With the advent of globalization, supply chain and logistics management activities has become more important to the business companies worldwide. Today, there are growing practices of outsourcing and off-shoring by medium and big corporations to maximize their profits with plans implemented for cost savings which improve customer satisfaction. When globalization brings huge opportunities for business around the world, it also brings complex supply chain transportation and logistics management activities. As seen on many case studies, a company operating in Canada, for example of the point of consumption, may have its manufacturing facilities and even raw materials in China, India, Vietnam, or Malaysia and serves its customers by delivery of goods or the finished products throughout the world with its own distribution centers that carry equipment and supplies as inbound logistics as well as outbound logistics.
From the viewpoint of business, to meet customer demand, globalization fosters the global integration of trade, investment, information technology and free flow of goods, stored materials, logistics and supply, production planning, products and services globally through production logistics, and transportation management. In the last decades, a number of countries have changed their traditional economic policies and redesigned their policies to open market domestically and internationally to take advantage from globalization and integrated supply chain management in English language, which ultimately helps them to boost the development and investment. Being the point of origin, China, India, Vietnam, Brazil and other developing economies were able to take the opportunities from globalization and expedite their economic growth a lot, which ultimately helps global nations for order fulfillment and to improve their living standards through competitive advantage and GDP.
In his best-selling book, “The World is Flat”, Thomas Friedman, mentioned ten major forces and one of the forces is what he describes as “supply chaining”. In his viewpoint, supply chain is a method of collaborating among businesses to manage the storage of goods, the flow of goods, meet customers, information, final product, and cash to deliver value for the consumer. Consumers remain as a focal point for a successful strategy of business corporation and the impact on the consumer is much more direct for supply chains management system because the consumer has placed increased demands at the retail level for an expanded variety of products and services as well as demand planning. Although globalization increased complexity for the supply chain to fulfill customer demand that requires materials handling, customers returns, the supply chain work term has to be performing very efficiently to enable the retailer and other organizations to satisfy the consumers and reap profit from the extended global market.
In today’s highly competitive business environment, companies must adopt effective strategies to compete. Here are some key strategies that can help companies succeed:
- Differentiation: Companies can differentiate themselves by offering unique products or services that stand out in the marketplace. This can include developing innovative products, providing exceptional customer service, or creating a memorable brand identity.
- Cost leadership: Companies can also succeed by focusing on cost leadership, which involves offering products or services at lower prices than competitors. This requires a deep understanding of supply chain management, cost optimization, and process efficiency.
- Focus: Companies can focus on a specific market segment or niche to differentiate themselves and succeed. This can involve targeting a specific customer segment or geographic region or developing a specialized product or service offering.
- Collaborations: Companies can collaborate with other organizations to achieve their goals. This can include forming strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or alliances with other companies to leverage complementary strengths and capabilities.
- Innovation: Companies can succeed by continually innovating and improving their products, services, and processes. This requires a culture of innovation, a willingness to take risks, and a commitment to investing in research and development.
- Customer focus: Companies can succeed by focusing on their customers and providing exceptional customer experiences. This can involve using customer feedback to improve products and services, providing personalized experiences, or creating loyalty programs.
Globalization has created both opportunities and threats for companies, especially small and medium companies are dealing with more threats compared to big corporations in this era of globalization. New economic environment also creates more customer and new markets and sever competition as well. However, the big companies are having more advantage in competing and making profit due in minimizing cost to their ability to apply economics of scale in supply and logistics management due to a wide ranging customer demand. Therefore, effective supply chain courses are getting much popular now, as well as short term courses in logistics and supply chain management. Learn real-time about reverse logistics as well. The more collaboration than competition is needed in managing supply and demand of goods and services, which will also makes it possible for companies to be more profitably and sustainable in the global trade.
Globalization has had a significant impact on companies in a variety of ways, both positive and negative. Here are some of how globalization affects companies:
- Increased competition: Globalization has increased competition as companies face competition from domestic and international players. This can be positive as it encourages companies to innovate and improve their products and services to remain competitive.
- Expanded market opportunities: Globalization has opened up new market opportunities for companies as they can now reach customers worldwide. This can be positive as it allows companies to increase their revenue and profits.
- Access to cheaper labour and materials: Globalization has allowed companies to access cheaper labour and materials in other parts of the world. This can be positive as it can help companies to reduce their costs and increase their profitability.
- Supply chain complexity: Globalization has made supply chains more complex as companies now have to manage multiple suppliers and distributors across different countries. This can be challenging as it requires companies to deeply understand other cultures, regulations, and logistics.
- Political and economic instability: Globalization has also exposed companies to political and economic instability in different parts of the world. This can be negative as it can disrupt supply chains and create risks for companies.
Globalization affects companies in various ways, including increased competition, expanded market opportunities, access to cheaper labour and materials, supply chain complexity, and exposure to political and economic instability. Companies must navigate these challenges and opportunities to remain competitive and thrive in the global marketplace.
To sum up, supply chain management is essential to globalization as it helps facilitate the movement of goods and services across borders. With the increasing interconnectedness of economies, businesses must find ways to efficiently manage their supply chains to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
Here are some reasons why a supply chain is needed in globalization:
- Meeting global demand: As businesses expand globally, they need to be able to meet the demand for their products and services in different parts of the world. Supply chain management helps companies to ensure that their products are available to customers when and where they need them.
- Reducing costs: Supply chain management can help businesses to reduce their costs by optimizing the flow of goods and services through the supply chain. This can include reducing inventory levels, improving transportation efficiency, and streamlining production processes.
- Improving efficiency: Supply chain management can also help businesses to improve their efficiency by reducing lead times, increasing responsiveness to customer demand, and improving overall supply chain visibility.
- Managing risk: Supply chain management can help businesses to manage risks associated with global sourcing and distribution. By identifying potential risks and developing contingency plans, companies can minimize disruptions to their supply chains.
Our 36-week Diploma Program in Supply Chain and Logistics Management prepares students with the necessary knowledge and skills to facilitate the business operation concerning supply chain management and logistics at different business and non-profit settings for supply chain professionals. As a future of supply chain management professional, a student will be involved in experiential learning in project management, resource planning, inventory management, operations management and customer service with a developed analytical skill. Post graduation of the certificate program, career options in this field are extensive and a successful completion will secure a high in demand full-time or even part-time role that may open work experience in supply chain management (SCM) further. Later as you progress in career you will also be able to obtain the supply chain management certification Canada or any supply chain certification Canada, say, from supply chain management Mississauga.
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