Aligning Product Strategy to Supply Chain Practices
Read this article. The authors study whether organizational products are aligned with optimal supply chain types. Besides the product, what other aspects must be analyzed when selecting a specific type of supply chain?
The purpose of the article
Research on the impact of supply chain
design on product strategy for small businesses is sparse. The supply
chain includes upstream linkages (from the raw materials and
manufacturing side), internal linkages (either manufacturing or
crafting, or internal business processes) and downstream linkages
(focused on the end customer); this research will focus primarily on the
internal and downstream linkages. Internal linkages include those
value-creating activities that relate to the process of transforming raw
materials into finished products and services, whilst downstream linkages refer to distribution activities
involved in warehousing, storing, order processing, order picking and
packing, shipping, delivery vehicle operations and distributing the
finished product to the customer. Marketing,
distribution and customer sales and satisfaction are the downstream
activities, whilst the upstream portion of the organisation's value
chain focuses on feeding the production or conversion process of the
supply chain.
In light of the above, the
purpose of this article is therefore to determine if product strategies
are aligned to supply chain practices in craft businesses in Gauteng,
South Africa. This research will also show that significant challenges
are often faced by small-to-medium-sized craft businesses (in Gauteng)
in aligning their product strategies with their supply chain strategies.
One may also logically be able to extrapolate that if
small-to-medium-sized craft businesses face alignment problems, then
other similar small-to-medium-sized businesses in other industries may
also face similar challenges to those of craft businesses. In other
words, if small-to-medium-sized craft businesses face significant
challenges in matching or aligning the gap between their product and
supply chain strategies, then other similar-sized businesses will face
similar challenges both in South Africa and other parts of the world.
However, this latter statement will not be proven or discussed in this
research article as it is beyond the scope of this research project
(research limitation).