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Globalization Notes

This document provides guidance and a template for writing an article review. It discusses key concepts around supply chain management, including defining supply chain management, the importance of connections between different company functions, and how companies must adapt to changing technologies and customer demands. An example is provided of IKEA and how it works closely with local suppliers. The document also outlines several frameworks for understanding supply chains, including the 5 flows system and degrees of supply chain complexity. Overall, the document emphasizes that strong supply chain management is vital for company success.

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62 views

Globalization Notes

This document provides guidance and a template for writing an article review. It discusses key concepts around supply chain management, including defining supply chain management, the importance of connections between different company functions, and how companies must adapt to changing technologies and customer demands. An example is provided of IKEA and how it works closely with local suppliers. The document also outlines several frameworks for understanding supply chains, including the 5 flows system and degrees of supply chain complexity. Overall, the document emphasizes that strong supply chain management is vital for company success.

Uploaded by

api-508324382
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IBUS310

Article Review Guidance & Template

Article Review
The focus of this article was defining what exactly supply chain management meant, and what
that meaning intended for companies to do in order to have success with their supply chain. This is a
relatively new term, but it has revolutionized the way companies operate and has changed the process of
getting their product from suppliers to the customers, and what the executive responsibilities are to make
sure this happens. All the functions of a company are important for its success, so it is important that they
are all connected, communicating, and have the same goals. They also have to be in touch with the
industry and economy.
With globalization expanding the way business is done, corporation have turned to more sources
for supplies and now have to build closer relationships to them even though they may be a further
distance away. With all the new technologies people want things faster and faster, so the supply chain in
companies have to adapt to that demand and develop new processes that can deliver. New technology is
developed so quickly these days that it is easy for companies to connect with customers and suppliers on
both ends to make sure they are efficient and delivering what is wanted. In a case study, “IKEA’s cost-
efficient supply chain,” by Harish, it discusses these issues and how IKEA has taken initiative and works
closely with local suppliers near the locations of their factories to quickly provide people with quality
products. This is just one example of a company who has successfully adapted through the changing
technological times to have a really steady supply chain.
This article also brought up supply chain orientation which is recognizing the implications of the
activities in the flows of the supply chain. This, according to the article has to occur before supply chain
management can, and before that, companies have to have core competencies in order to have supply
chain orientation. I agree that the core competencies need to be there in order to have success expanding,
but that supply chain orientation and supply chain management could happen at the same time through
trial and error. Companies have to see what style and flow of supply chain fits their company best, so they
won’t always have the awareness of supply chain orientation right off the bat. Companies today are
competing with the strength of other companies supply chains and that is undeniable, so it is important
that a company builds a strong supply chain orientation and sees the flow of the supply chain in both
directions, so they know what to improve.
The article talked about several frameworks, the 5 flows system, the three degrees of supply
chain complex, and supply chain management as its own model. The five flows system talks about “flows
of information, materials, money, manpower, and capital equipment,” all of which are crucial to
providing a company with a strong supply chain. They point out where the strengths and the weaknesses
can come from and where there is room for growth. The three degrees just show how complex supply
chains can really be with the ultimate supply chain. The direct is where every company should start, the
extended comes with expansion, and the ultimate is a really throughout path to success. Supply Chain
management, the new term that it is, ends up being defined as “ a set of three or more entities
(organizations or individuals) directly involved in the upstream and downstream flows of
products, services, finances, and/or information from a source to a customer,” and that is just a
more detailed form of what the ultimate supply chain diagram shows. In the end it is all about the
customer and passing materials forward to them. Firms need to remember they have to
coordinate in order to get their product places as soon as possib le.
There are so many definitions of supply chain that it makes it hard to discuss correctly. The most
common words in the definitions were materials, suppliers, flow, and process. All of the definitions
revolve around these things and when it comes down to it are just about the logistics of working with
suppliers to develop a process that makes materials flow so they can become something for their
customers. Strong supply chains are the most important thing for companies to have in order to survive in
this changing world, so supply chain management and all the things that come with that are vital to
success. The 7 activities centered sharing information, building partnerships, and setting goals are
essential for this.

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