The new demand confronting global firms today is the need to establish and strengthen supply chain competitiveness. Strategic planning and management of supply chain-wide operations collaboratively by all the stakeholders within the value chain, is therefore, utmost essential. Supply chain networks have to extend the scope of integrated supply chain management function, from current collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment to collaborative strategic planning and management.

Global economy has completely changed the way that businesses operate today to ensure sustained growth and success. Globalization has offered both opportunities and challenges for the enterprises globally. The advent of open economy introduced new business and market opportunities while taking the competition to the next level. Businesses worldwide are, therefore, struggling hard to sustain competitiveness, market leadership and growth in a rapidly globalizing economy.

The heat of the competition is being felt in all areas of economy leading the companies to focus more on achieving global competitiveness through enhanced operational efficiency, reduced costs, short lead times and renewed service levels, all at one go. A major trend that is being noticed as a result of global competition is the shift in the purchasing power of consumers. For the last two decades, the corporate world has witnessed a significant shift in the balance of power between consumers and the organizations offering products and services. With such shift in power from sellers to buyers, delivering exceptional customer service has become the key differentiator.

Strategic management, Strategic planning, Supply Chain Management, SCM, Global Economy, E-commerce, Efficient Customer Responsiveness, ECR, Business Strategy, Global Markets, Business to Business, B2B, Vendor Managed Inventory, VMI, Corporate Strategy.