The relation between Marketing & Supply Chain Management ( L )

Ross said the supply chain management is based on 3 dynamics 

1. Operation management techniques   

This refers to all the organization functions such as manufacturing, marketing and finance. Those activities should be integrated to form the common business system and these techniques offer comparative advantage through adding value to the daily work and day-to-day performance of the regular activities. The 3 sets of activities are the inbound logistics, processing activities and support activities.

2. Integrated logistics management 

The main objective at this level is to interface closely with each others but not merge the identical functions that performed by logistics counterparts outside the supply channel partners and this point take us to one of this research ideas “In which degree the interdependent / integrated Global economic system are driving the Multinational firms to rely on a network of relationships with external organization or parties.”

The main rational of the dynamic process is that an organization needs support not only from its internal supply chain partners but also from external supply chain partners in order to gain a global competitive advantage and market leadership in order to manage the supply chain management toward customer value creation. Also this point will be clear in one of the case studies PepsiCo that did joint venture with one Arabian company Almaraie. 

1. Strategic dynamics

This part concentrate on reducing costs and time also focusing in adopting the management technique as well as the management information system in order to attain breakthrough in products and services that is suitable on the change of the customer needs. This strategic dynamic are focusing and opening up a new dimensions for the firms as well as it enables the firms to attain a competitive edge between setting an alliances with channel system partners as well as offering relationship, which based on marketing to suppliers and customers. 

After the analysis above Ross summed the definition of supply chain management as the following:

Supply chain management   is continuously evolving management philosophy, which is seeking to unite and consolidate the collective productive competencies and resources of the business functions that are within the organization and outside the organization. Supply chain management always searching for innovative solutions and synchronizing the flow of the materials and information in order to create unique source of customer value.

The ultimate objective of supply chain management is to achieve a strategic fit between the organization competitive strategy and supply chain strategy, the treatment that can achieve this strategic fit effectively is to understand and realize very well the customer demand that can help the organization to manage well the production and services as well as to define the cost and services requirements and understanding the supply chain activities that should driven according to the customer value creation, according to the multinational firms that doing business in different countries that have different customers, so the researcher see that the local marketing talent should  take high consideration on  designing the  global supply chain strategy, which means to be integrating with the global supply chain management design for the Multinational firms on  strategic level not only on operational and tactics level.

The major question here if any mismatches exist between the capabilities of the supply chain of doing with considering the local customer demands and appeal, so what the multinational firm should do? 

1. Alter its strategies in the local market that’s means the branch of the firm or the subsidiary should adopt their strategies and activities to be matching with the global supply chain of the multinational firm however this strategy doesn’t suit the local responsiveness on a high degree

2. Alter the structure of the supply chain design to be able to satisfy the local customers for each different market and in this point the role of the local Upstream marketer with the assistance of downstream marketer should emerge and engaged in the supply chain structure and design into more strategic level.

            So the answer is the firm should alter the supply-chain design. 

Another important element for this question, do the multinational firms set its marketing strategies according to the capability of the global supply chain or set the structure of the supply chain design according to the local market demands that’s means not suffice to depend only on the local market responsiveness and then either continue on this scale and design or alter and redesign the supply chain so from this point the importance of integration between the marketing and manufacturing & logistics, enable the factory to have a quick reaction as well as respond quickly to the dynamic market changes also ensuring the value creation for the customers, from this point the question here what about to make the factory have more quick reaction or could be parallel with the customer demands and trends changes in different market across the world so the dissertation is mainly focusing on the importance of global supply chain with the local marketing talent that should be integrated on the strategic decisions in the global supply chain design for the Multinational firms on more strategic level.

Fredendall and Hill (2001) and Burt et al. (2003). Fredendall and Hill (2001) focused a lot on this point and examined the importance of including customers as one of participants on the supply chain management and with the Multinational firms this mainly depend on the local customer responsiveness in each different market. 

Ross (1998) also highlighted the importance of customers and he mentioned that the supply chain management should be completely customer driven. Supply chain management plays a vital role on the communications of customer demand that from point of sale all the way back to the supplier as well as the physical flow process that ensure the efficiency of cost and time, this is very important to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness on the application of supply chain management, Ross mentioned that the products should be customized because of customers nowadays are increasingly accustomed and this requires to receiving a customized products and services  specially as the market responds to demand pull product strategies rather than push product strategies  and for multinational firms the responsibility of the local upstream and downstream marketer play a vital role on this issue. 

Various paradigms of supply chain management focused on the management of internal customers as well as the external customers. The definition of the internal customers can be as the following: the internal customers can be defined as the receiver persons or could be a departments of another person’s or department’s output or final product, service or information. Many researchers and dictionaries like (APICS Dictionary, cited in Fredendall and Hill 2001). Also defined the internal customers as the persons or departments that ensure the delivery of products and services as well as the information to the external end-users.

According to Ross (1998) he mentioned that supply chain management is a dynamic and open – ended approach to marketplace competitiveness and also it can be a continuous process of determining intercompany performance, product& services quality, information system techniques as well as the organizational & personal competencies in order to utilize the different customer demand, by the way the utilization of both internal and external participants help the firms to achieving productivity profit and growth and can be done through the 2 way flows of product & service in information & funds from raw material until the end-user.  

(Burt et al. 2003)  defined supply chain management in a very simple words” linkage between the ultimate customers and mother earth”

Burt highlighted the involvement of funds and described it that the funds which come only when end-users purchase a products or service, otherwise the transactions that performed within the supply chain could be as the simple allocation of those funds through the chain’s internal & external members.

A very important factor emerges on this point: that the professional communications and information flows tools are very important and valuable factor in order to coordinating and synchronizing the activities that performed between the members within the supply chain management.

 Here the importance of the strategic integration of the local marketing talent in the various markets for the Multinational firms.