Essay about Operations Management Tata Motors - 5379 Words

BSM311-Operations Management Submission 7th January 2013 Arif Tigadi 1109988 Operations Management Strategy of Tata Motors Word count : 5051 1 BSM311-Operations Management Submission 7th January 2013 Arif Tigadi 1109988 Executive summary: This report discusses the Operation management of India’s leading and the largest automobile manufacturer â€Å"Tata Motors†. In today’s business environment Operations management plays an important role in deciding the success of the company .Operations management uses the input resources to produce output to fulfil the market requirement. This report discusses the operation strategy adopted by Tata motors used in the manufacturing of its vehicles in India and its strong value chain†¦show more content†¦Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, a business comprising two iconic British brands that was acquired in 2008.Tata Motors started exporting vehicles since 1961 and since then it has been expanding its footprints internationally. Tata Motors is marketing its passenger and commercial vehicles in several countries in South Asia, South America, Europe, CIS, Middle East, and Africa. It has its operations in Senegal, Bangladesh and Ukraine thro ugh franchise and joint ventures. (http://tatamotors.com/know-us/company-profile.php). The success of Tata Motors over the last 67 years is its ability to understand its customer needs and transform them into customer desired products through their excellent RD. Tata Motors established its Engineering Research centre in 1966 and employs around 5000 engineers and scientist who has enabled pioneering technologies and products. It has RD centres in India, UK, Spain and South Korea. Tata Motors has developed India’s first indigenous sports utility vehicle, light commercial vehicle and first fully Indigenous passenger car. (http://tatamotors.com/know-us/companyprofile.php) Tata Motors first fully indigenous passenger car â€Å"Tata Indica† became India’s largest selling car in its segment soon within two years of its launch. In 2005, Tata Motors created a new segment of mini truck by launching the Tata Ace which is Indias first indigenously developed mini-truck. Keep ing its pioneering tradition, Tata Motors entered a new era in IndianShow MoreRelatedTata Motors Increase in Its Global Footprint Essay580 Words   |  3 Pagescompanies, Tata Motors are part of the Tata Group a sprawling conglomerate with a presence across many industries. Chiquita Brands International Inc. is the global market leaders in producing, distributing, and marketer of bananas (Chiquita story). Chiquita’s global expansion came from acquiring existing businesses. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors increased its global footprint operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, Spain, South Africa and Indonesia (Tata Motors). Tata MotorsRead MoreTata Group : A Global Leader Player1716 Words   |  7 PagesJamsetiji Tata who holds nearly 100 companies with 300 subsidiaries in 40 businesses founded Tata Group. Ratan Tata who is handling all the main contracts and has been heavily investing to shape Tata Group into a global leader player. The groups comprise seven business segments specifically: engineering, materials, communications and information technology, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. 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The Tata Motors firstly, realized that if it wants to grow then it cannot afford to keep its business connected solely to the fortunes of one country. Secondly, with the dismantling of import restrictions in the near future or it the rupee begins to gain ground then India mayRead MoreEssay on Case Study: Tata Motors Acquisition of Jlr1593 Words   |  7 Pages------------------------------------------------- CASE STUDY: Tata Motors Acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 ------------------------------------------------- VenkitV Introduction India-based Tata Motors Ltd. successfully acquired two British automotive brands – Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR), in June 2008 from Ford Motors for $ 2.3B. As part of the deal, Tata Motors gained 100% stake in companies, 3 UK plants, 2 advanced design and engineering centers, 26 national sales companiesRead MorePestel1219 Words   |  5 PagesTATA MOTORS PESTEL ANALYSIS Tata Motors Limited is an automotive vehicle manufacturing company based in India. 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Further establishment chain would not be difficult because the decision making could be handled by the Latin America base which is current operation of Brazil and Chile (Fleury and Fleury, 2011). The diversification of the product could be done on the basis of the market requirement of Argentina. Tata motors are in a heavy commercial vehicle whichRead MorePe st Analysis of Tata Motors776 Words   |  4 PagesPEST ANALYSIS OF TATA MOTORS PEST ANALYSIS POLITICAL Since Tata Motors operates in multiple countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, it needs to pay close attention to the political climate but also laws and regulations in all the countries it operates in while also paying attention to regional governing bodies. Laws governing commerce, trade, growth, and investment are dependent on the local government as well as how successful local markets and economies

Communication A Relationship With Someone - 1313 Words

Throughout our live we as humans develop relationship with other individuals that are important to us. This relationship can be either friendship relationship or they can be more romantic relationship. There are many aspect that comes into play when it comes in developing a relationship with someone. Communication play a special role it helps a relationship to survive, in an article written by Better Health it states that â€Å"Communication is important in relationships as it allows us to share interests, aspirations and concerns, to support each other, to organise our lives and make decisions, and to work together in caring for children† and it also a key component in why relationship work. If we do not communicate well in our relationship it can lead us to terminating that relationship all together. Personal I am experiencing and have experienced how important communication is any sort of relationship that you have with other. I am currently in a relationship that been going on for 5 months. Since the relationship is fairly new are still trying to develop it into a stronger relationship. Before we get into talking about my personal relationship, lets talk about Knapp’s relationship Model and how it applies to building and developing a relationship. The model shows us the factors that make a relationship grow and also what factor makes a relationship end. In his coming together stage it start out with initiation, in this stage it all making the first impression on aShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Social Media On Our Lives1608 Words   |  7 PagesSince the very beginning, face-to-face communication has been an important factor in our lives. This was the only source of communication for a long period of time. Over time, we developed new ways of communicating with each other such as emailing and talking on the phone. Human beings have become so reliant on the use of electronic devices to communicate. Although this is a good way to keep in touch with friends, it can become a serious problem to many individuals. The growth of social media sitesRead MoreHow Relat ionships Is Effective Communication?883 Words   |  4 PagesRelationships involve effective communication to keep going. Otherwise, the relationship slowly dies or is forgotten. Although, not just any sort of communication keeps a relationship from fading. It must be effectively done. Different components go into effective communication. First, the conversations must be initiated somehow through a channel or method of communicating. Next, the conversations should be transactional or each person is communicating with one another through speaking and listeningRead MoreCharacteristics Of Interpersonal Communication746 Words   |  3 Pagesinterpersonal communication and impersonal communication, chapter one also discusses characteristics of a competent communicator. 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But if communication is really key why do people choose to hide away the key and keep their door locked? Every relationship has it up and downs. There is no couple who can say that their relationship is perfect, everyone runs into a few bumps in the road. It seems like they only want sunshine and rainbows in a relationshipRead MoreRelationship Between Romantic Coupl es And The Middle East947 Words   |  4 Pagescomplicated relationships in the world and some are too complex for saying if they are â€Å"good† or â€Å"bad.† America’s relationships with some foreign countries, like China or the countries of the Middle East, are examples of these complex relationships. There are individuals that also have complex relationships with other individuals and there are extremely simple relationships. No matter how complex or basic the relationship, all successful relationships have one thing in common: good communication. Lack

Old People Free Essays

Michael Bagen SPE 101 Speech 12/14/10 Outline I. Attention getter: Going to Wedding, old man hits car i. Credibility: Real life situations with older drivers, Dad is an EMT and talks to me about calls all the time ii. We will write a custom essay sample on Old People or any similar topic only for you Order Now Topics: The facts of old drivers, real-life stories, solutions iii. Thesis: I want a federal law to be passed that forces any driver the age of 65 and older to be retested every 3 years to not only save their lives, but others around them. II. Statistics: i. In next 20 years, the number of elderly drivers triple in amount according to Smart Motorist . Older drivers more conservative when driving rarely changing there habits because of factors such as busy highways or nighttime where as other drivers may go another route b. More accidents than kids, mostly at intersections c. At the age of 65 there is a much greater risk for a driver to be engaged in a vehicle accident 1. At the age of 75 that risk increases from just a crash to an accident involving a fatality because of there higher risk of bad eyes or slower reaction time ii. Troubles with Age a. Bad at making turns b. Slower response rates and reaction times to a drastic change c. Studies show that most accidents involving the elderly are caused at intersections there also multi-vehicle accidents iii. In Japan (2006) a. 20. 8 percent over age 65 b. 13. 1 percent licensed drivers iv. Between 75-84 years old a. Rate of 3 deaths per 100 million miles 1. Over age of 85, chances increase nearly four times v. By 2030 a. Predictions for over age 65 1. Responsible for over 25% of fatal crashes vi. Database, Accidents Analysis Prevention – July 2010 a. tested 10 teenagers and 10 senior citizens . used pedestrians to test stopping skills 1. 1. 8% slower in front stopping 2. 2. 8% slower on right side 3. 2. 1% slower for left side vii. One of the problems no one wants to fight this is because Seniors are one of the biggest group of voters every election a. Take away there licenses they can’t drive to the polls b. Take away there licenses even if they could drive they probably won’t vote for you III. Real Stories: i. Elizabeth Grimes a. 90 years old b. Drove through a red light at an intersection and hit one car and then smashed into 17 year old Katie Bolka 1. A classmates mom heard the crash from a couple cars back and ran out to see if anyone needed help, she recognized the school uniform from her kids and she called to school to let them know 2. On this day Katie left early because she wanted to get to school early for some last minute cramming since she had exams that day an had spent the previous weekend studying. a. If she left at her normal time instead of leaving early her 14-year-old sister would have been in the car with her then they both might not be here today. b. 5. 5 days later, she died, she never regained consciousness c. Of the other four people in the accident including Elizabeth they all survived with minor injuries. ii. George Russell Weller (2003, Santa Monica CA) a. Age 86, Weller suffered from arthritis, nausea as a side effect of medication, and reduced mobility from a hip replacement. b. George hit the back end of a Mercedes and after doing this he began to accelerate around a corner 1. He went through a road closed sign signifying that there was a farmers market going on and then proceeded to drive at around speeds of 40-60mph for about 1,000ft The only reason his car finally stopped was from bodies being under it. 2. Killed 10 people . Injured over 70 people in his Buick 1. Mistook the accelerator for the break 3. Too old to go to jail – charged for manslaughter a. Fined $101,700. b. Five years of felony probation. 4. Aftermath: a. As of May 22, 2008 the City of San Fransisco has paid out over $21 million to settle dozens of civil suits from the families b. The man that caused all th is grief and devistation is confined to his house for the rest of his life receiving 24 hour nursing care 5. Scary part besides the obvious a. His DMV record was almost spotless, besides one accident that occurred almost 10 years prior b. The accidents were almost identical to. While he didn’t cause any harm that time the fashion of crash was almost the same with his car driving off the road for no reason and then him getting out looking dazed and confused. iii. Elizabeth Baldick a. Age 84 b. Drove her car though a Sears from entrance 1. Completely mauling over a register counter including the employee behind it 2. The only thing that stopped her car was a cement support beam in the store 3. If it wasn’t for that she may not have stopped for a while a. Even after the crash had happened her foot was still pressing down on the gas and you could hear the tires still trying to move 4. The only reason she could give for all this happening was because she was currently on some medication IV. Some Solutions: i. Federal Law Passed. a. Every 3 years get re-tested 1. Check eyes and reactions ii. Doctors should work closer with the DMV a. By having doctors work closer we can get people off the road that shouldn’t be driving b. If someone comes in with a seizure, eye problem anything that could impair there driving abilities the doctor should take it upon themselves to let the DMV know c. Or a doctor giving out medication that has side effects that could do the same the DMV should know about these things . On a personal note my cousin lives in California and is currently going through some medical problems, while he was driving a couple months ago he had a seizure. He had no history of seizures or anything of the sort but after going to the doctor he was not allowed to drive for the next couple months while he was under observation so it wouldn’t happen agai n 2. Before he was allowed to drive again he had to get written consent to provide to the DMV from his doctor saying he is allowed to drive again. 3. My cousin is in his mid 40’s, why aren’t we doing this to people that are twice his age and are still driving? ii. Increase profit a. Government will make more money with retests 1. Lower down the debt iv. States that passed this law a. 23 states require periodical visits to DMV b. Only 16 of those states require visual tests v. More precise tests a. Make the eye exams for any situation 1. Florida has enacted a new more strict eye exam for the elderly (80 and over) 2. Because of it 20% of the over 80 crowd don’t even go to try and renew because they don’t think they’ll pass. b. Make sure the medication won’t interfere c. Make it harder than the normal driving test vi. Urge your elderly family members to go and get checked out again, or tell them the next time they need to go somewhere to call you and you’ll take them. V. Conclusion: i. Everyone get in accidents, but with age the increase just keeps getting higher and higher ii. Pass a Federal Law to try and stop this easily avoidable problem from happening a. If Seniors want to drive that bad then they will have to follow the rules for doing so iii. Everyday a Senior citizen takes a chance while driving, who knows who could be next to fall victim to it. Works Cited: Davis, R. , Debarros, A. (2007, May 2). Older, dangerous drivers a growing problem. Editorial]. USA Today, p. 1. Retrieved November 02, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www. usatoday. com/ news/ nation/ 2007-05-02-older-drivers-usat1a_n. htm. Press, A. (2007). Older Drivers, Elderly Driving, Seniors At The Wheel. Retrieved November 07, 2010 from Non-Profit Organization, Smart Motorist: http://www. smartmotorist. com/ traffi c-and-safety-guideline/ older-drivers-elderly-driving-seniors-at-the-wheel. html. White, M. (2006). Senior Driving. Retrieved November 07, 2010 from Non-profit organization, Helpguide. org: http://www. helpguide. org/ elder/ senior_citizen_driving. htm. How to cite Old People, Papers

Extensive and Intensive Margins of Trade †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Extensive and Intensive Margins of Trade. Answer: Introduction Trade protectionism refers to the situation whereby policies are enacted to limit competition that is unfair from overseas countries. Nonetheless, it is a defensive measure which is politically motivated (Baldwin, and Richard 97). Within the short period, it is considered to be effective but as obvious, it is very destructive in the long-run. It is viewed to make the industries of a country less competitive management. The United States is considered the second most significant export economy in the entire world. According to Economic Complexity Index (ECI), it is regarded as the eighth most complex economy, with an ECI of 1.39. According to 2016 statistics, the country exported $1.42T and had an import of $2.21T. The United States deals with many exports, with the primary commodities unspecified, refined petroleum, motor vehicles, vehicle spare parts, and integrated circuits (Cooper, and William 425). The main imports of the country are cars, crude oil, computer accessories, packaged medicaments, and unspecified (Kerner, Andrew, and Jane Lawrence 110). The leading destination for its exports is Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Its imports mainly come from China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Germany. The president of the United States of North America, Donald Trump, has had impacted dramatically on protectionism and free trade since he took power. He has made decisions and threats by canceling bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to favor a protectionist business; First, he vowed that he would tag China as a currency manipulator (using monetary policy to make exports of a country to be more desirable to overseas buyers) and would thus impose obligations on goods that are made in China, and would bring World Trade Organization cases against China as a result of unjust subsidies. Second, Trump has been committed to withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has helped govern trade and security for twenty-three years (Gries, Thomas, and Margarete Redlin 206). His threat is based on the fact that he wants the other nations to be willing to negotiate on the terms that he wants. This is considered as a bargaining ploy by many trade negotiators. Third, the president hinted on withdrawing from the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). He argued that the deal was an unequal whereby Washington has a trade deficit of up to $28B with Seoul (Dutt, Pushan, Ilian Mihov, and Timothy Van Zandt 212). The aim is to change the agreement to lower the trade deficit of Washington with the fourth-largest economy in Asia. Fourth, Trump is focused on filing cases against China and any other country that he deems not playing relatively, in the World Trade Organization (WTO) courts. This will result in a rise in the number cases in the court. However, the president is also focused on appointing a national trade prosecutor, giving a blind eye to the team already in place. In his inaugural speech, Trump gave a clear indication that his administration would be purely protectionist (Petri, Peter Michael Plummer, and Fan Zhai 98). The leader has already withdrawn from Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement which involves eleven other countries. A threat has come from him to the American firms that are situated outside the United States, investing in punitive taxes and tariffs management. A wall is in place to build along the Mexican border and vowed to impose heavy taxes on the exports from Mexico to pay for the construction of the wall. His slogan as a protectionist on trade is American First and Buy American, Hire America. The current situation is the ability of the United States to trigger trade war in the world. At present, the United States is experiencing a trade deficit which is much higher than that of 2013. However, it is experiencing growth in its imports, which is a good sign according to trade analysts as it has helped promote the growth of businesses and job opportunities (Constantinescu, Cristina, Aaditya Mattoo, and Michele Ruta 16). The consumer products, not forgetting the automobiles are the core drivers who have led to the high trade deficit. The petroleum imports, for example, crude oil, natural gas, and all the other petroleum-based products are falling (Petri, Peter, and Michael Plummer 96). The main reason behind the fall is due to the growth of the shale oil fields whose development has led to an oversupply of the products. The trade deficit does hurt the economy of the United States because the economy is being financed with debts. According to economists, there is less sense resulting from the bilateral trade deficit that is being advocated in by Mr. Trump. This is because in a global economy that is integrated, what is of importance is the size and maintenance of the current account balances globally, and this relies mostly on the domestic expenditure rather than policies on currency or even trade. The purchase of goods by the United States from overseas for a prolonged period has caused the nation to lose its competitiveness (Villarreal, Angeles 130). Due to this, the nation lacks the expertise and the industries required to manufacture this product. As a result, the United States has outsourced more jobs, and the standard of living has gone down. Regardless of the United States reaching almost full employment, the current leadership focuses on taking job opportunities back to the American people, mostly jobs relating to manufacturing (Handley, Kyle, and Nuno Limo 78). The proposed development in infrastructure and cutting down on taxes will, however, lead to an increment in the demand for labor and goods. Here, the focus is mainly on trade deficit which the United States is in a position to sustain the debt with the shale oil and gas. Protectionism of the United States on trade is due to the view of business not being a win-win situation. Preferably, the enormous deficit is seen as other trade partners to the US are taking advantage of the United States (Williams and Brock 96). If enacted fully, the considerable barriers to trade will have a substantial effect on the firms that operate as international producers such as the automobile companies which need to import and export their products management. With the protection ideas from the leadership, the trade team has an intention of driving a hard bargain with nations which run huge trade surpluses with the US (Antrs, Pol, and Robert Staiger 3173). A few things advocated by the US as a bargain include; China would be forced to lower its tariffs on MFN, asked to leave its developing country status in the World Trade Organization, promote its consumption domestically by expediting its reforms, and enhance its efforts that would see that they conserve intellectual property; Germany would be asked to strengthen the spending by the government which is inclusive of defense spending, and additionally raise the wages; Japan should as well increase its spending on defense, avail more of the government procurements to the firms based in the US, and lower its protection on agriculture. With this trends in the current situation, the interest rates of the United States are expected to rise sharply and at a speedy rate, which would result in deviation of the capital flow towards the US (Baldwin, Richard, and Dany Jaimovich 13). With the enactment of Border Adjustment Tax, countries which have debts mainly being dominated by the US dollar will be affected a lot. In such a situation, many states will turn on bilateral trade and trade at the regional level due to trade frictions. Effects of Short-term of Protectionism Policies Protectionism policies are adopted by countries to protect the domestic industries from international competitors by imposing regulations on trading of products. Within the short-term, the polices act as a protective measure to the United States in the following ways; If the country has an intention of developing in a new industry, protectionist policies in such a situation help protect the new upcoming sector from similar industries that are established by competitors (Hufbauer, Gary Clyde, and Jared Woollacott 64). This, as a result, would give the new industry to study and develop a competitive advantage over the competitors. Additionally, the protectionism measures would help lower the ratio of joblessness in the country. This is because local companies are restricted by tariffs, quotas, and other regulations that constrain them to hire local employees. Protectionism is also meant to prevent dumping. This is a situation where a product is exported below the costs of production so as to access an unfair market share. It aims at dropping the prices of the goods below the prices that the same product would sell in the in the home country. The main objective of dumping is for the good to be in a position to increase its market share in the specific industry, so as to effectively create job opportunities for its citizens. Additionally, it focuses on putting the producers of a certain country out of business and take the position of being the leading industry in the same product. Effects of Long-term Protectionism Policies In the long-term, trade protection policies lead to industries weakening. Since there is no competition, firms that operate in the sector become less innovative, as there is no need. At last, the domestic product of the country decline in quality. As a result, the quality of the product diminishes and the product sold at higher prices than what overseas competitors would otherwise have produced. This constraint the consumer to spend much money on less quantity of goods and services that are not of good quality. The high rate of United States trade protectionism measures will slow down economic growth in the future. Closure of all the borders of the country would leave a large number of citizens jobless especially those who owe their jobs to exports. This is because the closure of the borders would lead to other countries do the same and lock out the United States such that exports to those countries from the U.S. would not be sufficient. Thus, layoffs of employees would be immense within the United States of North America. Due to the fact that the United States does little investing in education in high-tech, science, and engineering courses, it has adapted job outsourcing from other nations such as China. However, with the trade policies currently in place, the country is to face a significant setback as there would be inefficient skilled labor in the mentioned disciplines. In the long run, the policies would lead to trade wars. As the United States imposes controls on imports, this will lead to another retaliatory action by another country that leads in imports such as China to decrease its volume of the world trade (Blonigen, Bruce, and Lindsay Oldenski 9). This movement causes the prices of importing new technology from other developed nations to go up. The protectionism policies would cause an adverse multiplier effect in other countries. This is because when the United States imposes trade restrictions, let say on Korea; the outcome is reduced trade which will have an adverse multiplier effect which will influence many other countries since exports represent injections of demand in the global circular flow of income. The policies as well have a regressive outcome on the distribution of income. The high tariffs that result from the systems mostly hit the low-income earners the hardest. This is because the duties majorly fall on products such as foodstuffs and clothing, which the low-income families spend the most considerable share of their earnings. As a result, there is an imbalance in the distribution of income among the first class, the middle class, and low-income earners. Protectionism leads to distortion of the market and causes a decline in allocative efficiency. Thus, it can be considered as an expensive and an ineffective way to sustain jobs. An increase in the tariffs causes the prices of the consumers and leads to inefficient sectors being shielded from genuine competition. The high taxes discourage foreign producers, encouraging allocation of resources domestically and globally to be wasteful. The export subsidies depress access of market by the producers and the world prices. This, however, destroys investments, gains, and jobs opportunities among many developing and low-income earners, which to a large extent depend on the exportation of primary and manufactured goods for their development. Multilateral trade agreement involves three or more nations whose intentions are to regulate trade between the countries without prejudice. The negotiations are meant to enhance integration among the participating countries between the states being involved. The United States of Northern America has some multilateral agreements which include; North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is among the most significant free trade areas covering the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The agreement has led to reduced prices on groceries and oil in U.S. The cost of groceries and fuel is lower since the cost of importing the produce from Mexico and Canada have been cut down by NAFTA (David, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson 2157). The political stability in the region and exclusion of tariffs makes the importation even cheaper, compared to importing from the Middle East. Despite the agreement enhancing import and export among the three countries, it is criticized for impacting negatively on half a million jobs in the United States. It also led to declining in the wages of US as well as boosting the trade deficit of the United States. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement between eleven countries bordering the pacific-ocean and the United States. The deal, like any other free trade agreement, removes tariffs on products and reciprocates trade quotas. Also, the agreement has helped remove non-tariff blocks which affect trade, and this is not common with the other trade agreements (Brandt, and Loren 160). TPP involves a large number of products and services, which include financial services, foodstuffs security standards, and telecommunication (Serrano, Ra and Vicente Pinilla 4207). It has helped boost imports and the growth of the economy, creating more job opportunities for the nations. Nonetheless, the agreement has contributed to income inequality in the countries with high wages and promotes goods that are at low prices from the low-wage nations. Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. Both create nearly a third of the continents Gross Domestic Product (Schwartz and Paul 45). The trade agreement has created job opportunities and enhanced economic growth in the two regions (Evenett, Simon, and Johannes Fritz 1321). The disadvantage of this trade agreement is that a large number of industries would suffer as a result of the increase in competition from Europe. This, as a result, would lead to fewer jobs for the American employees. The Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is an agreement between the United States and a number of few developing nations. The trade agreement has promoted stronger trade and the ties in investment, welfare, and stability along the Southern border of America and the region. Bilateral Trade Agreements The United States-Bahrain free trade agreement has generated opportunities for the United States to export its products, thus creating job opportunities for its citizens, mostly the farmers, and other workers. Farmers have primarily improved their agricultural exports to the US, whereby the tariffs are standardized (Villareal, and Ian Fergusson 652). The United States acts as the core oversight of the agreement. The agreement additionally promotes influences positively the policy of improving economic growth in the Middle East. The United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement has eliminated efficiently tariffs and opened up markets. The agreement has also reduced of trade between the two nations, provided copyright protection for intellectual property. It has as well efficiently eliminated discrimination in trade of digital products, enables the two countries to stipulate laws that retain competition and prohibiting unlawful business conduct (Kee, Hiau Looi, Cristina Neagu, and Alessandro Nicita 343). With the agreement, manufacturers and workers from the US have increased opportunities as their exports can access the Chilean market duty-free. The exports mainly include machinery, cars, aircraft, and mineral fuel. It has expanded the market for ranchers and farmers from the US. The farm produces benefits from the high demand created by the two nations. Finally, the Chilean service market is growing very fast, and the United States has the advantage of accessing these markets. This includes access to banks, insu rance companies, security organizations, not forgetting the professionalism sector. United States-Colombia Trade Agreement is an agreement which eliminates trade tariffs and barriers that restrict US services. It is aimed to expand the imports of the United States thus creating job opportunities. It involves disciplines that include the procurement of the government, property rights, and protection of the environment. The agricultural products are duty-free in Colombia. Furthermore, the agreement ensures that the United States organizations in Colombia are free from unlawful treatment and provides that there is a common ground to solve investment disputes whenever they arise. A section of the agreement ensures that the two nations adhere to labor rights. The United States-Israel Free Trade Agreement serves to expand trade between the US and Israel. It helps lower the barriers and enhances transparency in regulations. The focus of the agreement is on agricultural products and telecommunications accessing the market in both countries. Conclusion From the discussion, it is clear to see that trade protectionism to some extent (in the short-run) may have a positive impact (Staiger, and Robert 259). Nonetheless, in the long-run, it has adverse effects on the United States and the whole world. Protectionism will in the future cause an increase on trade frictions mainly among the United States and the big four countries that the US turns to have huge trade deficits (Aggarwal, Vinod, and Shujiro Urata 127). To ensure that free trade between nations remains useful, it will depend on how fast and the ability of the vast partners of the United States in the deal will be able to retaliate. However, the president of the United States has a large number of protection instruments which are legal at his disposal. All this will depend on the partners of the United States making sure that their voices are heard early enough, and if they stand tall that they will at no dispensation retaliate within the boundaries of law, in case their interes ts on trade are not considered. Works Cited Aggarwal, Vinod, and Shujiro Urata, eds.Bilateral trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific: Origins, evolution, and implications. Routledge, 2013. Antrs, Pol, and Robert W. Staiger. "Offshoring and the role of trade agreements."The American Economic Review102.7 (2012): 3140-3183. Baldwin, Richard, and Dany Jaimovich. "Are free trade agreements contagious?."Journal of international Economics88.1 (2012): 1-16. Baldwin, Richard. "The World Trade Organization and the future of multilateralism."The Journal of Economic Perspectives30.1 (2016): 95-115. Blonigen, Bruce A., Lindsay Oldenski, and Nicholas Sly. "The differential effects of bilateral tax treaties."American Economic Journal: Economic Policy6.2 (2014): 1-18. Brandt, Loren, et al. "WTO accession and performance of Chinese manufacturing firms." (2017). Constantinescu, Cristina, Aaditya Mattoo, and Michele Ruta.The global trade slowdown: Cyclical or structural?. No. 15-16. International Monetary Fund, 2015. Cooper, William H. "Free trade agreements: Impact on US trade and implications for US trade policy."Current Politics and Economics of the United States, Canada and Mexico16.3 (2014): 425. David, H., David Dorn, and Gordon H. Hanson. "The China syndrome: Local labor market effects of import competition in the United States."The American Economic Review103.6 (2013): 2121-2168. Dutt, Pushan, Ilian Mihov, and Timothy Van Zandt. "The Effect of WTO on the Extensive and the Intensive Margins of Trade."Journal of international Economics91.2 (2013): 204-219. Evenett, Simon, and Johannes Fritz. "The tide turns? Trade, protectionism, and slowing global growth."18th Global Trade Alert Report, Centre for Economic Policy Research(2015). Gries, Thomas, and Margarete Redlin. "Trade openness and economic growth: a panel causality analysis."International Conferences of RCIE, KIET, and APEA, March. 2012. Handley, Kyle, and Nuno Limo.Policy uncertainty, trade and welfare: theory and evidence for China and the US. No. w19376. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013. Hufbauer, Gary Clyde, and Jared C. Woollacott. "Trade Disputes Between China and the United States: Growing Pains so Far, Worse Ahead?."European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2012. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. 31-88. Kee, Hiau Looi, Cristina Neagu, and Alessandro Nicita. "Is protectionism on the rise? Assessing national trade policies during the crisis of 2008."Review of Economics and Statistics95.1 (2013): 342-346. Kerner, Andrew, and Jane Lawrence. "What's the risk? Bilateral investment treaties, political risk and fixed capital accumulation."British Journal of Political Science44.1 (2014): 107-121. Petri, Peter A., and Michael G. Plummer. "The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Asia-Pacific Integration: Policy Implications." (2012). Petri, Peter A., Michael G. Plummer, and Fan Zhai.The Trans-pacific partnership and Asia-pacific integration: A quantitative Assessment. Vol. 98. Peterson Institute, 2012. Schwartz, Paul M. "The EU-US privacy collision: a turn to institutions and procedures." (2013). Serrano, Ra L., and Vicente Pinilla. "The long-run decline in the share of agricultural and food products in international trade: a gravity equation approach to its causes."Applied Economics44.32 (2012): 4199-4210. Staiger, Robert W. "Non-tariff measures and the WTO." (2012). Villareal, M., and Ian F. Fergusson. "NAFTA at 20: Overview and trade effects." (2014). Villarreal, M. Angeles. "US-Mexico economic relations: trends, issues, and implications." LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, 2012. Williams, Brock R. "Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries: comparative trade and economic analysis." (2013).

The Benefits of Cultural Diversity in a Workplace Essay Example

The Benefits of Cultural Diversity in a Workplace Essay Benefits Of Diversity in the workplace †¢ Categorized as  Business,Miscellaneous Benefits Of Diversity in the workplace The acceptance of the term globalization all over the world has made the term ‘diversity’ quite prominent at workplaces. Apart from differences in race and gender, workplace diversity includes many other forms like age, ethnicity, physical attributes, educational background, sexual orientation, geographical location, income, marital status, parental status, spiritual practice, work experience, job classification and many more. An organization’s growth rate and success depend upon its ability to understand and manage diverse people in an efficient manner. When people with diverse backgrounds work as a team, the company progresses and grows at rapid rates. Apart from this ,there are numerous other benefits of diversity in a workplace. Some of these benefits include: 1. Increased adaptability Organizations having a diverse workforce are better equipped in supplying a greater and better variety of solutions for problems in sourcing, service, and allocation of organizational resources. People from diverse background bring with them diverse experiences and talents in suggesting proposals that can easily be adapted to fluctuating market conditions and customer demands. 2. Increase the company’s range: When the organization has a diverse set of skills, competencies and experiences such as languages,and cultural understanding, it becomes capable of providing services to a greater variety of customers spread across the world. 3. Diversity in viewpoints. When diverse workforce communicates varying points of view comfortably, there is a larger pool of experiences and ideas. This facilitates the organization to draw the best ideas and suggestions from that pool. Thus the needs of  business  strategy and that of customers are fulfilled quite effectively. 4. Efficient execution of plans. Companies that follow the concept of workplace diversity automatically inspire all their  employees  to perform to their highest ability. Thus, all lans and strategies of the company are efficiently executed, resulting in improved productivity, increased revenue, and higher return on investment. 5. Satisfied customers. When an organization is able to embrace employees having diverse skills and cultural viewpoints, it is better able to understand the needs and desires of the customers residing in different parts of the world. 6. Overall organizational growth. Employees coming from different backgrounds bring individual experiences and talents, whi ch invariably contribute to the overall growth of an organization. We will write a custom essay sample on The Benefits of Cultural Diversity in a Workplace specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Benefits of Cultural Diversity in a Workplace specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Benefits of Cultural Diversity in a Workplace specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer However, all these benefits associated with diversity in workplace come attached with many challenges both for the organization and the employees belonging to diverse cultures. Many employees are resistant to this kind of a workplace. For effective application of diversified approaches, the management has to play a key role so that people belonging to diverse cultures are accepted and get adjusted to the organizational environment.

Online Learning Essay essays

Online Learning Essay essays Current statistics in the education marketplace show that a number of shifts are occurring. The president's "No Child will be Left Behind" act has demanded that schools raise their academic success rates, and lower the measured illiteracy and drop out rates in schools by the year 2005. Concurrently the thrust in the classroom is to integrate technology, including networked computers, scanners, digital cameras in order to teach student additional skills, over and above the traditional three "R's." This is creating a demand on the educational system to recover from poor performance, and increase the subject matter which is being taught at the As a result, the teachers are being called upon to: Change their teaching style, to integrate technology Change their teaching materials, to include new subject matter Radically alter their perception of the educational culture from that of a dissemination of information to a learning community. Teachers are already under-paid for their efforts, and often spend personal evening time doing school related work. In order to facilitate these changes, the teachers are facing an additional demand on their time for Professional Teacher Development (PTD) which is typically held after school, in on off-site location. Many teachers do not desire to attend PTD sessions, because the needs of the seminar group are so varied. Some teachers need remediation on computer and digital technology. Some understand these subjects, and need help addressing the learning culture in their classroom, and school. Administrators, who have included new materials in the PTD sessions, have not changed their delivery methods and thus the sessions can often be dull, slow moving expenditures of the teachers' time for which they receive little positive take away value. ...

Technological Determinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Technological Determinism - Essay Example d since that society plans itself to endorse and further develop technology right after it has been introduced (Thurlow, Crispin, Lengel, Laura, Tomic 44). This paper will discuss how might technological determinism can be applied to the way that the news media, advertisers and individuals talk about the emergence of certain new communication technologies and also how technology determinism shapes how people use these technologies. This paper will generally address new technologies such as the Internet, social media services, IPTV (Internet protocol television, like Apple TV), video games, cell phones or other specific examples of your choosing. Journalists are normally overly occupied. In the field, when, at times, there is gunfire plus ever-present danger/risk, a journalist or reporter has a lot on his or her hands (Thurlow et al. 44). Not only are there demands for survival, but also there are worries concerning how the equipment will work, will internet be there and how will the report go about attempting to comprehend something maybe in a language that they do not comprehend, for instance, English journalists/reporters reporting an Arabic clash with the U.S. military (Thurlow 23). However, the social media has made this all easy. A journalist can take pictures for a far or even use already-uploaded picture of, for example, a war situation so that the public can know the matter at hand (Thurlow et al. 44). The social media has made this more effective using mobile technology wherein media houses can circulate images and anyone using a mobile can view them anywhere even without a television. Technological determinism can also be applied by advertisers and individuals to talk about the emergence of new communication technologies but advertising their products or even job vacancies to jobseekers (Thurlow 23). Today, more people use Facebook and Twitter more than they read newspapers. The normal portal, in the past, for advertising products has been through TV,

Contemporary Retailing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contemporary Retailing - Essay Example Contemporary Retailing The question outlines about the approach of the retailers which has undergone a radical shift in the last 30 years. The question of discussion in this context will be how retailers have moved from being market – driven company to a market driving company. This shift has been termed as growth by various industry experts and practitioners around the world. The study will therefore mainly discuss about the factors that led to this drastic change and growth of the retailers. In addition, the potential implication of the same will be evaluated in the context of current market scenario. Before getting into deep, the study will throw light on the differences between the concepts of ‘market driven’ and ‘market-driving’. There are drastic differences between the two concepts; a company which is market driven mainly reacts to the need of the customers. These companies generally bring the changes in their system on the basis of the changes in consumer dynamics. On the contrary, companies which are deemed as market driving are more future oriented and have better ability to envisage the future. These companies constantly come up with new products and services and surprises customers with their innovative offerings. Now the statement which will be evaluated is ‘retailers have moved from being ‘market-driven’ to being ‘market-driving’ in that their power has increased significantly in the last 30 years’.... The question of discussion in this context will be how retailers have moved from being market – driven company to a market driving company. This shift has been termed as growth by various industry experts and practitioners around the world. The study will therefore mainly discuss about the factors that led to this drastic change and growth of the retailers. In addition, the potential implication of the same will be evaluated in the context of current market scenario. Before getting into deep, the study will throw light on the differences between the concepts of ‘market driven’ and ‘market-driving’. There are drastic differences between the two concepts; a company which is market driven mainly reacts to the need of the customers. These companies generally bring the changes in their system on the basis of the changes in consumer dynamics. On the contrary, companies which are deemed as market driving are more future oriented and have better ability to en visage the future. These companies constantly come up with new products and services and surprises customers with their innovative offerings. Now the statement which will be evaluated is ‘retailers have moved from being ‘market-driven’ to being ‘market-driving’ in that their power has increased significantly in the last 30 years’. The market driving approach has allowed them to experience the competitive edge as well as increased power (Bhasker, 2006). This is because the dependence on consumer preferences has greatly reduced as with constant innovation they are actually creating and changing the preferences of the consumers. On the contrary, a retailer which pursued market driven

Friedrich Froebel Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Friedrich Froebel - Research Paper Example Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) was born in the Oberweibach area of Thuringia, Germany on 21 April 1782. His father was an orthodox Lutheran pastor who ran the parish there. So it was not surprising that the Church and the Lutheran religion became the first pillars of Froebel’s own education. To his bad luck, the health of Froebel’s mother began to fail soon after his birth and she died within nine months. Froebel’s father also passed away in 1802 and he was sent to live with an uncle in the adjoining village of Stadt-Ilm. Froebel started his career as an educationist in 1805 as a secondary school teacher in Frankfurt. At this time he was impressed by the work of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, also working with him in Switzerland to further develop his ideas. In 1811 Froebel once again went to Berlin and became a teacher at a boarding school for boys that specialized in pedagogy and patriotism. After serving in the Napoleonic wars of 1813-14, he was employed in the Institute of Mineralogy by Christian Samuel Weiss. However he did not hold this job for long and ultimately founded the German General Educational Institute in Arnstadt, Thirungia. He began publishing pamphlets about the need for education in 1820. In 1826 he published the Education of Man, his main work, followed by the Educating Families in 1828. In 1840, he finally started the first kindergarten concept in Germany at the Play and Activity Institute which he had established in 1837 (Rusk & Scotland, 1979: 32). He also designed toys and activ ity materials dubbed Froebel’s Gifts for these young kids. He died at Mariental on 21 June 1852. Important Contributions Froebel was instrumental in including the concept of play and free association for kids in the classroom. He also trained people in his teaching methods and discipline. Following the success of his methods, his student Margaret Schultz opened up a kindergarten at Wisconsin in 1856 and Elizabeth Peabody in Boston in 1860. By 1911, kindergarten education was officially recognized in Germany under its own state and regulatory laws. Froebel College in South West London in the UK was started in 1892 to respect and follow his traditions. He also was the first to train women in pedagogy at the premises granted by the Duke of Meiningen for this purpose(Weber, 1969: 13). According to Sniegoski (1994: 3), Froebel can be credited for ignoring the idea that the child was like a plant or a lump of clay into which education can be implanted. This concept originated by Lo cke was in vogue at the time, but the tireless efforts of Frobel and his followers soon brought in a new concept, namely the importance of play and learning at one’s own pace. Each new activity grew out of a previously available idea and thus a child was able to grow in stages of intellectual development. Much the same thing has been recognized and identified by other thinkers such as Jean Piaget. Froebel regarded play as the most important basis for the spontaneous development of the child. Another idea Froebel encouraged was self activity. He preferred that the learner educate himself. The task of the teacher was just to create a learning environment for the child, and shield the child from danger or unwanted processes. Froebel opined that for the first year of life, the mother was a child’s most important teacher, while they depended on the whole family for support and contentment. As the child

Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management

Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT In todays turbulent economic environment, firms are striving for ways to achieve competitive advantage. One of the approaches is to manage the entire supply chain to reduce costs and improve performance to create competitive advantage and business success. This dissertation explores and investigates how high technology firms use supply chain management to gain competitive advantage and increase business success. The research objective is to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management will help a firm to be competitive and successful. To this end, the critical success factors that make a company more competitive are identified. The research design is based on the established and recommended procedures of multiple case study research methodology; and this methodology is used to gather data from five companies in California, USA. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case analysis for the purpose of theoretical generalization about the research issues. The results identify two clusters of company behavior and characteristics, specifically traditional ‘old style manufacturing companies and progressive manufacturing companies. Each cluster of company behaves differently. At the traditional manufacturing companies, the selection of critical supply chain management factors is internally focused on factors that are manufacturing and quality focused, while at the progressive manufacturing companies the selection of critical supply chain management factors is externally focused on factors that are directed to customers and information systems. There are differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and benchmark (or commodity) companies that were selected in this study. The benchmark companies select supply chain management factors that focus on customer services and quality. This approach is, possibly, due to the fact that the benchmark companies deal in commodity type products and hence they have to focus on differentiating themselves through strong customer services and quality products. Additionally, with the help of supply chain metrics, financial performance data, and understanding the various companies, it is possible to determine which critical supply chain factors best can contribute to business performance. At the case study companies, an external focus on supply chain management factors such as a strong focus on customer relationship and management, gives better business results. Finally, this study has proposed a novel and new approach to improving customer satisfaction by using QFD methodology to identify performance gaps (and opportunities) from the customers viewpoint in supply chain management. If the companies wish to increase customer satisfaction, they have to use the QFD methodology to identify critical supply chain factors. The reason is primarily because performance gaps derived from customer needs emphasize what the customer wants and that is different from the internal perceptions of a companys managers. The initiatives that provide the greatest opportunity have been identified in this analysis. Overall, these findings can be used by high technology firms to select supply chain strategies that will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve their brand and business performance. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and identify factors affecting the successful implementation of supply chain management. This chapter serves as an introduction to the dissertation. It comprises eight sections, which cover the background to the research, objective of the research and the research questions, justification and significance of the research, a brief description of the methodology, an outline of the structure of the study, key definitions, delimitations of this research, and the chapters conclusion. 1.1 Background A firms strategies, innovations, and well-planned activities will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve its brand and business performance. As firms strive for ways to achieve competitive advantage, they are looking for new ideas and solutions. This dissertation addresses the topic of competitive advantage, reviews how firms attempt to achieve it, and focuses on one aspect of competitive advantage managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage and business success. The early understanding of competitive advantage is based on Leon Walras (1874, 1984) theory of perfect competition. In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are zero in the long run. A later approach is the Industrial Organization approach (Tirole, 1988), which argues that success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. However, the proponents of this approach agree that in the long term there would be industry equilibrium and little profit. One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Michael Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argues that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit.† Porter asserts that, except for microeconomic theory, the strategy field and literature had offered few analytical techniques for gaining this understanding. Porter (1980) argues that with the right approach it is possible to break away from the economic equilibrium situation and achieve superior performance. Therefore he proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that to be successful, the firm has to do well in one or more of these strategies. Porters (1980) ideas and proposals on achieving competitive advantage have influenced many other researchers to propose complementary theories on achieving competitive advantage. All the theories proposed by researchers are supported with examples of winning strategies implemented at renowned companies. The theories include an emphasis on planning (Porter, 1980, 1985), strategic approach (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990, 1998; Porter, 1985, 1990, 1991), marketing strategies (Day, 1994, 1999), value chain management (Porter, 1985), and supply chain management (Christopher, 1998; Poirier, 1999; Tyndall et al., 1998). A theory that has gained momentum in the last few years is the concept of supply chain management. In recent years, there have been numerous advances and developments in supply chain techniques and management. One of the reasons is that as trade barriers drop and markets open, competition has become more intense hence companies need to be more competitive and cost effective. An initiative to help achieve this is a supply chain management program. Supply chain management is the management of upstream and downstream activities, resources, and relationships with suppliers and customers, which is required to deliver products or services. In theory, if this is done well it will lead to competitive advantage through differentiation and lower costs as suggested by Porter (1980). Moreover, some researchers claim that effective supply chain management can reduce costs by several percentage points of revenue (Boyson, et. al, 1999). Furthermore, there has been little verification or research d one on measuring competitive advantage gained through supply chain management. Supply chain management is not a static concept or solution. Instead, new advances and techniques for supply chain management continue to mushroom. This tremendous growth in new ideas and processes is starting to influence and change the business processes and models of companies. Hence companies have many choices in selecting programs in supply chain management. In making their choices, companies need to plan for effective supply chain management, in order to gain competitive advantage. However, to ensure that effective supply chain management can provide business success, this study must determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. Furthermore, these critical success factors must be identified and conveyed to senior management in firms that want to have an effective supply chain management program. 1.2 Objective of this research The objective of this dissertation is to explore and investigate how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. Most importantly, this dissertation endeavors to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. It also explores and investigates the advances and new ideas in supply chain management and examines how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. The company is headquartered in California USA, and this author works for one of the companys business unit as General Manager for Distribution. The request was to investigate the companys supply chain management system and to propose improvements that would make it more competitive This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management is an approach that will help a firm to be competitive and successful. Furthermore, in using supply chain management, firms are faced with choices on what supply chain techniques and developments to adopt for their businesses. This dissertation wil review the choices that high technology companies have today, and will make recommendations to select the best choices, or critical success factors, based on business and customer needs. Therefore, the research objective is to: Determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. In fulfilling this objective, this dissertation also addresses the following research issues: 1. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at various high technology companies? 2. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and non high technology (or benchmark commodity) companies? 3. Will a focus on external supply chain management factors give better business results? 4. Are perceived critical gaps (and opportunities) in performance derived from traditional methodology similar to those deployed from customer needs? In this study, the critical success factors to make a company more competitive are identified. To ensure a robust analysis and conclusion, the expectations and perceptions of respondents, involved in this study, are taken into consideration as well as customer requirements. 1.3 Significance of the research There are many theories and empirical studies on competitive advantage. However, the empirical studies, using mathematical models, tend to be limited in scope (Porter, 1991; Buzzel and Gale, 1990), and do not include supply chain management parameters. While there has been much research on activities that can provide competitive advantage, there is little knowledge on the process of selection and impact of supply chain management on the competitive position and business performance of a high technology firm. Firms need to understand how supply chain management can help them achieve competitive advantage. Furthermore, there is an expectation that high technology companies will use leading edge technology and invest heavily in supply chain management. This dissertation makes the following contributions: 1. Fulfils a request from a high technology company: The author of this study works for a high technology company, head-quartered in California USA, and was requested to investigate the companys (business unit) supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. 2. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from a high technology companys viewpoint. Often when reviewing critical success factors, only the perception of respondents is taken into account. However, in this analysis both the perceptions and expectations of respondents are taken into consideration. Such an analysis will be more robust and will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood. 3. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from customers of high technology companies. To enhance the relevance of the conclusions, customer requirements are also taken into consideration by using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology and these are compared to the high technology companies performance gaps. Such an analysis will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood from the viewpoint of customers of high technology companies. 4. Contributes to the understanding of how high technology companies scope, design, and develop their supply chain management system. 1.4 Research Methodology This study employs the qualitative research process using multiple case studies. There are several reasons for this: Since the focus of this research is on high technology companies operating in California, USA, there is a concern that there will be a small number of companies willing to participate in a large (sample size) quantitative survey. Furthermore face-to-face meetings with respondents can help provide understanding and information on several qualitative areas, such as: reasons for implementing specific supply chain factors (or strategies), customer needs data, and discussions and feedback on the questionnaire. Also, cases can be viewed and studied alone and across cases to provide comparison and contrast and richer details and insights regarding the research issues (Eisenhardt 1989; Stake 1994; Yin 1994). Hence this research will be done via a multiple case study approach using structured interviews with a questionnaire (Yin, 1994).5 1.5 Structure of the dissertation In addition to this introductory chapter, this dissertation consists of four chapters ( 1.1). Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature, addresses the disciplines under investigation, and provides an overview of competitive advantage. The chapter then provides a detailed review of the current literature and practices of supply chain management. With that as the background, chapter 2 continues into identifying gaps in the literature and provides the rationale for selecting the research topic and issues. Chapter 5Conclusion and opportunities for further researchChapter 1IntroductionChapter 3Research methodologyChapter 2Literature review and research issuesChapter 4Data analysis and interpretationsChapter interpretations Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology used for this study and it includes: the justification of the research methodology, a discussion on preparation of the questionnaire and the data gathering process, the process used for data analysis and determining gaps, the process used to generate recommendations from the data, and concludes with a discussion on the limitations of case study research. Chapter 4 summarizes the data collected from the selected companies and respondents and aims to interpret the data in relation to the research objective. Each of the four research issues is analyzed, interpreted, and the detailed findings are presented. The chapter concludes with a summary of the research findings. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the findings and conclusions of the research objective and issues, discusses the contribution of the research findings to the literature and theory, reviews the implications of the findings, discusses the limitations of the research, and concludes with suggested direction for future research. 1.6 Key definitions Definitions adopted by researchers are often not uniform; hence key terms are defined to establish positions taken for this dissertation (Perry 1998). This will ensure that subsequent research, undertaken at a later stage, will better measure and compare what this dissertation has set out to do. †¢ Logistics: The management and movement of product and services, including storage and warehousing, and their transport via air, land, and water (Coyle, Bardi, and Langley, 1988). †¢ Supply chain: Consists of all inter-linked resources and activities needed to create and deliver products and services to customers (Hakanson, 1999). †¢ Supply chain management: This includes managing supply and demand, sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer (Supply Chain Council, 2001). †¢ Supply chain agility or agile supply chain: An agile supply chain is one that is flexible and has a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information systems, and logistics processes. (Christopher, 2000) †¢ Critical success factors (CSF): Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or organization, and therefore may represent those managerial or enterprise areas that must be given continual attention. CSFs include issues vital to an organizations current operating activities and to its future success (Boynton and Zmud, 1984). †¢ Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM is the management of technology, processes, information, and people in order to maximize each customer contact by obtaining a 360-degree view of the customer (Galbreath and Rogers, 1999). †¢ Performance gap: This is a gap between the perceived performance and the expected importance of a factor (in this dissertation it is a supply chain factor). The performance gap provides an indication as to whether executives and managers are successful in translating their vision to their employees and hence such perception may give an indication regarding the degree of employees alignment with the organizations vision. If a factor is critical and has a negative value of factor alignment (perceived performance is less than the expectation), then the organization may have a potential problem with that factor. Information on factor alignment allows executives to develop a strategy to overcome the challenges associated with the gaps between importance and performance. (Martilla and James, 1977). †¢ Quality Function Deployment (QFD): QFD is a comprehensive quality tool that can be used to uncover customers spoken and unspoken needs, and convert these needs to product or service design targets and processes (Akao, 1990). 1.7 Delimitation There are several delimitations in this dissertation. †¢ The theoretical model derived from this dissertation is only applicable to the high technology companies. †¢ The dissertation is focused on companies operating geographically in California, United States of America, where there is a concentration of high technology companies. †¢ This dissertation is an exploratory research and will have to be tested for generalizability in later, more extensive, quantitative research (Perry, 1998). †¢ There is no scientific basis for choosing the number of cases in this dissertation. The number selected is based on the experiences and recommendations of the research and academic community (Eisenhardt, 1989; Perry, 1998). 1.8 Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of the dissertation. The aim, objectives, and justification of the research topic were discussed. The dissertation is an investigation on the impact of a supply chain management system on the competitive position of high technology business firms. It explores and investigates new ideas in supply chain management and examines how high technology firms manage and improve their supply chain management system. Furthermore, this dissertation will analyze the gaps and opportunities for supply chain management in high technology companies and give a set of recommendations. The methodology was briefly described, key definitions were explained, delimitations of this research were addressed, and the structure of the dissertation was outlined. With all the important areas of the research briefly introduced in this chapter, the following four chapters of this dissertation will present detailed description and findings of the research topic. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH ISSUES The previous chapter provided an overview of the dissertation and listed the objective, issues, and significance of the research topic. This chapter reviews the relevant literature and comprises of six sections. The review starts with a discussion on early approaches to understanding a firms performance and its competitive advantage. This is followed by the development of a theoretical framework and a discussion on contemporary approaches to competitive advantage. Next there is a discussion on supply chain management, followed by an overview of advanced supply chain management systems. The last two sections conclude with a discussion on gaps in the literature, identification of areas for further research, and the summary. 2.1 Early approaches to understanding a firms performance and competitive advantage One of the earliest (chronologically) approaches to competitive advantage is the microeconomic approach, or the idea of perfect competition (Walras, 1874, 1969). In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are negligible or low in the long run. However, according to Gill (1991), such a perfect economy is an abstraction, because there are monopolies, oligopolies, and perfect competition. Furthermore, there are also two kinds of competition: spatial and monopolistic. Spatial differentiation pertains to oligopolistic competition (Hotelling, 1929), and it meets consumers different tastes. Monopolistic competition assumes that small firms produce a variety of differentiated products (Chamberlin, 1933; in Gill, 1991). All these situations allow for profit maximization and higher profits (Gill, 1991). The industrial organization (IO) approach takes a richer approach to understanding a firms successful performance. IO differs from the microeconomic approach by introducing variables that explain real-world economic behavior. In IO, there are two competing hypothesis that lead to higher profits and success market power and a firms efficiency (Scherer, 1990; Tirole, 1988). Nevertheless, the IO approach assumes that markets and firms will reach equilibrium, and in equilibrium profits differences will not exist (Tirole, 1988). Both the microeconomic approach and the industrial organization approach assume that all firms would reach equilibrium and have equal profit and success. However, we know from a daily look at many firms performance on the stock market that profit and performance vary across firms, even when they are in the same business. Eaton and Lipsey (1978) have verified that differences in performance and profit exist between firms. 2.2 Contemporary approaches to achieving competitive advantage 2.2.1 Framework to understanding a firms performance One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argued that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit† (Porter, 1980, p. xiii). He proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that if a firm is able to do well in any of these strategies, it will gain competitive advantage. Porters concept is illustrated in 2-1. Generic Competitive Strategies†¢Overall cost leadership†¢Differentiation†¢FocusCompetitive Advantageof a Firm †¢ Cost leadership requires efficient-scale facilities, pursuit of cost reductions, and cost minimization in all areas of the firm. This will give more profit. †¢ Differentiation of product or service requires industry-wide differentiation, including design and brand image, customer service, and distribution or dealer network. Product or service differentiation will help increase customer loyalty and ensure repurchase. †¢ Focus on markets, buyers, or product lines can maximize profits. The framework, in 2-1, shows that the right strategies can provide competitive advantage. Porter (1985) also argues that competitive advantage come from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product. Each of these activities contributes to a firms relative cost position and creates a basis for differentiation. This is the value chain, and a firm has to disaggregate its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities cheaper or better than its competitors (Porter, 1985), and this can lead to a higher profit margin. The value chain concept is illustrated in 2-2. Profit Margin Outbound Logistics Manufacturing Operations, and other Internal Processes Inbound Logistics Procurement Human Resource Management Technology Development Firm Infrastructure and Platform Services Customer Service Marketing and Sales Primary Activities Support Activities Supply Chain Approach Strategic Planning Approach Marketing Capabilities Approach The Value Chain and Theoretical Framework to Achieve Competitive Advantage Adapted from Porter (1985) and this literature review. Note 1: Key approaches to competitive advantage are highlighted with underlined Characters Note 2: The definition of supply chain implies all activities necessary to deliver a product (Hakanson, 1999). Therefore sales, marketing, and customer service activities can be construed as part of the supply chain approach shown in the . In this study, sales and marketing processes, such as demand management, order processing, and customer relationship management are included in the internal processes shown in the and in the supply chain literature review. However, sales and marketing activity, such as sales calls, advertising, product positioning, market research, and some post delivery support processes are excluded from supply chain activity. This is consistent with the approach taken by the Supply Chain Council and the SCOR (Supply Chain Operational Reference) model it uses to measure supply chain activity (Supply Chain Council, 2001). 2.2.2 Summary of contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Porters approach presents new thinking to competitive advantage (Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece, 1991) and has influenced other approaches to creating competitive advantage. Many of the other approaches to competitive advantage are summarized in Table 2-1. From the table, it can be seen that all the approaches to increasing competitive advantage, except for the early microeconomic and industrial organization approaches, fit the theoretical framework in 2-2. However, all these approaches to competitive advantage are complementary and not alternatives or conflicting theories they basically propose various segments of the theoretical framework shown in 2-2. The various approaches are discussed very briefly below, but the last approach (in Table 2-1), Supply Chain Management, is discussed in greater detail. 2.2.3 The strategic planning approach In essence, Porters (1980, 1985) approaches are strategic planning approaches, i.e. a firms competitive advantage can be planned for. This includes planning for differentiation in the value chain, low cost leadership, and focus. Nations can also be competitive (Porter, 1990). Nations need four conditions to gain competitive advantage and be successful. The four conditions are: factor conditions (education and skill levels), demand conditions (or market size), related and supporting industries, and company strategy and rivalry (Porter, 1990). Strategy is â€Å"lucky foresight†¦Strategy is always the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire† according to Hamel (1998). What this implies is that one does not settle for obvious solutions and strategies but should look at alternatives, challenge assumptions, and look at new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. Table 2-1 Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Microeconomic Walras (1874, 1984) Perfect competition results in negligible profits Ideas ignore monopolies, oligopolies, and product differentiation. Profit does vary across firms according to Eaton and Lipsey (1978). Industrial Organization Scherer (1990), Tirole (1988) Success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. All proponents agree that in the long term there will be industry equilibrium and little profit. Porter (1980) Porter (1985) Provides a framework for achieving competitive advantage. Every firm has a generic competitive strategy in cost leadership, market focus, or differentiation. The value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these important activities better than its competitors. Challenges the stereotype approach of perfect competition and industry equilibrium. Provides a prescriptive approach to achieve competitive advantage, but the ideas and solutions are essentially conceptual. Hamel (1998) Strategy is the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire. A firm has to seek alternatives and new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. The Strategic Approach and its Variations Value Chain Approach Strategic Approach Resource Based Approach Wernerfelt (1984), Barney (1991), Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (1991). A firm has to identify specific, or rare, resources that lead to higher profits. Long-term superior performance comes from building product market positions that effectively utilize and maintain these resources. Examples of such resources include customer loyalty, and technological leads. If the resources are unique and difficult to duplicate, then the firm achieves competitive advantage. Table 2-1 (Continued) Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Market Strategy Marketing Capabilities Approach Resource-Advantage Theory Product Differentiation Day (1994,1999), Cool and Dierickx (1989), Aaker (1989), Caves and Ghemawat (1986). Also, Buzzell an Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT In todays turbulent economic environment, firms are striving for ways to achieve competitive advantage. One of the approaches is to manage the entire supply chain to reduce costs and improve performance to create competitive advantage and business success. This dissertation explores and investigates how high technology firms use supply chain management to gain competitive advantage and increase business success. The research objective is to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management will help a firm to be competitive and successful. To this end, the critical success factors that make a company more competitive are identified. The research design is based on the established and recommended procedures of multiple case study research methodology; and this methodology is used to gather data from five companies in California, USA. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case analysis for the purpose of theoretical generalization about the research issues. The results identify two clusters of company behavior and characteristics, specifically traditional ‘old style manufacturing companies and progressive manufacturing companies. Each cluster of company behaves differently. At the traditional manufacturing companies, the selection of critical supply chain management factors is internally focused on factors that are manufacturing and quality focused, while at the progressive manufacturing companies the selection of critical supply chain management factors is externally focused on factors that are directed to customers and information systems. There are differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and benchmark (or commodity) companies that were selected in this study. The benchmark companies select supply chain management factors that focus on customer services and quality. This approach is, possibly, due to the fact that the benchmark companies deal in commodity type products and hence they have to focus on differentiating themselves through strong customer services and quality products. Additionally, with the help of supply chain metrics, financial performance data, and understanding the various companies, it is possible to determine which critical supply chain factors best can contribute to business performance. At the case study companies, an external focus on supply chain management factors such as a strong focus on customer relationship and management, gives better business results. Finally, this study has proposed a novel and new approach to improving customer satisfaction by using QFD methodology to identify performance gaps (and opportunities) from the customers viewpoint in supply chain management. If the companies wish to increase customer satisfaction, they have to use the QFD methodology to identify critical supply chain factors. The reason is primarily because performance gaps derived from customer needs emphasize what the customer wants and that is different from the internal perceptions of a companys managers. The initiatives that provide the greatest opportunity have been identified in this analysis. Overall, these findings can be used by high technology firms to select supply chain strategies that will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve their brand and business performance. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and identify factors affecting the successful implementation of supply chain management. This chapter serves as an introduction to the dissertation. It comprises eight sections, which cover the background to the research, objective of the research and the research questions, justification and significance of the research, a brief description of the methodology, an outline of the structure of the study, key definitions, delimitations of this research, and the chapters conclusion. 1.1 Background A firms strategies, innovations, and well-planned activities will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve its brand and business performance. As firms strive for ways to achieve competitive advantage, they are looking for new ideas and solutions. This dissertation addresses the topic of competitive advantage, reviews how firms attempt to achieve it, and focuses on one aspect of competitive advantage managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage and business success. The early understanding of competitive advantage is based on Leon Walras (1874, 1984) theory of perfect competition. In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are zero in the long run. A later approach is the Industrial Organization approach (Tirole, 1988), which argues that success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. However, the proponents of this approach agree that in the long term there would be industry equilibrium and little profit. One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Michael Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argues that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit.† Porter asserts that, except for microeconomic theory, the strategy field and literature had offered few analytical techniques for gaining this understanding. Porter (1980) argues that with the right approach it is possible to break away from the economic equilibrium situation and achieve superior performance. Therefore he proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that to be successful, the firm has to do well in one or more of these strategies. Porters (1980) ideas and proposals on achieving competitive advantage have influenced many other researchers to propose complementary theories on achieving competitive advantage. All the theories proposed by researchers are supported with examples of winning strategies implemented at renowned companies. The theories include an emphasis on planning (Porter, 1980, 1985), strategic approach (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990, 1998; Porter, 1985, 1990, 1991), marketing strategies (Day, 1994, 1999), value chain management (Porter, 1985), and supply chain management (Christopher, 1998; Poirier, 1999; Tyndall et al., 1998). A theory that has gained momentum in the last few years is the concept of supply chain management. In recent years, there have been numerous advances and developments in supply chain techniques and management. One of the reasons is that as trade barriers drop and markets open, competition has become more intense hence companies need to be more competitive and cost effective. An initiative to help achieve this is a supply chain management program. Supply chain management is the management of upstream and downstream activities, resources, and relationships with suppliers and customers, which is required to deliver products or services. In theory, if this is done well it will lead to competitive advantage through differentiation and lower costs as suggested by Porter (1980). Moreover, some researchers claim that effective supply chain management can reduce costs by several percentage points of revenue (Boyson, et. al, 1999). Furthermore, there has been little verification or research d one on measuring competitive advantage gained through supply chain management. Supply chain management is not a static concept or solution. Instead, new advances and techniques for supply chain management continue to mushroom. This tremendous growth in new ideas and processes is starting to influence and change the business processes and models of companies. Hence companies have many choices in selecting programs in supply chain management. In making their choices, companies need to plan for effective supply chain management, in order to gain competitive advantage. However, to ensure that effective supply chain management can provide business success, this study must determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. Furthermore, these critical success factors must be identified and conveyed to senior management in firms that want to have an effective supply chain management program. 1.2 Objective of this research The objective of this dissertation is to explore and investigate how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. Most importantly, this dissertation endeavors to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. It also explores and investigates the advances and new ideas in supply chain management and examines how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. The company is headquartered in California USA, and this author works for one of the companys business unit as General Manager for Distribution. The request was to investigate the companys supply chain management system and to propose improvements that would make it more competitive This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management is an approach that will help a firm to be competitive and successful. Furthermore, in using supply chain management, firms are faced with choices on what supply chain techniques and developments to adopt for their businesses. This dissertation wil review the choices that high technology companies have today, and will make recommendations to select the best choices, or critical success factors, based on business and customer needs. Therefore, the research objective is to: Determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. In fulfilling this objective, this dissertation also addresses the following research issues: 1. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at various high technology companies? 2. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and non high technology (or benchmark commodity) companies? 3. Will a focus on external supply chain management factors give better business results? 4. Are perceived critical gaps (and opportunities) in performance derived from traditional methodology similar to those deployed from customer needs? In this study, the critical success factors to make a company more competitive are identified. To ensure a robust analysis and conclusion, the expectations and perceptions of respondents, involved in this study, are taken into consideration as well as customer requirements. 1.3 Significance of the research There are many theories and empirical studies on competitive advantage. However, the empirical studies, using mathematical models, tend to be limited in scope (Porter, 1991; Buzzel and Gale, 1990), and do not include supply chain management parameters. While there has been much research on activities that can provide competitive advantage, there is little knowledge on the process of selection and impact of supply chain management on the competitive position and business performance of a high technology firm. Firms need to understand how supply chain management can help them achieve competitive advantage. Furthermore, there is an expectation that high technology companies will use leading edge technology and invest heavily in supply chain management. This dissertation makes the following contributions: 1. Fulfils a request from a high technology company: The author of this study works for a high technology company, head-quartered in California USA, and was requested to investigate the companys (business unit) supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. 2. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from a high technology companys viewpoint. Often when reviewing critical success factors, only the perception of respondents is taken into account. However, in this analysis both the perceptions and expectations of respondents are taken into consideration. Such an analysis will be more robust and will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood. 3. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from customers of high technology companies. To enhance the relevance of the conclusions, customer requirements are also taken into consideration by using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology and these are compared to the high technology companies performance gaps. Such an analysis will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood from the viewpoint of customers of high technology companies. 4. Contributes to the understanding of how high technology companies scope, design, and develop their supply chain management system. 1.4 Research Methodology This study employs the qualitative research process using multiple case studies. There are several reasons for this: Since the focus of this research is on high technology companies operating in California, USA, there is a concern that there will be a small number of companies willing to participate in a large (sample size) quantitative survey. Furthermore face-to-face meetings with respondents can help provide understanding and information on several qualitative areas, such as: reasons for implementing specific supply chain factors (or strategies), customer needs data, and discussions and feedback on the questionnaire. Also, cases can be viewed and studied alone and across cases to provide comparison and contrast and richer details and insights regarding the research issues (Eisenhardt 1989; Stake 1994; Yin 1994). Hence this research will be done via a multiple case study approach using structured interviews with a questionnaire (Yin, 1994).5 1.5 Structure of the dissertation In addition to this introductory chapter, this dissertation consists of four chapters ( 1.1). Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature, addresses the disciplines under investigation, and provides an overview of competitive advantage. The chapter then provides a detailed review of the current literature and practices of supply chain management. With that as the background, chapter 2 continues into identifying gaps in the literature and provides the rationale for selecting the research topic and issues. Chapter 5Conclusion and opportunities for further researchChapter 1IntroductionChapter 3Research methodologyChapter 2Literature review and research issuesChapter 4Data analysis and interpretationsChapter interpretations Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology used for this study and it includes: the justification of the research methodology, a discussion on preparation of the questionnaire and the data gathering process, the process used for data analysis and determining gaps, the process used to generate recommendations from the data, and concludes with a discussion on the limitations of case study research. Chapter 4 summarizes the data collected from the selected companies and respondents and aims to interpret the data in relation to the research objective. Each of the four research issues is analyzed, interpreted, and the detailed findings are presented. The chapter concludes with a summary of the research findings. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the findings and conclusions of the research objective and issues, discusses the contribution of the research findings to the literature and theory, reviews the implications of the findings, discusses the limitations of the research, and concludes with suggested direction for future research. 1.6 Key definitions Definitions adopted by researchers are often not uniform; hence key terms are defined to establish positions taken for this dissertation (Perry 1998). This will ensure that subsequent research, undertaken at a later stage, will better measure and compare what this dissertation has set out to do. †¢ Logistics: The management and movement of product and services, including storage and warehousing, and their transport via air, land, and water (Coyle, Bardi, and Langley, 1988). †¢ Supply chain: Consists of all inter-linked resources and activities needed to create and deliver products and services to customers (Hakanson, 1999). †¢ Supply chain management: This includes managing supply and demand, sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer (Supply Chain Council, 2001). †¢ Supply chain agility or agile supply chain: An agile supply chain is one that is flexible and has a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information systems, and logistics processes. (Christopher, 2000) †¢ Critical success factors (CSF): Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or organization, and therefore may represent those managerial or enterprise areas that must be given continual attention. CSFs include issues vital to an organizations current operating activities and to its future success (Boynton and Zmud, 1984). †¢ Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM is the management of technology, processes, information, and people in order to maximize each customer contact by obtaining a 360-degree view of the customer (Galbreath and Rogers, 1999). †¢ Performance gap: This is a gap between the perceived performance and the expected importance of a factor (in this dissertation it is a supply chain factor). The performance gap provides an indication as to whether executives and managers are successful in translating their vision to their employees and hence such perception may give an indication regarding the degree of employees alignment with the organizations vision. If a factor is critical and has a negative value of factor alignment (perceived performance is less than the expectation), then the organization may have a potential problem with that factor. Information on factor alignment allows executives to develop a strategy to overcome the challenges associated with the gaps between importance and performance. (Martilla and James, 1977). †¢ Quality Function Deployment (QFD): QFD is a comprehensive quality tool that can be used to uncover customers spoken and unspoken needs, and convert these needs to product or service design targets and processes (Akao, 1990). 1.7 Delimitation There are several delimitations in this dissertation. †¢ The theoretical model derived from this dissertation is only applicable to the high technology companies. †¢ The dissertation is focused on companies operating geographically in California, United States of America, where there is a concentration of high technology companies. †¢ This dissertation is an exploratory research and will have to be tested for generalizability in later, more extensive, quantitative research (Perry, 1998). †¢ There is no scientific basis for choosing the number of cases in this dissertation. The number selected is based on the experiences and recommendations of the research and academic community (Eisenhardt, 1989; Perry, 1998). 1.8 Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of the dissertation. The aim, objectives, and justification of the research topic were discussed. The dissertation is an investigation on the impact of a supply chain management system on the competitive position of high technology business firms. It explores and investigates new ideas in supply chain management and examines how high technology firms manage and improve their supply chain management system. Furthermore, this dissertation will analyze the gaps and opportunities for supply chain management in high technology companies and give a set of recommendations. The methodology was briefly described, key definitions were explained, delimitations of this research were addressed, and the structure of the dissertation was outlined. With all the important areas of the research briefly introduced in this chapter, the following four chapters of this dissertation will present detailed description and findings of the research topic. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH ISSUES The previous chapter provided an overview of the dissertation and listed the objective, issues, and significance of the research topic. This chapter reviews the relevant literature and comprises of six sections. The review starts with a discussion on early approaches to understanding a firms performance and its competitive advantage. This is followed by the development of a theoretical framework and a discussion on contemporary approaches to competitive advantage. Next there is a discussion on supply chain management, followed by an overview of advanced supply chain management systems. The last two sections conclude with a discussion on gaps in the literature, identification of areas for further research, and the summary. 2.1 Early approaches to understanding a firms performance and competitive advantage One of the earliest (chronologically) approaches to competitive advantage is the microeconomic approach, or the idea of perfect competition (Walras, 1874, 1969). In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are negligible or low in the long run. However, according to Gill (1991), such a perfect economy is an abstraction, because there are monopolies, oligopolies, and perfect competition. Furthermore, there are also two kinds of competition: spatial and monopolistic. Spatial differentiation pertains to oligopolistic competition (Hotelling, 1929), and it meets consumers different tastes. Monopolistic competition assumes that small firms produce a variety of differentiated products (Chamberlin, 1933; in Gill, 1991). All these situations allow for profit maximization and higher profits (Gill, 1991). The industrial organization (IO) approach takes a richer approach to understanding a firms successful performance. IO differs from the microeconomic approach by introducing variables that explain real-world economic behavior. In IO, there are two competing hypothesis that lead to higher profits and success market power and a firms efficiency (Scherer, 1990; Tirole, 1988). Nevertheless, the IO approach assumes that markets and firms will reach equilibrium, and in equilibrium profits differences will not exist (Tirole, 1988). Both the microeconomic approach and the industrial organization approach assume that all firms would reach equilibrium and have equal profit and success. However, we know from a daily look at many firms performance on the stock market that profit and performance vary across firms, even when they are in the same business. Eaton and Lipsey (1978) have verified that differences in performance and profit exist between firms. 2.2 Contemporary approaches to achieving competitive advantage 2.2.1 Framework to understanding a firms performance One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argued that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit† (Porter, 1980, p. xiii). He proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that if a firm is able to do well in any of these strategies, it will gain competitive advantage. Porters concept is illustrated in 2-1. Generic Competitive Strategies†¢Overall cost leadership†¢Differentiation†¢FocusCompetitive Advantageof a Firm †¢ Cost leadership requires efficient-scale facilities, pursuit of cost reductions, and cost minimization in all areas of the firm. This will give more profit. †¢ Differentiation of product or service requires industry-wide differentiation, including design and brand image, customer service, and distribution or dealer network. Product or service differentiation will help increase customer loyalty and ensure repurchase. †¢ Focus on markets, buyers, or product lines can maximize profits. The framework, in 2-1, shows that the right strategies can provide competitive advantage. Porter (1985) also argues that competitive advantage come from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product. Each of these activities contributes to a firms relative cost position and creates a basis for differentiation. This is the value chain, and a firm has to disaggregate its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities cheaper or better than its competitors (Porter, 1985), and this can lead to a higher profit margin. The value chain concept is illustrated in 2-2. Profit Margin Outbound Logistics Manufacturing Operations, and other Internal Processes Inbound Logistics Procurement Human Resource Management Technology Development Firm Infrastructure and Platform Services Customer Service Marketing and Sales Primary Activities Support Activities Supply Chain Approach Strategic Planning Approach Marketing Capabilities Approach The Value Chain and Theoretical Framework to Achieve Competitive Advantage Adapted from Porter (1985) and this literature review. Note 1: Key approaches to competitive advantage are highlighted with underlined Characters Note 2: The definition of supply chain implies all activities necessary to deliver a product (Hakanson, 1999). Therefore sales, marketing, and customer service activities can be construed as part of the supply chain approach shown in the . In this study, sales and marketing processes, such as demand management, order processing, and customer relationship management are included in the internal processes shown in the and in the supply chain literature review. However, sales and marketing activity, such as sales calls, advertising, product positioning, market research, and some post delivery support processes are excluded from supply chain activity. This is consistent with the approach taken by the Supply Chain Council and the SCOR (Supply Chain Operational Reference) model it uses to measure supply chain activity (Supply Chain Council, 2001). 2.2.2 Summary of contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Porters approach presents new thinking to competitive advantage (Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece, 1991) and has influenced other approaches to creating competitive advantage. Many of the other approaches to competitive advantage are summarized in Table 2-1. From the table, it can be seen that all the approaches to increasing competitive advantage, except for the early microeconomic and industrial organization approaches, fit the theoretical framework in 2-2. However, all these approaches to competitive advantage are complementary and not alternatives or conflicting theories they basically propose various segments of the theoretical framework shown in 2-2. The various approaches are discussed very briefly below, but the last approach (in Table 2-1), Supply Chain Management, is discussed in greater detail. 2.2.3 The strategic planning approach In essence, Porters (1980, 1985) approaches are strategic planning approaches, i.e. a firms competitive advantage can be planned for. This includes planning for differentiation in the value chain, low cost leadership, and focus. Nations can also be competitive (Porter, 1990). Nations need four conditions to gain competitive advantage and be successful. The four conditions are: factor conditions (education and skill levels), demand conditions (or market size), related and supporting industries, and company strategy and rivalry (Porter, 1990). Strategy is â€Å"lucky foresight†¦Strategy is always the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire† according to Hamel (1998). What this implies is that one does not settle for obvious solutions and strategies but should look at alternatives, challenge assumptions, and look at new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. Table 2-1 Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Microeconomic Walras (1874, 1984) Perfect competition results in negligible profits Ideas ignore monopolies, oligopolies, and product differentiation. Profit does vary across firms according to Eaton and Lipsey (1978). Industrial Organization Scherer (1990), Tirole (1988) Success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. All proponents agree that in the long term there will be industry equilibrium and little profit. Porter (1980) Porter (1985) Provides a framework for achieving competitive advantage. Every firm has a generic competitive strategy in cost leadership, market focus, or differentiation. The value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these important activities better than its competitors. Challenges the stereotype approach of perfect competition and industry equilibrium. Provides a prescriptive approach to achieve competitive advantage, but the ideas and solutions are essentially conceptual. Hamel (1998) Strategy is the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire. A firm has to seek alternatives and new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. The Strategic Approach and its Variations Value Chain Approach Strategic Approach Resource Based Approach Wernerfelt (1984), Barney (1991), Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (1991). A firm has to identify specific, or rare, resources that lead to higher profits. Long-term superior performance comes from building product market positions that effectively utilize and maintain these resources. Examples of such resources include customer loyalty, and technological leads. If the resources are unique and difficult to duplicate, then the firm achieves competitive advantage. Table 2-1 (Continued) Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Market Strategy Marketing Capabilities Approach Resource-Advantage Theory Product Differentiation Day (1994,1999), Cool and Dierickx (1989), Aaker (1989), Caves and Ghemawat (1986). Also, Buzzell an