THE CASE OF COMPANY X

The Case of Company X

The Case of Company X

Q1- Identification of three key challenges that Company X would face during its expansion into traditional - store retailing? These challenges should be related to the retail logistics and supply chain management material covered in the module.

Ans1- Company X was doing very well when they were a well-established online retailer. However, the competitors then came into this market and made it a bit tough for Company X to maintain their market share in this industry. They experienced a decline in their sales and profitability. This is the reason why the key stakeholders of Company X started preparing a strategic plan for the future. Following a meeting with the key stakeholders, the Managing Director announced that Company X will start operating in the traditional store retail market as well. The Managing Director created plans to expand the company operations across the country in the next few years. However, the planning of these operations will not be enough for Company X as they would need to implement as well. There is a difference between Contemporary and Traditional Supply Chain. There are various activities which need to be performed in Traditional Supply Chain. The major dilemma for Company X will be retail logistics and supply chain management. Under such scenario, they would even face few challenges and there will be a need to prepare appropriate strategies in dealing with them. However, three key challenges will be discussed in the above paragraphs: (Hult, 2010, pp. 435-458)

(1) The fist major challenge which Company X might face is the Departmental wars. The main reason behind this factor is supply chain projects involving multiple departments, such as procurement, distribution and information technology. In the worst cases, this may mean fighting between rival factions, and, even in the best cases, different departments may be supporting the overall objective but maintain different priorities. All these departments have got their own value and are equally important. It will only happen due to the new initiative taken by Company X. After few months, this issue would not create problems for the company. Senior Management would need to prepare appropriate strategies to deal with this issue in an effective way. The role of procurement Department would be high in traditional supply chain because they will buy items from various distributors. The only thing that will be necessary for them is the buying of adequate stock to meet the customer. In this particular area, planning Department will need to play their role. They are going to be the one who will forecast the demand of customers in different product categories. The observation of the trend in the market and knowledge regarding competitors will be crucial for Company X. It will also help them in achieving their desired objectives. The role of Information Technology will not have a very big role in the traditional supply chain method. In contemporary form of Supply chain, their role was quite high because of online ...