Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 6th Edition

Managing the supply chain as a network

The new competitive paradigm we have described places the firm at the centre of an interdependent network – an ecosystem of mutually complementary competencies and capabilities – which competes as an integrated supply chain against other supply chains.

To manage in such a radically revised competitive structure clearly requires different skills and priorities to those employed in the traditional model. To achieve market leadership in the world of network competition necessitates a focus on network management as well as upon internal processes. Of the many issues and challenges facing organisations as they make the transition to this new competitive environment, the following are perhaps most significant. ...