PART 4 Building Strong Brands 31 The value chain identifies nine strategically relevant activities-five primary and four support activities-that create value and cost in a specific business. He firm's infrastructure covers the costs of general management, planning, finance, accounting, legal, and government affairs. The firm's task is to examine its costs and performance in each value-creating activity and to look for ways to improve it. Managers should estimate their competitors' costs and performances as benchmarks against which to compare their own costs and performance.
The firm's success depends not only on how well each department performs its work, but also on how well the company coordinates departmental activities to conduct core business processes.
• The market-sensing process.
• The new-offering realization process.
• The customer acquisition process.
• The customer relationship management process.
• The fulfilment management process.
To be successful, a firm also needs to look for competitive advantages beyond its own operations, into the value chains of suppliers, distributors, and customers.
III. Core competencies
Many companies today outsource less-critical resources if they can obtain better quality or lower cost. The key, is to own and nurture the resources and competencies that make up the essence of the business.
