preview

Dell's Value Chain

Satisfactory Essays

The value chain was a concept initially proposed by McKinsey and later developed and made public by Harvard strategy guru Michael Porter. According to Porter, the value chain is defined as the complete flow of products from the suppliers to the customers and management of the information flow in a way that maximizes the consumer satisfaction with the increase in the profit margins of the company. Simply, it includes a series of value-adding activities connecting a company 's supply side (raw materials, inbound logistics, and production processes) with its demand side (outbound logistics, marketing, and sales). And these activities are supported by the infrastructure of the firm, human resource management, technology and development, …show more content…

If there is an inbound logistics technology, there is also an outbound logistics technology. Outbound logistics refer to as the delivering of the product from the production area to the market or to the buyer itself. Outbound logistics employ almost the same technology used by the inbound logistics, it also requires transportation technologies, the handling, packaging, communication and information systems. Marketing the product and selling it to the market also requires technology through the use of media and information systems. The role of the firm usually do not stop after a consumer purchased a firm’s product, after-purchase services are important and product innovation is a constant process if the firm is aiming to stay at a competitive advantage from its competitors. After-purchase services and product innovation also requires the use of technologies. Because of technologies, innovation and creation of new products to suit customer satisfaction are made faster. We can note that technology is widely used across the value chain, and to the extent that technology affects uniqueness of the product, and this leads to competitive advantage. Moreover, value chain activities are not isolated from one another. Rather, one value chain activity often affects the cost or performance of other ones. Linkages may exist between primary activities and also between primary

Get Access