Category Leadership: A Case Study Of Waitrose's Supply Chain

Abstract This essay focuses on how challenge in managing supply chain of Waitrose’s strategic programme called “category leadership” for the purpose to gain the most market shares and becomes the biggest supermarket chain in UK. Because supply chain management involves to all entities along the system hence it is important that the company should concern for good relationship on both suppliers’ and customers’ side. The first challenge relies on supplier relation. There is a suggestion to reduce number of dealing suppliers and remain only the “key” suppliers who are qualified and reliable. It means that the company have to develop better relationship with them for sustaining its capacity. However, increasing collaboration between entities requires more trust which seems to be difficult to build and spend plenty of time. Though Waitrose …show more content…
Waitrose), therefore it is important to concern about internal satisfaction and improve themselves to sustain this relationship in long-term because there is possible chance that those internal customers (i.e. the companies) would change their strategies and hire outsources instead (Jones, 1996). In addition, it has no guarantee that their customers will recognise and get fully satisfaction from the improvements. Furthermore, extra costs spending by these adaptations might exceed the benefit receiving. Even though Hauser et al. (1996) agree for applying internal relationship approach to run businesses, but they also point out some weaknesses in this strategy. Firstly, some conflicts possibly occur between internal suppliers and the companies due to different interests and scale of perspective and responsibilities. Another one is high-level managers may not have in-depth knowledge as the internal suppliers and will attempt to make ineffective