The unique challenges of managing services supply chain Essay

The unique challenges of managing services supply chain - Essay Example tween a manufacturing and service sector supply chain is that manufacturing operations require lots of inventory, while in service operations there is none or little miscellaneous inventory such as office supplies. There is a difference in terms of how the labor is utilized in each supply chain. In manufacturing labor is used for procuring, transporting, and handling physical material, while almost all service industries labor is used to manipulate information and develop relationships. SCM includes supplier relationships, supplier network, and supplier collaboration (Sengupta, Heiser, Cook). Logistics and transportation costs in the supply chain of manufacturing companies are high, while service firms do not incur in these types of costs. The inventory category in manufacturing firms is subdivided into finished goods, work in process, and raw materials. None of those inventory accounts categories exist in the service industry. The service supply chain has more human involvement whic h makes it harder to standardize solutions to problems since they are resolve on case by case basis. In manufacturing lines processes are standardized. Take for instance the service that is provided by a barber. Each individual hair cut service is different because each human on earth has a different set of hair. In order to improve the supply chain of a service company the managers have to divide their strategy into three levels: strategic, tactical, and operational level. The service supply chain is more visible at the operational level. A fast food restaurant can improve its operational level offering by always having three cashiers instead of one taking orders from the customers. Such a strategy would reduce the waiting time of the customers by eliminating the long lines. At the tactical level a service organization such as the global managing consulting firm Accenture can begin recruiting its new batch rookie college graduates a year become the students graduate. Giving these

Mission, Vision and Stakeholders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mission, Vision and Stakeholders - Essay Example 6). In order to assess the operations of Better Place from the perspective of its stakeholders, it is important to assess the foundation on which the organization has been established. Being a part of the automobile industry, the business plan of Better Place is based on a revolutionary and visionary ideology which aims to challenge the conventional dynamics of automobile development by intending to establish a countrywide network of electric cars. The company’s program rests on the teachings of social entrepreneurship, which in this particular case aspires to lessen and gradually eliminate the automotive industry’s reliance on oil through the incorporation of research and development efforts (Etzion and Struben 2011, p. 2). Stakeholders Indeed, Better Place exists in the business because it believes that change is the most fundamental need of the automotive industry and it is possible to inspire this change by cooperating with the stakeholders of the organization. By a ssessing the environment in which the company operates, its stakeholders can be identified as follows: 1) Israeli government 2) National electric utility 3) Car manufacturers 4) Battery companies 5) Venture capitalists and Investors 6) Potential customers of electric cars 7) Local authorities 8) International firms 9) International Governments – United States, Japan, Canada, Denmark and Australia Stakeholder Mapping In order to conduct an effective analysis of Better Place’s stakeholders, the tool of stakeholder mapping can be implemented to 1) highlight the level of stakeholders’ interest in favoring or contesting a strategy that is forwarded by the firm and 2) identify the extent to which the organizations stakeholders have the power to do so (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2008, p. 156). The key benefit of categorizing the firm’s stakeholders on the basis of the variables of power and interest is that such knowledge is critical to the formulation of strategy as it reveals the firm’s true dependency on its stakeholders. The diagram presented below demonstrates the stakeholder mapping for Better Place. A: Minimal Effort B: Keep Informed Local authorities C: Keep Satisfied Venture capital firms Potential customers of electric cars D: Key Players Israeli government National electric utility International governments and firms Car manufacturers Battery companies Referring to the diagram, venture capitalists firms and potential investors must be kept satisfied with the progress of the project in order to ensure that continued funding is provided by the firms in the third and subsequent rounds of funding. The key players in the venture are external actors namely the Israeli government, international governments and firms. The feasibility and viability of the project is greatly dependent upon the establishment of partnerships with organizations such as the Big Three auto manufacturers in Detroit as well as Toyota which have acce ss to a customer base that would be otherwise inaccessible to Better Place. A concluding assessment of the diagram demonstrates that Better Place exhibits dependency upon external partners who must be convinced regarding the viability of the venture to sustain long-term associations. Topic 2 – Industry and Scenario Analyses Porter Five Forces The assessment of the in which Better Place operates draws from the forces which exist in the automobile industry, the personal transportation industry and the EV market in specific. Discussing the current scenario with regards to the development of electric and fuel-efficient vehicles, Etzion and Struben