Fundamentals of Global Strategy Chapter 9 Global Supply-Chain Management

Chapter Global Management In today global competitive environment , individual companies no longer compete as autonomous entities but as networks . Instead of brand versus brand or company versus company , it is increasingly versus . In this new competitive world , the success of a single business increasingly depends on management ability to integrate the company intricate network of business relationships . management ( offers the opportunity to capture the synergy of and intercompany integration and management . deals with total excellence and represents a new way of managing business and relationships with other members of the supply chain . supply chains have three distinct qualities . First , they enough to readily react to sudden changes in demand or supply . Second , they adapt over time as market structures and environmental conditions change . And , third , they align the interests of all members of the chain network in order to optimize performance . These , adaptability , and possible only when partners promote between nodes . In other words , the of knowledge is what enables a supply chain to come together in a way that creates a true value chain for all stakeholders . creates value by making the supply chain more transparent and by giving everyone a better look at customer needs and value propositions . Broad knowledge about customers and the overall market , as opposed to just information from order points , can provide other , including a better understanding of market trends , resulting in better planning and product development . Lee ( 2004 , October ) Myers and Cheung ( 2008 , July ) URL books 195

Supply Chains From Push to Pull A supply chain refers to the of physical goods and associated information from the source to the consumer . Key activities include production planning , purchasing , materials management , distribution , customer service , and sales forecasting . These processes are critical to the success manufacturers , wholesalers , or service providers alike . Electronic commerce and the Internet have fundamentally changed the nature of supply chains and have how consumers learn about , select , purchase , and use products and services . The result has been the emergence of new supply chains that are rather than . They also provide customized products and services . In the traditional model , raw material suppliers one end of the supply chain . They were connected to manufacturers and distributors , which , in turn , were connected to a retailer and the end customer . Although the customer is the source of the profits , they were only part of the equation in this push model . The order and promotion process , which involves customers , retailers , distributors , and manufacturers , occurred through paperwork . By the time customers needs were filtered through the agendas of all the members of the supply chain , the production cycle ended up serving suppliers every bit as much as customers . Driven by capabilities to empower clients , most companies have moved from the traditional push business model , where manufacturers , suppliers , distributors , and marketers have most of the power , to a pull model . This new business model is less centric and more directly focused on the individual consumer . As a result , the new model also indicates a shift in the balance of power from suppliers to customers . Whereas in the old push model , many members of the supply chain remained relatively isolated from end users , the new pull model has each participant scrambling to establish direct electronic connections to the end customer . The result is that electronic connectivity gives end customers the opportunity to become better informed through the ability to research and give direction to suppliers . The net result is that customers now have a direct voice in the functioning of URL books 196

the supply chain , and companies can better serve customer needs , carry less inventory , and send products to market more quickly . Zara Global Business Model 11 , the parent company of cheap , chain Zara , has transformed itself into Europe leading apparel retailer over the past 10 years and has racked up impressive results in Asia and the United States . Since 2000 , has more than quintupled its sales and profits as it has tripled the number of stores of its eight brands . Zara is the biggest , accounting for of total revenues . More recently , increased its net sales by in the first nine months of its 2009 fiscal year to million euros . Net income grew to 831 million euros . The retailer launched 266 new stores in the first nine months , bringing the groups total number of stores to by the end of October 2009 . Key highlights for the period included openings in Asian markets , with 90 new establishments inaugurated by October 31 , 2009 . These store openings the strategic importance of Asian markets for the group and underscore a year of robust growth in China , Japan , and South Korea . High points of store launches so far this year include locations in Japan and Mainland China . In Japan , Zara now has a total of 50 stores , including a second location in Tokyo district , which is a global fashion destination . Prior to this opening , Zara had already welcomed shoppers at another upscale store in . Zara thus enhances its excellent retail presence in Tokyo four key shopping areas the two aforementioned stores in , two each in and , and one in . Meanwhile , in Beijing , the group celebrated the opening of a location in one of the Chinese capital busiest shopping hubs . The store , which opened its doors on the pedestrian Street , brings the groups number of stores in China to more than 60 . The company commitment to expansion in the Chinese fashion market is in its decision to locate shops not only in Beijing and Shanghai but also in emerging cities such as , and . To get where it is today , Zara has turned globalization on its head , distributing all of its merchandise , regardless of origin , from Spain . With more outlets in Asia and the United States , replenishing stores URL books 0792 . 197

twice a Zara does become increasingly complex and expensive . The strain is already starting to show . Costs are climbing and growth in sales is slowing at outlets open for years or more , revenues were up by last year , compared with a increase in 2004 . So far , the company has managed to offset that problem by charging more for its goods as it gets farther from headquarters . For instance , Zara prices in the United States are some 65 higher than in Spain , brokerage Brothers , estimates . Zara has succeeded by breaking every rule in retailing . For most clothing stores , running out of selling items is a disaster , but Zara encourages occasional shortages to give its products an air of exclusivity . With new merchandise arriving at stores twice a week , the company trains its customers to shop and shop often . And forget about setting prefers to follow them . Its aim is to give customers plenty of variety at a price they can afford . Zara made different items last year , about triple what the Gap did . Zara does not collaborate with designers and or use advertising campaigns . Instead , it uses its spacious , minimalist Gucci than clothing to build its brand . Their advertising is their stores . To get shoppers attention , Zara is located on some of the worlds streets New York Fifth Avenue , Tokyo , Rome Via , and the in Paris . Keeping those locations with an supply of new clothing means striking the right balance between and cost . So while rivals outsource to Asia , Zara makes its most fashionable of all its a dozen factories in Spain . Clothes with a longer shelf life , such as basic , are outsourced to suppliers , mainly in Asia and Turkey . The tight control makes Zara more than its competitors . While rivals push their suppliers to churn out goods in bulk , Zara intentionally leaves extra capacity in the system . That results in fewer fashion mistakes , which means Zara sells more at full price , and when it discounts , it does not have to go as deep . The chain books 85 of the full ticket price for its merchandise , while the industry average is 60 . URL books 0797 ?

198 Zara nerve center is an hall at its headquarters in , a town of in . That is where hundreds of designers , buyers , and production planners work in tightly synchronized teams . It is there that the company does all of its design and distribution and half of its production . The concentrated activity enables it to move a dress , blouse , or coat from drawing board to shop in just weeks , less than a quarter of the industry average . Consider how Zara managed to latch onto one of hottest trends in just weeks in 2006 . The process started when spread the word back to headquarters white with tiny holes in set to become . A quick telephone survey of Zara store managers that the fabric could be a winner , so designers got down to work . They zapped patterns electronically to Zara factory across the street , and the fabric was cut . Local subcontractors stitched belted dresses and them in less than a week . The 129 dresses were inspected , tagged , and transported through a tunnel under the street to a distribution center . From there , they were quickly dispatched to Zara stores from New York to Tokyo , where they were off the racks just days later . and , 2006 , September ) URL books 199

Management management ( has three principal components ( a ) creating the network structure , developing business processes , and ( managing the activities . The network structure consists of the member and the links between these . Primary members of a supply chain include all autonomous companies or strategic business units that carry out activities in the business processes designed to produce a output for a particular customer or market . Supporting members are companies that simply provide resources , knowledge , utilities , or assets for the primary members of the supply chain . For example , supporting companies include those that lease trucks to a manufacturer , banks that lend money to a retailer , or companies that supply production equipment , print marketing brochures , or provide administrative assistance . Supply chains have three structural dimensions horizontal , vertical , and the horizontal position of the focal company within the end points of the supply chain . The dimension , horizontal structure , refers to the number of tiers across the supply chain . The supply chain may be long , with numerous tiers , or short , with few tiers . As an example , the network structure for bulk cement is relatively short . Raw materials are taken from the ground , combined with other materials , moved a short distance , and used to construct buildings . The second dimension , vertical structure , refers to the number of suppliers or customers represented within each tier . A company can have a narrow vertical structure , with few companies at each tier level , or a wide vertical structure with many suppliers or customers at each tier level . The third structural dimension is the company horizontal position within the supply chain . A company can be positioned at or near the initial source of supply , be at or near to the ultimate customer , or be somewhere between these end points of the supply chain . Business processes are the activities that produce a output of value to the customer . The management function integrates the business processes across the supply chain . Traditionally , in many companies , upstream and downstream portions of the supply chain were not effectively URL books 200

integrated . Today , competitive advantage increasingly depends on integrating eight key relationship management , customer service management , demand management , order , manufacturing management , procurement , product development and commercialization , and managing an effective value delivery network . Regarding the management function itself , in some companies , management emphasizes a functional structure , others a process structure , and yet others a combined structure of processes and The number of business processes that it is critical or to integrate and manage between companies will likely vary . In some cases , it may be appropriate to link just one key process , and , in other cases , it may be appropriate to link multiple or all the key business processes . However , in each case , it is important that executives thoroughly analyze and discuss which key business processes to integrate and manage , With the shift from the traditional push to the modern pull model , management has integration of commerce has produced ( a ) greater cost efficiency , distribution , better customer service , and ( the ability to track and monitor shipments . Lambert and Cooper ( 2000 , January ) Lambert , and ( 1998 ) URL books 201

Agility and Resiliency The best companies create supply chains that can respond to sudden and unexpected changes in markets . ability to respond quickly and to unexpected critical because in most industries , both demand and supply more rapidly and widely than they used to . In fact , the best companies use agile supply chains to differentiate themselves from rivals . For instance , Zara has become Europe most apparel brands by building agility into every link of their supply chains . At one end of the product pipeline , Zara has created an agile design process . As soon as designers spot possible trends , they create sketches and order fabrics . That gives them a head start over competitors because fabric suppliers require the longest lead times . However , the company approves designs and initiates manufacturing only after it gets feedback from its stores . This allows Zara to make products that meet consumer tastes and reduces the number of items they must sell at a discount . At the other end of supply chain , the company has created a distribution system . In part because of these decisions , Zara has grown at more than 20 annually since the late , and its net profit margins are the envy of the industry . Agility and resiliency have become more critical in recent years because sudden shocks to supply chains have become more frequent . The terrorist attack in New York in 2001 , the dockworkers strike in California in 2002 , and the SARS epidemic in Asia in 2003 , for instance , disrupted many companies supply chains . Agility and resiliency help supply chains recover more quickly from such sudden setbacks . When , in September 1999 , an earthquake hit , shipments of computer components to the United States were delayed by weeks and , in some cases , by months . Most computer manufacturers , such as Compaq , Apple , and Gateway , could not deliver products to customers on time and incurred losses . One exception was Dell . The company changed the prices of overnight to steer consumer demand away from hardware built with components that were not available to machines that did not require those parts . Dell could do this because it had contingency plans in place . Not surprisingly , Dell gained market share in the earthquake aftermath . URL books 202

agility and resilience no longer imply merely the ability to manage risk . It now assumes that the ability to manage risk means being better positioned than competitors to deal even gain advantage Key to increasing agility and resilience is building into the structure , processes , and management . Lee ( 2004 , October ) 2005 , October ) URL books 203

Making Supply Chains Adaptable Global companies must be able to adapt their supply networks when markets or strategies change . The best companies tailor their supply chains to the nature of the markets they serve . They often end up with more than one supply chain , which can be expensive , but , in return , they secure the best manufacturing and distribution capabilities for each offering . Cisco , for example , uses contract manufacturers in countries such as China for standard , networking products . For its broad line of items , the company uses vendors in countries to build core products , but it those products itself in major markets such as the United States and Europe . And for highly customized , products , Cisco uses vendors close to main markets , such as Mexico for the United States and Eastern European countries for Europe . Despite the fact that it uses three different supply chains at the same time , the company is careful not to become less agile . Because it uses designs and standardized processes , Cisco can switch the manufacture of products from one supply network to another , when necessary . Companies that compete primarily on the basis of operational excellence typically focus on creating supply chains that deliver goods and services to consumers as quickly and inexpensively as possible . They invest in art technologies and employ metrics and reward systems aimed at boosting performance . For companies competing on the basis of customer intimacy or product leadership , a focus on efficiency is not is a key factor . companies must be able to add and delete products and services as customer needs change product leadership companies must be able to adapt their supply chains to changes in technology and to capitalize on new ideas . All companies must align their infrastructure and management with their underlying value proposition to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage . That is , they must align the interests of all the in the supply network so that companies optimize the chains performance when they maximize their interests . With the Help of UPS , Focuses on Innovation URL books 204

To support the launch of its new digital cameras , with the help of UPS Supply Chain Solutions , its distribution network to keep retailers well supplied . knew that customer service capabilities needed to be completely up to speed from the start and that distributors and retailers would require information about product availability . While the company had previously handled new product distribution , this time realized that burdening its existing infrastructure with a new , demanding , product line could impact customer service performance adversely . So applied its talent for innovation to creating an entirely new distribution strategy , and it took the rare step of outsourcing distribution of an entire electronics product line . With UPS Supply Chain Solutions on board , was able to quickly execute a synchronized strategy that moves products to retail stores throughout the United States , Latin America , and the Caribbean , and allows to stay focused on the business of developing and marketing precision optics . Starting at manufacturing centers in Korea , Japan , and Indonesia , UPS Supply Chain Solutions now manages air and ocean freight and related customs brokerage . freight is directed to Louisville , Kentucky , which not only serves as the connection for UPS global operations but is also home to the UPS Supply Chain Solutions Logistics Center main campus . Here , merchandise can be either kitted with accessories such as batteries and chargers or repackaged to display specifications . Finally , the packages are distributed to literally thousands of retailers across the United States or shipped for export to Latin American or Caribbean retail outlets and distributors , using any of UPS worldwide transportation services to provide the delivery . With the UPS Supply Chain Solutions system in place , the process the movement of goods and information by providing visibility within complex distribution and information technology ( IT ) systems . UPS also provides advance shipment throughout the , Caribbean , and Latin American markets . The result a snap shot of the supply chain that rivals the performance of a camera . has already seen the results of its innovation in both digital technology and product distribution . The consumer sector is one of product lines . In addition , URL books 0797 ?

205 chain performance and customer service have measurably improved . Products leaving manufacturing facilities in Asia can now be on a retailer shelf in as few as days . While products are en route , also has the ability to keep retailers informed of delivery times and to adjust them as needed so that no retailer needs to miss sales opportunities due to lack of product availability . 2005 , October ) URL books 206

Creating Alignment Leading companies take care to align the interests of all the in their supply chain with their own . This is important , because every partner a supplier , an assembler , a distributor , or a focus on its own interests . If any company interests differ from those of the other organizations in the supply chain , its actions will not maximize the chains performance . One way companies align their partners interests with their own is by the terms of their relationships so that share risks , costs , and rewards equitably . Another involves the use of intermediaries , for example , when institutions buy components from suppliers at hubs and resell them to manufacturers . Everyone because the intermediaries costs are lower than the vendors costs . Although such an arrangement requires trust and commitment on the part of suppliers , intermediaries , and manufacturers , it is a powerful way to align the interests of companies in supply chains . A prerequisite to creating alignment is the availability of information so that all the companies in a supply chain have equal access to forecasts , sales data , and plans . Next , partner roles and responsibilities must be carefully so that there is no scope for . Finally , companies must align incentives so that when companies try to maximize returns , they also maximize the supply chain performance . Pieces Together Its Global Supply Chain A few years ago , the world largest food company , set out to standardize how it operates around the world . It launched GLOBE ( Global Business Excellence ) a comprehensive program aimed at implementing a single set of procurement , distribution , and sales management systems . The logic behind the project was impeccable implementing a standardized approach to demand forecasting and purchasing would save millions and was critical to operating efficiency in 200 countries around the world . URL books 207

goal was simple to replace its 14 different SAP place in different a common set of processes , in factory and in administration , backed by a single way of formatting and storing data and a single set of information systems for all of businesses . For , this was not an everyday project . When it built a factory to make coffee , infant formula , water , or noodles , it would spend 30 to 40 million committing billions in capital to a backroom initiative was unheard of , or , as someone noted , Nestle makes chocolate chips , not electronic The GLOBE project also stood as the deployment of . But whether the software got rolled out to employees or 200 was not the point . The point was to make the company to operate in hundreds of countries in the same manner as if it operated in one . And that had not been achieved by any even the British East India Company at the peak of its trading the history of global trade . Consider the complexities . was the worlds largest food company , with almost 70 billion in annual sales . By comparison , the largest food company based in the United States , Kraft Foods , was less than half that size . biggest competitor , had about 54 billion in sales . In addition , grew to its huge size by selling lots of Kat , now the world candy bar spaghetti packet soups dried milk for infants and Perrier sparkling water . The company operated in some 200 nations , including places that were not yet members of the United Nations . It ran 511 factories and employed executives , managers , staff , and production workers worldwide . What is more , for , nothing was simple . The closest product to a global brand it had was more than 100 billion cups were consumed each year . But there were more than 200 formulations , made to suit local tastes . All told , the company produced different types and sizes of products . Keeping control of its thousands of supply chains , scores of methods of predicting demand , and its uncountable variety of ways of customers and collecting payments was becoming evermore difficult and eating into the company bottom line . URL books 0797 ?

208 The three baseline edicts for project GLOBE were harmonize processes , standardize data , and standardize systems . This included how sales commitments were made , factory production schedules established , bills to customers created , management reports pulled together , and financial results reported . Gone would be local customs , except where legal requirements and exceptional circumstances mandated an alternative manner of , say , a way to pay the suppliers of perishable products like dairy or produce in a week rather than 30 days . And when was this all to be done ?

In just and a half years . The original GLOBE timeline , announced by executive board , called for 70 of the company 50 billion business to operate under the new processes by the end of 2003 . Mission impossible ?

The good news was that in one part of the world , Asia , market managers had shown they could work together and create a common system for doing business with their customers . They had used a set of applications from a Chicago supplier , SSA Global , that allowed manufacturers operating worldwide to manage the of goods into their factories , the factories themselves , and the delivery of goods to customers while making sure the operations met all local and regional legal reporting requirements . The system was adopted in Indonesia , Malaysia , the Philippines , Thailand , even South Africa , and was dubbed the Business Excellence Common But this project was orders of magnitude more involved and more complex . Instead of just a few countries , it would affect 200 of them . Change would have to come in big , not small , steps . Using benchmarks they could glean from competitors such as and , and assistance from consultants and SAP own deployment experts , the executives in charge of the GLOBE project soon came to a conclusion they had largely expected going in this project would take more people , more money , and more time than the board had anticipated . Instead of measuring workers in the hundreds , and Swiss francs in the hundreds of millions , as originally expected , the team projected that people would be involved in GLOBE at its peak . The new cost estimate was billion Swiss francs , about billion . And the deadline was pushed back as well . The new target putting the majority of the company key markets onto the GLOBE system by the end of 2005 , not 2003 . URL books 209

To lead this massive undertaking , GLOBE project manager chose a group of business managers , not technology managers , from all of key functions , marketing , and human from all across the , Asia , the Americas , Africa , and Australia . These were people who knew how things actually worked or should work . They knew how the company estimated the demand for each of its products , how supplies were kept in the pipeline , even mundane things like how to generate an invoice , the best way to process an order , how to maintain a copier or other equipment , and how to classify all the various retail outlets , from stores to vending machines , that could take its candy bars and noodles . The system would allow managers to manage it all from the web . The process for the team of 400 executives started with finding , and then documenting , the four or best ways of doing a particular task , such as generating an invoice . Then , the GLOBE team brought in experts with abilities , such as controlling operations , and used them as They helped eliminate weaknesses , leaving the best practices standing . At the end of that first year , the project teams had built up the basic catalog of practices that would become what they would consider the greatest asset of GLOBE its Best Practices This was an online repository of guides to the financial , manufacturing , and other processes that applied across all businesses . Grouped into 45 solution sets , like demand planning or closing out reports , the practices could now be made available online throughout the company , updated as necessary , and commented on at any time . It was not always possible to choose one best practice . Perhaps the hardest process to document was generating With so many thousands of products , hundreds of countries , and local tastes to deal with , there were many different ways of going to market , many of which were quite valid . This made it hard to create a single software template that would serve all market managers . So GLOBE executives had to practice a bit more tolerance on that score . The final GLOBE template included a or so different ways of taking products to market around the world . But no such tolerance was shown for reporting . The 400 executives were determined to come up with a rigorous process that would not change . URL books 0797 ?

10 Experts were brought in along the way to challenge each process . But in the end , one standard would , in this case , have to stand . Financial terms would be consistent . The scheme for recording dates and amounts would be the same . The timing of inputting data would be uniform only the output could change . In Thailand , there would have to be a deviation so that invoices could be printed out in Thai characters so that they could be legal and readable . In the Philippines , dates would have to follow months , as in the United States . Most of the rest of the world would follow the European practice of the day preceding the month . Progress was slow , however . Nestle managers had always conducted their businesses as they saw fit . As a consequence , even on practices , like how to record information for creating bills to customers met , with resistance . As country managers saw it , decision making was being taken out of local markets and being centralized . Beyond that , someone had to pay the bill for the project itself . That would be the countries , too . By the fall of , almost 25 of was running on the GLOBE templates . And GLOBE project manager was confident that 80 of the company would operate on the new standardized processes by the end of 2006 . The greatest challenge was getting managers and workers to understand that their jobs would practical ways . In many instances , workers would be entering data on raw materials as they came into or through a factory . Keeping track of that would be a new responsibility . Doing it on a computer would be a wholly new experience . And figuring out what was happening on the screen could be a challenge . Minutia ?

Maybe . Considerable change ?

But the templates got installed and business went Switzerland , and the region . In each successive rollout , the managers of a given market had months or more to document their processes and methodically adjust them to the practices . In 2003 , Thailand , Indonesia , and Poland went live . In 2004 , Canada , the Philippines , and the pet food business in the United Kingdom joined the network . But , by then , the system was bumping up against some technical limits . In particular , the system was not built for the unusual circumstances of the Canadian food retailing market . Food manufacturers have lots of local and regional grocery chains to sell to , and promotional campaigns are rife . was not built to track the huge amount of trade promotions URL books 0797 ?

211 engaged in by Canadian market managers there were too many customers , too many products , and too many data points . In India , changing over in was complicated by the fact that not only was Nestle overhauling all of its business processes , but it also did not know what some of the key processes would have to be . At the same time it was converting to the GLOBE system , India was changing its tax structure in all 29 states and six territories . Each would get to choose whether , and how , to implement a fee on the production and sale of products , known as a tax . Meeting the scheduled date proved difficult . And all over the world , managers learned that the smallest problem in standardized systems means that product can get stopped in its tracks . In , for instance , pallets get loaded with 48 cases of liquids or powders , and are then moved out . If a worker fails to manually check that the right cases have been loaded on a particular pallet , all dispatching stops are held up until the pallet is checked . These setbacks notwithstanding , GLOBE taught Nestle how to operate as a truly global company . For example , managers from the water businesses initially rejected the idea of collecting , managing , and disseminating data in the same way as their counterparts in chocolate and coffee . Some managers that if they were able to produce all the water or all the chocolate they needed for their market locally , that should be enough . But the idea was to get vast empire to think , order , and execute as one rather than as a collection of disparate companies . This meant that a particular manufacturing plant in a particular manager region might be asked to produce double or triple the amount of coffee it had in the past . Or it might mean that a particular plant would be closed . So , while the company did away with data centers for individual countries , each one does now have a data manager . The task is to make sure that the information that goes into GLOBE data centers is accurate and complete . That means that country managers can concentrate more on what really matters serving customers . 2006 , January ) URL books 212

Points to Remember . In today global competitive environment , individual companies no longer compete as autonomous entities but as networks . Instead of brand versus brand or company versus company , then network is increasingly versus . supply chains have three distinct qualities . First , they are agile enough to react readily to sudden changes in demand or supply . Second , they adapt over time as market structures and environmental conditions change . And third , they align the interests of all members of the network in order to optimize performance . Driven by capabilities to empower clients , most companies have moved from the traditional push business manufacturers , suppliers , distributors , and marketers have most of the a pull model . management ( has three principal components ( a ) creating the network structure , developing business processes , and ( managing the chain activities . The network structure consists of the member and the links between these firms . Business processes are the activities that produce a output of value to the customer . The management integrates the business processes across the supply chain . The best companies create supply chains that can respond to sudden and unexpected changes in markets . ability to respond quickly and to unexpected critical because in most industries , both demand and supply more rapidly and widely than they used to . Key to increasing agility and resilience is building into the structure , processes , and management . Global companies must be able to adapt their supply networks when markets or strategies change . Companies that compete primarily on the basis of operational effectiveness typically focus on creating supply chains that deliver goods and services to consumers as quickly and inexpensively as possible . They invest in technologies and employ metrics and reward systems aimed at boosting performance . For companies competing on the basis of customer intimacy or product leadership , a focus on is not enough agility is a key factor . companies must be able to add and delete products and services as customer needs change product URL books 213

leadership companies must be able to adapt their supply chains to changes in technology and to capitalize on new ideas . Leading companies take care to align the interests of all the firms in their supply chain with their own . This is important because every partner a supplier , an assembler , a distributor , or a focus on its own interests . If any company interests differ from those of the other organizations in the supply chain , its actions will not maximize the chain performance . URL books , 214