Topic: Name: Address:
Post recession Supply Chain Nitin Gupta Room No.307, Hostel A SIU, SIIB Hinjewadi, Pune-411057
E-mail:
nitin.siib@gmail.com
1
Post Recession Supply Chain Introduction When the economy is moving forward robustly, most executives focus on growing sales. It’s only natural. But inevitably when the economy slows and times get tough that focus shifts. Most executives turn inward, looking at how their business is operating, as they face hard choices on how to preserve the company. As businesses struggle to survive a downturn, leaders generally choose to behave in one of three ways: • “the ostrich” - preserve the status quo, and just hope for the best • “the bull in the china shop” - blindly cut expenses across the board • “the fox” - use the downturn to make your business more effective so when growth returns you’ll be in an even better position to move quickly. The leaders should behave “like a fox.” Instead of viewing a recession through fearful eyes, use it as a means to pounce on emerging trends – and to get lean, mean, and in position to crush their competition as economic conditions improve. The current Supply Chain practices should be modified in order to operate in a cost-efficient and stable manner in a post recessionary environment. Also such practices should help in reducing the impact of future instances of volatility in the economy. a) Post Recession: Need for a change No one needs convincing that the economic situation we’re facing today is almost unprecedented. Yet much of the advice that executives have received is remarkably similar to what they heard during the recession in 2000. Particularly in Western enterprises, the preferred antidotes seem to be standard ones: Evaluate your risks, develop contingency plans, focus on your core, reduce costs, expect the unexpected, and so on. The unspoken objective appears to be to survive or, at most, to maintain market share. The world has changed so much because of, among...