Communication Gaps in Collaborative Businesses

This assignment examines the critical role of effective communication within collaborative business structures. It delves into the challenges organizations face due to communication breakdowns, particularly within supply chains. The text emphasizes how poor communication can lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and ultimately, customer dissatisfaction. It concludes by advocating for robust communication strategies to ensure clear understanding and successful collaboration among businesses.

Running head: A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
Introduction
An integrated supply chain system defines the process of cross utilization of resources
from various origins and sources implemented in the manufacturing of the products in a
particular business system. it is a close alignment and coordination within the supply chain. The
requirement for supply chain is necessary for every business; it includes the supply of raw
material, partially completed products, finished products to the wholesaler and the retailers.
There supply system plays a vital role in business as it transfers or shifts the finished and
unfinished products from a destination to its required destination. The manufacturing companies
are solely dependent on the supply system. A supply chain management takes the responsibility
to source and procure, converse and manage all the activities in a business. At the same time, an
integrated supply chain management system refers to link major business actions and processes
inside and outside the company. There are many issues faced by this supply chain management
system. The SCM system is a combination of various resources and business systems that
merges at this point to create a link between each other. However, a combination of various
aspects can be a bit chaotic and cause issues in the system. The study will discuss about the
issues faced by the integrated SCM system.
Discussion:
The development and globalization is taking the manufacturing companies to countries where the
supply cost is minimum. The nations with low labor cost, taxation, transport cost is attracting the
manufacturing nations and thus they are shifting to those nations. This is a primary threat to the
supply chain industry. Few special aspects affect the supply chain management.

2A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
Globalization:
The supply chain management is highly affected due to globalization. The manufacturing
companies are gaining an global information about the best and cheapest price in the market. The
outsourcing of the company is increasing their knowledge about the cheapest raw materials and
taxation in nations. It is evident that these companies will tend to shift to the countries with
minimum production costs. Thus, globalization is having negative impact on the supply market.
The countries are shifting to the nations with minimum pricing and supply cost keeping behind
the countries with a high taxation and supply cost.
Fast changing market:
The consumer behavior and demand is dependent on the market choice and trends. The
customers of a particular company are highly influenced by the market demand and on trend
demands. The social sites, culture variations and psychological factors are influencing the
customer demand for products in the market. The life cycle of the products are becoming shorter
as every day new and outshooting trends are introducing themselves in the market. The
manufacturers are facing a huge pressure under this demand system, as they have to update
themselves as per the market demand and produce accordingly(Christopher 2016). At the same
time, the supply management system also has to become flexible and smooth according to the
demand. The manufacturers demand for agile supply chain that will respond o the changing
demand in the market.
Quality products:
The social media and technology has made a change in the market. The customers are
well aware of quality product and services and hence they have various choices to choose among

3A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
the supply chain systems. The manufacturers are under huge pressure for quality product starting
from raw material to finished goods has to be well finished hence the suppliers has to make sure
to supply the products without any damage.
Daily challenges faced by the organization:
Customer service:
The supply chain management has the biggest issue related to the customer service. The
customer review or feedback plays a heavy role in the management system. the service provided
by the firms determines the quality of the organization. On that basis the customers pay a
feedback that gives the company an idea about the organization and henceforth they decide
whether to continue with the firm or not.
Cost control:
The costing pressure is faced by every organization, as money is a compulsive need for
running a business. However, if the cost rises above the profit of the organization then it can be
huge challenge or reason for shut down of the business. Due to rise in the fuel costs, labor cost,
customer demand, the company has to increase their expenditure to run the business.
Planning and risk management:
The requirement for daily check on the market demand, change in trend and global
demand has to be done by the organization. They have to keep a note on the product launched,
credit available, and global sourcing to understand the customer requirement and meet them
(Heckmann, Tina and Stefan).
Relationship with partner:

4A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
The organization has to create a good relation with the manufacturers to increase their
opportunity and business scope in the market. The organization has to build a good relation,
understand and mutually follow the standards for better understanding of the current market
situations. The flow of communication between the entities should be smooth and flexible to
maintain a regular base relationship with the manufacturers and continue the business without
any complication.
Talent:
The market is rising with new organization for supply chain on a daily basis. The leader
has to make sure that the organization must follow some unique and different strategies to attract
the manufacturers. They need to have an extensive understanding for the importance
requirements and duty of the organization in the market(Hoet al 2015 ). The company must have
some different talents and style of its own to attract the customers and lead the competitive
market.
Issues faced in sharing of information:
 Misunderstanding in product supply
 Wrong product delivery
 Wrong message delivery.
 Lack of motivation.
 Delayed performance.
 Chaos with the customer
 Chaos with the retailers
 Order cancellation

5A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
 Interrupted communication.
 Mismanagement
The following issues will be faced by the organization if there is a lack of information
sharing in the system. The requirement for information sharing is must for every
organization. In today’s world this is a common issues faced by the organizations(Jacobs,
Richard and Rhonda 2014). However, there can be steps taken to prevent the issues and
continue a smooth running of the organization.
Recommendation:
The importance of communication is required everywhere to create a successful supply chain
management. The discussion will refer to few recommendations that the managers can adopt to
assure a free flow of information to all the stakeholders.
 Organizing a communication chain: the supply chain has been defined as the diamond
chain, where all the members will understand the expectations of each other. They should
also have a clear idea that what message has to forward by them and to whom. There
must be a clear understanding in the message by every individual in the system(Grunig
2013). The communication system should allow feedback to get a clear idea on their
flaws and disputes and hence, work on them. The chain should be multi-directional
including an upward and downward flow of information. The workers get motivated
when they notice that their voice is been heard. This helps the managers to make the
required changes in the system and understand the system well.
 Breaking down of the message will help the message receiver to understand the message
well. The manager can dissect the message that they wants to deliver. The receiver must

6A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
clear and easily understand the messages. A feedback must be taken from the receiver
whether they have received the message or not. In case the receiver has misunderstood or
received a wrong message, the feedback will identify that and the sender can immediately
make the required changes or clear the doubts. The communication attempt must have
clear goal and outcome from the message should be desired(Gurung and Edmund 2013).
The message goal must be determined, the usage of the words must be meaningful and
relatable, and the receiver must understand the meaning and work accordingly.
 The management can conduct meetings with the worker s to assure the messages sent to
them are easy to understand or not. They can organize annual meeting with the
companies to rejuvenate their relationship with the firms and enhance their scope for
further transactions. The company keep a regular contact with the manufacturers to build
a healthy relation with a reduce the chances of conflict with them(Chopra and
ManMohan 2014). The company should arrange for workshop and annual meets with the
company explaining their working strategy and style of working to the company. This
will attract the companies and help them to have a better understanding about the
organization.
 The management from both ends should follow cloud based information storage. The
basic requirement for such information storage is the workers or managers might not be
available in the working premises anytime and every time. However, there can be an
urgent need for communication that has to be met by any of the officials. During this
period, the cloud storage will help them to draw the information and answer back to the
source immediately. This system allows the company to access the information from
anywhere required(Kaul 2014). This method cuts the IT cost and enhances the

7A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
information distribution in the work area. Thus, the organizations must adopt these
modernized technologies to make their working area easy and smooth (Chang 2016).
 The trainees or the employees can be trained and educated about the system. As it is not
possible for everyone to know everything at a single time, the company can train their
workers as per their requirements. They can educate the employees to understand the
system and working skills, this will help them to understand the message sent to them.
They will have a better idea about their responsibility and duties in the working field and
thus will give their best in the work place (Spina et al 2013). Thus if the information is
shared to the workers in such a way then they will improve their personal working style
and the customers will receive a superior quality service from them. The understanding of
the workplace and responsibility plays a vital role for getting a better result from the
workers.
 The transparency in work field should be entertained. The clarity and transparency in
work is an important part to maintain a good relation among the business partners and
employees. They should maintain a clear relation and communication skill among each
other to avoid and misunderstanding or confusion in future. If the confusions are not
cleared then there are high chances for supplying wrong products to the customers
(Brink, Kyle and Robert 2015). The business reputation will be at stake and the
organization demand will be reduced in the market. The need for a well-framed
communication in must in every organization to understand the requirement and meet
them accordingly. The organization must take measures to improve the communication
requirement in the organization to meet the customer requirements accordingly and get
them a quality service(Pearson 2017).

8A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
 The organizations must attend all the meetings and parties held by the manufacturing
firms, in such places the firms discuss their strategy and motivation in the upcoming
days. Thus, the organization would get a clear idea about the requirement for the firms
and the customer requirements. The organization can seek for their personal queries and
solution for their issue in such meetings. This will reduce the risks of confusion among
the worker and the organizations. The organizations can understand and study the
customer demand in the present market in such meetings and discuss about the necessary
steps that needs to be taken by them. The firms must make sure that the customers are
getting the required products and services. If the customers are not getting their required
products the company can discuss that with the organization so that they take necessary
measures. However, if the organizations are not attending the meetings then the
companies will not be able to inform or discuss about the issues with the supply
management organizations and thus they might lose their chance of working with these
firms.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that a well-framed communication system plays a vital role to
clear the issues in a management system when there are more than one organization working in
collaboration to give a desiring output to their customers. a business alone cannot serve all the
requirements of the customers there has to be a linking source that will chain all the sources
together and give a beneficial output to the customers. The organizations are facing various
issues including globalization, advancement, and communication gap. This study has
emphasized on a major issue faced by most of the companies in present days that is the

9A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
communication gap in the organization. The need for communication and the drawbacks for the
gap have been detailed in the study. The recommendations are also given in the study. The
organizations must make the required changes and stress on their communication strategies to
create a clear understanding among them and henceforth provide a superior service to their
customers. the customer satisfaction plays a vital role in today’s market, thus the companies must
make sure that they take necessary steps to assure a good quality services to the customers.

10A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
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11A DISCUSSION ABOUT ISSUES IN SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION
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