Supply Chain Analysis

There are several ways of dealing and writing supply chain management and analyzing it to suit our requirements. One of the first things to look at is the way one will analyze the paper. Here is an example supply chain analysis that will give you an insight of how the paper is supposed to be written or how we are supposed to analyze in the future after the completion of studies. Below is an example of the supply chain analysis that will give you an insight and the way you need to write:

An example of supply chain analysis

Introduction

There are so many concepts that are learned in school, but we never had an opportunity to practice them in real life situation. During the spring of 2015, we had a chance to apply most of the classroom concepts in real the real business world through a ‘simulation’ game. The game was a company that produced and marketed beverages but had been performing poorly. We assumed the VP’s responsibility is different departments of the enterprise. We were, therefore, required to come up with decisions that will enable the business to attain higher levels of Return on Investment (ROI). The game comprised four VPs who included the VP of sales, the VP of purchasing, the VP of supply chain and the VP of operations. I took the role of the VP of sales and was responsible for all the will promote marketing and improve the sales for the enterprise. To achieve the set goals for the business, the four VPs were to work hand in hand to ensure proper coordination and avoid any possible conflicts between departments.

Objectives and Strategies

As it has been mentioned earlier, the company was experiencing poor performance. Therefore, the overall objective was to raise the value of RIO for the organization. For my position as the VP of sales, my greatest role was to come up with sales tactics. My primary objective, thus, was to come up with the best marketing tactics and an efficient team that will ensure significant improvement in the sales. My strategies to achieve that involved recruiting the best personnel for the sales team, backfilling and working closely with the sales team so as to ascertain efficiency and finally meeting the potential customers and creating sales deals. However, being the Vice President of the Sales department did not mean that I have to make independent decisions. Every step I take was to be in line with the Company’s strategies and hence coordination and cooperation was other departments were very essential. The company had low-cost plans that involved cutting down the unnecessary holding costs improve on the service level and reduce the cost of labor. On the fast strategy of reducing the holding cost, I had to strive to expand the market for the company’s products so as to ensure most of them are sold within a short period. On the labor cost issue, I had to hire few but highly qualified sales personnel for my team and finally, I had to establish a close coordination with other departments so has to ensure quality production of high-quality services. The delivery of the beverages to the clients was also to be made at the right time and good condition.

Individual and Group Results

I was ranked as one of the best Sales vice presidents in class attaining the best positions in all the rounds. The great achievement is attributed to my desire and motivation to be the best and the strategies that I adopted in handling my responsibilities. I first, analyzed the market and estimated the potential customers. The process involved organizing a personal meeting with these clients, negotiating terms and persuading them to give the company tenders and orders in a different capacity. I had to ensure the quality of the products so as to win the trust of the customers. Therefore, I made sure that I present all the necessary information about the demands and needs of the operation departments among other departments so as to ensure that we were all working together to produce the best quality that will guarantee more customers to the company. Since it was the strategy of the enterprise to reduce the holding cost, a significant and reliable market for the products, I also evaluated the potential customers to ascertain that they can pay for the delivery in a timely manner so as to avoid bad debts.

Tradeoffs

Tradeoffs refer to the negative impact to some of the decisions made in business to serve one right or another in a different way. It was, therefore, imperative to think of the tradeoffs that will be related to the decisions made during the simulation. As the vice president of sales, the main tradeoff was associated with the acquisition of market for the beverages. For instance, due to the need of a company to reduce the unnecessary holding cost, it was important for me to look for the more reliable market so as to increase the supplies. At a given period, some of the company suppliers failed to deliver the fruits necessary for the production due particular constraints in their region. This situation led to a drastic reduction in the inventory that there were no enough beverages to supply to our clients as I had found a large market. The situation affected the trust that the company had established with its customer to an extent of losing some of them. Cutting the holding cost had two consequences. First, it improved the income of the firm as much funds that would have been used in storage will be saved and channels to serve other significant purposes. On the other hand, it reduced the inventory in a way that the company fails to deliver to the clients in case of a problem such as that of failure of the orange suppliers to supply.

Lessons Learnt and Future Career

From the game of simulation, I learned a lot about supply chains and management that is very useful for my future career. Understanding the need to work as a team with high cooperation so as to avoid conflicts was one of the most significant lessons from the experience. At the initial stage of the game, we all worked as individuals as though we were in a competition. Each VP made independent decisions without considering how those decisions affect or are affected by other departments. More so, the decisions were not in line with the firm’s strategies. We realized that the independent decisions made were conflicting between departments and that it was entirely difficult for a department to accomplish the goals without involving other departments in the decision. During the second round, we started to work as a group and the company began to realize great improvements with increased ROI from -4.90% to -0.11%.

The lessons I have received from the game of simulation are very vital to my future career. When I get employed, I will ensure that I work with the entire department in whatever decision I come up with. I can always send a memo or invite other leaders from different departments to inform them and discuss the decisions that we come up with. This strategy will play a great role in achieving the overall objectives of an organization and also sticking to the organization’s strategies.

Reaction and Career Usage

Playing the game of simulation made me realize that critical thinking and evaluation are necessary when making any business decisions. At first, I assumed that the decision-making is so simple, and I was always expecting positive returns. The first round made me feel comfortable as they all recorded a substantial increase. At the initial stage, the Return on Investment was at -12.45%, the second round recorded an increase of -4.90%, the second 0.11%. However, I was shocked with the decisions in the third round where the ROI dropped to -15.24. The decisions made at this stage neglected critical issues such as tradeoffs and the need for cooperation. Having learned from the mistake, we worked together, and results in round four were recommendable at 4.18%.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, I have come to believe that the simulation game is a very useful tool in education that exposes learners to the practical element of the concepts they learn in class. From the game, much can be learned that is very helpful to the future career life of the learners. From the mistakes they make, learners make corrections hence improving their experience in business management.