amazon as an employer
Summary
Amazon, the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States, has frequently figured among the most admired companies.
However, an article published in The New York Times portrayed Amazon as a soul- crushing employer and a cruel place to work.
According to the article, employees at Amazon are encouraged to be critical of each others ideas and performance both openly, during meetings, and covertly, by sending negative feedback to each others bosses.
Long hours are the norm, and employees with dependent care and medical issues are viewed as liabilities.
Employee attrition is, as a result, exceedingly high.
Most of the ex-employees interviewed for The New York Times article described the culture as toxic and difficult to survive in.
A few employees felt that Amazon was the best place to work for people who are passionate about their profession.
Nonetheless, both Amazon and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, have experienced a decline in their public rankings since the publication of the article.
Task 1:
1.1 Does the people management strategy of care and compassion make business sense?
1.2 How does the practice of keeping employees on the edge impact business in the short and long run? (1000 words)
Does the people management strategy of care and compassion make business sense?
Are care and compassion relevant in todays hyper-competitive, innovation-driven business context?
Does an attitude of care and compassion impact business performance and the bottom line?
Amazon is doing well financially; the public ranking of its CEO has dropped. Bezos dropped from number one to number 87 in Harvard Business Reviews CEO rankings. This drop in ranking coincides with Harvard Business Review including social responsibility criteria in the evaluation. Does this mean that Amazon may have to eventually adopt a strategy of care and compassion for its employees?
Psychological flexibility
1.2 Does keeping employees on the edge help business, or is the policy of keeping employees on the edge beneficial to business in any way? In favour or No???
Task 2 : 800 words
Is Amazons employer brand as reported by The New York Times sustainable?
Why or why not?
Employer branding assumes that human capital adds value and that, therefore, an attractive employer brand, by extension, also adds value.
The first step in building an employer brand is to develop a winning employee value proposition, which helps in attracting and retaining talent. An employee value proposition leads to talent engagement.
Amazons Employer Brand Is Sustainable??
1. It will attract only those employees who are passionate about innovating.
2. The company is a professional organization and employees are expected to give their best with minimum resources, especially in times of global recession and low margins
3.
4.
Amazons Employer Brand Is Not Sustainable
1. Companies need to adapt to changing demographics and employee preferences, create new competencies.
2. This is the era of the Millennials, or Generation Y, for whom transparency is of the utmost importance.
3. .
4. .
Task 2: 700 words
Are employees thriving under Amazons workplace policies, or are they just barely surviving? AMAZON AS AN EMPLOYER1
Amazon was the biggest Internet-based retailer in the United States and had frequently been featured in
Fortune magazines Elite List of the Worlds Most Admired Companies, ranking second in 2014 and
fourth in 2015.
2
However, in 2015, controversy erupted on social media when an article in The New York
Times portrayed Amazon as a company that was conducting an experiment in how far it [could] push
white-collar workers to get them to achieve its ever-expanding ambitions.
3
Many leading technology
wizards, such as former Twitter chief executive officer (CEO) Dick Costolo, as well as venture capitalists
Marc Andreessen and Keith Rabois, dismissed the criticism, arguing that such practices were part of what
made disruptive companies disruptive.
4
The New York Times article focused on the unconventional office culture promoted at Amazon. Particular
attention was paid to the practice of encouraging employees to be ruthlessly critical of each others ideas
in meetings and to surreptitiously send feedback to each others bosses.
5
The article also mentioned the
physical stress of Amazons workplace. Employees were expected to put in long hours and were
reprimanded when they failed to respond to emails that arrived at midnight. This was the inevitable by-
product of a policy that demanded that all employees work overtime, effectively forcing employees to
work harder and faster until they quit, collapsed, or were terminated.
6
As a result of its workplace policies, turnover at Amazon was high: most employees did not stay for more
than a few months.
7
Nonetheless, Amazon had climbed the ladder of achievements and accomplishments
in an unrelenting, expeditious manner. It had surpassed Walmart as the most highly ranked retailer in
terms of market valuation.
8
The company was as continuously innovative as a new start-up.
9
Amazon was on the verge of opening several new multi-floor offices in diverse locations, which would
expand its operating capacity to approximately 50,000 employees.
10
The question that arose at this critical
juncture of its growth was whether Amazon would be able to attract and retain the engaged talent it
required to fill these vacancies despite The New York Times expos. Would Amazons demanding
corporate culture continue to lead to innovation?
Page 2
WORKPLACE CONUNDRUMS AT AMAZON
Amazon had always maintained a strict emphasis on customer satisfaction. The business was built around
this principle.
11
Customers around the world were familiar with Amazon, but life inside the organization
had been impenetrable until it was probed by The New York Times article. In a letter to shareholders,
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote, You can work long, hard, or smart, but at Amazon.com, you cant
choose two out of three.
12
In late 1999, when the Internet boom took a precipitous fall after years of exhilarating success, Amazon
was burdened with debt and spiralling losses. Bezos needed to convince Wall Street that he was
determined to cut costs. But what costs were left to cut? Unlike other competing firms in Silicon Valley,
the company had never provided perks and benefits to its employees. The only perk Amazon had
offered was free Aspirin, and this was taken away.
13
Many considered the frequent temper tantrums of Bezos to be key to the survival and success of Amazon.
Employees described Bezos outbursts as nutters.
14
His favourite quips were, Why are you ruining my
life? and, If I hear that again, I am going to have to kill myself.
15
In spite of his infamous temper,
Bezos was ranked as the top innovator in 2013.
16
When The New York Times published its article, Bezos immediately sent out a company-wide memo in
which he expressed his disagreement with the articles portrayal of the company work environment.
Bezos noted that anyone working in such an environment would be crazy to stay, and he ended his memo
by saying, hopefully you dont recognize the company described [in The New York Times article].
Hopefully youre having fun working with a bunch of brilliant teammates, helping invent the future, and
laughing along the way.
17
Indeed, work hard, have fun, and create history seemed to be the motto of employees at Amazon.
18
Over-achievers bubbling with innovative ideas and eager to collaborate with and learn from brilliant co-
workers thrived in the challenging, fast-paced environment and seemed to embrace the extreme demands
placed upon them not as a problem to run from, but as an opportunity to grow.
19
Many such employees
were excited to be working on cutting-edge projects that would impact millions of people and felt that
working at Amazon advanced their careers.
20
The star performers or winners would visualize the
innovations, implement them for a quarter billion customers, and accumulate wealth from rising stock prices.
21
Amazons unconventional style extended beyond its office culture and into its business development
processes. Software developers were required to write an imaginary press release and complete a list of
frequently asked questions for an envisioned product before they began programming it. This strategy of
working backwards from a vision of the finished product forced the developers to detect and confront any
difficult post-production issues before moving ahead with the product. This ensured that the developers
understood the products unique proposition and appeal to potential clients from the very beginning of the
development process. If the developers could not write a convincing press release, then the product was
discarded as not worth the effort.
22
Many employees found this rigorous approach to software
development exciting and argued that such rigour made Amazon the best place to work for those who
were passionate about their profession. However, such employees were a small minority. In 2013, Amazon
had the second-highest turnover among the Fortune 500 companies, with a median tenure of one year.
23
The office culture cultivated at Amazon led those outside of the company to think negatively of
Amazons ex-employees. Many recruiters were hesitant to hire ex-employees, believing they had been
trained to be aggressive. Amazon employees were also known to be belligerent and work-fixated. A
Page 3
Seattle-based technology recruiter who had worked at Amazon for four years said that he was still
struggling with the workaholic nature from within and trying to control the urge to verbally eviscerate any
colleagues who did not perform up to his expectations.
24
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND DIVERSITY
The talent acquisition process at Amazon was rigorous and included screening by the companys star
performers and part-time interviewers brought on to ensure the company hired only the best. New
employees had to sign a contract that required them to repay the signing bonus in the event that they left
the organization within a year of signing and to repay part of their relocation expenses in the event that
they left before the completion of two years.
Performance management at Amazon continued to be based on a bell curve approach when other
companies were moving away from it.
25
Every year, a company-level review was conducted in which
managers discussed their subordinates rankings. Managers came to such meetings armed with documents
and evidence to defend their key members and to incriminate the employees of competing groups. To
protect critical talent, managers chose team members who could be sacrificed in the review process.
Employees were encouraged to criticize their colleagues by sending feedback to management using a
confidential online feedback tool. Because employees were constantly under scrutiny, and bottom
performers were unceremoniously thrown out, everyone tried to outperform or sabotage everyone else.
Indeed, many employees reported in their performance reviews that they felt sabotaged by their
colleagues negative comments.
26
Amazon did not have female employees in the top leadership team. Many attributed this gap to Amazons
system of competition and elimination. Many female employees believed that some of Amazons
leadership principles worked to their disadvantage; for example, being encouraged to earn trust,
have backbone, and disagree with colleagues was seen as difficult for female employees to practice in
the workplace.
27
Many key employees at Amazon were told that raising children could hinder their
chances of advancing their careers because child-rearing would prevent employees from putting in long
working hours. Despite working full-time, one female employee was criticized by her boss because the
employees colleagues often saw her leaving early, not realizing that she was also coming in early to
complete the required hours. Another female employee who, for years, had consistently exceeded
expectations was criticized by her boss when she began taking time off to care for her critically ill father.
This employee mentioned that those who were unable to give their absolute all and put in 80-hour
workweeks were perceived as weak.
28
Some male employees also had to quit Amazon or consider quitting because the workplace pressure
was forcing them to spend less time with their families. Older employees were worried that they would be
replaced by younger employees with fewer commitments and more time to focus on work.
29
Dick Finnegan, a consultant specialized in talent retention, cautioned organizations about the cost of
mandatory cuts in the workforce:
If you can build an organization with zero deadwoods, why wouldnt you do it? But I dont know
how sustainable it is. You would have to have a never-ending two-mile line around the block of
very qualified people who want to work for you.
30
Page 4
AMAZON WORKPLACE: FUTURE DIRECTION
In 2014, Harvard Business Review ranked Bezos as the top CEO.
31
Yet, just 12 months later, his ranking
fell to the 87th position
32
largely because, in 2015, CEOs were evaluated not just on the basis of their
financial success but also on the basis of their performance with respect to social responsibility criteria.
However, with topline growth and controlled spending, Amazon stock prices had more than doubled.
33
In response to The New York Times article, Bezos sent the following message to Amazon employees:
The article doesnt describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day.
But if you know of any stories like those reported, I want you to escalate [them] to HR. You can
also email me directly at [emailprotected] Even if its rare or isolated, our tolerance for any
such lack of empathy needs to be zero.
34
Given its work culture, would Amazon continue to be a competitive employer and offer an attractive
employee value proposition? Did the strategy of keeping employees on the edge always result in
innovation?
mailto:[emailprotected]
Page 5
EXHIBIT 1: Care and Compassion
Source: Created by the authors based on the following literature: Christopher L. Kukk, From Compassion to Innovation: The
Compassionate Achiever Goes to Work, ChrisKukk.com, October 10, 2014, accessed February 10, 2016,
http://chriskukk.com/from-compassion-to-innovation-the-compassionate-achiever-goes-to-work; Paul W. B. Atkins and
Sharon K. Parker, Understanding Individual Compassion in Organization: The Role of Appraisals and Psychological
Flexibility, Academy of Management Review 37, no. 4 (October 2012): 524546; Laura T. Madden et al., Emergent
Organizational Capacity for Compassion, Academy of Management Review 37, no. 4 (October 2012): 689708; Peggy
Simcic Brnn and Albana Belliu Vrioni, Corporate Social Responsibility and Cause-Related Marketing: An Overview,
International Journal of Advertising 20, no. 2 (2001): 207222; Merve Koolu, Cynicism as a Mediator of Relations
Between Job Stress and Work Alienation: A Study from a Developing Country Turkey, Global Business and Management
Research: An International Journal 6, no. 1 (2014): 2436; Sara L. Rynes et al., Care and Compassion Through an
Organizational Lens: Opening Up New Possibilities, Academy of Management Review 37, no. 4 (2012): 503523; Meina
Liu and Chongwei Wang, Explaining the Influence of Anger and Compassion on Negotiators Interaction Goals: An
Assessment of Trust and Distrust as Two Distinct Mediators, Communication Research 37, no. 4 (2010): 443472; Edward
H. Powley and Kim S. Cameron, Organizational Healing: Lived Virtuousness Amidst Organizational Crisis, Journal of
Management, Spirituality & Religion 3, no. 12 (2006): 1333; Mary Ann Hazen, Societal and Workplace Responses to
Perinatal Loss: Disenfranchised Grief or Healing Connection, Human Relations 56, no. 2 (2003): 147166.
http://chriskukk.com/from-compassion-to-innovation-the-compassionate-achiever-goes-to-work%3B
Page 6
Exhibit: Keeping Employees on the Edge
Source: Created by the authors based on the following literature: Distress and Eustress. Do You Know the Difference? Dr.
Jack Singer, accessed February 10, 2016, http://drjacksinger.com/distress-and-eustress-do-you-know-the-difference;
Howard J. Karger, Burnout as Alienation, Social Service Review 55, no. 2 (June 1981): 270283; Sanjeev Agarwal,
Influence of Formalization on Role Stress, Organizational Commitment, and Work Alienation of Salespersons: A Cross-
National Comparative Study, Journal of International Business Studies 24, no. 4 (1993): 715739; Harry Mills, Natalie
Reiss, and Mark Dombeck, Stress Reduction and Management: Types of Stressors (Eustress vs. Distress), Gulf Bender
Center, accessed December 21, 2015, www.gulfbend.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=15644&cn=117; D. M. Pestonjee
and Satish Pandey, eds., Stress and Work: Perspectives on Understanding and Managing Stress (New Delhi: Sage, 2013).
http://drjacksinger.com/distress-and-eustress-do-you-know-the-difference%3B
http://www.gulfbend.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=15644&cn=117%3B
Page 7
Exhibit: Integrated Branded House Model.
Page 8
ENDNOTES
1 This case has been written on the basis of published sources only. Consequently, the interpretation and perspectives
presented in this case are not necessarily those of Amazon or any of its employees.
2 Christopher Tkaczyk, The Worlds Most Admired Companies, Fortune 171, no. 3 (March 2015): 97104. Also available as
an online feature at http://fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies, accessed January 19, 2016.
3 Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace, The New York Times,
August 15, 2015, accessed September 20, 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-
ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html.
4 Jon Russell, Jeff Bezos Says the New York Times Amazon Expos Got It All Wrong, Tech Crunch, August 16, 2015,
accessed September 20, 2015, http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/16/computer-says-no.
5 Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, op. cit.
6 Spencer Soper, Workers Complain About Amazon Warehouse Jobs, Seattle Times, September 24, 2011, accessed
September 20, 2015, www.seattletimes.com/business/workers-complain-about-amazon-warehouse-jobs.
7 Lisa Mahapatra, Amazon.com Has Second Highest Employee Turnover of All Fortune 500 Companies, International
Business Times, July 26, 2013, accessed December 22, 2015, www.ibtimes.com/amazoncom-has-second-highest-
employee-turnover-all-fortune-500-companies-1361257.
8 Simon Head, Worse Than Wal-Mart: Amazons Sick Brutality and Secret History of Ruthlessly Intimidating Workers,
Salon, February 23, 2014, accessed September 20, 2015, www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_
sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers.
9 Peter Cohan, Amazons One-Hour Delivery: Another Reason to Sell Apple and Bet on Bezos, Forbes, November 17,
2015, accessed January 7, 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2015/11/17/amazons-one-hour-delivery-another-
reason-to-sell-apple-and-bet-on-bezos.
10 Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, op. cit.
11 Ibid.
12 Jeffery Bezos, Letter to Shareholders, 1997, accessed December 21, 2015, http://media.corporate-
ir.net/media_files/irol/97/97664/reports/Shareholderletter97.pdf.
13 David Streitfeld, Expecting the Unexpected From Jeff Bezos, The New York Times, August 17, 2013, accessed
September 20, 2015, www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/business/expecting-the-unexpected-from-jeff-bezos.html.
14 Joshua Kandall, The Temper Tantrum: The Key to Smart Management? Fortune, November 22, 2013, accessed
September 20, 2015, http://fortune.com/2013/11/22/the-temper-tantrum-the-key-to-smart-management.
15 Ibid.
16 Joel Holland, The New Establishment: 2013, VF News, October 31, 2013, accessed September 20, 2015,
www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2013/11/new-establishment-2013.
17 John Cook, Full Memo: Jeff Bezos Responds to Brutal NYT Story, Says It Doesnt Represent the Amazon He Leads,
Geek Wire, August 16, 2015, accessed December 20, 2015, www.geekwire.com/2015/full-memo-jeff-bezos-responds-to-
cutting-nyt-expose-says-tolerance-for-lack-of-empathy-needs-to-be-zero.
18 Larry A. Downs, Work Hard. Have Fun. Make History, LarryADowns.com, August 8, 2013, accessed January 7, 2016,
www.larryadowns.com/2013/04/english/work-hard-have-fun-make-history.
19 G. Sampath, In Love With Work, Amazon Style, The Hindu, September 17, 2015, accessed September 20, 2015,
www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/in-love-with-work-amazon-style/article7659931.ece.
20 Amazon.com Reviews, Glassdoor, accessed September 20, 2015, www.glassdoor.co.in/Overview/Working-at-Amazon-
com-EI_IE6036.11,21.htm.
21 Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, op. cit.
22 Jillian DOnfro, Heres the Surprising Way Amazon Decides What New Enterprise Products to Work on Next, Business
Insider, March 12, 2015, accessed September 20, 2015, www.businessinsider.in/Heres-the-surprising-way-Amazon-
decides-what-new-enterprise-products-to-work-on-next/articleshow/46544156.cms.
23 Lisa Mahapatra, op. cit.
24 Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, op. cit.
25 TNN, Accenture Too Drops Bell-Curve Appraisals, Economic Times, July 27, 2015, accessed September 20, 2015,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/accenture-too-drops-bell-curve-
appraisals/articleshow/48230902.cms.
26 Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, op. cit.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Adi Ignatius and Daniel McGinn, The Best-Performing CEOs in the World, Harvard Business Review, November 2014.
Available from Ivey Publishing, product no. R1411B.
32 Ibid.
33 Rose Pastore, Amazons Jeff Bezos Takes Dramatic Plunge Down List of Top CEOs, Fast Company, October 13, 2015,
accessed September 20, 2015, www.fastcompany.com/3052272/fast-feed/amazons-jeff-bezos-takes-dramatic-plunge-down-
list-of-top-ceos; Peter Cohan, op. cit.
34 John Cook, op. cit.
http://fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-
Jeff Bezos Says The New York Times’ Amazon Expose Got It All Wrong
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/workers-complain-about-amazon-warehouse-jobs
http://www.ibtimes.com/amazoncom-has-second-highest-
http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_
http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2015/11/17/amazons-one-hour-delivery-another-
http://media.corporate-/
http://fortune.com/2013/11/22/the-temper-tantrum-the-key-to-smart-management
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2013/11/new-establishment-2013
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/full-memo-jeff-bezos-responds-to-
http://www.larryadowns.com/2013/04/english/work-hard-have-fun-make-history
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/in-love-with-work-amazon-style/article7659931.ece
http://www.glassdoor.co.in/Overview/Working-at-Amazon-
http://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-the-surprising-way-Amazon-
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/accenture-too-drops-bell-curve-
http://www.fastcompany.com/3052272/fast-feed/amazons-jeff-bezos-takes-dramatic-plunge-down- BLUE OCEAN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 1
Blue Ocean Supply Chain Management
Students Name
University Affiliation
Date
Table of contents
Introduction
Current supply chain in Blue Ocean and its impacts
Application of Lean and Agile supply chain methods in the Blue Ocean Company
How to manage current and future suppliers of the Company
Creating long-term supplier base
The complexity of manufacturing vs. customer demands
Maintaining stock levels
Impacts of manufacturing locally and expanding manufacturing in Blue Ocean
Establishing the returns process to improve customer satisfaction
conclusion
Introduction
Generally, a supply chain can be defined as a network that exists between suppliers and a company to help in the production and distribution of a particular product or service to the final consumer in the market. The whole process represents all the steps that a product goes through until it reaches the final buyer, that is, change of raw materials to finished product and distribution and transportation of these final products to the buyers (Buurman, 2002). The supply chain helps companies in reducing the costs of operations and also ensures a steady supply of goods and services to the market. Different stakeholders are involved in the supply chain network as different people, resources, entities, information, and also resources have to work together for the successful output to be obtained. Some of the entities that were involved in the supply chain network include logistics companies, vendors, warehouses, retailers, wholesalers, and other distribution centers (Robinson, 2020).
In this paper, we will discuss the supply chain management of the Blue Ocean Company, which is an automobile company that is involved in the manufacturing of electric cars. Recently, the company supply chain has been experiencing several problems which have raised concerns to form the customers about the service delivery of the company. In Blue Ocean, the supply chain team has been divided into two major teams for sales and engineering. Miscommunication and also lack of understanding between these two teams have affected the flow of the production process (Buurman, 2002). The main challenges are evident in the purchase of the car parts, the lead times of purchase, and also the delivery of the cars to the clients. In this discussion, we will be able to analyze the current supply chain in the Blue Ocean company and also be able to state recommendations on how this company can develop an effective relationship with its current customers as well as the future potential customers.
Current Blue Ocean supply chain and its impacts on the company
The current Blue Ocean supply chain management is very inefficient, and this has resulted in poor service delivery to the final consumer. Firstly, due to the fact that there are no preferred suppliers to work with, it is very difficult to determine the suppliers who have the right quality materials for manufacturing. This leads to delay in the materials needed for building the car as they arrive randomly at different times, which are hardly unpredictable. Every new car, the company obtains materials and other essential parts from different suppliers. This is a very inappropriate strategy, as it is not easy to build new business relationships every single time.
Lack of specified suppliers of parts has cost the company huge losses in terms of time and finances in the cases where suppliers provide substandard or even wrong car components. Several cars have been returned back to the company for servicing after failing due to poor quality components used in the manufacturing of the car. Such occurrences tarnish the popularity of the company and give it a bad image in the market. It also scares away potential customers who could have brought the company large amounts of income due to the fear of getting a poor quality (Robinson, 2020). Additionally, the delay of materials slows down the manufacturing process, which leads to the delay in the final delivery of the car to the consumer. Failure to deliver the vehicle at the agreed time frustrates the customers, and they may not be willing to refer the company to other customers.
Operation of the lean and agile supply chain in the company
The lean supply chain is a type of supply chain strategy which is focused on minimization of the costs incurred by the company and avoid all possible sources of wastage. This method is most efficient in occasions where the parts are being ordered at high volumes. In the case of the Blue Ocean company, it seems that the company does not effectively apply the lean supply chain method. This is evident because the company has limited finances, and it has run out of parts, occasionally leading to a delay in the manufacturing of the vehicle at hand. The lean supply chain methods place its major priority in minimizing the costs as much as possible while maintaining the quality of the items being purchased.
On the other hand, the agile supply chain method is a type of strategy in which a company makes its supply chain as flexible as possible. This helps the company to cope effectively with the changes that occur in the market, such as changes in demand, changes in technology, or even changes in government regulation. A flexible supply chain enables a company to avoid; losses that occur resulting from the changes in the market and business environment as it makes it able to adapt and be able to run and operate at any given time (LLC, 2020).
Blue Ocean company seems to be more effective in the application of the agile supply chain method. This is because the case study clearly indicates that whenever a new vehicle is being manufactured, the company supply chain team places orders of parts from different suppliers on every different occasion. However, this supply chain method seems to affect the company negatively because some suppliers provide substandard machine parts, while others delay the supply of these parts, which delays the delivery of the vehicle to the final consumer. The most effective way for a company to operate is by applying both lean and agile supply chain method as it helps the company to be cost-effective and flexible at the same time. Hence, the delays in manufacturing and delivery to the final consumer can be avoided by ensuring the supplier are reliable and that they guarantee high-quality items, which are also cost-effective in order for the company to satisfy its customers (LLC, 2020).
How to manage the current and future suppliers
Suppliers are very important people in the supply chain network. They assure a steady supply of products and services, which helps in the production process to ensure that there are enough commodities available for the final consumer in the market. A steady supply of raw materials needed for any company for production purposes guarantees a company continuity Ans also able to meet the current and future market demand. There are several strategies in which Blue Ocean can use in the management of its current and future suppliers (2020). Firstly, it is important for the company to realize that the relationship with the suppliers should be mutual and two way. Such that both the company and the suppliers benefit from that specific relationship. The suppliers can be managed by the following ways;
Understanding the cost of the whole supply chain process a company can best manage its suppliers by evaluating the value and cost of the entire supply chain process from the raw materials to when the final product reaches the final consumer. This knowledge will enable the company to determine the most cost-effective suppliers to work effectively, depending on the cost of the process (Robinson, 2020).
Accepting accountability the company should be accountable for its orders and be aware of its roles in the supply chain. For example, for the relationship between the company and the suppliers to work well, the company should place orders which the suppliers are able to supply and also provide a good lead time. The company is also supposed to avoid making any changes to the orders after placing them (2020).
Sharing of vital information appropriately and on-time information is very key for the success of the supply chain process. Sensitive information such as the one concerning the time of delivery, the volume to be delivered, and also the payment should be communicated on time to avoid losses and other additional costs that result in form miscommunication for both suppliers and the company.
Honest dealings in the relationship between suppliers, the honesty of high levels is expected to prevail and also be upheld. When unusual occurrences happen, the side, which is having a problem, should communicate appropriately. For example, the suppliers should provide honest information in relation to the quantity a
