Supply Chain Analysis: Tesla's Competitive Advantage Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Tesla's supply chain management (SCM), focusing on customer service, inventory management, transportation, warehousing, and competitive advantage. The report examines SCM concepts and models within the context of Tesla's operations, evaluating the impact of SCM on the company's goal achievement and competitive advantage. It explores upstream and downstream operations, organizational factors, and emerging issues, such as transportation challenges and international trade regulations. The report also details Tesla's strategies for addressing these issues, including the establishment of manufacturing units and efficient inter-departmental communication. Finally, it suggests improvements for optimizing Tesla's supply chain, aiming to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Supply Chain Management

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Supply chain management (SCM)-..............................................................................................1
SCM ways for optimizing the upstream and downstream operations.........................................1
SCM impact on different organizational factors..........................................................................2
SCM concepts in context to different organizational situations..................................................4
Issues emerging in organization...................................................................................................5
Organizational steps for perceiving the issues.............................................................................6
Suggestions for future improvements..........................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Supply chain management (SCM) is the organizational activity for managing the flow of
services and goods and tend to include the different process levels which include the
transformation of raw material to the final product. Tesla is the chosen organization for the
evaluation in this report, the company tend to provide products like smart electric cars which are
able to perform operations like self-driving, etc. Evaluation on the significant impact of supply
chain management on goal achieving capability of the company is done in this report, with that
analysis on the achieved competitive advantage is also being done in the report. Analysis on in
context relation of different organizational factors which are being associated with the supply
chain management is also being evaluated.
MAIN BODY
Supply chain management (SCM)-
Supply chain is consist of all the managerial steps which include the flow of goods and
services and also integrate the process of development of raw material for the development of the
final product (Harvey and Wade, 2019). Supply chain consist if activities which streamlines the
operation and through which organizations like Tesla tend to maximize the customer value and
ensures that company is able to achieve a competitive advantage.
Source: Future Learn, 2021
SCM ways for optimizing the upstream and downstream operations
Market driven supply chain, is the organization's adaptive nature which it tend to make for
quickly aligning as per the changing market conditions through which it is able to achieve a high
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Illustration 1: Supply Chain Management

level of work productivity. Upstream and downstream operations are the organizational stages
which the product has to go through from being an raw material to the final finished good
provided to the customers.
Source: Kenneth, Laudon and jane, 2007
The upstream operation management is the organizational stage, which consist of the phase in the
product is being developed from an raw material to the final stage which is ready to tbe
transported to the end customers (Wieland, 2021).
Downstream is the phase in which the developed product is transported from various
segments and reaches the end customers. The transportation is an important segment of the
organization and is highly expensive due to which organizations often tend to take several steps
like dealership, distribution and retail which is then provided to the customers through which
revenue is being achieved.
SCM impact on different organizational factors
Organizations like Tesla have to ensure that it is able to provide high level of organizational
services to the customers in minimum expenditures and because of which it has to achieve many
employee workforce and several machineries (Hastig and Sodhi, 2020). Through this Tesla tend
to ensure that company is able to provide high level of organizational services to the customers in
minimum time span. Following are the different factors of the organizational supply chain.
Customer service-
Inventory management, is the systematic approach for the sourcing, storing and selling of
inventory in the both the forms which include raw materials and finished goods. The term
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Illustration 2: Upsteam and Downstream operations

inventory management tend to showcase the management of right stock, at right price and at righ
place by which right pricing can be established on the products to achieve a high profit margin.
On other words organizations like Tesla have improvised its product placement in such a way
that it is able to fulfil the customer requirements of customers of a specific geographic location.
Through this step it can ensure customers that company is able to fulfil their requirements.
In present time when the market competition is increased drastically because of which
organizations have to ensure that it is able to achieve an efficient competitive edge through which
it can maintain customer's loyalty towards the organization (Rosenthal, 2018). With that by
improving the level of services which are being provided to the customers company can also
ensure that it is able to maintain its efficient economic growth. This is important for Tesla that it
is able to provide high quality of organizational services to the customers and with that is able to
ensure that customers are assured that they are able to achieve high organizational services by
which their requirements can be fulfilled. Once the company is able to increase the customer
loyalty then it can make concentrated efforts to increase the organizational customer base by
which it can achieve high organizational sales.
Transportation-
It is an element in the supply chain management which consists of transformation of
organizational products and services from the organization to the end user. This is an final stage
and because of which Tesla has to ensure that it is able to increase its distribution network in
such a way that it is able to extend its reach to the customers of a wide geographic areas by which
it can make efforts for attracting new customers towards the organization (Joseph, 2017). This
becomes significant because if the distance between the manufacturing unit and the end user is
large enough then it will increase the organizational expenditures for transporting the
organizational services to the customers. Due to this Tesla has to ensure that is able to develop
several customer touch points at different geographic areas by which it can empower customers
to develop a direct contact with the organization.
International trade regulations is also another element which affects the organizational
working capability of Tesla, this becomes significance because companies like Tesla is able to
provide its services to the customers all across the globe. Due to which company has to make
changes in its pricing strategy in such a way that it is able to achieve high profit margin for the
organizational products and also is able to attract customers through attractive pricing strategy.
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Warehousing
Capacity management, is the organizational step through which it tends to ensure that it is
able to maximize its potential activities and achieve an improved production output. This is an
organizational strategy through which it tend to analyse the organization's goal achievement
capability on the bases of several factors which include factors like the level of sales which the
company can achieve within the specific time frame (Mayyas, Steward and Mann, 2019). With
that the overall work productivity of Tesla is also being analysed by company can develop
efficient working strategy through which it is able to achieve desired target in minimum efforts.
Organizations like Tesla is having a large customer base and because of which company
has to ensure that it is able to provide organizational services to a majority of the customers in
minimum time span and because of which company has to establish its warehouses. Which can
be used for storing the developed product before transporting to the end user and because of
which company also has to employee several technological advancements in the working area.
Competitive advantage
Supply chain management consist of a wider organizational context which comprises
several elements like manufacturing, storing, transporting, etc. Therefore, by integrating the
technological advancement in the organizational working strategy Tesla can ensure that it is able
to increase the organizational work productivity and achieve a improved working capability
through integrating technological advancements in the work areas (Nieuwenhuis, Touboulic and
Matthews, 2019). Through the use of technological advancements Tesla will be able to
efficiently monitor the organizational working capabilities and then can make appropriate
improvisations in the working capabilities by which the chances of goal achievement can be
increased.
Effective improvisation is an advantage which is often being achieved, this happens
because since the company is able to achieve a efficient monitoring and control over its
organizational activities because of which it is able to make appropriate improvisation in its
working capabilities as per the requirement. Through this it ensure the product placement is done
as per the requirement of the customers by which chances of goal achievement will be increased.
SCM concepts in context to different organizational situations
SCM involves a series of consecutive activities and processes which are being completed
in an efficient and timely manner which are being interlinked with each other through which high
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work productivity can be achieved within the organizational working. Tesla can use “efficient”
supply chain model for the evaluating the market competition and thus tend to make appropriate
improvisation in the working process by which it can achieve an efficient competitive edge. This
happens because “Efficient” supply chain model is being used by organization because it is often
being used by the companies which are having an same customer base and operate in a market
place which is full of market competitors (Nieuwenhuis, Touboulic and Matthews, 2019).
Following is the evaluation of organizational situations and steps to overcome the issues.
Issues emerging in organization
There are several issues which the organizations have to face in order to maintain a high
level of work productivity, this can be seen in the present time in which market competition is
increased as well as customers are changing the ways of buying products. Due to this the
company has to make improvisation in its working capabilities. In such a way that it is able to
achieve a high level of work productivity through which it is able to achieve the desired
organizational target (de Góes, Kotabe and Geleilate, 2021). Due to this Tesla can utilize several
concepts and models for analysing the work requirement and can make appropriate improvisation
for the achievement of desired organizational target.
Impact on developed product due to transportation from company's manufacturing unit to
end customers is an issue which is highly connected to the supply chain management system of
Tesla. This happens because company tend to provide its products all across the globe through
which it is able to achieve high customer base. But also at the same time Tesla has to transport
the developed product to the different geographic location by using the international water ways
which impact the quality of the developed product and also increased organizational
expenditures.
Changing international politics and policies is also an important issue which the Tesla
often has to face, this happens because the company tend to provide its products to the customers
all across the globe and because of which the company has to work according to the international
trade rules. This is important because the changing political conditions often tend to make
significant impact upon the local legal legislations due to which company has to make chances in
its working strategy and also changing tax policies will also affect the company's economical
growth and profit margin.
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Organizational steps for perceiving the issues
Organizational mangers tend to analyse the changes in market competitions and also tend
to analyse the changing customer preferences, thus on the basis of current organizational working
capability and changing external organizational conditions company can ensure that it is able to
develop efficient working strategy through which the chances of goal achievement will be
increased. In order to increase the probability of goal achievement managers tend to develop
organizational working departments and establish efficient communication between them
(Akakpo and et.al, 2019). Through this it ensures that through efficient inter-departmental
working company is able to achieve a high working capabilities and employees are able to make
improvisations in their working process as per the requirements.
Tesla has to transport its developed product to the customers at different location through
various different means because of which product quality is being affected and also expenditures
are also increased. Due to this the organizational managers at Tesla tend to install company's
manufacturing units i.e. Giga Factory, at the desired location through which it ensure that the
negative impact on the final product is minimized and company's expenditures on transportation
are reduced.
Tesla tend to develop its organizational working strategy as per the international and local
regulations (de Góes, Kotabe and Geleilate, 2021). Through this it can ensure that it is able to
achieve a diversity in its customer base and also at the same time by working as per the law it can
minimize the threat of facing penalties which makes a significant impact upon its economical
growth.
Suggestions for future improvements
Tesla makes several efforts through which it tends to provide technologically new and
rare products to the customers through which it tends to ensure that it is able to achieve high level
of customer engagement with the organizational activities and also is having an efficient
economic growth.
Tesla tend to use lithium ion battery in its cars and because of which is highly effective
but the substance which is being used by the company is very rare and also at the same time is
highly expensive. Due to this company must tend to increase its efforts on finding creative ways
through the battery performance of the developed car can be improved and development cost can
also be reduced. This will be highly effective for organization because since Tesla uses lithium
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ion batteries for the development of car batteries because of which company has to pay high
transportation charges. This happens because the company has to import the raw material from
its origin location and transport it to the company's manufacturing unit which increases
expenditures drastically.
Tesla provides several technologies based products, but company is mostly known
because its self driving cars (Nieuwenhuis, Touboulic and Matthews, 2019). This is an effective
way by the company tend to face limitation in the self driving car, this happens because since
company is extending its geographic reach in different locations because of which have to make
improvisations in the software of the product. This happens because due to differences in
locations the driving is also changes due to which chances of having an accident increases. Due
to this company must develop an unified data storage system in which the data achieved from
different sources can be integrated within by which the chances of goal achievement can be
increased.
CONCLUSION
From the evaluation in this report it can be concluded that organizations like Tesla has to
make several efforts through which it is able to minimize the organizational expenditures for the
development of products. With that it also has to ensure that it is able to analyse the different
ways through which it is able to provide high level of benefits to the consultant organizational
factors by which high work productivity can be achieved in minimum efforts. It can also be
concluded that organizations like Tesla has to ensure that it is able to increase its presence in
different geographic locations by which it can ensure that it is able to increase the organizational
sales. Through this increased geographic reach company can increase its organizational sales by
which it can ensure that chances of goal achievement and can also ensure that it is able to achieve
an efficient competitive edge.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akakpo, A. and et.al, 2019. Foresight, organization policies and management strategies in electric
vehicle technology advances at Tesla. In Futures Thinking and Organizational
Policy (pp. 57-69). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
de Góes, B.B., Kotabe, M. and Geleilate, J.M.G., 2021. The Diffusion of Corporate Sustainability
in Global Supply Networks: An Empirical Exami
de Góes, B.B., Kotabe, M. and Geleilate, J.M.G., 2021. The Diffusion of Corporate Sustainability
in Global Supply Networks: An Empirical Examination of the Global Automotive
Industry. In The Multiple Dimensions of Institutional Complexity in International
Business Research. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Harvey, E. and Wade, J., 2019. Organizational stigma: sources and outcomes.
Hastig, G.M. and Sodhi, M.S., 2020. Blockchain for supply chain traceability: Business
requirements and critical success factors. Production and Operations
Management. 29(4). pp.935-954.
Joseph, L., 2017. Big Data+ Supply Chain Management: Examining Next Generation SCM
Technologies.
Mayyas, A., Steward, D. and Mann, M., 2019. The case for recycling: Overview and challenges
in the material supply chain for automotive li-ion batteries. Sustainable materials and
technologies. 19. p.e00087.
Nieuwenhuis, P., Touboulic, A. and Matthews, L., 2019. Is sustainable supply chain management
sustainable?. InSustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Supply Chains in the
Post-global Economy (pp. 13-30). Springer, Cham.
Nieuwenhuis, P., Touboulic, A. and Matthews, L., 2019. Is sustainable supply chain management
sustainable?. InSustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Supply Chains in the
Post-global Economy (pp. 13-30). Springer, Cham.
Nieuwenhuis, P., Touboulic, A. and Matthews, L., 2019. Is sustainable supply chain management
sustainable?. InSustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Supply Chains in the
Post-global Economy (pp. 13-30). Springer, Cham.
Rosenthal, C.D., 2018. Strategic supply chain management implications of an unregulated
BREXIT (Doctoral dissertation).
Wieland, A., 2021. Dancing the supply chain: Toward transformative supply chain
management. Journal of Supply Chain Management. 57(1). pp.58-73.
Online
Future Learn, Supply chain definitions and perspectives, 2021 [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/principles-global-management-logistics-
assets/0/steps/65240>
Kenneth, C., Laudon and jane P., Management information system, 2007 [Online]. Available
through:<https://paginas.fe.up.pt/~als/mis10e/ch9/chpt9-2bullettext.htm#top>
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