Running Head: VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS 1

Assignment 2: Vice President of Operations, Part 2

Name

Institution Affiliation

Date
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS 2

Overview

Verizon International, Inc. was the company selected to complete this assignment. In any

organization, supply chain management is a vital department since it enables the organization’s

operational control to pick the finished products from the warehouse and ship or deliver them to

consumers at their locations without any issues of delay to derive optimum satisfaction

(Christopher, 2000). As such, it is necessary for firms to make sure that their supply chain

management is effective to benefit both the organization as well as customers. Established in

1983, Verizon International, Inc. is a multinational telecommunications corporation based in

New York, the United States and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The company engages in the provision of information, communication, and entertainment

products and services to businesses, government, and consumers. It has both wireline and

wireless segments. Moreover, the wireless communication service is the leading brand of the

company. Furthermore, it is ranked the second largest firm in the telecommunication industry in

the United States after AT&T Corporation. However, this achievement seems to be slowing since

most consumers now prefer the services of other rivals such as Sprint.

To address this issue as well as ensure that the company regains its status as the top

American telecommunication enterprise, the organization’s Vice President has decided to

establish the reasons why the existing operational strategies fail to support the difficulties that

Verizon International is facing to maintain a competitive edge in the telecommunication sector.

Moreover, to start off, the Vice President has to examine the weaknesses identified in the product

life cycle through the development of new product design and forecasting approach that will

enhance the operation. Furthermore, an in-depth evaluation of the supply chain processes would

also provide a clear view of the elements impacting the company regarding sourcing, structuring,
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and purchasing materials. I will also analyze the efficiency of the Just-in-Time approach to

purchasing as well as clearly utilize the quantitative and qualitative methods to find out the

operational concerns that are probably to impact the organization.

Weaknesses in the Product Life Cycle

Product Life Cycle refers to the stages that a product undergoes in its lifetime and the

demand tend to change as times elapses (Holzbaur et al., 2016). It usually describes the phases of

existing products as well as new ones go through in the industry. These stages are generally

influenced by demand in the market. It is crucial for managers to understand the stage where its

main product is as well as the one it is moving to make sure that appropriate marketing program

is designed. Besides, Verizon Wireless is in the maturity stage and one of the weaknesses evident

is that Verizon International has failed to capitalize on its unique brand by not efficiently

investing in the marketing, branding, as well as packaging of the brand. At the maturity phase of

the PLC for any product, enhancing a brand is critical. This is the phase where the firm has to

create more awareness, advertisements, encourage sales, public relations, and corporate image

enhancement to attain success. Verizon has failed to identify this problem and this could be the

reasons why consumers are now moving to competitors. Consumers need to be reminded over

and over again about the brand to gain their loyalty and ultimately increase sales. As such, the

failure of the firm to address this concern has entirely impacted the overall operations.

Another weakness is the high prices. The cost of the product infrastructure is expensive

regarding development and maintenance. As a result, it makes it tough for the company to

effectively compete based on price. In fact, there has been complains regarding high service

charges. The firm cannot readily offer reduced prices to compete with market rivals. In fact, the

firm’s concentration on high quality increases the infrastructure and maintenance expenses which
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ultimately raise prices. The last weakness relates to security. The company offers wireless

services (Verizon Wireless) as its main product line; thus the service is very sensitive to security

issues. As such, the company faces significant problems ensuring high security to its services that

can assure its customers. Quality and safety play a crucial role in influencing the sales of

telecommunication services. Therefore, the organization faces great challenges in ensuring the

safety of their services. Thus, Verizon International needs to generate a new cycle that will

ensure that the needs of consumers are appropriately met as well as gain reasonable profit. The

firm should firstly, match its services with the consumers’ requirements, meet customer’ needs

with simplicity and at the lowest cost, and ensure the service is delivered promptly to have an

effective product design.

Key Components of Supply Chain Management

The supply chain refers to the network of all operations involved in ensuring that the

finished products or services reach the consumers (Christopher, 2000). The critical component of

Verizon International supply chain includes business process, management components, and

network structure. The business structure entails the operations as well as the flow of information

within the company, for instance, customer service. Management components comprise the

philosophy of the organization for doing business as well as the methods employed. Moreover,

the network structure includes partners that the company collaborates within the supply chain,

for example, operational and strategic partners. Besides, the factors that can impact the sourcing,

structuring, and supply chain of Verizon International include globalization, fast-changing

markets, and quality and compliance.

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Globalization presents a lot of challenges to supply chain management of the company.

Currently, to cut costs across the supply chain, many organizations are shifting manufacturing

operations to nations which provide reduced taxes, transportation, and labor costs. However, not

only does outsourcing extend the firm’s production process internationally, but also its

procurement network (Christopher, 2016). Having suppliers in various geographic locations

sophisticates the supply chain. Therefore, coordinating and collaborating with parties across the

globe makes operation difficult. Verizon could likely face this challenge as a result of

globalization. Also, expanding in global markets would need a readjustment in the supply chain

of the company due to different preferences and cultures. Therefore, Verizon's supply chain

management should evaluate the readiness of the enterprise technology in handling the diverse

forms of communications that result from globalization to avoid shocks.

The second issue is fast-changing markets. Due to globalization and technology,

consumers can access a lot of information that put pressure on organizations regarding

preferences. Similar to globalization, the fast-changing consumer markets also present various

challenges to supply chain of firms. Because of the rapidly changing market demand, products

have now shorter life cycles that put organizations under pressure to keep up with such changes

through introducing new products and services. This also requires a supply chain that is flexible

as well as one that can be utilized for developing other products or services and for the future.

Verizon is likely to encounter these challenges brought by the fast-changing markets. Its services

might not remain favorable in the market for a longer time. Therefore, the company should

design an effective and flexible supply chain management to respond to market changes to

remain competitive appropriately. Moreover, the third issue is quality and compliance. Today,

consumers demand products or services that are of high-quality which puts organizations under
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immense pressure to meet these needs. Also, firms are required to adhere to domestic and global

regulatory standards in processing, handling, and delivery of their products or services which

overwhelms the supply chain frameworks. Verizon is likely to encounter this problem. Therefore,

the company needs to embrace data management and integration to make sure that information

flow between the supply chain networks is efficient as well as generate more visibility to have

sufficient control of the chain (Christopher, 2000).

Total Quality Management Tool

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management concept where all workers in the

company are needed to work towards product improvement, process improvement and so on

through maintaining high-quality standards (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). This ensures a reduction in

defects and overall production costs. The total quality management tool that can be used by

Verizon to identify and evaluate any potential issues is the Fishbone Diagram (cause and effect

diagram). This diagram visualizes the potential problem causes to establish its root causes. It is

usually essential in focus conversations and barnstorming sessions where all the likely causes of

a problem are highlighted and solutions proposed. This tool is appropriate for the company to use

because it is simple to design as well as understand. It also ensures the participation of every

individual in the identification of possible problems as well as solutions. This facilitates the

generation of better opinions that can ultimately impact the performance of the enterprise. Lastly,

the tool is also not costly compared to check sheets.

Advantages in Employing the Just-in-Time Philosophy

Just-in-Time (JIT) refers to an inventory management approach utilized to manage

inventory that is kept in the warehouse. It entails receiving products from suppliers only when

they are needed rather than acquiring a big stock at once. One advantage of this system is that
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less space is required due to high turnover. As such, it reduces expenses regarding inventory

management as well as rent. Secondly, it reduces wastes since high turnover prevents products

from becoming obsolete or damaged while being in storage (Ross, 2017). Also, this situation

saves money since the unnecessary stock is prevented (inventory holding expenses). Lastly, JIT

mistakes in production can be identified quickly and correction measure is taken to avoid any

defects. Besides JIT can impact quality assurance in various ways. It ensures that mistakes in

production can be identified quickly and correction measure is taken to avoid any defects which

enhances quality assurance. It also ensures that same product or service quality is offered at all

times.

Qualitative and Quantitative Forecasting Method

The appropriate quantitative method to be used is Life Cycle Modeling. The qualitative method

is Delphi technique.

Quantitative Forecasting Operation Strengths and Weaknesses

Method
Life Cycle Modeling Usually utilized in forecasting Cost-effective since it can

products produced by the result in forecasting large

enterprise economic activities. However,

it is poor in small and complex

projects
Qualitative Forecasting

Method
Delphi Technique Deals with future marketing Effective for long range

anticipations of the firm’s forecasting. However, its lack

products of consensus makes it highly

unreliable
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References
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Christopher, M. (2000). Relationships and Alliances: Embracing the era of network competition

in strategic supply chain management.Hampshire: Gower Press

Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper

Saddle River, NJ: pearson.

Holzbaur, E., Ross, J., & Rothrock, T. (2016). Epro Product Life Cycle: Guidance For A

Successful Management Phase. Value in Health, 19(3), A109.

Ross, J. E. (2017). Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. Routledge.