Managing the Global Supply Chain

Citation

Christopher, M. (1998), "Managing the Global Supply Chain", International Marketing Review, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 432-433. https://doi.org/10.1108/imr.1998.15.5.432.2

A feature of the late twentieth century has been the continued globalisation of business. Markets are global in that the same brands and products are increasingly offered for sale around the world. Equally the trend is towards global sourcing and manufacture as companies concentrate their operations so that often just one or two factories serve the whole world. A current example is Pringles, the Procter & Gamble snack food. Pringles is a global brand with standardised packaging which is produced in only two locations ‐ one in the USA, the other in Belgium ‐ to supply markets in all corners of the globe. From cars to computers and from pharmaceuticals to petro‐chemicals the trend to treating the world as one market is gathering pace.

To support these global markets requires a radically different approach to logistics. Global marketing is not the same as exporting, where products can be collected from a factory by a freight forwarder or the equivalent to be delivered, eventually, to a specific customer. Global logistics is more akin to a pipeline whereby the continuous flow of products from source to user is managed with a view to achieving competitive service at least cost.

Managing a global logistics pipeline on an integrated, “end‐to‐end” basis calls for a radically different organisational structure. Because the conventional organisation has focused primarily on functional efficiency, the result has been that the order to delivery cycle inevitably has become extended and uncertain. In the increasingly competitive marketplace facing most companies today, this fragmented approach to logistics is untenable. Instead the challenge is to break through these functional “silos” to establish a process‐oriented, market‐facing organisational stucture.

A further unique characteristic of global logistics is that it is increasingly the case that the needs of local markets must be balanced against the economic advantages of standardised products ‐ this is the paradox of “global, yet local”. Thus the challenge to global logistics management is to structure a supply chain that is agile and flexible enough to cope with differences in customers’ requirements and yet enable the benefits of focused manufacturing to be achieved.

Interestingly, given the key role of logistics in a global business, few books have focused in any depth on these issues. Now, however, we have a book that addresses many of the critical dimensions that underpin the successful management of global chains. Managing the Global Supply Chain provides a broad perspective on the many dimensions of the global logistics challenge. It very much focuses upon the interface of logistics with marketing ‐ an increasingly important source of competitive advantage.

One of the attractive features of Managing the Global Supply Chain is the way in which the authors have been able to embed topical and relevant real‐world case histories into the text to support the theoretical material. Examples from companies such as Timberland, Philips and Benetton help to bring the basic concepts of supply chain management alive.

The book is organised around a number of key themes including structuring the global supply chain, the supply process, the procurement process, distribution management and the critical role of information.

Readers of this book will find it has a “user‐friendly” style, something that is often lacking in books that seek to treat subjects such as this in any sort of depth. Managers and students alike will benefit from reading this book and given the increasing importance of the global marketplace it can also be recommended to marketing strategists as well as to logistics and supply chain specialists.