英语论文 戴尔价值链分析 The Value Chain Analysis of Dell.docx

英语论文 戴尔价值链分析 The Value Chain Analysis of Dell.docx

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英语论文戴尔价值链分析TheValueChainAnalysisofDell

TheValueChainAnalysisofDell

Abstract

Inthebusinessworld,thereareseveralclassicbusinessmodelsthatcanevaluateacompanyfromdifferentperspectives.Thevaluechainframeworkisapowerfulanalysistoolforstrategicplanningofacorporation.Itcreativelyviewsacorporationasaseriousofvalueaddingactivities.Thisessayattemptstousethevaluechainframeworktoanalyzeonefamouscorporation–DellInc.andtriestofigureouthowDellachievesthevaluecreationobjectiveineachseparateactivity.

Keywords:

DellValuechainMarketingandsalesLogisticsInformationsystem

1.Introduction

DellInc.isareputablemultinationalinformationtechnologycorporation.Fundedin1984byMichaelDell,thecorporationhasbecomeoneoftheworld’slargestcomputermanufacturersinmerelytwodecades.ManystudieshavebeendonetoexplainthehugesuccessofDellfromvariousangles,suchascorporatestrategy,organizationalstructure,etc.However,fewresearchestouchupontheoverallpictureofDellasavaluechain.ThisessayaimstoanalyzeDellwithvaluechainframeworkwhichiscomposedoftwobasiccategoriesofvaluecreationactivities:

primaryactivitiesandsupportactivities.

ThefollowingsectionsattempttoelaborateonthevaluechainframeworkandanalyzeDellindepthwiththetheory.Parttwoprovidesanoverviewofthevaluechaintheory,theoriginalPorter’s（1985）versionandHill’s（2003）versioninthetextbookInternationalBusiness.PartthreeportraysDellasavaluechainandanalyzesthevaluecreationactivitiesinthecorporation.

2.Literaturereview

2.1Porter’s（1985）valuechain

Porter（1985）identifiesasetofinterrelatedgenericactivitiestoanalyzeafirm’svalue-creatingprocessandtofigureoutafirm’scompetitiveadvantage.Productspassthroughallactivitiesofthechain,andateachactivity,theproductgainssomevalue.

Porter’svaluechainisdepictedasbelow:

SupportActivities

FirmInfrastructure

HumanResourceManagement

TechnologyDevelopment

Procurement

2.2Hill’s（2003）valuechaininInternationalBusiness

Hill（2003）statesthatoneimportantobjectiveformostfirmsistomaximizethevalueofthefirm;thusmanagersshouldpursuestrategiesthatincreasetheprofitabilityoftheenterprise.Sincevaluecreationisthedifferencebetweenthevalueofproducttoanaverageconsumerandthecostofproductionperunit（V-C）,twostrategiescanbecarriedouttoincreaseprofitability:

differentiation（raisingV）andlow-coststrategy（loweringC）.

Thevaluechainisdesignedtoportrayhowtheinterrelatedactivitiesmanagetocreatevaluebyincreasingproductattractivenessandcontrollingcostinproduction,marketingandsales,materialsmanagement,R&D,humanresources,informationsystem,andfirminfrastructure.

Hillcategorizesthevaluecreationactivitiesasprimaryactivitiesandsupportactivities.“Primaryactivitieshavetodowiththedesign,creation,anddeliveryoftheproduct;itsmarketinganditssupportandafter-saleservice.”（p.268）“Thesupportactivitiesofthevaluechainprovideinputsthatallowtheprimaryactivitiestooccur.”（p.269）

Hill’svaluechainframeworkissimilarwithPorter’s.Itisillustratedasfollows:

SupportActivities

InformationSystem

Logistics

HumanResource

CompanyInfrastructure

Primaryactivities

Figure2Hill’svaluechain

3.ThevaluechainanalysisofDell

Hill’svaluechainframeworkisdevelopedfromPorter’s.InHill’smodel,technologydevelopmentisplacedamongprimaryactivities（R&D）andlogisticsareputintosupportactivities.Giventhedifferentfunctionsofprimaryandsupportactivities,andthechangesinthebusinessenvironmentinrecentyears,Hill’sframeworkisbelievedtohavesomeimprovements.Therefore,thisessayadoptsHill’svaluechaintoanalyzeDell.

Inthefollowingparts,detailedevidenceofDellwillbeprovidedforanalysisunderthevaluechainframework.

3.1Primaryactivities

Primaryactivitiesarethosethataredirectlyinvolvedincreatingvalueforcustomers.InDell,researchanddevelopment,production,marketingandsales,andcustomerserviceareofgreatimportancetothevaluecreationofthecorporation.

3.1.1ResearchandDevelopment（R&D）

Researchanddevelopmentisdefinedas"creativeworkundertakenonasystematicbasisinordertoincreasethestockofknowledge,includingknowledgeofman,cultureandsociety,andtheuseofthisstockofknowledgetodevisenewapplications"byOrganizationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment（OECD）.

TheR&DactivityinDelliseffectiveinfourways.

First,thecoreofDell’sinnovationapproachremainsanunwaveringcommitmenttodelivernewandbettersolutionsthatdirectlyaddresscustomerneeds.Thecompanytalkstoitscustomersfrequentlyabout“relevanttechnology”,listeningcarefullytocustomers'needsandproblemsandendeavoringtoidentifythemostcost-effectiveplans.Thecustomer-orientedapproachmakesitsproductsmoreattractivetoconsumers.Asaresult,thevalueofproducttoconsumerincreases.

Second,Dell'sR&Deffortsnowspantheglobe,drivenbysomeoftheindustry'sforemostproductdesignersandengineers.DellhasestablishedR&DcentersinSiliconValley,SantaClara,Dublin,Israel,Bangalore,Shanghai,etc.Thesecenterstakeintalentsofvariousbackgroundswhohavemoreunderstandingofthelocalcustomertastesandpreferences.Theirinnovationsofproductsaremoretailoredtothelocalmarketandtheirdesignsofproductionprocessesaremoresuitabletothelocalmanufacture.

Third,Dellpartners,ratherthancompetes,withtopindustrytechnologysuppliersandoriginaldevelopmentmanufacturers.Dellsteersenablingindustrystandardsandtechnologiesthroughindustrygroupsandstrategicpartners.Bysharingandquicklyupdatingnewtechnology,theinitialstageofproductlifespancanbeshortened;thecostofproductioncanbereducedaswell.

Forth,InnovationinsideDellismoreabouthowoneproduces,packagesandmarketsaproductratherthanimprovementsintheproductitself.AlthoughDellhassomecompetitorswhoarespending8to14percentonR&D,thecompany’sfinancialreportssuggestitsR&Dmodelismorecost-effective.ResearchanddevelopmentisonewayDelltampsdowncosts.Thecompanydevotes5percentofitsbottomlinetothisarea,muchlessthanitsrivals.

Insummary,theresearchanddevelopmentactivityofDellachievesbothraisingvalueandloweringcosts.HenceDelladdsmorevaluethantheindustryaverageinthissectionofvaluechain.

3.1.2Production

Rivlin（2004:

C2）reportedthatDell’sexecutivesstudytheassemblyprocesswiththeintensityofAlfredKinseyandhisresearches.Theywheelinvideoequipmenttoexamineaworkteam'severymovement,lookingforanyextraneousbendsorwastedtwists.

Inthisway,costscouldbereducedtotheminimumintheassemblyline.

Moreover,Dellhasbeguntooutsourceitshardwareproductiontoitsmanufacturingpartnerssince2008.Dell’scompetitorssuchasHewlett-PackardandAcerhavelong-standingrelationshipswithsuchpartners.Dellisactuallyonestepbehindthetrend.However,thechangestartedfrom2008showsthatDellrealizedthelowprofitmargininproductionsectionandswitcheditsfocusfrommanufacturingtootheractivitiesbringingmorevaluetothecorporation.

Onemainadvantageofoutsourcingiscost-reducing.Fewoverheadexpenseswillincurredandthereisalsotaxbenefitforoutsourcing.

3.1.3Marketingandsales

McCarthy（1960）cameupwithfourelementsofmarketmixtheory:

Product,Price,PlaceandPromotion（4P）.Thisessayadoptsthe4PmodeltoanalyzeDell’smarketingfromvaluecreationaspect.

a.Product:

Foralongtime,Dellpridesitselfforofferingitscustomerswithahighdegreeofproductcustomization,whichfewofitscompetitorscanmatch.Dellcategorizeditsproductsas“forhome,forsmallandmediumbusiness,forpublicsectorsandforlargeenterprise”.Customersareabletodesigntheirownproductsonthewebsite.TheysimplygotoDell’swebsite,chooseacomputerusingpurpose,specifythedesiredsortsofprocessors,opticaldevices,andmemorymodulesandsoon,placetheorderandthenexpecttoreceivethecustomizedproductwithinafewdays.

Theproductdifferentiationstrategyusedheresatisfiesdifferentcustomerneedsandraisesthecustomers’expectedvalueofDellcomputers.

b.Price:

Dellmainlyemploysthecost-pluspricing.ThelowpriceofDellcomputersislargelyduetoitsdirectsalesmodelaswellastheincredibleefficienciesitachievedviaitssupply-chainstrategies.Dellcanmaintainitsprofitwithalowerpricebecauseofitsuniquebusinessmodelwhichitsrivalscannotcompete.

c.Place:

Asmentionedabove,themaindistributionchannelofDellisdirectsales.Thedirectsalesmodelmarketsandsellsproductsdirectlytoconsumersawayfromafixedretaillocationsothatnofeesincurredresultingfromwholesalersandretailers.ThismodelwasarevolutionandcontributedalargeportiontoDell’sdevelopmentinthepast.

However,asDelltargetsmoreontheinternationalmarket,directsalesmodelisbecomingtoosimpletocopewiththecomplicatedbusinessenvironmentworldwide.Therefore,DellismovingforwardwithplanstobeginsellingPCsthroughsolutionproviders,channelpartnersandretailpartners,insteadofstickingtothepuredirectsalesmodelchampionedbycompanyfounderMichaelDell.Inthenewinternationalmarket,acombinationofbothdirectsalesandindirectsalesisbelievedtobeamorecost-savingapproach.Buttomaintainitslowprices,Dellcontinuestoacceptmostpurchasesofitsproductsv