Supply Chain Management in Ineffective Management - Case Study Example

Li Fung is a China-based company mainly dealing with exports and supply chain management (Magretta, 2015, p.3). Several changes have been done since its establishment in a bid to conform to the recent demands in the supply chain management field.

Globalization has brought about increased interactions among countries on different continents. As such, there has been an increased focus on eliminating some of the most recurrent challenges faced during the conduction of international business such as the language barrier. Organizations conducting international businesses have invested deeply in overcoming language barriers among other challenges leading to the elimination of intermediaries such as interpreters. During the first years of its establishment, Li Fung ripped heavily from interpretation due to the ability of its founder to speak English. However, such a role in the modern-day is seemingly irrelevant hence the need to come up with other strategies to gain a competitive advantage. For instance, Li Fung came shifted focus to the production of full products from the entire region rather than a single product from one place. This increased relevance of the company in the supply chain since an organization could rely on Li Fung to get all necessary materials required at one point. This implies that organizations need to constantly come up with strategies corresponding to market changes in order to prevent elimination.

However, production techniques changed once again hence Li Fung was now charged with the responsibility of managing the entire production process for its clients to come with a finished product. However, changes in economic status in Hong Kong triggered yet another shift to the employment of dispersed production. This shows that market status is heavily dependent on the economy among other external factors. The changes evident in the life span of Li Fung are a clear indicator of the many changes requiring attention taking effect in the supply chain management sector. This implies that supply chain management is an ever-changing sector hence firms specializing in it need to constantly come up with new strategies to overcome the challenges. For example, the great recession of 2008 had adverse effects on many organizations across the globe. Such an incidence requires the employment of new strategies to dilute the economic impact.

Discussion Question: Does the increasing technological advancement have an impact on supply chain management?

Student reply: Advances in technology mainly have positive impacts on supply chain management. The main impact of technology on supply chain management is arguably facilitating effective management of the operations. This is especially in relation to organizations with operations across different countries. For example, communication has been made easier between business parties in different countries. Additionally, technological advancements have improved the general production activities carried out by supply firms such as packing. This improves the quality of products while simultaneously increasing quantities of production. Therefore, technological advancements have impacts on supply chain management especially in relation to bringing improvements.