Based on eight years of research visiting dozens of startups, tech companies and incumbents, Harvard Business School professor Thales Teixeira shows how and why consumer industries are disrupted, and what established companies can do about it—while highlighting the specific strategies potential startups use to gain a competitive edge. There is a pattern to digital disruption in an industry, whether the disruptor is Uber, Airbnb, Dollar Shave Club, Pillpack or one of countless other startups that have stolen large portions of market share from industry leaders, often in a matter of a few years. As Teixeira makes clear, the nature of competition has fundamentally changed. Using innovative new business models, startups are stealing customers by breaking the links in how consumers discover, buy and use products and services. By decoupling the customer value chain, these startups, instead of taking on the Unilevers and Nikes, BMW’s and Sephoras of the world head on, peel away a piece of the consumer purchasing process. Birchbox offered women a new way to sample beauty products from a variety of companies from the convenience of their homes, without having to visit a store. Turo doesn't compete with GM. Instead, it offers people the benefit of driving without having to own a car themselves. Illustrated with vivid, indepth and exclusive accounts of both startups, and reigning incumbents like Best Buy and Comcast, as they struggle to respond, Unlocking the Customer Value Chain is an essential guide to demystifying how digital disruption takes place – and what companies can do to defend themselves.

Understand Michael Porter’s value chain in no time! Find out everything you need to know about this valuable business tool with this practical and accessible guide. The Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter has dedicated much of his career to studying competitive advantage. One of his best-known concepts is the value chain, which is used to deliver a product or service to the market and has three key objectives: to improve services, to reduce costs and to create value. The model can be applied to virtually any business in any sector, making it a vital tool for companies looking to make the most of their competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded market. In 50 minutes you will be able to: •Identify the nine functions that generate value within a business •Analyse your company’s activity to make the most of your competitive advantage •Find areas for improvement and take concrete steps to maximise performance ABOUT 50MINUTES.COM | MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING The Management and Marketing series from the 50Minutes collection provides the tools to quickly understand the main theories and concepts that shape the economic world of today. Our publications will give you elements of theory, definitions of key terms and case studies in a clear and easily digestible format, making them the ideal starting point for readers looking to develop their skills and expertise.

"Value nets are digital powerhouses that fuel business results."-From the Foreword by Adrian Slywotzky If you have ever ordered a computer over the Internet and been amazed that a product built to your exact specifications could arrive at your door within days, or if your business's competition is suddenly gaining share by delivering custom-designed merchandise faster and more reliably than you can, you need to read Value Nets. Enlightened managers around the world are learning that the supply chain can be a bountiful source of profitable growth, increased market share, and shareholder value. Value Nets: Breaking the Supply Chain to Unlock Hidden Profits shows you how to release the value hidden in supply chain operations through new digital networked solutions. Value Nets introduces you to a new form of business design built around superb supply chain performance in the e-commerce world. This design enables any company to do far more with the supply chain than simply control costs. It provides a basis for true differentiation in the marketplace and gives you the power to deliver first-rate service and customized products to customers in ways that delight them and keep them coming back for more. Using numerous powerful case studies and examples from companies that have adopted value net design-Gateway, Cisco Systems, Cemex, Biogen, Zara, and dozens more-the authors demonstrate how value nets bridge the gap between the executive culture of strategy and business reinvention and the operational world of procurement, manufacturing, and logistics. They introduce the new concept of value nets and offer compelling evidence of their outstanding results. They also explain the five elements of value net creation, supplying specific examples from companies that have built value nets and showing how the new design helped these companies achieve superior profitability and customer satisfaction. Complete with an appendix that helps you think through the applicability of value nets to your company, Value Nets delivers everything you need to understand and implement this remarkable new business design. It captures the creativity of today's most effective business model and puts its power where it will do the most good-right in the palm of your hand. As one of the world's premier corporate strategy firms, MERCER MANAGEMENT CONSULTING helps leading enterprises achieve sustained shareholder value growth through the development and implementation of customer-focused business designs. Mercer's thought leadership on the topic of value growth is evident in four agenda-setting books published in the past four years: Profit Patterns, The Profit Zone, Value Migration, and Grow to Be Great. The firm serves clients from twenty offices in the Americas, Europe, and Asia."Value Nets exposes the supply chain for what it really is--a strategic differentiator. Reading about the success of Apple Computer, Zara, et al., will convince you that the time to take action is now!"-H. Lee Scott, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. "Our experience is proof that the ideas presented in Value Nets work. Agile, networked operations help us deliver superb service to our customers and drive shareholder value as well."-James Mullen, President and COO, Biogen, Inc. "Value Nets takes supply chain management to the next frontier. CEOs will find it extremely helpful in their quest to provide better service and reduce cost by meeting unique customer requirements."-William "Gus" Pagonis, Retired Lt. Gen., U.S. Army Executive Vice President of Logistics, Sears, Roebuck and Company "Value Nets brings new concepts and a road map for competitive advantage to businesses in Latin America and other global markets where traditional supply chain thinking controls business design."-Julio A. Barea, President and CEO, Sara Lee Branded Apparel, Latin America Group

An expert offers a set of rules that will help managers achieve dramatic improvements in operations performance. In recent years, management gurus have urged businesses to adopt such strategies as just-in-time, lean manufacturing, offshoring, and frequent deliveries to retail outlets. But today, these much-touted strategies may be risky. Global financial turmoil, rising labor costs in developing countries, and huge volatility in the price of oil and other commodities can disrupt a company's entire supply chain and threaten its ability to compete. In Operations Rules, David Simchi-Levi identifies the crucial element in a company's success: the link between the value it provides its customers and its operations strategies. And he offers a set of scientifically and empirically based rules that management can follow to achieve a quantum leap in operations performance. Flexibility, says Simchi-Levi, is the single most important capability that allows firms to innovate in their operations and supply chain strategies. A small investment in flexibility can achieve almost all the benefits of full flexibility. And successful companies do not all pursue the same strategies. Amazon and Wal-Mart, for example, are direct competitors but each focuses on a different market channel and provides a unique customer value proposition—Amazon, large selection and reliable fulfillment; Wal-Mart, low prices—that directly aligns with its operations strategy. Simchi-Levi's rules—regarding such issues as channels, price, product characteristics, value-added service, procurement strategy, and information technolog—-transform operations and supply chain management from an undertaking based on gut feeling and anecdotes to a science.

Creates a managerial compass for entering into the LIVING (Live, Intelligent, Velocity, Interactive, Networked, and Good) era of supply chain management and defines the imperative for creating Velocity and Visibility as the focal point for exploiting new digital, mobile, and cloud-based technologies Written by well-known researchers in the field, this book addresses the changes that have occurred and are still unfolding at various organizations that are involved in building real-time supply chains. The authors draw on their experiences with multiple companies, along with references to the natural evolution of ecosystems throughout to help identify the “new rules of supply chain management." The LIVING principles associated with the rapid digitization and technology changes occurring in the global economy are discussed, along with the push to become more sustainable and responsive to customer needs. “ Handfield and Linton reveal the “secret ingredient” to leveraging the power of a well managed supply chain....will revolutionize the way companies approach supply chain management.” Frank Crespo, Vice President, Global Supply Network Division (CPO/Logistics/IoT Analytics), Caterpillar Inc. “ The LIVING supply chain is a wake up call to any enterprise that depends on suppliers and contractors. Be fast, be nimble and make supply chain transparency the nucleus of your operations or become endangered.” Paul Massih, Vice President, BP PSCM “ ...a fascinating journey through the future of supply chain management ... a must read for every supplychain professional.” Yossi Sheffi, Professor, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics “ ... a great “living” reading on how to bring supply chains to a powerful living state. The idea of Live-Interactive-Velocity–Intelligent–Networked-Good is the foundation of how supply chains can be agile, adaptive and aligned. ...of value to every supply chain executive and practitioner.” Hau Lee, Professor, Stanford University “ Successful businesses are those that support the success of their customers. This book captures the essence of our volatile, uncertain world and the opportunities that exist for the commercially astute, organizationally integrated business. More important, it offers insight to the recipe for 21st century operations and the management of complex supply ecosystems.” Tim Cummins, CEO, International Association of Commercial and Contract Management “ A LIVING supply chain requires a living company. The authors make a great case for how Flex is creating a living company to thrive in the living supply chain.” Tom Choi, Harold E. Fear on Eminent Scholar Chair of Purchasing Management, Arizona State University, Executive Director, CAPS Research “ To survive we need to have an adaptive supply chain and capability to both optimize and adapt simultaneously. This book begins to describe the ability to shift from functional silos to E2E Frictionless flow with the maturity to make E2E tradeoff decisions as a key enabler for success.” Wayne Rothman, Vice President, Enterprise Supply Chain Planning, Johnson & Johnson “A fantastic read and excellent stories from Dr. Handfield and Tom.” Joanne E. Wright, Vice President, IBM Supply Chain ROBERT HANDFIELD, PhD, is Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management and Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at North Carolina State University. The author of four books and over 150 journal articles, Dr. Handfield received his PhD in Operations Management from The University of North Carolina in 1990. TOM LINTON is Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer at Flex. A recognized industry and functional expert, he has 30 years of international industrial experience in procurement and supply chain management. Tom Linton is also the recipient of the Procurement Leaders Lifetime Achievement Award in May, 2017.

Waste to Wealth proves that 'green' and 'growth' need not be binary alternatives. The book examines five new business models that provide circular growth from deploying sustainable resources to the sharing economy before setting out what business leaders need to do to implement the models successfully.

John Gattorna and Deborah Ellis are long-term collaborators on the design and management of enterprise supply chains. Dr John Gattorna has been one of the most influential voices in the development of the modern supply chain. His long-held vision of the supply chain as the central nervous system of an organisation and as a major source of competitive advantage if done well has inspired both supply chain professionals and CEOs. To support this vision, he has led the development of frameworks and tools to guide design using customers as the sole frame-of-reference, thus ensuring precise alignment between enterprise supply chains and the markets/customers they serve.In 2018 John was awarded the Council of Supply Chain Management (CSCMP) Distinguished Service Award for his contribution to the profession, and in the same year was inducted into the CSCMP Hall of Fame. Deborah Ellis has consulted with leading companies for over 20 years on logistics and supply chain strategy. Like John Gattorna, the emphasis of her work has been on developing tailored supply chains that generate market advantage. She has worked with him, and partnered with clients, to apply, refine and extend the frameworks and methodologies that simplify the supply chain task, while generating value for the customer and the business. Since 2017 they have together presented the Global Supply Chain Thought Leadership Retreat Series for senior supply chain executives in the Asia Pacific, South Africa and Europe. These by-invitation-only events have been very well received, and this book has evolved from the research and discussions associated with those events.