The Value Chain Model

The Value Chain

The term 'Value Chain' was used by Michael Porter which analysis describes the activities the organization performs and links them to the organizations competitive position.

It describes the activities within and around an organization, and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the organization. Therefore, it evaluates which value each particular activity adds to the organizations products or services. It believes that organization is more than a random compilation of machinery, equipment, people and money. Only if these things are arranged into systems and systematic activates it will become possible to produce something for which customers are willing to pay a price.

This chain has distinguished between primary activities and support activities. Primary activities are directly concerned with the creation or delivery of a product or service. They can be grouped into five main areas: inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Each of these primary activities is linked to support activities which help to improve their effectiveness or efficiency. There are four main areas of support activities: procurement, technology development (including R&D), human resource management, and infrastructure (systems for planning, finance, quality, information management etc.).

The basic model of Porters Value Chain is as follows:

By applying this chain the organization becomes able to deliver a product / service for which the customer is willing to pay more than the sum of the costs of all activities in the value chain.

Some thought about the linkages between activities: These linkages are crucial for corporate success. The linkages are flows of information, goods and services, as well as systems and processes for adjusting activities. Their importance is best illustrated with some simple examples:

Only if the Marketing & Sales function delivers sales forecasts for the next period to all other departments in time and in reliable accuracy, procurement will be able to order the necessary material for the correct date. And only if procurement does a good job and forwards order information to inbound logistics, only than operations will be able to schedule production in a way that guarantees the delivery of products in a timely and effective manner