- Primary Activities. Inbound Logistics: Includes all processes related to suppliers and the activities required to receive, store, and disseminate inputs or raw materials.
- Secondary Activities. Procurement: Acquiring raw materials or inputs for the products, managing relationship with suppliers and negotiating prices.
- Sub Activities. ...
What are primary and secondary activities in value chain management?
Primary & Secondary Value Chain Activities Porter identified two categories of activities: primary and secondary. Primary activities are core functions for the enterprise, creating and delivering products and services for customers. Secondary activities support the primary activities and are common to many organizations.
What are the primary activities of value chain Inbound Logistics?
Primary Activities of Value Chain Inbound Logistics refers to getting the material as an input for adding value by processing it. This also includes relationships with suppliers and all other activities that are required by a company to receive raw material or input, store, and disseminate it.
What is an example of value chain model?
Food and Beverage: Value chain modeling for food and beverage providers follows the flow that begins with sourcing materials and concludes in customer consumption. For example, Starbucks will begin with the costs and processes associated with coffee bean sourcing through the customization of coffee beverages and delivery to the customer.
What are the value chain support activities?
Value chain support activities do just that, they support the primary activities. The support, or secondary, activity generally plays a role in each primary activity. 7 Such as human resource management, which can play a role in operations, marketing, and sales.
What are the primary activities of the value chain?
The value chain framework is made up of five primary activities -- inbound operations, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, service -- and four secondary activities -- procurement and purchasing, human resource management, technological development and company infrastructure.
What are secondary value chain activities?
Secondary. activities support the primary activities and include procurement, technology development, and human resource management. All of these activities form a part of the value chain and can be analyzed to assess where opportunities for competitive advantage may lie.Jan 25, 2022
What are the two types of value chain activities?
According to Porter's definition, all of the activities that make up a firm's value chain can be split into two categories that contribute to its margin: primary activities and support activities.Dec 3, 2020
What are the two main activities of value chain analysis?
In his concept of a value chain, Porter splits a business's activities into two categories, "primary" and "support," whose sample activities we list below.1 Specific activities in each category will vary according to the industry.
What are primary and supporting activities in a company's value chain?
Porter's value chain involves five primary activities: inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Support activities are illustrated in a vertical column over all of the primary activities. These are procurement, human resources, technology development, and firm infrastructure.Jun 18, 2018
What is a primary activity of the value chain quizlet?
Value Chain. The value chain categorizes the generic value-adding activities of an organization. The "primary activities" include: inbound logistics, operations (production), outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and services (maintenance).
What are the five primary activities of the value chain model?
The five key (primary) activities that generate higher profits include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and services.
What are the types of value chain?
Types of Value Chain GovernanceMarket. Market governance involves transactions that are relatively simple, information on product specifications is easily transmitted, and producers can make products with minimal input from buyers.Modular. ... Relational. ... Captive. ... Hierarchy.
What is a value chain example?
Value Chain Analysis Example For example, McDonald's mission is to provide customers with low-priced food items. The analysis helps McDonald's identify areas for improvement and activities that add value to their products and services.Apr 6, 2022
What are primary activities in business?
Primary Activities are the value chain from inbound materials to production operations, to outbound goods and their distribution, to the 'far end of the value chain', marketing and sales, to customer care and after sales services.
What are the supporting activities of the value chain model Mcq?
The support activities in Porter's value chain are which of the following? Infrastructure, marketing & sales and service.
Which of the following is not one of the primary activities in the value chain of an organization?
The correct answer is c) Technology procurement.
Who developed the value chain?
The concept of value chain analysis is developed by Michael Porter in 1980 in his very famous book ‘Competitive Advantage’. Value chain analysis used to analyze those specific activities which can create competitive advantages for a company.
How to use Porter's value chain?
How to Use Porter’s Value Chain 1 Specify sub-activities for every primary activity examples of sub activities are direct activities, indirect activities & quality insurance 2 Specify sub-activities for every secondary activity for example how one company’s department can add value to another department 3 Specify links 4 Grab the opportunities to create value
How to have a better look on value chain?
To have a better look on value chain a company should following steps. Specify sub-activities for every primary activity examples of sub activities are direct activities, indirect activities & quality insurance. Specify sub-activities for every secondary activity for example how one company’s department can add value to another department.
What is value chain?
What Is a Value Chain? A value chain is a combination of the systems a company or organization uses to make money. That is, a value chain is made up of various subsystems that are used to create products or services. This includes the process from start to finish. 1 .
What is Michael Porter's method of analyzing value chains?
4 Porter sought to define a company’s competitive advantage noting that it stems from a company’s processes, such as marketing and supporting activities.
What is an operation in ecommerce?
Operations include procedures for converting raw materials into a finished product or service. This includes changing all inputs to ready them as outputs. In the above e-commerce example, this would include adding labels or branding or packaging several products as a bundle to add value to the product. 7
Can companies improve their value chain?
Now, companies can further improve the primary activities of their value chain with secondary activities. Value chain support activities do just that, they support the primary activities. The support, or secondary, activity generally plays a role in each primary activity. 8 Such as human resource management, which can play a role in operations ...
What is value chain method?
The value chain method is a way to identify the best path to enhance value for the customer.
How does a value chain help?
With a value chain, you can optimize efforts, eliminate waste, and improve profitability. The value chains help provide useful insights that can bring greater value to the end customer. For example, you may find that a product can be produced at a lower cost by a subsidiary.
Why is value chain analysis important?
Value chain analysis is a focus on the internal activities of a business to gain an understanding of the costs of the business and how different activities can add value to its product. The analysis focuses on primary functions of a business such as:
How to identify secondary activities?
1. Identify the secondary activities for each primary activity. Each primary activity has secondary activities associated with it. A company needs to decide which of these activities add the most value. The three sub-activities include: Direct activities – Activities that individually help create value.
What are the primary activities of a company?
In addition to the five primary activities, there are also secondary activities that support the operations within certain primary activities. They include: 1 Firm infrastructure 2 Human resource management 3 Technological development 4 Procurement
What is indirect activity?
Indirect activities – Activities that help direct activities function more smoothly. They include human resources management. Human Resource Management Human Resource Management (HRM) is a collective term for all the formal systems created to help in managing employees and other stakeholders within a. and accounting.
What is value chain?
Simply put, the value chain is all the activities that a company undertakes to create a competitive advantage and value for its customers. That includes the supply chain that can consist of product design, procurement, manufacturing, distribution and fulfillment. The supply chain is a component of the value chain.
What is the purpose of value chain analysis?
The goal of a value chain analysis is to discover which activities deliver the most value in terms of lower costs or competitive differentiation, and which ones could be improved. Successful enterprises focus resources and investment in the activities that bring them the most value. They will also reduce the focus on the activities ...
Why is supply chain analysis important?
A value chain analysis can uncover hidden relationships among the various activities that may be lowering the value the customers receive .
What is the supply chain?
The supply chain is a component of the value chain. In the strict sense of the supply chain, the enterprise does not add value to the products other than in transporting materials and products to the correct locations. The value chain is a series of interrelated activities that an enterprise employs to create a competitive advantage.
What are the two categories of activities?
Porter identified two categories of activities: primary and secondary. Primary activities are core functions for the enterprise, creating and delivering products and services for customers. Secondary activities support the primary activities and are common to many organizations. These activities often play a more significant role in the success of the primary activities than is commonly thought.
Do organizational structures evolve with the business?
Organizational structures don't always evolve with the business, leaving silos that limit communication and clarity. It can be difficult for management to sift through the layers to understand how value is created and deployed within the organization.
What is the biggest task in the value chain?
One of the biggest is the task of identifying thousands of direct and indirect tasks and activities that impact a value chain. The unique needs of individual organizations and industries cannot be templated, and as a result, identifying tasks and developing a plan can become extremely time-consuming.
What is the architecture of a value chain?
The architecture that defines organizational structure, needed technology, customer identification, and internal culture. The mechanism to execute the processes. Through the prism of the linkages identified in a value chain model, a business can recognize cost relief and differentiations.
Why use value chain analysis?
Businesses seeking competitive advantage often turn to value chain models to identify opportunities for cost savings and differentiations in the production cycle. In an ideal situation, the value chain demonstrates that the cost to build is far lower than the cost the market can bear, but this is becoming more difficult as customer demands grow in complexity and as market competition increases. Additionally, technology and communication methods have changed greatly since Michael Porter introduced the value chain model in 1985. But even with progress and innovation, value chain analysis is still a sound model for identifying market opportunities and achieving competitive differentiation.
What is Porter's Five Forces?
Prior to writing on value chain models, Porter developed a unique competitive analysis tool called Porter’s Five Forces. This tool takes a critical look at competitive market forces in an effort to identify opportunities or risk — it is similar to a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. Porter’s tool analyzes changing conditions in order to provide a structure for proactive improvement.
What is business model?
The business model, coupled with an understanding of business capabilities, is the basis for the operational, technology, and information decisions that support a successful value chain system. The value chain model, while important, is only one part of a company’s overall business model or strategy.
What are the elements of Porter's model?
An organization can implement value chain analysis in numerous ways, but Porter’s model advocates for two elements: cost advantages and differentiation. If you decide to focus primarily on cost evaluations or differentiation opportunities, the generic value chain provides a strong starting point.
What is Amazon value chain?
Online and Brick-and-Mortar Retail: The retail value chain defines actions that allow businesses, such as Amazon and Walmart, to sell goods to customers. Amazon focuses on being “the Earth’s most customer-centric company” and seeks improvements in order to meet their mission.
What is Porter's value chain model?
In his 1985 book Competitive Advantage, Porter explains that a value chain is a collection of processes that a company performs to create value for its consumers. As a result, he asserts that value chain analysis is directly linked to competitive advantage.
How does technology help Porter's value chain?
Technology can create a competitive advantage in Porter’s value chain because it can streamline important processes. These include payroll automation software, customer service procedures, and distribution networks. 4. Procurement. Procurement is simply the acquisition of necessary goods or services.
What is Porter's strategy?
Porter’s Generic Strategies. In his book, “Competitive Advantage,” in 1985, Porter conceptualized the concept of competitive advantage, by looking at two key aspects. Industry attractiveness, and the company’s strategic positioning. The latter, according to Porter, can be achieved either via cost leadership, differentiation, or focus.
What are Porter's five processes?
Porter breaks down his value chain model into five primary processes, or activities. 1. Inbound logistics. This includes the warehousing and associated inventory control of raw materials. This also includes the nature of the relationship with suppliers. 2. Operations.
How does competitive advantage work?
Competitive advantage occurs when a business systematically examines its internal processes and how they interact with each other. Each process in the value chain should create value that exceeds the cost of creating that value. In other words, it should be profitable. The strength of Porter’s model lies in its focus on customers ...
What is Porter's diamond model?
Porter’s Diamond Model is a diamond-shaped framework that explains why specific industries in a nation become internationally competitive while those in other nations do not. The model was first published in Michael Porter’s 1990 book The Competitive Advantage of Nations. This framework looks at the firm strategy, structure/rivalry, ...
Is Porter's model profitable?
In other words, it should be profitable. The strength of Porter’s model lies in its focus on customers through value chain systems. This is in contrast to other value chain models that focus on departmental and accounting expenses, for example.
What are the primary activities of the value chain?
The primary activities of the value chain include inbound logistics, operation outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Secondary activities or the support activities include firm infrastructure, human resources management, and procurement.
What is supply chain?
A supply chain is a broader concept than a value chain; the latter refers to activities within one firm, while the former captures the entire process of creating and distributing a product, often across several firms. . These chains do not fixate on speed or on any other single metric.
How does Walmart use strategic supply chain management?
The value of strategic supply chain management is reflected in how firms such as Walmart have used their supply chains as competitive weapons to gain advantages over peers. Walmart excels in terms of speed and cost by locating all domestic stores within one day’s drive of a warehouse while owning a trucking fleet.
Why do doughnut shops have value?
Value is added through this process because consumers are willing to pay much more for doughnuts than they would be willing to pay for the underlying ingredients.
How does Tim Hortons gain cost advantage over its rivals?
Large doughnut chains such as Tim Hortons can gain cost advantages over their smaller rivals by purchasing flour, sugar, and other ingredients in bulk. Meanwhile, WestJet has gained an advantage over its rivals by using futures contracts within its procurement process to minimize the effects of rising fuel prices.
What is adaptability in supply chain?
Adaptability. refers to a willingness and capacity to reshape supply chains when necessary. Generally, creating one supply chain for a customer is desired because this helps minimize costs. Adaptable firms realize that this is not always a best value solution, however.
Is inventory reduction a goal?
Much popular thinking depicts inventory reduction as a goal in and of itself. However, this cannot occur without corresponding increases in buffer capacity elsewhere in the chain, or performance will suffer. A best value supply chain seeks to optimize the total costs of all buffers used.

Value Chain Analysis
- In the 1980s, Michael Porter introduced a technique known as value chain analysis, which has since become a useful tool for companies to help gain a competitive advantage. Value chain analysis is a focus on the internal activities of a business to gain an understanding of the costs of the business and how different activities can add value to its product. The analysis focuses on t…
How to Implement The Value Chain
- Porter’s generic strategies for the value chain can be used for any industry across the board. The three-step process is as follows:
Advantages of Value Chains
- Value chains help break down all the activities that go into producing a good or service and understanding areas of cost savings and differentiation. With a value chain, you can optimize efforts, eliminate waste, and improve profitability. The value chains help provide useful insights that can bring greater value to the end customer. For example, y...
More Resources
- Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Value Chain. To keep learning and developing your knowledge of financial analysis, we highly recommend the additional CFI resources below: 1. Forward Integration 2. Logistics 3. Supply Chain 4. Types of Customers
Intro to Porter's Value Chain Model
Primary & Secondary Value Chain Activities
- Porter identified two categories of activities: primary and secondary. Primary activities are core functions for the enterprise, creating and delivering products and services for customers. Secondary activities support the primary activities and are common to many organizations. These activities often play a more significant role in the success of ...
Conducting The Value Chain Analysis
- There are two approaches to the value chain analysis: cost and differentiation advantage, according to Strategic Management Insight. Cost advantage: For companies that compete on cost, identify the cost drivers for each activity such as raw materials, manufacturing and labor. Analyze the links between the activities to understand how they are interrelated. For instance, ad…
Value Chain vs. Supply Chain
- The concepts of the value chain and the supply chain may sound similar, but in reality, they are different. Simply put, the value chain is all the activities that a company undertakes to create a competitive advantage and value for its customers. That includes the supply chain that can consist of product design, procurement, manufacturing, distribution and fulfillment. The supply …
Apply The Value Chain to Inbound & Outbound Logistics
- It's vitally important to understand the activities that make up the supply chain and how they related to the rest of the value chain within the enterprise. Often the supply chain is seen from a cost standpoint. However, today, the supply chain can be a competitive differentiator as customers — both businesses and consumers — expect a fast, highly personalized shipping exp…