Jordan D. Lewis

Connected Corporation (eBook, ePUB)

How Leading Companies Manage Customer-Supplier All

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Until now, the relationship between a company and its customers or suppliers has consisted of arms-length haggling over the price of a part or a service. Today, reveals alliance expert Jordan D. Lewis, customers and suppliers are actually embracing each other-sharing data, design work, and even research and development. The result, Lewis finds, has been a dramatic improvement in each firm's costs, quality, cycle times, and customer satisfaction-without added expense. Building on his groundbreaking work, Partnerships for Profit, Lewis shows managers how to maximize the potential of these new customer-supplier alliances-described by the Wall Street Journal as a "revolution"-by drawing upon his hands-on experience and research with best-practice firms worldwide such as Motorola, Chrysler, and Marks & Spencer.

Although more and more firms now recognize the importance of customer-supplier alliances, few actually know how to make them work. Using interviews with employees ranging from top executives to purchasing and sales people, Lewis takes the reader inside these leading-edge companies and their top suppliers to show precisely how the "connected" corporation can double its competitive resources by forging customer-supplier relationships for greater financial strength, higher market share, more value, and increased operating flexibility.

Lewis provides the tools managers need to structure and manage effective and successful alliances. He discusses all of the initial questions on how to get started-when to use alliances, how to choose the best partners, and how to set clear objectives targeted on high performance. Specific techniques are presented to foster joint creativity-from building interfirm teams to systems-based thinking-as well as methods for monitoring alliance performance and progress. Lewis also shows ways to develop the foundation of cooperation, negotiation, and trust between partners which is so crucial in achieving optimum competitive advantage.

By capitalizing on the new customer-supplier alliances, any firm can increase its competitiveness regardless of industry, company size, or whether its focus is on goods or services. Lewis provides managers of all types with the framework they need to avoid the pitfalls and enjoy the full benefits of the connected corporation.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Simon + Schuster LLC
• Seitenzahl: 368
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. Oktober 1995
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781439106303
• Artikelnr.: 49187376

Autorenporträt

Jordan D. Lewis, an international consultant, author, and lecturer, advises many of the world's leading firms and is a well-known expert on strategic alliances. A Fellow of the World Economic Forum, he has been profiled by CNN, "Business Day," Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Japan Times. He lives in Washington, D. C.

Inhaltsangabe

TABLES AND FIGURES INTRODUCTION
The Research Agenda
Key Firms: Motorola, Marks & Spencer, Chrysler, and Philips Consumer
Electronics Company
Benchmarking Customer-Supplier Alliances
How to Use This Book
1. CUSTOMER-SUPPLIER ALLIANCES: UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL
Competition Is Driving Firms to Integrate
Hallmarks of Powerful Customer-Supplier Alliances
Common Myths and Misunderstandings
Pitfalls on the Road Ahead
2. GETTING STARTED
Objective: More Customer Value
When to Use Alliances
Choosing Customers for Alliances
What to Allocate to Suppliers
Choosing Suppliers for Alliances
Competitors as Supply Partners
Working with Internal Suppliers
Committing to the Long Term
3. CONDITIONS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE
Using Focused Competition
Always Have a Market Benchmark
Sole, Single, or Dual Source?
Reducing the Supply Base
Earning Suppliers' Commitments
4. PRACTICES FOR JOINT CREATIVITY
Set Clear Objectives
Begin Early, Avoid Constraints
Share All Relevant Information
Protect Each Firm's Ideas
Build Interim Teams
Share Applicable Experiences
Plan an Expertise Overlap
Challenge Each Other's Thinking
Think in Terms of Systems
Define a Clear Interface
5. COOPERATING FOR MORE VALUE
Quality Is the Foundation
Combining for Design and Development
More Powerful Competitive Strategies
For the Most Benefits Take a Wider View
6. COOPERATING FOR BETTER TIMING AND COSTS
Joining to Compete with Time
Inventory Management that Beats Just-in-Time
Cutting Costs Together
7. SUPPLY BASE MANAGEMENT
Objectives-Based Performance Measures
When Suppliers Have Problems
Introducing New Suppliers
Strengthening the Supply Base
Keep Focusing the Supply Base
8. MANAGING CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Sourcing Strategies for Supplier Management
Strategies for Integration and Unique Design
Choosing Suppliers for Unique Designs
Using Premiums and Penalties
9. BUILDING TRUST AND HIGH PERFORMANCEv
Make Connections at All Levels
Constant Communications Avoid Trouble
Seek Root-Cause Solutions
Have Clear Rules of Engagement
Maintain a Fair Balance
Make Fair Demands
Build a Spirit of Community
Introduce New Programs Together
Coordinate Long-Term Alignment
Developing Trust Between Firms
10. ORGANIZING THE INTERFACE
A Focused Organization for Each Customer
Structuring to Be Consistent with Suppliers
The Pros and Cons of Co-Location
Customer and Supplier Advisory Boards
11. LEVERAGING THE CORPORATION
Balancing Corporate and Business Unit Interests
Creating Value Across Business Units
Global and Multi-Site Alliances
12. NEGOTIATION BETWEEN PARTNERS
Setting Stretch Targets
Reaching Agreement While Avoiding Damage
When Partners Disagree
No Room for Bargaining Power
Eliminating Contracts
13. SUCCESSFUL ALLIANCE PRACTITIONERS
People, Performance, and Management
Maintaining Continuity for Alliances
External Alliances Need Internal Alliances
Building Durable Alliances
Reducing Not-Invented-Here Behavior
Top Management Leadership Is Essential
Choosing Customers and Suppliers as Alliance Partners
14. VALUE CHAINS AND ALLIANCE NETWORKS
Value Chain Management
Promoting Cooperation Between Suppliers
Linking Rival Firms
Gaining the Power of a Committed Supply Base
Branded Goods and Value Chains
Frontiers of Value Chain Development
Using and Managing Alliance Networks
The Limit on Alliance Performance
NOTES
INDEX
A NOTE OF THANKS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR