1.

Competencies needed for an efficient global Operations and Supply Chain are:

a. Capacity Planning - Assuring that needed resources (e.g., manufacturing capacity, distribution
centre capacity, vehicles, etc.) will be available at the right time and place to meet logistics and
supply chain needs. In other words, capacity planning focuses on determining the appropriate
production levels the company can complete. This also includes capacity planning with suppliers at
all manufacturing cells and also critical machine/equipment; this also includes overall Equipment
Effectiveness (OEE) and Sales Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP).

b. Demand Management - Demand management is the process of determining what customers will
purchase and when, in other words predicting demand. Good demand management uses
qualitative and quantitative methods to use customer data to reduce uncertainty, and predict
short-term incoming demand for use as input into the Sales, Inventory, & Operations Planning
(SIOP) process.

c. Order Processing - Out of all supply chain competencies, Order Processing is the most underrated
competency. Order processing entails the system that an organisation has for getting orders from
customers, checking the status of orders, communicating with customers about them, and actually
filling the order and making it available for customers. In some businesses, it also includes processes
until invoicing.

d. Master Production Scheduling - The Master Production Scheduling is a statement of the anticipated
manufacturing schedule for selected items by quantity per planning period (Fogarty and Hoffman
1983; Higgins and Tierney 1990). It is a response to the forecast demand described by the
production plan and the actual demand in terms of received customers’ orders. This supply chain
competency also includes the evaluation of plant capacity effectively, attaining the strategic
objectives of the business as reflected in the production plan.

e. Inventory Management & Optimization - Inventory management is the practice to manage

inventory as working capital. The key objective of inventory management is to increase corporate
profitability through improved inventory activities such as demand planning, inventory
optimization, safety stock management, excess and obsolete inventory management or the right
inventory levels to meet customer services expectation with a minimum possible inventory.

f. Materials Replenishment Planning - The material requirements planning process needs all the
information on stocks, stock reservations, and stocks on order to calculate quantities, and also
needs information on lead times and procurement times to calculate dates. The material
requirements planning defines a suitable MRP and lot-sizing procedure for each material to
determine procurement proposals. This supply chain competency includes the ability to take the
Master Production Schedule replenishment quantities and “explode” quantities through the bill of
materials to create component requirements, which are compared against on-hand and on-order
and forecast. Purchasing or manufacturing orders are subsequently planned and either placed or
deferred by pull in or push out messages.

g. Knowledge of Continuous Improvement Processes or Methods - As the name suggests, knowledge

of the processes or methods that seek to improve performance, which assumes more and smaller
incremental improvement steps. In general learning and implementing the best known of these are
the aforementioned: lean manufacturing (JIT), Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, and Agile.

h. Logistics, Warehousing and Distribution -

One of the key supply chain competence is to manage physical flow of goods, which mean the
knowledge and skills necessary to effectively manage logistics communication, warehouse and
storage management, material handling and distribution of goods (including reverse logistics). This
includes activities like Goods-in (receiving), put-a-way to stores, picking, packing, shipping and
managing return goods from the customer. The competency includes the knowledge and
understanding of the above-mentioned activities, creating the right processes as well as effective
application.
 Competency that would be highly prioritized as a global demand in today's scenario would be
Logistics, Warehousing and Distribution. A warehouse is a large, spacious and secured building
intended for commerce and government use. It functions as a storage place for large quantities of
goods. Warehousing is not simply about storage though. It also covers the administration and
manual labor required in storage such as delivery, documentation, examination and certification.
There are three types of warehouses: public, owned by third party logistics (3PL) and company-
owned. The government through its arm uses public warehouses to store shipments and
contrabands they confiscated temporarily. The business sector usually resorts to company-owned
or 3PL-owned warehouses to meet their storage needs. Wholesalers, exporters, importers and
manufacturers are the common clients of warehousing service providers. Raw materials and
finished goods alike are kept in warehouses. There are different reasons for warehousing. The
cheese making and wine-making (also known as viniculture) industries require an extensive time to
produce their products. Warehouses are good places for their products to mature. This business
operation also ensures the sufficiency of supply. As a result, the prices of the goods involved are
less likely to fluctuate. Warehousing may also cover the completion of goods before distribution.
The components and packing materials are just delivered to the building. The assembly and packing
of the goods will be done in the warehouse. By doing so, the product cover will still look new and
enticing upon delivery to distribution centers. If you pack the goods before bringing them to the
warehouse, the packaging may be damaged while on the way.
In the business language, distribution refers to the delivery of finished goods to buying centers such
as shopping centres, markets and retailer stores. Some manufacturers deliver their goods directly to
their accredited retailers. This is advantageous if the retailers’ business establishments are just
nearby the manufacturers’ places. Direct delivery of goods to retailers can save you from
warehousing costs. However, if you are far from distribution centers, you have to deal with trucking
costs and inventory frequently. Thus, it is safe to say that warehousing and distribution go hand-in-
hand in providing a more cost-effective way of delivering goods. There are even businesses that
literally combined these two business operations. Some warehouses are also utilized as a buying or
retailing center while maintaining its original function. In fact, the Germans still have warehouse-
like department stores. The architecture of some of these buildings is one of the causes for their
dual functions. Excessive beautification of warehouses makes them appealing for shopping.

2. The industry life cycle model applies to most industries where businesses experience the four stages of
the cycle. The entities enter the cycle when they develop an idea and then traverse the life cycle. Let’s
look into the four stages of the life cycle.

Introduction :
The introduction is the starting phase of the life cycle where a new product, service, idea, or
solution to a persistent problem is introduced in the market. Since it is new to the market, the level
of demand, sales, and revenue is low, potential consumers are not aware of it, the product may not
be a complete version, and requires wide-reaching advertisements. Most of the aspects of the new
industry will be in uncertain categories like target market and business model to follow to fit in the
industry.

• Some of the defining factors that the industry exhibits at its introduction phases are as
follows:
• Few innovators are creating the industry
• Competitors, substitute products, or complementary goods are less
• The industry works to reach out to as many people as possible
• Marketing and advertising are done aggressively to create awareness
• Discounts offers and rewards are given to the product to attract customers

Growth Phase :

Consumers in the new industry have come to understand the value of the new offering, and
demand grows rapidly. A handful of important players usually become apparent, and they compete
to establish a share of the new market. Immediate profits usually are not a top priority as
companies spend on research and development or marketing. Business processes are improved,
 and geographical expansion is common. Once the new product has demonstrated viability, larger
companies in adjacent industries tend to enter the market through acquisitions or internal
development.

Maturity :

The maturity phase follows the growth phase. The focus shifted from growth to increasing the cash
flow and revenue through the appropriate strategies. They don’t have to spend on R&D or
marketing, but competition is intense at this phase. To confront the competition, firms resort to
strategies like mergers and acquisitions, economies of scale, cost reduction, competitive pricing,
etc.

• The industry is leading and enjoys maximum profit

• Rate of growth slowdown representing the shakeout stage
• Intense competitive pressure and resources are constrained
• Dominant designs or improvisations occurs, adding more stress to compete
• Competitively aggressive firms exhibit high performance

Decline

After experiencing growth and maturity, the industry moves to a declining phase. At this phase,
many companies in the industry face difficulty surviving or prolonging the successful period due to
no growth and intense competition. Therefore, they have to find strategies apt for the phase to
sustain.

• The weaker competitors are forced out of the market

• May witness a steep fall in income
• The negative impact of factors like market competition, substitutes, consumer behavior,
consumer psychology signifies
• The decline phase can be delayed using rebranding techniques, large-scale improvements,
and attractive rewards

As Online fashion retailer Zalando to lay off hundreds of employees. Google fires 450 staff, Twitter
shuts 2 offices; Meta confirms 11000 layoffs etc. As founders of service industry will take the
decline step.

Example of Industry Life Cycle Analysis

There was a boom in social media during the early 2000s due to the success of Myspace, a social
networking site that surpassed Google as the most visited place on the internet in 2006. Sites like
Orkut (a Google venture) and Bebo competed to gain users in a crowded landscape. Facebook (now
Meta), which started in 2004, was also gaining traction among universities and was considered the
second most popular social media site.2 There were signs of consolidation when Myspace was
acquired by Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp. Ltd for $580 million in 2005. But that valuation turned out
to be inflated after Facebook overtook MySpace in rankings.1 MySpace eventually petered into
insignificance after Facebook became a social media behemoth. With the exception of a few, like
Twitter, other social media sites also fell by the wayside. The social media sites that survived made
a thumping debut on the stock market. Their valuations were considered high in comparison to
their revenues, mainly because investors expected significant growth in the future as social media
became popular throughout the world. By May 2019, however, Facebook's valuation had declined
and the company warned of plateauing growth figures in the future. Snap Inc., another social media
company, was in a similar situation. Both companies responded by expanding the scope of their
operations to include other products, such as cameras and drones, in their portfolio. As of
December 2021, Facebook has just changed its corporate parent name to Meta Platforms. The
company has rebranded and is developing new products and technology. These developments
resulted in both analysts and the company itself seeing Meta's valuation increase again.
3. A) Building a strategic plan is the best way to ensure that your whole team is on the same page, from
the initial vision, to the metrics for success, to evaluating outcomes and adjusting (if necessary) for the
future. Even if you’re an expert baker, working with a team to bake a cake means having a collaborative
approach and clearly defined steps, so that the end result reflects the goals you laid out at the
beginning.
a) Defining vision - Whether it’s for your business as a whole, or a specific initiative, creating a
strategic plan means you’ll need to be aligned on a vision for success. This can be done in real-
time or asynchronously, whether in person, hybrid, or remote. By leveraging a shared digital
space, everyone has a voice in the process and room to add their thoughts, comments, and
feedback.
b) Assess where you are -
The next step in creating a strategic plan is to conduct an assessment of where you stand, in
terms of your own initiatives, as well as the greater marketplace. One of the most common
ways to conduct a strategic assessment is a SWOT analysis.
What is a SWOT analysis?
A SWOT analysis is an exercise where you define:
Strengths: What are your unique strengths for this initiative or for this product? In what ways
are you a leader?
Weaknesses: What weaknesses can you identify in your offering? How does your product
compare to others in the marketplace?
Opportunities: Are there areas for improvement that would help differentiate your business?
Threats: Beyond weaknesses, are there existing on potential threats to your initiative that could
limit or prevent its success? How can those be anticipated?
c) Determine your priorities and objectives -
In order to realize your vision, what will you need to prioritize, and what specific objectives can
you outline to accomplish your goals? Once you’ve defined your vision and analyzed your
current standing, you’ll be well positioned to start outlining and ranking your priorities, and the
specific objectives tied to those priorities. This can take the form of brainstorming and ideation
based on the takeaways from steps 1 and 2.
d) Define tactics and responsibilities –
What are the specific steps necessary to accomplish your objectives? Who will be accountable?
This is the stage where individuals or units within your team can get granular about how to
achieve your goals, one step at a time.
It’s important to note that these may shift over time, as you launch and gather initial data
about your project. For this reasons it’s key to:

• Develop a plan that has clear metrics for success

• Ensure that your plan is adaptable to changing circumstances
• Outline clear roles and responsibilities, so it’s easy to right the ship or make small
adjustments in a coordinated fashion
• One of the more common ways to define tactics and metrics is to use the OKR (Objectives
and Key Results) method. By outlining your OKRs, you’ll know exactly what you’re looking
to accomplish, and have a framework for analyzing the results once you begin to
accumulate relevant data.
e) Manage, measure, and evaluate -
Once your plan is set into motion, it’s important to actively manage (and measure) progress.
Before launching your plan, settle on a means to measure success or failure, so that everyone is
aligned on progress and can come together to evaluate your initiative at regular intervals.
Determine an interval at which to come together and go over results — this can take place
weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on the nature of the project.
One of the best ways to evaluate progress is through Agile retrospectives (or retros), which can
be done in real time, or asynchronously with a platform like MURAL, offering a shared digital
space to gather and organize feedback.

B) Different Expansion Strategies are as follows :

What is an expansion strategy?

An expansion strategy is a plan of action that a business or organization implements to grow its
operations, increase its market share, and achieve its long-term goals. There are several types
of expansion strategies, including:

• Market penetration: This strategy involves selling more of your existing products or
services to your current customer base or expanding your reach within your current
market.
• Market development: This strategy involves entering new markets or expanding into
new geographical locations. This may include adapting your products or services to fit
the needs of a new market or introducing them to an entirely new customer base.
• Product development: This strategy involves creating new products or services to
meet or attract new customers’ needs. This can help you stay ahead of the
competition and provide new revenue streams.
• Diversification: This strategy involves entering new markets or industries unrelated to
your current business. This can help you spread your risk and take advantage of new
opportunities.

When choosing an expansion strategy, it’s important to consider your current resources,
capabilities, and competitive landscape. Developing a clear plan and allocating the necessary
resources to ensure successful implementation is also essential.

• Evaluate your current business: Before expanding, it’s vital to assess the strengths and
weaknesses of your existing business. This will help you identify areas where you need
to improve or areas where you can leverage to achieve your expansion goals.
• Identify your target market: Determine who your new customers will be and what
their needs are. Research the market and competition to identify any gaps or
opportunities you can fill.
• Develop a growth plan: Create a comprehensive plan outlining the steps you need to
take to achieve your expansion goals. This should include financial projections,
marketing strategies, operational plans, and timelines.
• Secure funding: Determine the financial resources needed to execute your growth
plan and identify funding sources, such as investors, loans, or grants.
• Build a team: Consider hiring additional staff, consultants, or advisors to help you
execute your growth plan effectively.
• Test your expansion plan: Before fully committing to it, test it on a smaller scale to
identify any potential issues or challenges.
• Execute your plan: Implement your growth plan, monitor progress, and adjust as
needed.
• Evaluate success: Regularly assess the success of your expansion efforts and make
necessary changes to continue growing your business.