Why use the Value Chain Approach and Actor Network Theory (ANT)
Value chains traditionally are those farmers can easily access. To comprehend complexities involved in value chain a qualitative approach termed value chain analysis approach was used. The approach is descriptive and allows linkage analysis of the farmer with different actors that are part of the Ziziphus mauritiana chain. Inter-mediators or the middlemen buy Ziziphus mauritiana from rural peasants in Muzarabani. The middlemen also sale Ziziphus mauritiana to each other. However, most of the Ziziphus mauritiana end up in the hands of bigger traders from markets like Mbare Musika of Harare in Zimbabwe. The value chain analysis approach used has an array of advantages. Different
…show more content…
The socio-technical world is well explained (Langanki 2014). Especially, when local production of spirits from Ziziphus mauritiana (kachasu) is explained. Actor Network Theory acts as an eye opener. It gives a conceptual framework to the understanding of Ziziphus mauritiana value chain.
What about Power relation relations issue in Actor Network Theory?
Power relation are criticised to ANT approach. However in contrast ANT observed power being in action. The linkages and Network power are recognised through ideas for undertaking perceptions actions and opinions. Actors have voices and act as agencies. ANT emphasises use on interactive power than the physical power. The concept of ANT is aligned to each network and provided a radical approach to the discourse and other non-human actors are treated as actors.
Actor Network Theory is used as a methodology for the study of the of the Ziziphus mauritiana value chain. The value chain is viewed as an assemblage of networks. Being a theory and a methodological approach ANT endeavours to develop analysis tools on focal actor, thats try to control other actors. ANT can be used to shape the theoretical framework, hence enhancing the flexibility of the developed
Value Chain- Company developed sources of cocoa and Food and created tie up with Farmers to create a strong and sustainable value chain to provide them high quality supply at low cost (Mars Supply Relation, 2014). The company is also working with Third party supplier to reduce cost and emission. (Mars Product Transport, 2014)
All social interactions take place with a social structure, including those interactions that redefine social reality, for purposes of study, sociologist breaks down any social structure into six elements which are, Statues, Social Role, Groups, Social Networks, Virtual Worlds and Social Insinuations. Society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact with other people, Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic subjective meanings. Firstly, Status is a slot or position within a group or society. They tell us who people are and how they “fit” into groups, status can be ascribed or achieved. Secondly, Social roles are expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status, Thirdly Roles are a significant component of social structure, for Example her in Belize, we have the Belize Police Department, as to where by the police are expected to protect us and apprehend criminals. At fourth place we have Social Network which is the web of direct and indirect ties connecting an individual to other people who influence its
Value chain is a set of activities a company performs in order to provide a valuable solution to their customer problem in their market space or industry. The value chain is made up of primary and support activities. Primary activities being research and development, production, marketing and sales and customer service. These are the primary steps that are required to get a product or service to market to solve the customer problems. Some of the secondary steps include company
SNC’s five paragraph order was delivered meek tone which lacked authority and command presence; SNC appeared aloof and distant throughout the brief. SNC’s Situation paragraph included fabricated information contrary to what the evaluator briefed; these omissions caused the squad to not understand the mission. SNC briefed specific, relevant tasks but failed to brief any coordinating instructions beyond “attack begins immediately after this order.” SNC briefed Admin and Logistics as “unchanged since the last order.” SNC’s brief was punctuated with filler words. SNC departed towards the objective without the ammo cans required to complete the mission. During movement to the objective, dispersion was poor; at most times 5 candidates were
In recent years, the requirements of commercial and industrial operations in the production of services and goods have been subject to vast changes. In the present era of globalization and increasing international competition, a trend away from vertically integrated organizations has become more and more evident. In fact, most companies nowadays tend to solely concentrate on their own core competencies, outsourcing different steps of the production. However, including a great many of other organizational units to the production systems, has lead to rising complexity in terms of the operations management (Plenert, 2012).
A value chain analysis is a strategic analysis of an organization that uses value creating activities (Dess, McNamara, & Eisner, 2016, p. 76). The value chain analysis describes a company’s activities and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the company
Effective value chain as a competitive advantage can contribute significantly to the prosperity of a firm in the competitive arena, but it can cause dire situations if not operated properly (Guy, 2011). However, there are conflicts among companies as to how stakeholders think they gain competitive advantage. Porter (1996) suggests: A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve. It must deliver greater value to customers or create comparable value at lower cost or do both.
The basic principle in defining the value chain, according to Michael Porter (Porter, 1985), is that the activities include a variety of disaggregations from the below three perspectives. First, they have different economics, implying that these activities are functioning in different segments of the market. Second, even though the economics differentiation is not that evident, isolated activities should have a potential impact for it. Third, value-adding activities have significant input scale.
Value chain analysis looks at every step a business goes through, from raw materials to the eventual end-user. The goal is to deliver maximum value for the least possible total cost. It is a systematic approach to examining the development of competitive advantage. The most basic breakdown of primary functions includes inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing and service. People should use the other models and frameworks within this software to further differentiate between, and add to, these domains. Product Innovation is one area that is not normally included in the de jure model but is often included in the de facto model. Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in
The value chain is a temporary competitive advantage for Zara. The major reason why it is not a sustainable advantage is that it is not rare. Barney stated that it is not a sustainable resource if a large number of other firms can also gain benefit from the same resource. It is clearly that Zara’s competition also get their global value chain. Therefore, no firm could get a competitive advantage on the common strategy. Nevertheless the value chain is difficult for new entrants to imitate cause it is costly in capital and time. Further, there is not another way
The industry value chain is the process from the suppliers of the raw material to the end customers who demand the service of transportation.
Kiichiro Toyoda was the founder of Toyota Motor Corporation and the automotive-centered Toyota Group. Kiichiro was a keen, skillful inventor and the continuous resolve of invention helped him to create the business base acquired from his father, Sakichi Toyoda. With the incessant drive towards innovation and invention, Kiichiro extended into the automotive business and build the groundwork of Toyota Group that you see today.
A value chain is a chain of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product or service for the market. The concept comes from business management and was first described and popularized by Michael Porter (Porter, 2013)
Value chain is an approach to know how an item or activities create value for consumers. The most of value provides to consumers, the most of competitive advantage an organization build. In this analysis, value chain model has separated into primary and support activities. Primary activities are included in the physical creation of the item and service. On the other hand, support activities give the inputs and infrastructure that enable the primary activities to happen. This value chain model can be refer to below figure 5.
The value chain analysis (shown in appendix) was also generated by Michael Porter. This model is referred to “identifying ways to increase the efficiency of the chain” (Investopedia, n.d.). Furthermore, the overall objective is to produce maximum value with minimum total cost and establish a competitive advantage.