Value Chain System Essay Example for Free

Value Chain System Essay The value chain concept was created by Michael Porter and explained in his book â€Å"Competitive Advantage†, published in 1980. The value chain is a series of activities that create and build value- culminating in the contribution of total value to the organization. Porter used the concept of value chain as a systematic approach to examining the development of an organization’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. In using the value chain concept, the total activities undertaken by a business are split into Primary Activities and Support Activities. Primary activities relate to inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Support activities include procurement, technology development, human resource management, and firm infrastructure. Intel  No doubt, Intel has emerged as the market leader in the design and manufacture of microprocessors, having an almost unbeatable advantage over its competitors. Yet Intel has realized that the best way to retain its market position is to make it easy and efficient for people to do business with the company. Since 1998, Intel has developed and used an e-business strategy to maintain relationships with its customers, employees and suppliers. The company’s goal is to become a 100% ‘e-business enabled’ corporation. In terms of the value chain concept, Intel has made remarkable progress and reaped tangible benefits in the volume of business it does on the Web, as well as created savings of time and money for both itself and its customers. (Pallato, 2001) Let us analyze Intel’s strategy in terms of the primary value chain activities: Inbound Logistics Prior to implementation of its e-business initiative, Intel used the traditional methods of pen, paper and telephone to place and track its supplies and suppliers. Furthermore it ordered supplies only in response to customer orders. Consequently the company lost out on many business opportunities, where it could not meet emergency demands, changing customer needs or large orders for want of adequate stock. However this all changed with the launch of its e-business initiative in 1998. Today, Intel uses the Internet to speed the flow of information between itself, its suppliers and customers. By tracking its deliveries and supplies over the Web, the company has reduced its order and manufacturing lead times. It tracks its supplies from various countries all over the world. Intel’s goal is to move towards a 100% automated system for its supplies and purchases. Operations Intel uses its Web based e-business system to aid in the quick exchange of details and queries pertaining to customer orders, design specifications and proprietary information. Design specifications and models can change every 6 months. Intel has many made-to-order deals with big volume direct customers and this almost instantaneous system can shave off a week or two in design and delivery of the final product, enabling the product and its suppliers to take full advantage of its novelty and price in the market. Outbound Logistics Intel uses its web based system to track deliveries to customers and resellers. It can thus expedite delivery by noting friction points, ascertaining the reasons and smoothing shipments there. Using its ‘vendor driven’ inventory management system, Intel can maintain its inventory levels to respond to fluctuating customer demand, make reliable forecasts and shipments on time. Marketing Sales Intel has also improved time to market for its products to customers. By putting its customer order entry system on the Web, it has reduced errors by 75%. It can take orders round the clock, where more than 25% of its transactions occurring after normal business hours. Its ability to establish links with over 75,000 system resellers worldwide has led to considerable increase in its sales volumes. Online sales doubled from US$ 1 billion to US$2 billion a month. Hundreds of Intel suppliers use the Web to check the status of inventory levels, payments and shipments. Service Intel focuses on many areas of support and service for all its products. From advanced data centers, application platforms, architecture planning, integration of business applications, e-commerce applications and solutions, system migration and server consolidation. Employing a set of highly skilled consultants having considerable technical expertise in designing, building, implementing and optimizing solutions on Intel architecture. Intel provides a variety of services in the areas of wireless, hardware design, networking and communications, software development, business strategies and solution providers. Intel has established alliances with other leading software technology providers and solutions such as Oracle and SAP to give added value to its customers. It has a variety of solution blueprints on its website advertising its successful applications from a variety of industries. A database of solution providers and resellers of Intel products and solutions has been provided on a technological, geographical and language basis for ease of access and use. Intel Website). The success of Intel’s value chain can be judged by the fact that it helped the company earn revenues of US$30. 1 Billion in 2003. The company has over 78,000 employees worldwide, with 294 offices and facilities for its 450 odd products. Intel was ranked 53 in the list of Fortune500 companies in 2003. By converting from its EDI systems to one using its RosettaNet business process standards with XML forms, Intel is expected to make further giant strides in the way it does business. (1) Spectrum Pharmaceutical Porter’s five force analysis is used to analyze Spectrum Pharmaceutical in the pharmaceutical industry. Porter’s five forces analysis is a method of analyzing an industry and a company’s business strategy. It uses five fundamental forces that determine competition within an industry and how a company functions within that industry. These five forces involve market forces and pricing power of the business, suppliers and customers. The first force that a company must deal with is the bargaining power of customers. In relation to Spectrum Pharmaceutical, the customers have very little power to bargain prices with the company. The products that Spectrum provides are unique niche products that the customer cannot obtain anywhere else. This gives the customers little bargaining power with the company. This makes the products that Spectrum produces more profitable for the company, but more expensive to the customer. This makes the products more expensive however, which makes them more profitable for the company. There are few substitutes for these products, which reduces the buyers leverage to negotiate lower prices. The buyers have little concentration which reduces their ability to negotiate lower prices. Due to lack of alternative products there are few substitutes for Spectrum’s products. All these reasons combined together give the buyer of the products little force to negotiate lower prices, but give the company a lot of power to maintain their high prices. The second force in the analysis is the bargaining power of suppliers. In this instance, the suppliers to Spectrum have little power to affect the price of the final product. There are several different firms that can supply Spectrum with the necessary products for spectrum to manufacture their products. This gives the suppliers little leverage to boost prices to Spectrum, which in turn helps to keep the price of supplies low. There are usually several alternative products on the market that Spectrum can use to manufacture the necessary goods. Due to the lack of concentration of suppliers, they have little leverage to negotiate higher prices which would squeeze the profits of Spectrum. In addition, the cost of inputs in the price of Spectrum’s products is very low compared to the final cost of the product. The regulatory process is a much more expensive input to the final cost of goods than the raw material inputs. All these reasons combined give suppliers little force to raise prices to Spectrum, and have little influence on the price to the consumer. The next force in the analysis is the threat of substitute products. Several different substitute products allow the consumer to switch to other products and lower price products. This price elasticity keeps prices lower for the consumer and limits the ability of the company to raise prices. There are few substitute products for drugs that Spectrum manufactures. Consumers have little alternative choices for Spectrum products. This reduces the ability of the consumer switch to lower cost products. This keeps the product prices high and reduces the leverage of the consumer has to keep prices lower. All these reasons combined, keep reduce the force of the consumer to exert little ability to keep prices low and allow Spectrum to charge higher prices for its products. The next force in the analysis is the threat of new entrants into the market. If it was easy to enter the market with new and competing products, the ability to keep prices high would be reduced. This however, is not the case with Spectrum. It is extremely expensive for new entrants to get into the pharmaceutical market. It is costly in both money and time to get new drugs to market. The regulatory process insures that new products to the market have been tested at several levels. This testing is expensive in time, money and expertise. It takes several years to get new products through the regulatory process and new products to market. This high cost limits the number of new entrants into the market. There are many barriers to entry into the market. In addition, Spectrum holds patents that limit market competition for several years. Even though the pharmaceutical business is highly profitable, there are few competitors in the marketplace due to the high entrance costs and other barriers. The capital costs to enter the marketplace limit the number of competitors in the marketplace. The high capital, labor and other costs limit the force of new entrants to compete against Spectrum in the marketplace. The barriers to entering the pharmaceutical business limit competition and ensure that drug companies can maintain higher prices. The last force in the analysis is the intensity of competitive rivalries. Industry rivalries can increase the competition for the consumer’s money. This can keep costs down and reduce profitability. Even though there are several companies in the pharmaceutical business, the total business is extremely large. The high costs of entering the market reduce competition. The high capital costs, the regulatory process and the barriers to entry, reduce competitive rivalries within the industry. The industry has a high growth rate, especially as the older population grows. In most cases there is little over production and over capacity. It takes a lot of technical expertise in many different areas to get into the pharmaceutical business. There are advertising campaigns in the few areas where there are substitute products, but this mostly limits the size of the market and not profitability. Due to the extremely high profits, most companies have a strong incentive to innovate, market and remain in the business. All these reasons combined limit the competitive rivalry that would reduce the profitability of firms in the pharmaceutical industry. In summary, the Porter’s five force analysis of Spectrum Pharmaceutical show few limits on its ability to compete. Customer’s have little ability to bargain lower prices with the firm. Suppliers to Spectrum have little ability to raise prices to the company and have little influence on the cost structure of the final product. There are few substitute products to the drugs that Spectrum produces, this reduces the ability of consumers to switch to alternative lower price products, and ensures the ability of Spectrum to keep prices high. The high capital costs and the regulatory rocess restrict the number of new competitors in the pharmaceutical industry. This reduces competition for companies in the drug business and helps to reduce completion and keep prices high. The last force in the analysis is threat of competitive rivalries. This is relatively low for Spectrum. The high capital costs to enter the business and the barriers to entry into the market help keep competitive rivalries low. Due to the size of the industry and few competitors that can overcome the entrance barriers, limit the rivalry and allow the industry to by highly profitable.

How Important was the My Lai Massacre in Generating Support for the Peace Protest Movement? :: American America History

How Important was the My Lai Massacre in Generating Support for the Peace Protest Movement? The Peace Protest Movement was a time in the Vietnam war when people disagreed with it. This was because of a number of things. The amount of money it was costing, The amount of people killed, but it originated largely from the massacre at My Lai. The reason that the happenings in My Lai, 1968 were so unpopular is because it was the first time that people back home, in USA and all around the world saw what was actually happening to innocent citizens who had done nothing wrong, as a result of Search and Destroy missions. The My Lai Massacre was the first incident to be televised during the war and therefore, it was only then that people realised what was actually happening in Vietnam. This caused a major uproar, which many people were involved in. Students played a major role, running demonstrations against the War, Veterans from the war threw their medals away in disgrace at what was happening, as well as a few more individuals, Richard Nixon, Coretta King, Dr Spock, Roger Laporte and Norman Morrison, who all did their own thing to symbolise the wrongs of the war. Teach-ins on why the USA should leave Vietnam, Railway Blocks with human barricades, Campus Demonstrations, Huge Public Demonstrations, Burning Draft Papers and even to the drastic case of burning themselves to death. Not all Americans supported the peace protest movement, if they lived with the enemy, they were the enemy and deserved what they got. Did My Lai harden the support for the War effort? I don't think so, but some people argue that it did. The thing that worried people is they didn't know how long that this sort of thing had been going on, without them knowing. The protests were not only aiming to try to stop the Vietnamese War, but also to remember all the other innocent civilians killed in other wars that weren't televised before Vietnam. I think that the main reason that the My Lai Massacre caused such an uproar was because it was the first time that anything of the sort had been televised and had so much media coverage, but could the peace protest movement have happened if the media were not involved? I think that it would have, but not to the same extent. How Important was the My Lai Massacre in Generating Support for the Peace Protest Movement? :: American America History How Important was the My Lai Massacre in Generating Support for the Peace Protest Movement? The Peace Protest Movement was a time in the Vietnam war when people disagreed with it. This was because of a number of things. The amount of money it was costing, The amount of people killed, but it originated largely from the massacre at My Lai. The reason that the happenings in My Lai, 1968 were so unpopular is because it was the first time that people back home, in USA and all around the world saw what was actually happening to innocent citizens who had done nothing wrong, as a result of Search and Destroy missions. The My Lai Massacre was the first incident to be televised during the war and therefore, it was only then that people realised what was actually happening in Vietnam. This caused a major uproar, which many people were involved in. Students played a major role, running demonstrations against the War, Veterans from the war threw their medals away in disgrace at what was happening, as well as a few more individuals, Richard Nixon, Coretta King, Dr Spock, Roger Laporte and Norman Morrison, who all did their own thing to symbolise the wrongs of the war. Teach-ins on why the USA should leave Vietnam, Railway Blocks with human barricades, Campus Demonstrations, Huge Public Demonstrations, Burning Draft Papers and even to the drastic case of burning themselves to death. Not all Americans supported the peace protest movement, if they lived with the enemy, they were the enemy and deserved what they got. Did My Lai harden the support for the War effort? I don't think so, but some people argue that it did. The thing that worried people is they didn't know how long that this sort of thing had been going on, without them knowing. The protests were not only aiming to try to stop the Vietnamese War, but also to remember all the other innocent civilians killed in other wars that weren't televised before Vietnam. I think that the main reason that the My Lai Massacre caused such an uproar was because it was the first time that anything of the sort had been televised and had so much media coverage, but could the peace protest movement have happened if the media were not involved? I think that it would have, but not to the same extent.

Pros and Cons of Computers Essay

During this time, there are a lot of changes that has happened to our world. New discoveries and inventions were found. One of these inventions is the computer. By this machine, our way of life and thinking have drastically changed. There are advantages and disadvantages of using this machine. For example, because of computers we can store data and make stay in its original state, like pictures, documents and other things. This was not possible in the earlier time. Because of it, we can store large amounts of data and make this data available for usage at anytime we needed it (Shelly & Vermaat, 2011, para.5). Computers have made information â€Å"immortal†per se. This machine has saved a lot of time for us, it has made processing, which took us ages to finish, done in a matter of seconds. This involves computing, organizing, showing images, recording and playing audio, and showing a video (Shelly & Vermaat, 2011, para.2). All these are simplified by computer in a quick time. In addition, this machine is very durable, it rarely breaks with proper care(Shelly & Vermaat, 2011, para.3). Even if computers have good to us, but it can also bring harm to us. Like the violation of privacy, many of us save personal information on computers, but there are instances that these computers be hacked by another person, and this person will can spread your personal information or steal your identity(Shelly & Vermaat, 2011, para.9). Also there is the health risk, even if there are proper position or usage of the computer, most of us tend to disregard these memos, and because of our ignorance and prolong use of computers we experience seizures, carpal tunnel and other disorders (Shelly & Vermaat, 2011, para.8). There is also the effect on our industries. Some tend to lay off workers, because this machine can do it more consistent and accurate than the average man (Shelly & Vermaat, 2011, para.11). The computer is great invention for of us, but we must control ourselves and acknowledge the disadvantage, not only the advantage. Gary Shelly and Misty Vermaat. Advantages and Disadvantages of Computers .

To What Extent Does Modern Media Coverage and Censorship...

‘To what extent does modern media coverage and censorship of conflicts affect how people interpret them? Modern media coverage - the main means of mass communication - gives us news from around the globe, allowing us to develop an informed understanding of the world and its issues. Armed Conflict and tension between the world’s countries has only become more vehement, which has lead to an onslaught of media coverage, orchestrated by countries on either side of the conflicts, as well as countries that are regarded as outsiders. Information about these conflicts can be propagated by a myriad of different sources, which often besmirch its reliability by having a subjective stance. The biased viewpoints of this type of coverage can influence†¦show more content†¦Conjointly, ongoing conflicts such as the war on terror and the Syrian civil war as well as the crisis in Crimea have attracted an ample amount of media attention, which has all the more effect on people’s perceptions of these conflicts because of the severe vigor of the media in this day and age. Global perspective: Finland Finland is first on 2014’s index of Press freedom, and has topped this list for four years straight. In terms of Internet penetration, Finland is 10th in the world, with 88.6% of their population currently using the Internet. Finland, unlike the United States, does not have a substantial part to play in international conflict. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland states that it ‘Participates in international military cooperation in the framework of NATO’s Partnership for Peace and provides troops for NATO-led crisis management operations in, for example, Western Balkans and Afghanistan.† Finland currently has only deployed 176 troops to engage in armed conflict in Afghanistan and assist the International Security Assistance Force - ISAF. Since Finland is not as active in international relations and conflicts as countries like The Big Five (USA, UK, France, Russia, China), it has less things to consider regarding the distribution of information that co uld potentially infringe upon the security of the country and population. Unlike China, Finland does not have an extremely large population, meaning thatShow MoreRelatedFahrenheit 451- a Critical Review4221 Words   |  17 Pagesâ€Å"redundancy† and perils of reading, â€Å"necessity† of censorship and ways to keep Man happy. These are also the thematic concerns that the author wants readers to ponder thoughtfully and seek for their own answers. A. The increasing focus on speed in the society â€Å"We didn’t get along well until photography came into its own. Then- motion pictures in the early twentieth century. Radio. Television. Things began to have mass. [†¦], they became simpler.† This is what Beatty says about the history of the eliminationRead MoreFreedom of Speech, Comparing Freedom of Expression in the Statutory Law and the Sharia Law19992 Words   |  80 PagesDissertation Submitted for The MA Degree in International Journalism University of Westminster By Motasem Ahmed Dalloul Copyright (2012), University of Westminster and Motasem Ahmed Dalloul Introduction Getting in touch with media law during the first semester of my Masters gave me a sense of the importance of law in general because it consists of acts and articles which organise most issues in the human’s life in a way that protects ethics and morals. Regardless of the hypocrisyRead MoreRole of Media in Tourism9761 Words   |  40 Pages   The   Role   of   Media   Communications   in   Developing   Tourism   Policy   and   Cross†Cultural   Communication   for   Peace,   Security   for   Sustainable  Tourism  Industry  in  Africa               Author:  Wilson  Okaka  Ã‚   Lecturer  (Communications  and  Environment  Programmes)   Kyambogo  University  Kampala†(Uganda)   Telephones:  [Office:  256†414†3771775]  Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  [Mobile:  256†078†2588846]   Email:  nupap2000@yahoo.com                  Paper  Presented  at  the  4th  International  Institute  of  Peace  through   Tourism  (IIPT)  African  Conference  on  Peace  through  Tourism  at  Read MoreMetz Film Language a Semiotics of the Cinema PDF100902 Words   |  316 Pagesthe Image Track Chapter 6. Outline of the Autonomous Segments in Jacques Rozier s film Adieu Philippine, 149 Chapter 7. Syntagmatic Study of Jacques Rozier s Film Adieu Philippine, 177 vii viii CONTENTS IV The Modern Cinema: Some Theoretical Problems Chapter 8. The Modern Cinema and Narrativity, 185 Chapter 9. Mirror Construction in Fellini s 8 1/2, 228 Chapter 10. The Saying and the Said: Toward the Decline of Plausibility in the Cinema? 235 Notes, 253 A Note on the Translation by BertrandRead MoreBusiness Journalism in India26104 Words   |  105 Pagesthe loopholes (the case of Satyam) (5) 5 Stock exchange, Sensex and its ups and downs, need for stricter monitoring, how to (5) cover Stock Exchanges, qualities of a good stock exchange reporter 6 Ethics for business journalism. Should it be a watch dog or servant of business houses? (5) Role of freebies, junkets, five star attractions and need to resist them 7 Magazine journalism: The Indian scene, eclipse of the general interest magazines, (5) stagnation of news magazines, scopeRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 PagesDistributed Information Access Solutions Thomas R. Kochtanek and Joseph R. Matthews The Complete Guide to Acquisitions Management Frances C. Wilkinson and Linda K. Lewis Organization of Information, Second Edition Arlene G. Taylor The School Library Media Manager, Third Edition Blanche Woolls Basic Research Methods for Librarians Ronald R. Powell and Lynn Silipigni Connoway Library of Congress Subject Headings: Principles and Application, Fourth Edition Lois Mai Chan Developing Library and InformationRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesways of improving it. Although always appealing to his economic understandings, he has been open to a wide variety of other ideas, recognizing their intellectual strengths and capabilities rather than making artificial distinct ions between what is acceptable and what is not. He also has contributed widely to the accounting literature, taking forward the British tradition of economic theorizing in financial accounting as well as being a constant source of creative thinking in the management accountingRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagessound and the author does a superior job of presenting the structure of arguments. David M. Adams, California State Polytechnic University These examples work quite well. Their diversity, literacy, ethnic sensitivity, and relevancy should attract readers. Stanley Baronett. Jr., University of Nevada Las Vegas Far too many authors of contemporary texts in informal logic – keeping an eye on the sorts of arguments found in books on formal logic – forget, or underplay, how much of our dailyRead MoreMonsanto: Better Living Through Genetic Engineering96204 Words   |  385 Pagesfollows this summary gives you considerable detail about how to go about a case analysis, but for now here is a brief account. Before we start, a word about attitude – make it a real exercise. You have a set of historical facts; use a rigorous system to work out what strategies should be followed. All the cases are about real companies, and one of the entertaining bits of the analysis process is to compare what you have said they should do with what they really have done. So, it is best not to check the