Analysing Starwood's Supply Chain: Orientation, Sourcing & Metrics

This case study examines Starwood's supply chain management, focusing on whether the company should adopt a cooperative or competitive orientation with its suppliers. It explores the types and amount of information Starwood should exchange with its bed linen and terrycloth suppliers, considering the risks of over-sharing. The analysis covers sourcing approaches, such as reverse auctions versus requests for proposals, and the circumstances under which Starwood should change suppliers. Furthermore, it identifies key performance metrics Starwood can use to evaluate its suppliers, including price, cost, and quality-based measures, to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and maintain a competitive edge in the hospitality industry. The document is available on Desklib, a platform that provides students with access to a wide range of study materials and AI-powered study tools.

Running head: GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Definition of competitive orientation and cooperative orientation................................2
Choice of orientation of Starwood for its suppliers...................................................3
Type of information to be exchanged by Starwood with suppliers...............................4
Amount of information to be shared by Starwood with suppliers.............................5
Ways by which Starwood can approach the sourcing process.......................................5
Circumstances that can lead to the change in suppliers.............................................6
Metrics to be used by Starwood to evaluate the performance of suppliers....................6
Conclusion......................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The report will be based on the case study of Starwood which is an organization that
operates in the hospitality industry. The organization operates many different resorts and
hotels in various parts of Canada, the United States and Caribbean. The major goal of
Starwood is based on the proper develop the best supply chain company in the industry. The
items that have been procured by the organization mainly include, different replenish able
goods which include, food items and fresh produce as well. The supply chain of Starwood
mainly includes different factors like, order fulfilment, customer relationship and relationship
processes with the customers (Beske-Janssen, Johnson and Schaltegger 2015).
The most important part of the analysis is related to the ways by which suppliers of
the organization can be managed effectively. The amounts of information that can be
provided to the suppliers based on organizational operations will also be analysed in the
report in detail. The sourcing based process will also be a major part of the discussion in the
report. The levels of involvement of suppliers in different organizational processes will be
analysed with respect to the case study (Brandenburg and Rebs 2015). The analysis will also
be related to orientation of the organization related to the suppliers.
Definition of competitive orientation and cooperative orientation
Competitive orientation – As discussed by Dubey et al. (2017), the organizations
which are oriented in a competitive manner reassess their strengths as well as weaknesses
with respect to the competitors. The proper evaluation of performance will thereby include
different factors like, pricing, efficiency of production, customer satisfaction, employee
retention, delivery times and the market share. The organizations that are a part of a
competitive economic system aim at maximizing the advantages in comparison to the
competitors. As opined by Durach, Kembro and Wieland (2017), the companies that deal

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with other organizations like, the sellers of different raw materials and wholesalers need to
analyse the levels of competition in the industry in order to develop various strategies. The
competitive orientation based strategies can be used by the organization in order to decide the
ways by which suppliers can be managed.
Cooperative orientation – As discussed by Genovese et al. (2017), the cooperative
orientation of organizations is mainly built on the effective process of communication in
which the ideas are verbalized and the group members are able to pay attention in order to
accept the ideas. The groups which are a part of cooperative orientation do not have much
problems in communicating with each other. According to Kirchoff, Tate and Mollenkopf
(2016), the members in this case are highly satisfied with a group and are impressed with
contribution that is provided by group members. This type of orientation also requires
effective sharing of the available information and collaboration between the group members
and the suppliers.
Choice of orientation of Starwood for its suppliers
According to Kozlenkova et al. (2015), the orientation that is suitable for the future
operations of Starwood in the hospitality industry is built on the ways by which the
organization is able to develop collaboration with them. The cooperative orientation is
thereby considered to be the most effective for the proper maintenance of suppliers by the
organization. The trust levels between the organization and suppliers need can be maintained
with the help of information sharing. The information that is required by the suppliers is
considered to be an important part of the entire process followed in the organization.
As discussed by Laari et al. (2016), the items that have been considered for analysis in
this case mainly include, televisions, uniforms, bath towels and fresh produce. The
information based on these items are important for an organization like Starwood which has

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its operations in the hospitality industry. The group operates many resorts and hotels in
Canada and the US. The development of a proper supply chain is considered to be significant
for the organization in order to operate in a profitable manner. The company needs to develop
effective relationships with the suppliers in order to improve the relationships which have
been formed with the customers.
The suppliers need to be provided enough information based on the items so that the
supply can be maintained in a continuous manner. The development of a cooperative
orientation is important for the organization in order to provide the items that are required
within the stipulated time. The continuity of supply chain needs to be maintained in order to
ensure the profitable operations in the industry (Lambert and Enz 2017).
Type of information to be exchanged by Starwood with suppliers
As discussed by Meixell and Luoma (2015), the supply chain based operations of
Starwood is considered to be much more than only providing relevant contracts to the
suppliers. The procurement of goods is a significant portion of the supply chain process.
However, this is not the only activity that is performed by the suppliers and management of
the organization. The linkages which exist between the upstream supplier of the services, the
materials, information and the consumers are a major part of the supply chain based activities
that are performed by Starwood.
According to Monczka et al. (2015), the information based on requirements of
different items need to be provided to the suppliers so that they are able to provide the items
to the organization as and when required. The requirements are mainly provided by different
members of the organization that include, maintenance, housekeeping and the restaurant
chefs. The suppliers need to be informed about the requirements based on different items that
are required. The terrycloth and bed linen based suppliers of the organization need to be

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provided with the requirement based information and then the management can also ask the
rates of different products.
Amount of information to be shared by Starwood with suppliers
According to Ross (2016), the amounts of information which are required by the
suppliers in order to provide items as and when required need to be provided to them. The
company can however not provide information based on rates that are provided to them by
the suppliers of different other items that are required in the operations. Sharing of too much
information may have an impact on the negotiations which can be made by the suppliers of
the organization.
As discussed by Stadtler (2015), the negotiation based process will thereby suffer if
the organization is not able to understand the ways by which the prices can be determined.
Levels of information that can be shared by the organization will be based on the
relationships that have been developed by Starwood with suppliers of different items.
Ways by which Starwood can approach the sourcing process
As discussed by Touboulic and Walker (2015), the sourcing based process that can be
implemented by Starwood is based on reverse auction. The organization needs to provide a
“request for information” to the suppliers. The information that will be provided by the
suppliers will be analysed by the management in order to decide on the quality of items,
financial viability, avoidance of legal risk. The next major option that can be undertaken by
Starwood based on proper completion of the sourcing process is related to the reverse auction
that can be conducted by the organization.
As argued by Wu et al. (2016), the short term based supply of the items like, bath
towels and linen can be easily completed with the help of this process. Starwood had used
this process in order to source different products like, keys of the hotel rooms, kitchen

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uniforms. However, the sourcing based process of the mentioned items can be completed
successfully with the help of reverse auction based operations. The bidding based process that
is conducted as a part of reverse auction will be able to provide the organization with an
option to procure the goods from a supplier who offers the lowest price. The reverse auction
will help the organization to know the suppliers in an effective manner without providing any
extra information to them based on various types of products (Lambert and Enz 2017).
Circumstances that can lead to the change in suppliers
According to Kozlenkova et al. (2015), the suppliers of the organization can be
changed in case of differences that are observed in prices which are offered based on the
items. The company can gain a competitive advantage in the industry with the help of lower
production based costs that will further lead to low prices as well. The prices of different
items that are provided to the organization based on various parts of the operations are able to
affect the change in the suppliers. The management of Starwood needs to analyse the levels
of prices based on the products that are offered by the suppliers.
As discussed by Touboulic and Walker (2015), the negotiation based on prices with
the suppliers is an important part of the choice of suppliers that can be made by the
organization. The hospitality industry is highly competitive in nature and the suppliers are
able to play a major part in the prices of services and products that are offered to the
consumers. The selection of proper suppliers is considered to be highly important for the
successful operations of the company in the industry.
Metrics to be used by Starwood to evaluate the performance of suppliers
As discussed by Meixell and Luoma (2015), the measurement of the performance of
the suppliers is important for their improvement over time. Measuring the supplier
performance is considered to be a difficult part of the operations of different organizations.

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Starwood also needs to measure the performance levels of suppliers with the proper support
that is provided by different metrics. The metrics can be used by the organization in order to
measure the ways by which the suppliers are able to provide maximum levels of value to the
organizations. The different metrics that can be considered for analysing the suppliers of
Starwood include, price based metrics, cost based metrics and quality based metrics.
As discussed by Touboulic and Walker (2015), the price based metrics are mainly
related to the prices of items like, terrycloth and bed linens that are decided by the suppliers.
The prices will be able to affect the services which can be offered to the consumers. The cost
based metrics on other hand are based on the cash that goes out from the business in
comparison to the cash inflow. The cost reduction based target of the organization can be
achieved with the help of proper measurement of the performance of suppliers.
As discussed by Meixell and Luoma (2015), the quality of products that are offered
by the suppliers need to be analysed by Starwood in order to ensure that the consumers are
satisfied with the services. The suppliers of bed linen and terrycloth need to ensure that the
quality of the products are high as the customers use them. Starwood needs to measure the
performance of suppliers in order to ensure high satisfaction based levels of the consumers.
The measurement of the performance of suppliers can thereby mentioned in an effective
manner with help of cost related metrics, price based metrics and the quality related metrics.
Starwood needs to maintain its position in the service based industry with the help of
effective quality of services in the highly competitive hospitality industry.
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the suppliers of bed linen and terrycloth
are able to affect the cost based on services offered to the consumers. Starwood thereby needs
to maintain its relationship with the suppliers in order to ensure that they are able to provide

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the items within the stipulated time and based on the decided prices as well. The levels of
information that can be shared with the suppliers by Starwood are limited. The organization
can use different types of metrics in order to analyse the performance that has been depicted
by the suppliers. The suppliers of Starwood are important, however, limited information can
be offered to them by the organization.

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References
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measurement in sustainable supply chain management–what has been achieved?. Supply
chain management: An international Journal, 20(6), pp.664-680.
Brandenburg, M. and Rebs, T., 2015. Sustainable supply chain management: A modeling
perspective. Annals of Operations Research, 229(1), pp.213-252.
Dubey, R., Gunasekaran, A., Childe, S.J., Papadopoulos, T. and Fosso Wamba, S., 2017.
World class sustainable supply chain management: critical review and further research
directions. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 28(2), pp.332-362.
Durach, C.F., Kembro, J. and Wieland, A., 2017. A new paradigm for systematic literature
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