1. Study the networked supply chain concept as implemented by Cisco. What are its strengths and weaknesses? Cisco Systems, Inc. is an IT company that specializes in the selling of networking and communication products and services. It is a B2B company where they sell its products primarily to large enterprises and telecommunications service providers, but it also markets products designed for small businesses and consumers such as routers, modems, and home network management software. The products and services aim to transport data, voice and video communication within buildings and campuses as well as around the globe. The services include routing, switching, home networking internet protocol telephony, optical networking, security, …show more content…
Would you agree that Cisco’s problems were largely caused by inherent defects in the company’s systems? Or possibly was it just because they had failed to forecast a market downturn? Give reasons to justify your stand. Cisco not only failed to forecast a market downturn and also reportedly its problems were largely caused by inherent defects in the company systems. Below are some of the reasons why Cisco landed in financial trouble in early 2001. There were several factors that play a part for Cisco’s crisis in early 2001. But the main culprit was the misalignment of Cisco’s interest with this of its contract manufacturers which leaded to communication breakdown in the overall supply chain process. Stanley et al., (p.10, 2007) mentioned that “a supply chain is made up of a series of linked company-level value chains where communication up and down the supply chain can help build processes that enable the entire chain to make and deliver winning products and services”. Cisco’s Supply Chain Structure Reportedly, analysts mentioned that Cisco’s supply chain structured like a pyramid. Based on Figure 2 below, there were quite a number of contract manufacturers on the second tier who were responsible for final assembly and they were dependent on large sub-tier companies for components such as processor chips and optical gear. And in turn, those companies were dependent on an even larger base of commodity
Arntzen, B. C., G. G. Brown, T. P. Harrison, L. L. Trafton. 1995. Global supply chain management at Digital Corporation. Interfaces 25(1) 69-93.
In 1995, John Chambers joined Cisco Systems as president and CEO. After six years under the supervision of Chambers, the company went from generating $2.2 billion in annual sales to $22.3 billion. As a result of the market downturn in 2001, the company suffered its first loss and laid off 18% of its workforce. Chambers quickly realized Cisco was in need of significant organizational restructuring if Cisco were to survive and thrive the downtown. This change shifted the company from a decentralized firm that only focused its three work silos of Marketing, Engineering and Sales to segregated and specific customer groups to a centralized firm that focused on collaboration and relevant technologies for given customer groups. This
The reason 2013 intangible assets make up more of the total assets compared to 2013 intangible assets is due to the NDS acquisition that occurred in 2013
BPOC was set up in the late 2002. BPOC was a cross-functional decision-making group created to set and drive corporate priorities for the company. The role of the BPOC was like the COO. BPOC had full formal authority to approve any IT initiatives. Though it did not fund the IT projects, it approved them. BPOC was created to set and drive the corporate priorities for
1a. How did Cisco find itself in trouble with regard to its intended IT prior to Brad Boston's arrival?
The nature of the market structure and demand of Cisco Systems is its business market which contains fewer but larger companies. For Cisco Systems, this implies that even though they have fewer clients than other companies, they still have a good and profitable relationship with their clients. For the customers of Cisco Systems, this implies that they will receive better and faster service and products because they don’t have to compete for the attention and service of Cisco Systems.
Read the profile of Boeing and the company’s 787 Dreamliner found in your textbook. This profile serves as an excellent example of how a company used an infrastructure change to improve its supply chain. In making this improvement, which of the five ways of implementing an infrastructure change, identified in section 10.6 of your text, did Boeing employ? Do a little research on your own to identify a company that has used the second main approach (i.e., a structural change) commonly employed by organizations to improve their supply chains. Write a brief profile of the company you’ve selected following the pattern of the Boeing profile you’ve just examined. The profile should be one to two pages
3) What grade would you give Cisco for managing that evolution? Good or a bad? Why?
The presence of such a label, however, has to be indicated to the router/switch. In the case of Ethernet frames this is done through the use of EtherType values 0x8847 and 0x8848, for unicast and multicast connections respectively.[1]
The strategies and the structures of the supply chains are amazing at some points. But there are shortcomings too. These major organizations have always tried to provide their customers with products of excellent quality. They have never compromised with the factor of customer satisfaction at any stage of the supply chain. Excellent professionalism and amazing business ethics have established iPhones and Dairy Milk as the leading products in their respective
Question: How well did Solviks’ model work? Did it have the desired effect of turning managers into IT enthusiasts?
Cisco had nearly 10,000 employees involved with sales accounts (e.g., account managers, systems engineers, operational support) in nearly 60 countries. Cisco sold directly to larger customers and indirectly through distributors and value-added resellers (VARs). Distributors sold products “as is,” and VARs added something to the products before reselling them. Cisco also worked closely with strategic alliance partners such as IBM, AT&T, and Hewlett-Packard in order to reach more customers and provide broader solutions. Although Cisco designed and developed its products, it did not manufacture them. Instead, Cisco worked with a network of manufacturing partners that assembled the products based on specifications provided by Cisco. Most of the products were shipped directly from the manufacturing facilities to customers, distributors, and VARs. Cisco relied on its information technology (IT) network to transmit orders and stay on top of customer information, manufacturing timelines, and order status.
Supply chains are an important factor in the running of a company. A lot of business decisions can be based on how well the supply chain is flowing. The relationship between different operations within a supply chain can have a huge impact on the way the chain works, depending on how well these relationships are managed. This is why companies try to practice good supply chain management. This essay is going to be looking at supply chains and analysing the way in which the relationship between the different operations can affect the way they work.
Information is the biggest driver of supply chain as it effects the other drivers. It helps to meet customer needs at lower cost and gives visibility of transactions. PepsiCo's deal with Hewlett Packard to improve supply chain management and increase overall efficiency. It provided IT solutions focused on updating server environments and ensuring new infrastructure improving the operations and increased overall cost-saving. The solution implemented, helped encourage strong customer relationship management and supply chain management. It reduced costs as well as enhanced service provision online and via its communications networking system. With implementation of these services PepsiCo is better adaptable to meet changing business needs and provide better service to customers.
Doug Allred was Vice President of Customer Advocacy organization of the Cisco’s corporation. This organization was erected to consolidated all functions that directly touched the customer but sales to provide high-quality customer service. Since August 2001, the IT market turned down and brought severe challenges to Cisco as the company had to lay off 18% of its employees and reorganized its structure, transforming from decentralized organizational structure with three business units to centralized organization. However, these changes