Verified Document

Competitive Advantage At Dell What Term Paper

Production centers then fulfill multiple strategic goals of being supply chain coordination points or hubs, customer listening locations to understand how to better serve local markets with customized products, and also alleviate inventory carrying costs while striving to deliver systems specifically configured to customers' needs within three days or less. The disadvantages of Dell having their production centers located in diverse locations globally is that knowledge transfer between locations is made more difficult by both distance and varying cultures in each nation. In addition, the economies of scale possible having production located in one physical location are obviously not possible, nor is the ability to synchronize all company demand with just one contact point for each of their suppliers. Diverse production center locations require an inordinately complex supplier relationship management system to make sure the minimum amount of components and subassemblies are in each location at precisely the right time to support production requirements. An additional disadvantage that Dell faces with multiple geographic locations for production is the routing of orders taken over the Internet for their products. The Internet is responsible for 85% of all orders placed with Dell globally, and the routing and fulfillment of these orders by geographic location...

The Internet-based tools that Dell relies on including guided selling, their online catalog and the well-known product configurator all must be directly linked, in real-time, to their manufacturing and enterprise resource planning systems. Orders must then be sent to each manufacturing center based on the location of the customer who ordered them. This is a very complex process both from a fulfillment as well as an internal systems standpoint inside Dell. Compounding the routing of orders is the need to have visibility into the suppliers'; inventories and for suppliers to have visibility into Dell's demand levels. Another disadvantage of having a geographically distributed series of manufacturing centers is that quality management and quality control practices may not be as rigorously enforced in one location vs. another, leading to variations in product quality across each center in many comparable organizations. In addition to all these potential disadvantages are the many challenges of dealing with multiple currencies and reporting them through financial statements reported in U.S. dollars. Currency fluctuations caused by multiple international locations can potentially be very costly as well, especially as the U.S. dollar is losing value relative to other currencies as well.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Dell Computer: Competitive Advantages and Strategies, Innovation,
Words: 698 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Dell Computer: Competitive advantages and strategies, innovation, sustainability and strategy effectiveness When evaluating the competitive advantage of Dell Computers in relation to its competitors, virtually every market analyst emphasizes its mastery of its supply chain. Dell is not known as a particularly innovative company in terms of its product line -- unlike Apple, it has no signature iMac or iPod that is uniquely 'Dell.' R&D occupies only 1.3% of Dell's revenues compared

Dell Total Quality Management Questions
Words: 1175 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

These vary by the type of managers and leaders there are in a given company. At Dell, transformational leaders are prevalent given the approach Michael Dell takes of allowing risk-taking, greater autonomy and support for decentralized decision making throughout the company (Dell Investor Relations, 2013). Explain different supplier relationship practices you think will be an advantage to the company, providing examples. There are many different approaches Dell takes in creating and

Dell Computers Presents a Useful Company to
Words: 1552 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Dell Computers presents a useful company to perform a strategic management analysis upon. The personal computer industry has changed and evolved considerably in the past years and the market conditions today are also presenting new and exciting problems for this organization. The purpose of this essay is to examine Dell and its industry in terms of its current strategic outlook. The essay will present information on the personal computer industry,

Dell Computer Case Analysis
Words: 635 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Dell Computer Corporation: Strategy and Challenges for the 21st Century, by Thompson and Gamble. This case analysis will evaluate a variety of factors including, the role of Michael Dell as CEO, and his strategy. Further, a brief SWOT analysis will be given, and a competitive strength assessment will compare Dell to major competitors. Advantages of Dell's strategy and an assessment of the company's financial performance will be given. Finally, a

Dell 2005 Form 10 K
Words: 560 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Paper

Dell, Inc. operates on a strategy of "persistent focus on delivering the best possible customer experience by selling products and services directly to the customer" (Form 10-K, 2005). Dell relies on customer intimacy by eliminating wholesale and retail dealers and manufactures products based on the customer's needs. Customers order directly from Dell and can track the order from manufacturing through shipping. Dell, Inc. faces business risks of general economic, business, or

Dell Computers Incorporated Is a Global Technological
Words: 711 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Dell Computers Incorporated is a global technological corporation that develops, manufactures, sells, and supports personal computers and computer and electronic-based devices. Dell was indeed the first company in the IT sector to ordain that no computer should be built without first being sold in advance. This also ensures that Dell holds no extra surpluses. The stock in the company does not stick at a place for a long time. Dell

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now