Managing Supply Chain Networks: Building Competitive Advantage in Fluid and Complex Environments

1. From Value Chain to Value Network

As introduced in the preface, during the past few decades academics and practitioners have debated about the best approach do define a firm’s strategy. Different approaches generate specific consequences on the effort to implement the designed strategy and on the quality of the business results that derive from the strategy’s lifecycle. The model based on the mechanism of imperfect competition within an industry called the Five Forces That Shape Strategy (Porter 1985) is largely accepted, despite several dissonant opinions.^1,2,3 Recently, an interesting approach called the Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim, et al. 2005) suggests management strategies that focus more on creating or entering unexplored markets rather ...