Business Process Management Reflective Analysis Essay

Business Process Management Reflective Analysis - Essay Example According to Chandler’s opinion, strategy refers to â€Å"the determination of the basic, long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for those goals† (Mazzucato, 2002). Michael Porter, on the other hand has defined strategy as the â€Å"broad formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be and what policies will be needed to carry out these goals† (Harmon, 2007). It is quite clear that there are three different phases that form the strategy. In the first phase management identifies what the company is doing now. In other words, they identify the existing strategies of the company. In the next phase it is important to understand about the environment in which the company operates in and in the final phase management has to decide about the next actions that are required to be taken. These decisions are taken by comparing the environmental situation with th e company’s existing strategies (Harmon, 2007). The concept regarding value chain is made popular by the famous management expert Michael Porter. Now it is considered as one of the most crucial sources of sustainable competitive advantage for the business organizations. The basic idea of value chain is referred to the processes that convert the raw materials into the finished products that are saleable as well as consumable. It engages the main activities of a company and these activities are organized in such a way that each of them adds ‘value’ to the entire business operation. In simple words value chain is the combination of the supply chain and distribution chain (Orcullo, 2007). Michael Porter has developed a specific model on value chain. In this model there are five primary activities that are directly responsible for value creation. In order to support these five activities, there are four secondary activities that indirectly create values. Primary activ ities are ‘inbound logistics’ that involve activities regarding receiving and storing of raw materials, ‘operations’ that involve activities related to processing of raw materials, ‘outbound logistics’ which involve collection and distribution of final products, ‘marketing and sales’ that are nothing but the activities associated with promotion, advertising, sales, channel selection etc. and finally ‘services’ that involve actions regarding the ‘after sales services’ that are given to satisfy the consumers (Van Weele, 2009). While researching, I have discovered the importance of value chain in the modern management. I have found that the concept is applicable in all types of organizations, be it a service provider or be it a product manufacturer. I have found several books and online articles that describe the basic idea of ‘value chain’. I have also found that Michael Porter has developed a v ery useful model that describes the usual value chain of an organization irrespective of the nature of business that it does. Enterprise Architecture and Business Strategy In the present competitive business scenario an integrated approach to both IT and business is indispensible for achieving desired level of success. With the expansion of business operations, today’s organizations are getting more and more complex. In order to manage extreme complexity inside of an organization