ABSTRACT
Chapter 14 described the implications of activity system design for acquiring management skills to improve competitive position. The current chapter describes the issues faced in aligning those skills to design and implement needed changes in a retailer’s supply chain. Many of the activities described in this chapter will occur in phase 2 (internal alignment) of our project management timeline shown in Figure 14.1. These activities call for skills in task 2 of our SCM skill set (implement collaborative relationships.) The collaborative relationships discussed here are those inside. the organization-particularly across departments. Chapter 16 describes issues related to extending the strategy across company boundaries to trading partners. Trading partners in the retail supply chain include retailers themselves, distributors, transportation and other service companies, product manufacturers, or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and the OEMs’ second-tier manufacturing suppliers.
