STRATEGIC SUPPLY MANAGEMENT - Essay Example

The corporation has even created Emirates Engineering department for its strategic SCM structure so that this division can ensure that the operations of the company are effectively managed and the latest IT systems are integrated with precision as well. Hence, Emirates Airline has even capitalised on its value chain framework so that it can always remain ahead of its competitors by providing the customers with excellent quality travelling experience. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction of Supply Chain Management (SCM) 4 Findings and Analysis 5 Brief overview of SCM in Aviation Industry 6 Background of Emirates Airline 8 Detailed analysis of SCM framework at Emirates Airline 9  SCM Network of Emirates Airline 12 Value Chain of Emirates Airline 12 Information Technology (IT) and SCM 13 Challenges encountered by Emirates Airline in SCM 14 Conclusion and Recommendations 15 Appendix I – SCM network of Emirates Airline 17 Appendix II – Value Chain framework of Emirates Airline 18 References 19 Introduction of Supply Chain Management (SCM) Globally, it has been observed that the trade barriers have been reduced, free markets have been created due to market liberalisation, financial markets have been integrated on international level and huge level advancements have taken place in the field of technology.

As a result, globalisation has created intense competition in various countries and the customers are provided access to a wide range of product and service offerings. One of the most effective developments has been in the field of technology that has minimised the communication and business transaction gaps for the companies that have widespread operations across the world (Bhardwaj & Mitra, 2010). It has been stated by Seghal (2011) that majority of the large corporations such as Unilever, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive, Emirates Airlines, Sony, Apple, Microsoft, LG, Nokia, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and others have expanded their business operations in international markets.

The crucial drivers of their robust expansion strategy are the declining trade barriers, easy movement of capital, people and goods across the countries and the latest IT systems that ensure proper integration of their operations. However, production, logistics and supply chain systems have become highly integrated and the companies are able to properly align their efficient supply chain strategy with the business strategy (Christopher, 2011). At times organisations are faced with unfair payment terms which leads to other problems.

One such case is of the construction firm in which the latest payment terms announced by the firm is 65 to 120 days (Gilbert, 2013). These types of payment terms are unfair and can prove to be a major challenge. Supplier payment terms should be feasible and convenient for both the firm and the supplier, working on unfair terms and that too highly difficult terms may cause future work to be halted. Economic crisis may be present in one region or the other and the economic crisis situation impacts the supply chain activities to a very large extent.

The crisis may cause disruptions which may affect the business operations on a long term basis. According to a recent survey, it has been depicted that around 63 percentage of organisations that are considered to be large organisations have undergone supply chain disruptions,. This survey was