SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT FOR B2B AND B2C OPERATIONS
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the process of optimizing a company's internal operations and connecting the internal operations with suppliers and customers. SCM, thus, is a process of integration and optimization. The primary operations encompassed by SCM are demand forecasting, sourcing, procurement, inventory management, warehouse management, and distribution. SCM, therefore, is central to a company's logistics (Malhotra, 2005).
There are several models for the conduct of e-commerce over the Internet and the WWW. One of those models is B2C (business-to-consumer). B2C technology makes it possible for organizations to communicate directly with consumers. The B2C model does not necessarily mean that communications between and organizations and their customers are interactive, although most for-profit organizations with B2C operations do offer consumers the opportunity to purchase products through their Web sites. Of those for-profit firms operating B2C Web sites, more than three-quarters use shopping cart management tools, such as catalogs, cards, and credit card processing (Erickson & Rothberg, 2002).
A second widely used model is B2B (business-to-business). B2B sites on the Internet and the WWW are electronic locations designed to facilitate the conduct of e-commerce between and among business firms. The value chain for a company identifies the separate activities and functions involved in the creation of a product and the movement of that product to the end user. Each activity and function identified in a value chain involves associated costs. The company attempts to minimize costs through the application of the value chain concept. SCM is essential to the effective application of the value chain concept (Sairamesh, Mohan, Kumar, Hasson, & Bender, 2002).
B2B transactions extend supply chain efficiencies beyond organizational boundaries. The emphasis is on ...