Webinar Evaluation, Research Paper Example

Survive or Thrive in an Age of Uncertainty

The webinar focuses on analyzing constant changes in an uncertain world, and how this affects the ability of supply chains to thrive. The webinar also explains that supply chains need to be innovative in order to grow and drive profits and increase the company’s bottom line. Additionally, the webinar reports that improving on best practices is a way for supply chains to add value from a customer perspective, and this helps with customer satisfaction and retention. Following are highlights of ideas from the webinar that I either concur or disagree with; however, I only found that I was in disagreement with only two of the ideas instead of three and I give a summary explaining this.

Ideas of Concurrence

• Supply chains can achieve excellence through balanced operations and innovation. This is accomplished by balancing customer demands and making significant improvements to supply chain management strategies. These changes should include capitalizing on innovation, increasing revenue, controlling cost and asset utilization as well as enhancing customer satisfaction (Anderson, Britt & Favre, 1997).
• Customer segmentation and supply chain segmentation are essential for better customer alignment. A winning strategy includes segmenting customers by groups according to their specific needs, wants and values, then modifying the supply chain to service the various segments (Sanzo & Vazuez, 2011). Customer segmentation provides a way for supply chains to market to specific niches, based on specific customer groups that are characterized by their distinct needs, values and benefits.
• Well-run logistics drive competitive advantage. A well-run supply chain is organized, efficient and productive. This allows a supply chain to reduce costs, improve service and increase its visibility in the marketplace. Supply chain competitors need to know that the most successful competitor in the marketplace is going to be the one who is best at managing the supply chain (Malik, Niemeyer & Ruwadi, 2011).

Ideas of Non-Concurrence

• Demand-driven leaders get better results. It is true that bottom line success is driven by profits from producing more in response to high demand. However, demand-driven leaders should be careful about how they approach the demand-driven concept and be sure they are taking care of their employees. Employee-oriented leaders have happier employees who produce more and have better quality to their work.
• Traditional supply chains are not thriving. This is not completely true. Traditional supply chains are staying in business by breaking up their chains into smaller, more specified groups so they can be better managed and able to handle complexity and thrive into today’s market. It’s a matter of preparation and innovation. This is how traditional supply chains are still thriving. Just because they may not have started out fully equipped to deal with ever-changing technological, economic and market trends, does not mean that they don’t have the ability to adapt (Malik, Niemeyer & Ruwadi, 2011).

As far as a third idea that I do not agree with in the presentation, there is none. The webinar is very thorough and accurate, in terms of its presentation outlining the concept of supply chain management evolution being an integral part of thriving in an age of uncertainty and constant change. The webinar takes a futuristic approach to determining what is necessary for supply chain managers to maintain steady progress and realize increased profits, by focusing on consumer demand and then translating this into effective leadership models.

References

Anderson, D. L., Britt, F.F., & Favre, D.J. (2007). The 7 Principles of Supply Chain Management. Supply Chain Management Review. Retrieved from  http://www.scmr.com/article/free_10_classic_articles_from_supply_chain_management_review_magazine/

Malik, Y., Niemeyer, A., & Ruwadi, B. (2011). Building The Supply Chain Of The Future. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2011/01/21/supply-chain-future-leadership-managing-mckinsey.html

Sanzo, M., & Vázquez, R. (2011). The Influence of Customer Relationship Marketing Strategies on Supply Chain Relationships: The Moderating Effects of Environmental Uncertainty and Competitive Rivalry. Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing, 18(1), 50-82. doi:10.1080/10517121003717799.