'People don't buy products, they buy benefits.'
Theodore Levitt: The Marketing Imagination
Competitive edge is not just a question of price. It is the capitalisation of all the facets associated with fulfilment.
The exploitation of the value chain has historically been undervalued as a primary contributor to overall competitiveness. Although it is common for organisations to focus on reducing their expenditure on products and materials to improve profitability, the concept of exploiting the value chain as an asset base has not been widely recognised. In an ever more competitive world the pressure to find innovative ways of staying ahead of the market is crucial.
As long ago as 1962 Peter Drucker said, 'The supply chain is today's frontier in business. It is the one area where managerial results of great magnitude can be achieved, and it is still largely unexplored territory.' In today's age of globalisation and technology we have to reassess how far we have come and how far we have to go.
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