Chapter Three: Strategic Initiatives For Implementing Competitive Advantages

1. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (SCM)

Involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability.

1a) Four basic components of Supply Chain Management includes:

a) Supply chain strategy - strategy for managing all resources to meet customer demand.

b) Supply chain partner - partners throughout the supply chain that deliver finished products, raw    materials, and services.

c) Supply chain operation - schedule for production activities.

d) Supply chain logistic - product delivery process.

1b) Effective & Efficient SCM systems can enable an organization to:

a) Decrease the power of its buyers

b) Increase its own supplier power

c) Increase switching costs to reduce the threats of substitute products or services

d) Create entry barriers thereby reducing the threats of new entrants.

e) Increase efficiencies while seeking a competitive advantage through cost leadership

2. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

Involves managing all aspects of a customer's relationship with an organization to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organization's profitability. CRM is not just technology, but a strategy, process and business goal that an organization must embrace on an enterprisewide level.

CRM can enable an organization to:

a) Identify types of customers

b) Design individual customer marketing campaigns

c) Treat each customer as an individual

d) Understand customer buying behaviors

3. BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING (BPR)

Business process: A standardized set if activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer's order.

Business process reengineering (BPR): The analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises

4. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP)

Integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single IT system so that employees can make decisions by viewing enterprisewide information on all business operations.

ERP systems collect data from across an organization and correlates the data generating an enterprisewide view.