This Paper was amongst top-10 winning entries in "Opsyrus 2005", the CoolAvenues.com - OIG (IIM Lucknow) Paper Writing Competition held in October 2005.

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Executive Summary

"Supply chain management is the last unexplored frontier of management."

- Peter Drucker

The era of globalization has seen supply chain management emerge as a new management paradigm and a source of competitive advantage. It is essential for firms to develop an understanding of supply chain management issues, opportunities and problems in a global context.
This paper is aimed at providing managers an insight into the various nuances of managing cross-border operations.

The paper defines the importance of a global supply chain by examining the drivers of globalization. It then dwells into the four steps involved in the creation and management of a global supply chain.

1) The strategy for a global supply chain: Development of processes, structures, organizational networks and strategic alliances and partnerships.
2) Designing a global supply chain: Global procurement, facility decisions, logistics planning, customer service levels and inventory management.
3) Enabling a global supply chain: Management and integration of flows of material, finance and information across the chain.
4) Maintaining and monitoring: Setting performance goals and parameters, financial controls.

The paper then goes on to discuss some of the complexities that are unique to managing a global supply chain and how effectively dealing with these complexities can prove to be a competitive edge for companies. The paper concludes by discussing some of the risks inherent in operating a global supply chain and how these risks can be overcome.

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* Contributed by -
Roshan Thomas & Ruth Balachandran,
Indian Institute of Management,
Lucknow.