Title: Value Chain Analysis: an ECR tool for assessing business competitive advantage

Authors: Athanassios Mihiotis, John Mylonakis, George Ntalakas

Addresses: Faculty of Business Administration, School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, 169 Riga Ferraiou & Tsamadou, 26222 Patras, Greece. ' 10 Nikiforou str. Glyfada, 166 75, Athens, Greece. ' S&B Industrial Minerals, 15 A. Metaxas, 14564 Kifissia

Abstract: The goal of Value Chain Analysis (VCA), as a strategic tool, is to facilitate and speed up the application of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) principles and methods. VCA methodology is applied keeping in mind the trends of a new era in the relationship between suppliers-producers-wholesalers and retailers. VCA approaches define current costs and performance, and assess the potential impact of proposed ECR improvement concepts across the entire supply chain. In this paper, the basic VCA approaches are described and compared with each other.

Keywords: value chain analysis; VCA; grocery industry; efficient consumer response; ECR; cost benchmarking; cost reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2007.011523

International Journal of Management Practice, 2007 Vol.2 No.3, pp.240 - 249

Published online: 01 Dec 2006 *

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