Chapter 8: Operations Management and Supply Chain Management

According to Ivanka Trump, when you're starting up a company or taking over a company, whatever it is that you are looking or planning to do, make, or sell to your customers, it is crucial that you build your business on the assumption that you can do it smarter, better and more efficiently than your competitors. If you don't think that way then what is the point? It will be very hard for you to survive in the business world. This week's chapter reading refers to operations management and supply chain management. I chose an article from the online Business Week newsletters regarding competitive strategies and Ivanka Trump's strategies on building a brand for your products. According to the textbook, the five key competitive priorities are cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, and service. With the article on Ivanka's new jewelry collection, she shares her notes on what you need to do to launch a successful new business, product or service. She shares with us her top ten steps that should be followed to be successful. The ten steps include: Doing a comprehensive trademark search, develop a powerful identifier, do not confuse supply with demand, identify the void in your market and position your brand so that you uniquely fill it, create a strong and consistent identity, define your market, make sure your team understands your mission, your vision, and your objectives, focus on customer service, foster brand loyalty at every opportunity,and hold off spending whenever possible. A lot of what I was reading related a lot to what I'm learning in my business classes especially marketing. Creating a successful company ultimately comes down to how well you market yourself. Ivanka also goes on to talk about creating a phone system that allows you to connect yourself to customers. She's done well on connecting with her customers over the phone and seeing how the service was for randomly chosen customers. She also talks about the operations of the hotels that her family runs and always relating it back to her steps mentioned and staying on top of the technology world too.

You can find the article here.