Managing International Operations - the European Union - Essay Example

?Managing International Operations Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Overview 3 European Union 3 Supply Chain Management 4 Reverse Logistics 6 References 8 Bibliography 9 Overview Globalisation process in the current economic condition has been influencing organisations to restructure and reinvent their operational framework as well as their strategies in the long run. In order to adapt to the changes caused due to globalisation effects, the organisations have thus been widely implementing advanced and latest strategies to sustain within the competitive market scenario. Contextually, the management of global operations within differential cultures and extended market remains a challenge as well as an opportunity for any international organisation in the current phenomenon in the presence of international treaties and complex processes of Supply Chain Management (SCM) as well as reverse logistics. Based on this particular understanding, the objective of this study is to reflect the importance of the European Union (EU), SCM and Reverse Logistics in maintaining and managing the international operations with the advent of globalisation process. European Union The EU is commonly recognised as a governmental and commercial union that comprises of 27 member states from the European continent (Paquet, 2003). It reflects and provides insights about inter-governmentalism, convergence criteria, supranationalism and other common policies for integration which further shapes the business operations in the global context within the periphery of EU. The EU controls and frames strategies related to problems such as budgetary contributions of the member countries that is reflected through legal membership. For instance, some of the common policies performed by the EU, such as the fisheries policies reflect about the norms and the regulations fixed for member countries concerning with the permit to catch various types of fishes till a given quantity in a controlled manner, restricting the probable inhibition of biodiversity (Paquet, 2003). Additionally, the EU enacted common policies to restrict the Treaty of Lisbon which was allegedly hampering the national sovereignty of the member states in lieu to the integration process of the union (BBC, 2013). Irrespective of the risk of national sovereignty, EU member states avail the benefits of structural fund, trade liaisons outside Europe, and single market opportunities among others (Paquet, 2003). However, the role and the position of every member state is certainly not the same in the EU. For instance, it has often been argued that UK, being a prominent member state of EU has been benefitted by the common policies in terms of international trade relationships. Correspondingly, the nation has also been credited for its tactful measures to protect its national sovereignty. Nevertheless, in the recent political and economic debates, the UK has been witnessed to be suffering in terms of its national sovereignty (BBC, 2013). Supply Chain Management The effective SCM within an organisation helps in managing the upstream as well as the downstream relationships with respect to customers and the suppliers. In this context, it is further admitted that SCM comprises of series of events that are responsible for framing the entire lifecycle of products from conception to their consumption. Additionally, the SCM contributes towards better understanding of the competitive market for an organisation focusing on issues related to its long term sustainability (Ilyas & et. al., 2006). With reference to modern SCM approaches, the application of IT reflects upon the inter-organisational system that helps in the flow of information and the processes crosswise the organisational boundaries. The advent of IT in the global market has resulted in positive impacts over the information sharing among the supply chain partners. The efficient application of SCM has further led towards greater organisational success. For instance, for couple of years, Nokia Company was facing problems with respect to its the profit earning capacity. Despite of its high sales margins, profits earned were considerably low. In order to overcome the problem, Nokia framed and implemented strategies focussing on strengthening its SCM approach as illustrated in the diagram below. Consequently, the application of effective SCM strategies resulted in a substantial increase of its profit margins (Stoerkel & Heck, 2011). Source: (Stoerkel & Heck, 2011) To be mentioned, the generally followed supply chain processes by global organisations are related with advanced technologies, proper planning and critical scrutinizing of future changes in the entire processes among others. Notably, the supply chain planning consists of the policies and regulations that govern the short-term operations of an organisation. Within the global periphery, operations related to supply chain also reflects fixation of time horizon, order generation from individual customer and proper allocation of orders for effective production processes through global sourcing (Ilyas & et. al., 2006). Reverse Logistics Reverse Logistics deals with the flow of goods that are returned to the producers within the supply chain owing to various reasons such as reuse strategies of the company or faulty deliverance of the demanded products/services (Pinna & Carrus, n.d.). In this context, it entails certain advantages as well as certain disadvantages. For instance, where on one hand it helps to obtain customer feedbacks, it also indicates towards the failure of the supplier organisation to satisfy its customers completely. Reverse logistics can also be performed strategically by organisations to reuse the raw materials to prohibit bio-degradation. However, there are certain major differences between forward and reverse logistics. Forecasting of demand on the international basis is relatively an easier process with respect to forward logistics; whereas, in case of reverse logistics, such a strategy is quite difficult to be executed proficiently. In forward logistics distribution points is from one too many. On the contrary, in reverse logistics, distribution point is from many to one. Additionally, maintaining the life cycle of products/services is easier in case of forward logistics as compared to reverse logistics (Pinna & Carrus, n.d.). Stating precisely, reverse logistics impose significant impacts over the bottom line of the supply chain strategies with a radical impact over returns related to the revenue generation capability of an organisation. It has been further revealed that application of Reverse logistics avoids the penalties as well as reduces the implications arising from diminishing profitability. It also helps in protecting customer’s loyalty which further maximizes the ability of an organisation to generate greater revenue from its operations. On the contrary, the process of reverse logistics has often been argued to fail in remaining consistence in an international context. Despite, certain limitations associated with reverse logistics, it has been admitted that the tactful and efficient application of the mechanism often assists an organisation to earn accelerated profits from its operations (Pinna & Carrus, n.d.). References BBC, 2013. Viewpoints: How experts see UK role in EU. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20412306 [Accessed May 17, 2013]. BBC, 2013. Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty. Europe. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6901353.stm [Accessed May 17, 2013]. Ilyas, R. M. & et. al., 2006. Value Chain Relationship- A Strategy Matrix. An International Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 56-72. Pinna, R. & Carrus, P. P., No Date. Reverse Logistics and the Role of Fourth Party Logistics Provider. Reverse logistics: Definition, pp. 91-114. Paquet, D. B., 2003. Passing the Buck: A Critical Analysis of the Readmission Policy Implemented by the European Union and Its Member States. European Journal of Migration and Law, Vol. 5, pp. 359–377. Stoerkel, M. & Heck, A., 2011. Global Trends and Practical Examples of Supply Chain Management within the Mobile Telecommunications Industry. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1309-8063. Bibliography Cavusgil, S. T. & et. al., 2012. International Business: The New Realities This Will Certainly Be Useful for Many of the Issues Covered During the Unit. Read More