Strategic Supply Chain Management - Coursework Example

Download file to see previous pages All countries, irrespective of developed, developing or underdeveloped, are currently in the run for attracting FDI as much as possible. Companies, on the other hand, are looking for cheap labor-oriented countries when they wanted to produce something and wealthy countries when they wanted to sell something. For example, many companies are currently selecting India and China as their manufacturing destinations and America and Europe as their selling destinations. Under such circumstances, strategic supply chain management is getting prominence in the business world at present.
Even though industries and academia are giving huge importance to supply chain management (SCM), strategic supply chain management (SSCM) and its principles are taken lightly by the business world until recent times. The definition of SCM is quite familiar to the business world; however, the same thing cannot be said about the definition of SSCM. According to Ming-Hon Hwang (2010), “SSCM refers to a situation in which its members always realize the whole direction and strategy when a supply chain carries out various functional activities to achieve a competitive advantage and long-term profit-making position among supply chains in the same industry”(p.127).
The automobile industry, especially the car industry is currently facing heavy competition. In order to overcome the competition, car manufacturers have to make strategic long-term decisions regarding the location of their principal assembly plants. Such decisions have to account for many factors including, for example, markets, production sequencing, levels of investment and relationships with suppliers. 
“Supply chains are value-adding relations of partially discrete, yet inter-reliant, units that cooperatively transform raw materials into finished products through sequential, parallel, and/or network structures” (Hult et al., 2007, p.1035). ...Download file to see next pagesRead More