In a recent class we talked about supply chain management and used Zara as the prime example. But what stroke me as the most interesting is how DELL’s supply management functioned. For DELL to cut costs, DELL removed distribution channels such as wholesalers and retailers.
The business model was simple and brilliant, however I think although the business achieved lean production, the downfall of this business model would be when markets in Asia such as China and India start to emerge and DELL’s business model did not suit the culture of Asian countries. In western countries people were content with the looking at catalogs or models online and then ordering it from DELL. However in Asian countries people like to examine the product first hand before purchasing and so because DELL’s business model did not fit well with the culture of Asian countries, it gave competitors such as HP and Lenovo to take over the market shares of the PC producing market.