Chapter 3 : Strategic Initiatives for Implementing Competitive Advantages

Strategic Initiatives
Organizations can undertake high-profile strategic initiatives including :

• Supply Chain Management (SCM)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)                                                                                     

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

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

Four basic components of supply chain management include :

1. Supply chain strategy.
2. Supply chain partner.
3. Supply chain operation.
4. Supply chain logistics.

 

Effective and efficient SCM systems can enable an organization to :

• Decrease the power of its buyers.
• Increase its own supplier power.
• Create entry barriers thereby reducing the threat of new entrants.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Involves managing all aspects of a customer's relationship with an organization to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organization's profitability.

CRM is not just technology, but a strategy, process, and business goal that an organization must embrace on an enterprisewide level.

CRM can enable an organization to :

• Identify types of customers.
• Design individual customer marketing campaigns.
• Treat each customer as an individual.
• Understand customer buying behaviors.

Business Process Reengineering (BPR)

The analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises.

The purpose of BPR is to make all business processes best-in-class.

Business process - a standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer's order.

Finding Opportunity Using BPR

A company can improve the way it travels the road by moving from foot to horse and then horse to car.

BPR looks at taking a different path, such as all airplane which ignore the road completely.

Types of change an organization can achieve, along with the magnitudes of change and the potential business benefit.       

                                       

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

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

Keyword in ERP is 'enterprise'.

 

Chapter Three Case

Consolidating Touchpoints for Saab

Saab required a consolidated customer view among its three primary channels : 

• Dealer network.
• Customer assistance center. 
• Lead manegement center.