Supply Chain and Logistics Management Assignment

Running Head: SUPPLY CHAIN 1
Contemporary Issues in Supply
Chain and Logistics: Alibaba.com

SUPPLY CHAIN
2
Research Question
The research question is,
“What are the key issues in supply chain and logistics process of Alibaba.com and important
phases of supply chain from internal and external perspectives?”
Executive Summary
Supply chain management is the process of overlooking at the materials, information and cash as
these aspects flow in the process from suppliers to manufacturers to wholesaler to retailer and
then final consumer. This process includes management of all the flows inside and outside the
organization. The major objective of this report is to emphasize on the contemporary issues in
supply chain and logistics process. It includes the supply chain aspects of Alibaba.com. The
organization is implementing several supply chain practices to deal with the issues of supply
chain. The report discusses five significant elements and phases of supply chain process. The
company is confronting several issues in these practices. Furthermore, it includes external and
internal integrations in the supply chain process. There are two examples of external integration,
such as; external integration and internal integration. At the end, it includes three stages, which
create value in the organizational supply chain.

SUPPLY CHAIN
3
Table of Contents
Research Question...........................................................................................................................2
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Operations and Performance Measurement.....................................................................................4
Transportation..............................................................................................................................5
Inventory......................................................................................................................................5
Facilities.......................................................................................................................................6
Information...................................................................................................................................6
Sourcing.......................................................................................................................................6
Integration Considerations...............................................................................................................6
Internal Integration.......................................................................................................................7
External Integration......................................................................................................................7
Supplier Integration..................................................................................................................7
Customer Integration................................................................................................................7
Value Generation.............................................................................................................................8
Information flow..........................................................................................................................9
Material Flow...............................................................................................................................9
Return Flow..................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

SUPPLY CHAIN
4
Introduction
Supply chain and logistics management are very important process in the life of an organization.
In this process, the organizations manage its products and services and it consists of the flow and
storage of raw materials from Work-in-process (WIP) to final goods or products. Supply chain
management is processed to enhance the customer value and achieve the goals and objectives of
organization. The activities of supply chain include every process form product development,
sourcing, production and manufacturing of products, logistics and management of information
system, which are needed to convey these related actions.
Apart from its benefits, the company may face various issues related to its supply chain and
logistics management process. The organization, which is taken onto consideration here, is
Alibaba.com, which is working as an e-commerce retailer all over the world. According to
Bryan, 2015, Alibaba.com is an e-commerce organization that is founded in China (Bryan,
2015). The company was established in the year 1999. The organization facilitates the
transactions between two nations. It provides different types of services, like; business to
business, business to consumer and consumer to consumer through its website. Apart from these
services, it offers some additional services, like; cloud computing services, online payment
services and search engine for shopping online.
As a well-established e-commerce retailer, Alibaba group is adopting an effective supply chain
and logistics management process, which assists it in delivering the products and services to the
respective customers. This report includes different aspects related to the supply chain and
logistics in retail industry. It describes its internal and external perspectives in context of
Alibaba.com. Furthermore, it includes three stages, which can create value for the organization.
Currently, Alibaba.com is facing the issues related to supply chain management. The company
lacks the effective supply chain in its business operations. It lacks in supply chain and logistics,
so it is not able to compete with its biggest competitor, i.e. Amazon.com.
Operations and Performance Measurement
In an effective supply chain system, it is essential to manage the related operations and measure
its performance by implementing different phases or elements of supply chain. Alibaba.com