HBR on Managing the Value Chain

HBR on Managing the Value Chain – Harvard Business Review

A company’s success depends not only on what it does well internally, but on how effectively it works with the many organizations that help it design, produce and deliver its products, including suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and service providers. Harvard Business Review on Managing the Value Chain brings together a selection of influential articles from Harvard Business Review on how companies can manage these relationships to create competitive advantage.

The articles, written by leading academics, consultants and executives, explore how the value chain has been changing as companies outsource activities, globalize their operations and use information technology to coordinate with partners. They examine topics such as building collaborative relationships with suppliers, deciding which activities to perform in-house and which to outsource, designing supply chains that respond quickly to changing customer demand, using information sharing to reduce inventory and costs, and coordinating complex networks of partners across industries and countries.

Several articles feature case studies of companies that transformed their industries by rethinking their value chains, and they offer frameworks managers can use to analyze their own businesses and identify opportunities for improvement.

Like other volumes in the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series, the collection provides concise, practical insights from respected thinkers, making it a useful introduction to key ideas in supply chain and operations strategy.

HBR on Managing the Value Chain is a valuable resource for managers, executives, consultants and business students. Readers should note that it was compiled some years ago, and that technologies and supply chain practices have evolved considerably since publication.