Explain & discuss how UK manufacturers can effectively create and capture value in global business networks.
Introduction:
A ‘global business network’ consists of all the value-adding firms involved in the supply of products and services to end-users. Managing these networks has become increasingly challenging as firms specialize within the value chain and become more globally dispersed.
The industrial revolutions made UK the factory of the world until the end of the nineteenth century, since the Second World War, UK has been working hard on revitalizing the economy and manufacturing under the background of globalization.
In order to reach the goal of creating and capturing value, UK manufacturers need to consider:
• PSM: purchasing
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Under the background of globalization, it is a big challenge for a firm that to manage its first tier suppliers or the whole chain upstream from its position in primary of secondary network (PPT2 slide3), as buyers vary world-widely and are highly active in selecting from global suppliers.
Effective PSM is based on properly defining the boundary of the firm, aligning supply strategy with the generic strategy, achieving best value for money from the supply base, understanding buyer-supplier power relations, and adopting a contingent approach to managing the supply base within business networks. (PPT2 slide26)
OM
Operation management means to plan, organize, implement and control the process of operation, and it is the general term of all the work related to the creation of products and service. On the other side, operation management is the design, manipulate, evaluation and improvement of the system that creates the products and services in a firm.
The main aims that operation management needs to control are quality, cost, time and flexibility, and those are the roots of a firm’s competitive forces. Therefore, operation management is very significant to a firm, especially in recent 20 years, the size of modern firms keeps constantly enlarging, and the level of technology and knowledge containing in a product keeps improving while the producing process keeps complicating.
However, in world wide, the diversity and variety of market demand is
A company’s success in developing and sustaining its competitive advantage does not depend on its own value chain but on its ability to manage the value system on which it is a part. An example would be an automobile manufacturer that may have its suppliers set up facilities in close proximity in order to minimize transport costs and reduce parts inventories.
Operations Management in an organisation is repsonsible for managing and in making decisions concerning the activities that convert inputs into outputs , that is goods and services. This covers both short term actvities as well as longer term activities to meet strategic goals. Inputs can be the raw materaials need to manufacture goods such as furniture or the computers needed to create a service like online shopping site. Operation management’s role is to make decisions to improve how operation activities function, for example, to improve the final quality of the output or to change production methods to be more efficient in terms of cost and in time.
To what extent is embracing technological change the most significant factor in the future success of UK manufacturing businesses? Justify your answer with reference to your own research and the item above. (40 marks)
Whether selling a product or producing a service, companies have to find and establish a set of competitive advantages (Gertner, 2013). These advantages should be advantageous to the customer and also be sustainable to the company (Gertner, 2013). The value chain is a tool that companies can use to analyze the steps they need to take to provide the highest level of service to its customers and create a competitive advantage (Blocher, Stout, Juras, & Cokins, 2016). The value chain analysis tool can be taken to the next level when companies utilize it to help them assess where they can reduce costs, which processes are not competitive or productive, and if there are any steps that can be outsourced (Blocher, et
Riordan is comparable to many other manufacturing firms in that they have grown through a product-centric approach to selling. The Intranet site illustrates how companies grow when they compete on product features, price and availability, which over time can drive a company into having commodity-like business models. This needs to be avoided, as selling on benefits and value will ensure higher gross margins over time and a high chance of being relevant to customers as they also change. One of the most effective strategies Riordan can immediately do is implement a CRM system that captures customer preferences, including what they like most and least about the products that are being sold. Having insights into the most and leas
Operation management is the practice of business to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization (Investopedia.com, 2010). Through operation management, managers can identify, measure, and improve the efficiency of the operation. To maximize the Bedside Delivery Program, managers can utilize techniques and methodology such a decision tree and Six Sigma to make informed decision.
For any business unit, value creation will be the most important goal. Giving out values for the customers will increase in the sales along with the services and for shareholder’s, values will be generating in the method of development in stock prices, will make sure that there will be investing in funds in future. From financial insight, values are meant to be formed when an organization will have revenue, which exceeds the expenses.
Supply chains must be managed to coordinate the inputs with the outputs in a firm to achieve the appropriate competitive priorities of the firm’s enterprise processes. The Internet offers firms an alternative to traditional methods for managing supply chains. A supply chain strategy is essential
- M&S rewards complying suppliers who promote continual improvement with the opportunity of co-development and long-term relationship advantages (training, share expertise and information...)
As the birthplace of the world industrial revolution, UK has been a traditional and global manufacturing power. The value of output in UK every year is more than£150 billion, which accounts to 13% of GDP. Furthermore, UK manufacturing ranks first in Europe in attracting foreign direct investment, which is next only to the United States in western countries (He, 2011).
The ultimate objective of SCM is to achieve a ‘strategic fit’ between the company’s competitive strategy and supply-chain strategy. This strategic fit can be achieved by Understanding the customer demand, which helps the company to define costs and service requirements and understanding the supply chain that helps the company to design and manage its supply chain in accordance with the customer’s demand. If any mismatch exists between what the supply chain is capable of doing with respect to customer demands, the company can either alter the structure of the supply-chain design or alter its strategies.
Organizations having supply chain world-wide face more risks such as supply disruptions, longer lead times etc. caused by global customs, foreign policy regulations, port delays, political instability, recession in a specific region’s economy etc.
In a globalised world, the need to maintain some distinguishing edge is all the more essential, not only to grow or protect market share, but also to provide anchors to defend appropriation of value by adjacent players in the supply chain.
Operations management can be defined as managing the available resources in the best possible way that are dedicated to the production process and to have highest level of efficiency in an organization. Operations managers are the people who are responsible for managing the resources and that guide the system by decision making. The operations function of an organization is responsible for understanding customer demands and fulfil their needs through the delivery of products and services.
Operations Management is defined as how we deal with the design and management of products, processes, services and supply chains. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that organizations need to deliver the goods and services their clients want.