Business Studies

Consider what you learned in the experience and respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
• How does Amazon’s supply chain work?
• How has Amazon’s supply chain given it a competitive advantage?
• In the exercise, what additional research should the consulting team gather and analyze?
• In the exercise, what process should the consulting team recommend for solving the internal risks to the supply chain and mitigating the conflict between labor and senior management?

ANSWER

How the Supply Chain Works

The Amazon supply chain described the entire process of product warehousing, inventory administration, pricing, and delivery times (Min, Zacharia & Smith, 2019). Each of these elements is optimized to uphold a smooth supply chain. The company’s supply chain makes it easy to acquire and receive a wide variety of products with same-day, one-day, or two-day delivery. Low prices, a large selection of items, and quick delivery are the fundamental value propositions of Amazon.

Competitive Advantage

Amazon’s ability to control both physical and digital value chains is unique. The business plan’s constant scalability and high performance in physical operations through digital innovation have implied that the business is continuously expanding. The business has been known for offering free shipping and convenience. It also provides a large selection of goods at competitive values. Zero hassle returns, a practical checkout experience, and an extensive repository of reviews also assist the company as a go-to option for increasing consumers.

Additional Research to Gather

The current supply chain should evolve to accomplish the new demands and supply chain management issues, increasing with time. Therefore, the consulting team should research factors causing problems within the supply chain management, such as ethics and compliance. Apart from the mentioned problems, not solving ethics and compliance issues can damage the industry’s brand in several ways. It could drive consumers away from the business’s products altogether.

Solving Internal Risks

Supply chain risk is an inevitable part of managing a business, and thus every management should be ready to mitigate these challenges effectively. Leaders should acknowledge and work to evaluate factors promoting strong risk management in the supply chain. Therefore, the consulting team should encourage onset managing of risk from the start to the end and embrace proactive risk management. The labor and senior management must come together and find a common avenue of dealing with these conflicts.

References

Min, S., Zacharia, Z. G., & Smith, C. D. (2019). Defining supply chain management: in the past, present, and future. Journal of Business Logistics, 40(1), 44-55.