CHAPTER 3 : STRATEGIC INITIATIVES FOR IMPLEMENTING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

Definition :

(a) Strategic Initiatives : Organizations can undertake high - profile strategic initiatives including supply chain management, customer relationship management, business process reengineering, enterprise resource planning.

(b) 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.

(c) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) : Involves managing all aspects of an customer's relationship with an organization to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organization's profitability.

(d) Business Process : A standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer's order.

(e) Business Process Reengineering (BPR) : The analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises.

(f) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) : The integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single IT system so that employees can make decision by viewing enterprise wide information on all business operations.

The four basic components of supply chain management (SCM) include :

1. Supply Chain Strategy - Strategy for managing all resources to meet customer demand.

2. Supply Chain Partner - Partners throughout the supply chain that deliver finished products, raw materials, and services.

3. Supply Chain Operation - The schedule for production activities.

4. Supply Chain Logistics - The product delivery process.

Customer Relationship Management System :

• Accounting System.
• Order fulfillment system.
• Inventory system.
• Customer service system.

Enterprise Resource Planning System :

• ERP systems collect data from across an organization and correlates the data generating an enterprise wide view.

Business Process Reengineering :

An organization can use business process reengineering to improve its business :

• A company can improve the way it travels the road by moving from foot to horse and then horse car.
• BPR looks at taking a different path, such as an airplane which ignore the road completely.