埃森哲经典文献Supply chain and the bottom line A critical link.pdfVIP

High-performance business Master core competencies Supply chain and the bottom line: A critical link By Robert L. D’Avanzo, C. Edwin Starr and Hans Von Lewinski Supply chain excellence is directly tied to a company’s financial performance. Which is why top performers incorporate supply chain management into their business strategies. Outlook 2004, Number 1 39 For computer maker Dell, the supply chain is “the biggest leverage point we have,” in the words of one executive. At global clothing manufacturer and retailer Zara, “the supply chain is the business model,” notes one observer. And an executive at Hong Kong-based global trading group Li Fung opines that “customer value lies in our ability to architect and operate supply chains.” These observations may not, in fact, be typical of most companies. However, they do reflect the experience and insights of more and more of today’s successful busi- nesses: A correlation exists between an organization’s financial success and the depth and quality of its sup- ply chain. That connection—supply chain excellence directly linked to financial performance—is a key find- ing of a major study undertaken by a team of researchers from Accenture, Stanford University and INSEAD working with hundreds of companies in Europe and North America.1 But the report’s identification of a direct link from supply line to bot- tom line is only part of the story. Researchers also reached conclusions about how and why successful com- panies incorporate supply chain man- agement into their business strategies. Another channel of inquiry focused on the design and development of integrated operating models, which the research team found to be the key strategic difference between supply chain leaders and also-rans. The researchers also devoted significant effort to understanding how supply chain leaders execute against their operating strategies and adapt them to changing market needs (see “About the research,” page 44). Overall results bol