Supply chain management relies on factors internal and external to a company but is especially impacted by marketing, human resources, and financial services. The three factors of the global supply chain when working separately or in cohesion can impact the general operations and efficiency of a firm. Successful communication, internal and external relations, and information-gathering is supported by marketing and are relevant when analyzing a supply chain.
The construction and quality of a supply chain are reliant on human resources, as much responsibility of finding, hiring, and maintaining adequate workforces is an inherent component of an HR team. Financial services work to implement a variety of methods that reduce costs and avoid financial risk by providing advantages to both buyers and sellers. A cohesive and efficient collaboration between marketing, HR team, and financial services is essential to implementing a profitable supply chain within a company.
Marketing can be seen as the communication element within the supply chain. Through a variety of methods, it is able to provide a company with a competitive position while building external and internal relations. This is primarily done through a strategic perspective and an operational role that is inherent to marketing. First, marketing assists stakeholders in recognizing their roles and the target markets of a company (Olenski, 2017). Second, as the communicator between supply chain functions, marketing stimulates collaboration. Third, marketing is able to provide partners with marketplace knowledge that guides supply and demand decisions.
Fourth, marketing maintains a company’s relevance within a competitive space by leveraging brand awareness and informing customers about the firm’s expertise. The combination of these factors provided by a marketing team is likely to influence the operational efficiency of a company. Both the communication between stakeholders, partners, customers, and other industry participants and expertise on marketplace supply and demand increases the strength of both internal and external relationships. Additionally, the same knowledge of market demand, customers, and target audience is essential to holding a beneficial competitive position. Though the connection between marketing and the global supply chain may not be apparent at first, it has a vital influence on a company’s profitability and effectiveness.
The influence Human Resources, or HR, have over the supply chain may appear less direct, but is just as essential to the profitable conduct of a company. The HR team is responsible for the finding and hiring of appropriate employees for a firm. As such, they are directly in charge of the formulation of the supply chain and its staff. This is especially relevant in fields that require certain levels of technical expertise for providing their services or products. Outside the immediate supply chain, HR teams are also likely to be responsible for the hiring of freelancers, contract workers, and a number of other external stakeholders.
Though these employees may not be permanent components of a company’s supply chain, they still contribute to the workflow of the firm. The HR team will continue to manage both permanent employees and temporary stakeholders during their involvement with the company, which will often require the assessment of employee efficiency and awareness of their wellbeing and needs. All these factors relate indirectly to the supply chain, as changes in the quality of worker performance or their inability to provide work will influence a company’s operations.
A classical supply chain management focuses on both the flow of materials and information, but through a number of financial services, the chain can implement a number of cost reductions. Issues often arise and are likely to consist of not only financial costs but can also be linked to credit risks, either from sales or insurance. The integration of financial services within supply chain management can also be referred to as supply chain finance and is often determined by a number of tech-based processes that improve efficiency by reducing costs for both suppliers and buyers. Often, the financial services improve the operations of the supply chain when the buyer possess better credit than the seller, as this will result in access to capital at a decreased cost (Bloomenthal, 2021).
Additionally, supply chain finance is able to provide the company with short-term credit that can optimize capital for both the buyers and sellers. As such, financial services are able to navigate and resolve a number of high-cost issues within the supply chain, which not only reduces the cost of certain services but also increases the overall efficiency of a company’s operations. With the abundant number of technologically advanced methods of managing these financial costs and risks that are currently available, a firm may see even higher increases in its supply chain’s efficiency.
The effective implementation of work processes within marketing, HR practice, and financial services can improve the efficiency of a company’s supply chain. Though some roles of these factors may not be directly visible in the functions of the supply chain, their value cannot be understated.
Adequate communication and information databases provided by marketing guide stakeholders, employees, and customers in making decisions concerning the supply chain. Diligent HR practices are able to hire and allocate appropriate resources and workers in order to support the supply chain’s workflow. Financial services can increase the supply chain’s efficiency by mitigating risk and reducing costs, thereby allowing to assign capital to more valuable processes within the company. It is the cohesive and collaborative implementation of these factors within the company that is likely to increase a supply chain’s effectiveness.
References
Bloomenthal, A. (2021). Supply Chain Finance. Web.
Olenski, S. (2017). A Marketing Team’s Success Is Only As Good As The Company’s Supply Chain Management Process. Web.