W Company is a white goods manufacturer that has been particularly hard hit by the recent recession. Faced with a dramatic fall in orders and two years of losses, shareholder pressure has resulted in the early retirement of the Chief Executive and his replacement by JH, who has a track record of turning companies around. JH has, in the past, led different process design improvement initiatives including Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and has used tools

Such as process maps (or charts).

In an initial review, JH finds that W’s operations require urgent attention. A benchmarking exercise reveals that W’s costs of production are much higher than those of its competitors. In addition, innovations in operations theory and techniques such as those in supply chain management and process design have not been seized. Clearly this needs addressing.

An added area of concern is the way that some line managers are reported to have behaved under the previous management regime. The misappropriation of funds by some line managers has come to light, as have a number of unethical practices and JH is concerned that such things should not occur in the future.

Describe the developments in strategic supply chain management in recent years and explain how the adoption of the new approaches could assist W Company to improve its competitive performance.