Cisco Supply Chain Management - Question and Answer

1.          Study the networked supply chain concept as implemented by Cisco.  What ate its strengths and weakness?

The strengths of the networked supply chain concept implemented by Cisco include its efficient and effective implementation of the policies and tasks necessary to satisfy the firm's customers, employees, and management. The networked supply chain concept implemented by Cisco focused on the careful management of the processes involved in the production and distribution of products and services.

However, Cisco clearly did not really have the capabilities to implement the networked supply chain concept. Instead, the companies engaged in activities that ate up their budget and forced them to become bankrupt. These activities include the wrong advertising of products, product development, production and distribution.

2.          Analyze why Cisco landed in financial trouble in early 2001.  Would you agree that Cisco’s problems were largely caused by inherent defects in the company’s systems? Or possibly was it just because they had failed to forecast a market downturn?  Give reasons to justify your stand.

The financial trouble that befell on Cisco on year 2001 was caused by their wrong marketing operations that endangered their sustainability. Activities such as the management of purchases, the control of inventories, logistics and evaluations were completely flunked by their management. A great deal of emphasis lied on the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of these processes which led to their financial crisis. Therefore, it is clear that their management failed to include the analysis and management of internal processes.

Top-down or implemented decision-making on financial concerns normally happens in the company structure of Cisco, because their management does not know that it normally leads in bad developments that are hard to manage, even though they may be effortless to tell to the employees. In short, they do not know...