336712: Outline the philosophy of Supply Chain
Management
Business Sensitivity: General
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
1. In your own words, define the philosophy of supply chain management
using an example from your workplace
The philosophy of supply chain management is a way of thinking that is devoted to
discovering tools and techniques that provide for increased operational effectiveness
and efficiency throughout the delivery channels that must be created internally and
externally to support and supply. It has both theoretical and managerial
implications, and is related to the firm’s orientation, viewing the way that the firm
integrates supply chain implications throughout the decisions that the organization
makes. It asks the question, whether and how does the organization consider supply
chain impacts when it makes decisions? Finally, supply chain management as a
function is primarily managerially oriented and considers whether SCM is a
functional area in its own. SCM as a philosophy considers the way that the
relationships within and across organizations come together to satisfy the customer’s
needs from a supply chain perspective or orientation. This philosophy of the
perspective is a systematic approach that views the supply chain as single identity,
rather than a set of own performing segmented parts, and tries to match the
intrafirm and interfirm operational and strategic capabilities into a unified
marketplace force. “There is widespread agreement that supply chain management is
a philosophy or orientation of the way that organizations conduct business and that it
is multidisciplinary in nature”. The theoretical influence of the philosophy
perspective offers an understanding of how SCM integration with other disciplines
can contribute to competitive advantage. From a managerial standpoint, this
perspective can provide insights into how to effectively integrate SCM issues into
broader organizational decisions. Furthermore, this perspective provides
understanding of the possible value that SCM can add to competitive advantage, and
it embraces the concept of supply chain orientation (SCO).
Figure 1 Supply Chain
The philosophy of my business is “to be the best, most-respected provider of service
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to the funeral industry.”
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Supply chain management (SCM) refers to the management of operations that are
involved in the procurement of raw materials, their transformation into finished
goods, and their distribution to the end consumer.
The simplest supply chain includes your suppliers, you, and your customers.
However, most manufacturing organizations have a more complex supply chain that
includes multiple suppliers and even outsourcing operations.
Any company will benefit from proper supply chain management as it strives to
streamline the processes found at each step of the supply chain to ensure that
consumers are receiving the right amount of the right item at the right time. When
you are able to deliver on your promises, you are more likely to secure future
business with your customers and maintain a competitive advantage in the market.
Good supply chain management ensures that you maintain a balance between
demand and supply. In order to reduce waste, increase profits, reduce costs, and
ensure the timely delivery of products, supply chain management must be efficient.
This is why understanding the five functions of supply chain management is
essential for manufacturing organizations as it will provide insight into how to
improve the efficiency of your operations. The five functions include the following:
 Purchasing
 Operations
 Logistics
 Information Workflow
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 Resource Management
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Figure 1.1 Basic Supply chain of Product
How the chain works, at a funeral home, it starts with:
The Customer : the Demand of the customer is very important
Design: we need to design the coffins
Planning: we need to plan what material will be needed
Supplier: to order all the raw materials from
Manufacturer
Distributor
Retailer
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End Consumer
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
2. Discuss the evolution of supply chain management
How to differentiate between these stages:
Fragmentation: The evolution of supply chain management has been characterized
by an increasing degree of integration of separate tasks; a trend underlined in the
1960s as a key area for future productivity improvements since the system was
highly fragmented.
Consolidation: it has been consolidated into two distinct functions related
to materials management and physical distribution. Businesses focused on products.
They focused more on quality and the key performance metrics were – inventory
turns and production cost. For the purpose of achieving inventory turns, small
companies began merging into larger organizations. This also led to organized
for most businesses.
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planning of the production cost which further resulted in becoming a good solution
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Integration: This process moved further in the 1990s as globalization incited a
functional integration and the emergence of logistics in a true sense; all the elements
of the supply chain became part of a single management perspective. In the 1990s,
businesses shifted their focus from products to the volume of output. Keeping a close
eye on the cost, the key performance metrics for Stage 3 of the supply chain
evolution turned out to be production capacity and throughput. Companies that
started making profits in the earlier stage now analysed that just production cost will
not help them in making more profits. And for this reason, the rate of production and
the volume of production became important. By the end of this stage, companies
found their solutions.
Value Capture: Which began in the early 2000s. With the implementation of
modern information and communication technologies did a more complete
integration became possible with the emergence of supply chain management. It
allows for the integrated management and control of information, finance, and goods
flows and made possible a new range of production and distribution systems. Supply
chain management has become a complex sequence of activities aiming at value
capture and competitiveness. Organizations in this stage started to focus more on
market-driven results. The key factor of this stage of evolution was product
availability and the performance metrics were clearly – market share and order fill
rate. Now the problem was not about making more products but about delivering
them to the markets. So, by the end of this stage, businesses had the solution again
and were onto their next stages of growth for even better results. Firms analysed
those customers were the game changers for revenue generation. This is when they
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shifted their business strategies and made ‘lead time’ the key factor in their goals.
With this, the key performance metrics changed from market share and order fill rate
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
to customer satisfaction, value-added, and response time. Companies now had the
time to analyse those products that were made with a prime focus on customers were
what sold out more. That’s how companies started focusing on products that added
value to their companies.
Automation: More recently, the growing level of automation of supply chains has
been a dominant element of the evolution of both physical distribution and materials
management. This digitalization is particularly notable within distribution centers
that have experienced a remarkable push towards automation such as storage,
materials handling, and packaging. Automation may eventually lead to automated
delivery vehicles. Stepwise and according to improvements in information and
communication technologies, the two ends of the assembly line became integrated
into the logistics of the supply chain: the timely supply of raw materials and
components from outside and the effective organization of distribution and
marketing. Initially, logistics was an activity divided around the supplying,
warehousing, production, and distribution functions, most of them being fairly
independent. With the new organization and management principles, firms followed
a more integrated approach, thus responding to the upcoming demand for flexibility
without raising costs. At the same time, many firms took advantage of new
manufacturing opportunities in developing economies through outsourcing and
offshoring. As production became increasingly fragmented, activities related to its
management were consolidated. Spatial fragmentation became a by-product of
economies of scale in distribution. This century is more driven by knowledge and
that is why having more information is preferred to be ideal for a company’s supply
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chain management. The key performance metrics for the 5th stage of supply chain
management is real-time communication and business intelligence. Over the years,
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
with a growth in each segment of the supply chain, employment has also increased.
With more people in the circle, communicating every little detail to each person has
become a task. The process of storing information also began to get hectic and for all
these reasons, automation started out to be the focus for companies to grow.Today,
all the companies using automation throughout their supply chain are the companies
that have a bigger scope to grow. With each stage of the evolution, companies found
their solutions, and likely, this stage will also be smooth in transition for those who
live up to the changing strategies for their business growth – focus on automation.
Keeping automation as a solution for real-time communication and business
intelligence, your organization will get the chance to rise above and move on to the
next big solution of the next stage of the evolution.
3. Discuss the supply chain challenges facing your workplace and highlight
its impact on reaching strategic business imperatives.
 The most important item you need for any funeral – caskets, if there is a
shortage on caskets it will have a major impact you will not have a delivery
on your promise
 The issue is made worse by nationwide worker shortages, if there is no
workers, no work will be getting done it will also have a major impact
 Sometimes the sanitizing supplies is also short, it is a major impact specially
now in this epidemic, prepare well.
 Having to wait months at a time for some of the items like granite for
headstone, it will have a high impact.
A Strategic Imperative is an initiative, key project, or major objective that is
high leverage and systemic (strategic) and a must-do (imperative) over the next
6 – 12 months to significantly move a team/organization toward its vision and
desired culture.
In order to carry out our mission, we have developed 5 Strategic Objectives,
which guide every decision we make as a company. These objectives are:
• To grow the company
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• To be known as a great place to work
• To be known as helpers of people
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
• To be known as a leading provider of service
• To achieve good financial results
businesses, every decision made, every action taken, and every resource allocated
and spent, had logic behind them. This logic or basis is a strategy.
However, strategies aren’t pulled out of thin air, and they are not readily served to
entrepreneurs and managers on a silver platter. A lot of thought and effort go into the
creation of plans – whether they are simple or elaborate – and the formulation of the
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strategies and specific steps within these plans.
Strategy formulation is the process of determining and establishing the goals,
mission and objectives of an organization, and identifying the appropriate and best
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
courses or plans of action among all available alternative strategies to achieve them.
The main reason that the strategy formulation is also referred to at times as “strategic
planning” is because they basically follow the same concept. Through strategic
planning, management is able to evaluate its resources and determine the best ways
to maximize the company’s return on investment (ROI). The output – the strategic
plan – will serve as the framework or guide for the members of the organization in
carrying out their respective roles.
Aspects of Strategy Formulation
Strategy formulation has three levels or aspects, with the resulting recommendations
in each level being consistent in order to ensure the formulation of strategies that are
cohesive, realistic and viable.
Corporate Level Strategy
In this level, the perspective is broad and wide, so the focus is on the overall scope,
direction and goals of the entire organization. Since we are looking at the big picture,
our concern is the total structure of the business. This aspect of strategy formulation
has the following components: Growth strategy, Portfolio strategy, Parenting
strategy
Business Level Strategy
Large companies usually have multiple lines of business in their portfolio. The larger
firms even distinguish them as separate strategic business units (SBUs) under a
single organizational umbrella. As strategic business units, they are operational as
stand-alone businesses, which means that competition is bound to arise.
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In this level, strategy formulation is geared towards coming up with competitive
strategies between and among the lines of businesses or SBUs of the organization
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Functional Level Strategy
Compared to the other two levels, the functional level has a shorter outlook. Within
each line of business or SBU, there are functional units with their own specific tasks
and sets of activities. Strategies at this level are required, primarily addressing how
these activities and tasks will be carried out effectively and efficiently.
The process of strategy formul ation basically involves six main steps:
1. Setting Organizations objectives
2. Evaluating the Organizational Environment
3. Setting Quantitave Targets
4. Aiming in context with the divisional plans
5. Performance Analysis
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6. Choice of strategy
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Figure 1.3 (Strategic Management)
Strategy Implementation
Strategy Formulation includes planning and
decision-making involved in developing
organization’s strategic goals and plans.
Strategy Implementation involves all those means
related to executing the strategic plans.
In short, Strategy Formulation is placing the
Forces before the action.
In short, Strategy Implementation is managing
forces during the action.
Strategy Formulation is an Entrepreneurial
Activity based on strategic decision-making.
Strategic Implementation is mainly
an Administrative Task based on strategic and
operational decisions.
Strategy Formulation emphasizes
on effectiveness.
Strategy Implementation emphasizes
on efficiency.
Strategy Formulation is a rational process.
Strategy Implementation is basically
an operational process.
Strategy Formulation requires co-ordination
among few individuals.
Strategy Implementation requires co-ordination
among many individuals.
Strategy Formulation requires a great deal
of initiative and logical skills.
Strategy Implementation requires
specific motivational and leadership traits.
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Strategy Formulation
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
*Business process reengineering
Business process re-engineering (BPR) is the act of changing an organization’s
major functions with the goal of increasing efficiency, improving product quality,
and/or decreasing costs. This starts with an in-depth analysis of the business’
workflows and identifying key areas that need improvement. People who do this
kind of work, often referred to as BPR specialists, are hired by companies to
facilitate transitions to more standardized processes.
It’s important to differentiate between this and business process improvement, which
focuses on simply updating an organization’s current processes. BPR, on the other
hand, aims to make fundamental changes to the entire scope of a business’ systems.
BPR professionals exist in all kinds of industries, so the specific day-to-day duties
will vary from job to job.
However, all BPR experts
will follow these general
steps:
1. Identify and
communicate the
problem
2. Build a team
3. Identify the inefficient
process and define
key performance
12
indicators
Page
Figure 1.5 (Business Process Reengineering)
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
4. Re-engineer the process
Purpose – Business systems are made up of processes. Processes are collection of
activities of businesses that results in an output. And when processes become old and
inefficient and can’t deliver results they must be redesigned or replaced. Business
process reengineering is a tool for transformation of business process and
unconstrained reshaping of all business processes.
BPR is the part of Six Sigma approach towards project management. Six
Sigma Techniques are used to bring quality assurance and continuous quality
improvement in the business process re-engineering.
BPR Helps Reemphasize Six Sigma
A confirmed strategy to re-engineering applications is conducting an evaluation from
the “buyer inward,”
bringing out issues
which might be vital
for the group to be
doing from a buyer
perspective
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Figure 1.6 (BPR)
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
*Enterprise
Resource
Planning.
ERP is a
business system
that integrates multiple applications relating to accounting, human resources,
inventory, orders, shipping, and services. ERP systems are widely used since the
early 1990s and fall under the umbrella of enterprise applications, as larger
businesses often use them. However, there are less complicated, small business
versions of ERP software as well.
Many ERP systems (ERP suites) run in
the cloud as a SaaS (Software as a
Service). A cloud ERP makes it easier
and more secure for businesses to
manage their information. These
systems can be maintained by a
company specializing in the upkeep of
servers and databases, and security. This
service makes it easier to scale as your
business grows.
Figure 1.7 (Enterprise Resource Planning)
For companies that cannot have or do not want their data in the cloud, on-premises
ERP that runs some of their systems in the cloud and other systems on premise.
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ERP can run on a company's data center. Alternatively, a company can have a hybrid
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Why would you need ERP?
For a business or enterprise, having ERP helps bring all your business information
and tasks into a central location. For example, a business may handle their
accounting in a program like QuickBooks, customer data in a CRM, orders in a
custom program, and create reports in Excel. Each of these products are silos of
information that don't communicate with each other. Requiring your employees to
use each of these systems separately makes them inefficient, increases operational
costs, introduces problems, and makes it difficult to find business insights. An ERP
brings separate entities into one system, providing an efficiency increase for
employees and the business, and helps lower overall running costs.
Advantages of ERP systems:

Help automate and streamline
many processes, increasing the
overall productivity of your
company and employees.

Helps manage finances and taxes
and saves money for the
company.

Easier to manage all aspects of
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your supply chain.

Improves collaboration between all departments and employees.

Allows your company to stay more compliant.

Improved analytics that can give you better business intelligence on all
aspects of the company in one location.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Figure 1.8.
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Allows for better reporting
capabilities.
Disadvantages of ERP systems:

Have a high cost to implement.

Can be difficult to implement
and transition to from existing
systems.
Figure 1.9

Requires retraining all employees.

ERP modules may be too generic for some companies and require additional
modules or
custom
modules for
specific
business needs
The main purpose of
an ERP system is to
increase
organizational
efficiency of an organization by managing and improving how company resources
are utilized. Improving and/or reducing the number of resources necessary without
growth and profitability.
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sacrificing quality and performance are keys to effectively improving business
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
ERP systems typically cover all aspects of business operations and commonly
provide:
An integrated system

Common database

Real-time operation

Support for all applications/components

Common user interface across application/components
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
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
*Quality management
a Quality Management System (QMS) must be put in place in your company to be
able to keep your competitors on their toes? With it, you’ll be able to outline how
your company wants to produce, document, control, and deliver your products and
services in ways that will meet the requirements of your customers
“The primary focus of quality management is to meet customer requirements and to
strive to exceed customer expectations.”
A QMS basically takes a critical look at the set of policies, processes, and procedures
in a company. It helps you to plan and execute the core business areas of your
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Figure 1.11
company such as production, development, and service. If you want customers to
always come to you for more, then make “quality management” the watchword in
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
your company. Doing so will ensure that your products and services are consistent
with your company’s goals. This will push you to maintain the desired level of
excellence.
A well-thought-out and documented QMS will help your business immensely. These
are some of the benefits that your company will derive from implementing QMS.
With QMS you’ll be able to simplify, clarify and control.
Joseph M. Juran, a management consultant, and engineer developed and wrote
the quality trilogy which became famous among qualified experts. According to him,
for any company to succeed with quality management, it must have the three phases
of quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement in place.
The elements and requirements of a QMS serve as the foundation on which the QMS
in your company stands.
1. Quality policy
2. Quality objectives
3. Quality manual
4. Organizational structure and
responsibilities
5. Data management
6. Processes – including purchasing
7. Product quality leading to
Figure 1.12
8. Continuous improvement including corrective and preventive action
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customer satisfaction
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
9. Quality instruments
10. Document control
Figure 1.13
The most common challenges when developing a QMS in your company:
1. Strive for perfection
2. Unnecessary documentation
3. Rigid nature of QMS
4. Lack of motivation
5. Little or no attention to customers
Figure 1.14
The overall goal of establishing a QMS is customer satisfaction. So, if you’re
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implementing this system in your company, these are the steps you’ll have to follow:
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
The basis for success with
QMS in your company:
1. Customer focus
2. Leadership
3. Engagement
4. Process approach
5. Improvement
Figure 1.15 (Customer Relationship)
6. Evidence based decision making
7. Relationship management
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) uses the ISO 9001 as the
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standard for companies with no specific QMS.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
*Agile and lean
supply chains
What is Lean Supply
Chain? Lean supply
chain management is
about reducing costs
and lowering waste as
much as possible. This methodology is important for organizations with high
volumes of purchase orders since waste and costs can accumulate quickly. Lean
tells us to do only things we need now and avoid anything not adding value at this
moment of time.
And Agile Supply Chain is built to be highly flexible for the purpose of being able to
quickly adapt to changing situations. This
methodology is considered important for
organizations that want to be able to adapt to
unanticipated external economic changes,
such as economic swings, changes in
technology, or changes to customer demand.
Implementing an agile supply chain allows
organizations to quickly adjust their sourcing,
logistics, and sales. As small tasks are
performed over short periods of time, clients
are able to shape the end product each step of
the way if they’d truly like to.
Deciding on which one: All things
considered, you must think about whether
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inventory or information is more important. Agile supply chains demand good
processes – and processes are established by people. , both agile and lean supply
chain management have benefits.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
By applying the correct functions, your company will be able to save money and be
able to easily adapt to rapid fluctuations. Both have quite similar values and goals,
but which is right for you and your client greatly depends on the business goal –
what you need to deliver – and constraints like budget, staff background and
completion date
CAN SUPPLY CHAINS BE BOTH AGILE AND LEAN?
Covid-19 has taught us that we don’t know what the future holds. We have been
exposed to severe supply shortages and great operational risks which have left some
businesses unable to fulfill customer demand. In manufacturing supply chains, the
disruptions have caused some companies to shift their focus towards embracing agile
solutions, in addition to or instead of, applying lean principles.
The growth of e-commerce has also highlighted the fast-changing nature of customer
preferences, so companies need to maintain flexibility and adaptability in their
responses.
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How lean works: The lean supply chain suits manufacturers that produce items
in large volumes and with low variability. It focuses on reliability and
predictability in long-term supply chain planning rather than on flexibility and
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
adaptability. The main goal is to reduce waste thereby containing costs and
providing more value to the customer.
There are seven wastes of lean:

Overproduction – Making too much too soon, capital tied up in finished
products

Inventory – Capital tied up in raw materials and parts, cost of moving stock
around, space, facilities and utilities used

Motion – Wasted movement of people and machines

Defects – Waste of effort in replacements and repairs, administrative costs

Over-processing – Unnecessary activities, adding more features than

Waiting – Delays due to slow or halted production, idle time

Transport – Adds no value, involves human resources and equipment.
Moving products unnecessarily.
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required
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
The aim is to integrate each step of production into a holistic, efficient process that
reduces cost and improves overall revenue.
How agile works: it focuses on flexibility and responsiveness. An agile supply chain
acts on current demand rather than only historical forecasting. Agility and
adaptability win in rapidly changing environments. Being agile is the ability to
respond positively to market volatility. Strong partnerships with suppliers are vital
to making an agile supply chain work. An agile supply chain also tends to have
lower warehousing costs as inventory is less. However, in some industries, agile
chains can create high levels of waste, and which can drive prices up.
As we slowly recover from the disruptions of 2020-2021, we need to focus on
adapting operations and building agility to fulfill customer demand. Three success
factors have been identified within effective and agile supply chains: your supplier
relationships, your people, and the effective use of the new technologies. Agility
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relies on real-time data and the technology that supports it.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
*The importance of
having a project
management
approach
The truth is, running
projects without good
project management
is a false economy.
It’s often thought to
be an unnecessary burden on the budget, and there’s no doubt it can be expensive –
as much as 20% of the overall project budget. Without it, what holds the team and
client together? And without it, who is left to navigate through the ups and downs,
clashes, and catastrophes of projects? Great project management means much more
than keeping project management’s iron triangle in check, delivering on time,
budget, and project scope; it unites clients and teams, creates a vision for a
successful project, and gets everyone on the same page of what’s needed to stay on
track for success. When projects are managed properly, there’s a positive impact that
reverberates beyond delivery of ‘the stuff’.
Why Is Project Management Important?
 Project management is important because it ensures what is being delivered, is
right, and will deliver real value against the business opportunity.
 Project management is important because it brings leadership and direction to
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projects.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
 Project management is important because it ensures there’s a proper plan for
executing on strategic goals.
 Project management is important because it ensures proper expectations are set
around what can be delivered, by when, and for how much
 Project management is important because it ensures the quality of whatever is
being delivered, consistently hits the mark.
 Project management is important
because it ensures risks are
properly managed and mitigated
against to avoid becoming
issues.
 Project management is important
because it ensures the right
people do the right things, at the
right time – it ensures proper
project management process is followed throughout the project life cycle.
 Project management is important because it ensures a project’s progress is
tracked and reported properly.
 Project management is important because someone needs to be able to
understand if everyone’s doing what they should.
 Project management is important because it learns from the successes and
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failures of the past.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Without PM, teams and clients are exposed to chaotic management, unclear
objectives, a lack of resources, unrealistic planning, high-risk, poor-quality project
deliverables, projects going over budget and delivered late. Great project
management matters because project managers with great training deliver success.
Project management creates and enables happy, motivated teams who know their
work matters,
so do their best
work. And that
project
management
enabled team
ensures the
right stuff is delivered; stuff that delivers real return on investment, and that makes
happy clients
Definition of Project Management
“Project management is about the application of skills, knowledge, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.” It also involves various
policies, principles, and procedures to guide a project from the initial stage until its
completion.
Project Management involves multi-Tasking.
The landscape of PM is changing with every passing day. It is crucial to keep pace
with the trends if you are interested in understanding the benefits of project
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management.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
While project
management skills are not
easy to learn in theory
alone, doing a course does
come with benefits. It is
worth investing your time
in learning project
management skills as all employers are giving PM high priority. Project
management also brings leadership and direction to projects.
*Structural and infrastructure considerations
structural decisions are the ones that define the shape of the building blocks
associated to a particular operation. They are directly related to the tangible aspects
such as process technology for manufacturing, vertical integration, facilities like
location and capacity and variety of product manufacturing. Adversely,
infrastructural decision are affecting organizational culture, control systems,
workforce, quality management and leadership.
Infrastructure is the general term for the basic physical systems of a business, region,
or nation. Examples of infrastructure include transportation systems, communication
networks, sewage, water, and electric systems. These systems tend to be capital
intensive and high cost investments and are vital to a country's economic
development and prosperity.
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There are several types of Infrastructure: Soft Infrastructure, Hard Infrastructure,
Critical Infrastructure, IT Infrastructure, Private Investment in Public Infrastructure
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Operations strategy can be conceptualized as a set of decisions or practices about
structure and infrastructure variables. On the one hand, these strategic decisions
influence a firm's abilities successfully to reach some competitive priorities such as
cost, quality, delivery, and flexibility, and, on the other hand, to obtain the expected
performance. This research analyses which are the main structural and infrastructural
practices that constitute operations strategies in manufacturing companies and
investigates the effect of these decisions on some firm competitiveness indicators.
Consistency between structural and infrastructural decisions has to be targeted
through capabilities evaluation, allowing a fast – on time – implementation.
Operational strategies enable companies to ensure high performances. However,
strong operational strategies are only achieved or implemented when a company
strikes a balance between its infrastructure and structural decisions. Failure to do this
leads to a company
overemphasizing on
particular action while
neglecting others. This can
be disastrous as it may not
be able to fully utilize its
potential. The company
may also not be able to
succeed in the future as
this creates an imbalance,
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30
for example, in allocation
of resources. It can also lead to wastage. Therefore, Huawei needs to ensure a
balance when dealing with its structural and infrastructure decisions.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart
336712: OUTLINE THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
References
© Shutterstock.com | imtmphoto
Journal of Project, Program & Portfolio Management Vol 4 No 1 (2013) 30-40
©UTSePress and author (s)
K. and Singh, S.P. (2017), “Big data in operations and supply chain management:
current trends and future perspectives”, Production Planning and Control,
Taylor & Francis, Vol. 28 No. 11–12, pp. 877– 890
Supply Chain Brain
SweetProcess
TD Industries 2021
Zekhnini, K., Cherrafi, A., Bouhaddou, I., Benghabrit, Y., Garza Reyes, J.A.
(2019). 'Supply chain management 4.0: Literature review and research
framework'. Benchmarking: An International Journal, pp. 1-52.
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.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Business Sensitivity: General
Gerda Swart