bethaneydbryant
please respond to this with your opinion. Improved Customer…
please respond to this with your opinion.
Improved Customer Relationships and Supply Chain Management
Concept
The goal of every firm is to be able to manage their customer base, make that base grow, and garner a distinct competitive advantage with their customer relationships and supply chain management philosophy. Ultimately, improving customer relationships and incorporating a sound supply chain management theory should result in improved customer focus. “Business firms need to adopt a “customer -oriented mission statement” that addresses the questions of who is being satisfied (customer groups), what is being satisfied (customer needs), and how are customer needs being satisfied (distinctive competencies)” (Lado et al., 2011, p. 202-203). Improved customer relationships can only lead to a more viable business and compliment the supply chain management of the firm. How this is accomplished is critical to a firm’s external success yet must start internally as the stage-setter for that success. “The ability to offer what the customer wants and needs is a basic requirement in which supply chain management contributes by creating availability and selection” (Liberty University School of Business, 2022, p. 187). This focus allows the firm to drive its supply chain capabilities and which in turn will improve performance resulting in financial gain. Conceptually, a firm needs to solidify its relationships with their customer base and look at the “four most common supply chain practices (supplier partnership, customer relationship, information sharing, and lean system), net trade cycle, and financial performance” (Abbas et al., 2018, p. 1). Using resource based theory (RBT) it becomes clear that increasing financial performance with a firm’s supply chain practices becomes an essential part of supply chain management. What is seen in the supply chain practices is a movement toward the influence of the supply chain parameters and how that influences financial performance. Additionally, supply-chain performance starts internally with a firm and is taken to a higher level of performance externally by the firm’s employees. “The overall consequence of internal marketing efforts of an organization is a higher level of satisfaction for employees as well as customers” (Mohan and Deshmukh, 2013, p.19).
Application/Example
What is key to the concept of supply chain management is the relationships that evolve from a higher level of management in the supply chain. It is important to understand the tenants that are combined in developing a competitive supply chain. They include the involvement of senior management and their backing in developing a viable supply chain. Management needs to understand all the parameters involved in the supply chain and the benefits both from a customers’ basis and financial performance and “how supply-chain relational capabilities engender competitive advantage” (Lado et al., 2011, p. 213). Application of supply chain management involves both internal and external concepts and as previously stated needs to have senior management support and backing. Internally, the employee needs to buy into the focus on the customer and “the fundamental shift in mindset from an internal, production-orientation to an external, customer-orientation, can help inform the ongoing quest for strategic advantage within the context of supply-chain management” (Lado et al., 2011, p. 213). An example of this improved customer relationship and supply chain management can be found in the retail automotive arena. All of the major automotive firms are now offering products that used to be part of the automotive after product market. These will include items that the customer will want on a new car but would have to go to the after-market to purchase (bed-liners, tonneau covers, different tires than standard, winches, etc.). For example, Ford now allows the consumer to add these “after-market” items as part of the original price and the build your vehicle section of their website. Pricing wise these add-ons are competitive with the after market and the customer does not need to worry about any additional time spent after delivery to do “after-market” add-ons. This allows the automotive company to facilitate a mode of additional product capability for the customer and in many cases may well be the deciding factor in purchase of the vehicle. “The ability to offer what the customer wants and needs is a basic requirement to which supply chain management contributes by creating availability and selection” (Liberty Scholl of Business, 2022, p. 187).
Classmate Question
If your customer base was the “new car automotive market” and you were the vice-president of supply management for Ford, how would you structure your marketing materials to differentiate Ford from those of General Motors or Toyota? What “after-market” options would you include as part of the “build your own vehicle” as options for the customer? This may entail shifts both internally with your employees and externally with your customer base. As we look at the question, a look at Proverbs may help us. “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge” (Proverbs 18:15, English Standard Bible, 2008).
References
Abbas, F. J., Nobanee, H., Khan, M., & Varas, J. (2018). The Impact of Practices in Working
Capital Management and Supply Chain Management on Corporate Performance.
International Journal of Business, 23(4), 383+.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A567548530/GBIB?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-Links to an external site.
GBIB&xid=ba8b2e7f
English Standard Bible. (2008). Crossway Bibles
Lado, A. A., Paulraj, A., & Chen, I. J. (2011). Customer focus, supply-chain relational
capabilities and performance: Evidence from US manufacturing industries. International
Journal of Logistics Management, 22(2), 202-221.
https://doi.org/10.1108/09574091111156550
Liberty University School of Business. (2022). Supply Chain Management. McGraw Hill
Create.
Mohan, A., & Deshmukh, A. K. (2013). Conceptualization and development of a supply chain-customer
relationship management (SC2R-M) synergy mode. Journal of Supply Chain Management
Systems, 2(3), 9.
