UGBA 10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Back Office, Supply Chain, Capital Intensity
23 May 2018
School
Course
Professor
Managing Process I February 26
I. Process strategy and structure
• Process strategy: pattern of decisions made in managing processes that will achieve the
fir’s opetitie priorities.
• Types of processes:
o Supply chain processes: outsourcing, warehousing, sourcing, cross-docking
II. Case study: Walmart
• Corporate strategy: gain competitive advantage by having competitive prices for quality
goods
• Operations strategy: short flow times and low inventory levels
• Operations structure:
o Cross-docking: like a warehouse, but items are not held in storage for more than
24 hours. This minimizes overhead and operational costs.
o Logistics: fast transportation system
o Focused locations: spread of stores and warehouses
o Communication between retail stores and suppliers
• Supply chain processes: inventory is delivered twice a month instead of once a month to
limit the amount of inventory. However, you must pay for transportation costs.
o Walmart adopted cross-docks to balance inventory and transportation costs.
▪ Walmart gets shipments of different items from various suppliers and
gets dropped off at the warehouse. The warehouse then separates it and
ships off a portion of each of the items to their trucks, which is then sold
to their customers.
▪ Allos the to offer ore produts that are’t used for the storage of
inventory. Suppliers are also responsible for managing inventory in the
warehouses.
III. Processes
• Not just in typical manufacturing operations.
• Four common decisions in process strategy: process structure, customer involvement,
resource flexibility, and capital intensity (automation)
• Customer-contact matrix: customer contact, customization, process divergence, and
flexible flow
• Process structure in services:
o Front office: front desk greets customer that stays in a luxury hotel.
o Hybrid office: mix of front and back elements.
o Back office: clearing bank checks at night; you never get to know them unless
you work there.
IV. Product-process matrix
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
2
UGBA 10 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
2 documents
