Co Marketing - Core Competencies

Core Competencies

In order to survive in the ever-changing digital world, a company must be able to use a combination of an effective business strategy and a technology-based strategy efficiently. As a company in this tech-advanced society, Li & Fung Co. combined their century-old business strategy in accordance to the new economy policies. The firm's success is based on the integration of the new and the old strategies, making their core competencies concrete. These core competencies include: an extensive global sourcing network, efficient forecasting and effective decision-making, and an integrated human resource management.

 An extensive global sourcing network

Li & Fung Co. network covers 70 offices in 40 different countries. They are also interlinked with more than 10,000 international suppliers, which provides the firm with "the highest-quality goods, exceptional value, and reliable, on-time delivery." They are able to communicate with their suppliers more efficiently using the Group's extranet system. The extranet structure assist the management of supply chain more efficiently and the distribution of key business information.

* The efficient forecasting and problem-solving in a timely manner

The implementation of the "three-year plan" system as the basis of sustaining their growth will preserve and enable the company to keep an eye on future trends. This system is advantageous because the managers are able to identify the future trends of technology and innovations, which help to recognize and construe how the firm can achieve their three-year goal by implementing change, and to fix any errors or failures in the supply chain management. With the usage of their intranet system, offices are able to link with one another to share and overcome any issues efficiently.

 An integrated human resource management

Li & Fung recognizes that human capital is an important asset that will help sustain its growth and profitability. The firm placed a heavy emphasis on the training and development on its global workforce. Because of the heavy emphasis on development and training the workforce, the workers at Li & Fung were able to manage all aspects of the global supply chain expertly and also conduct strict quality assurance measures.

Mergers and acquisitions also helped strengthen the firm's human resource management. The acquisitions extended its geographic presence, which help the firm to broaden its customer base and to provide more services and expertise through marketing, logistics, and manufacturing.

Key questions/Concerns

1. Rising cost of labor and raw materials

* One of Li & Fung's strategies is to keep cost sourcing at a minimal. In recent years, the cost of raw materials, as well as labor has increased significantly, especially on Mainland China. Manufacturing enterprises have been left with no other option