational competencies of the supply chain partners. However, it is also advocated that collaborative supply chain management challenges the traditional supplier-customer arrangements and changes taking place in the respective organizations largely depend on the correlation of competency of the supply chain partners and the long-term relationship within the supply chain. Recommendations for future studies are also made.


Chapter 1 Introduction

A supply chain consists of all activities associated with the flow and transformation of goods and services from the raw material stage through to the end-user as well as the associated information flows. The supply chain is made up of many interrelated organizations starting with raw material suppliers and including parts and components suppliers, subassembly suppliers, the product or service producer, the distribution channels, and ending with the end-use customer.
1.1 Supply Chain Management

The focus of supply chain management is on managing the flow of goods and services and information through the supply chain in order to attain the level of synchronization that will make the supply chain more responsive to the customer needs and at the same time lowering the costs. Traditionally each segment of the supply chain was managed as a separate entity focused only on its goals. However, in the present day competitive business environment, the ability of a company to enhance its competitive strength is largely determined by the combined capabilities of all of its supply chain members.