Abstract

Through the example of Lenovo Group Limited, this case provides students an opportunity to learn about emerging and advanced digital technologies for supply chain management and operations, and the critical issues that are targeted by these technologies. It can help students learn about technology aspects of 21st century strategies for small and large companies. This case also serves as part of a broader discussion on strategic management and digital transformation of business and supply chain models. Given Lenovo’s remarkable rise in the PC business over a relatively short span of three decades, this case is an evolving example of how a company can grow and compete in a mature industry.

Learning Objectives

After analyzing the case, students will be able to:

1. Explore several critical issues in managing a global supply, manufacturing, and distribution network from a competitive analysis perspective.

2. Identify the important performance measures for global supply chains.

3. Discuss the ways in which the performance of a global supply chain could be impacted by crises and shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. Analyze the ways in which supply chains can adapt to these shocks and identify weak links and bottlenecks to redress.

5. Identify some key and emerging digital technologies that have helped transform a range of industries.

6. Match a subset of these digital technologies to the needs of global supply chain and operations.

7. Demonstrate the critical hurdles and barriers in developing and deploying such an end-to-end integrative transformation and management framework.

8. Highlight the key features of a supply chain intelligence (SCI) framework and show how they can add value to leadership and managerial decisions for a global business.

9. Suggest how the SCI framework and its corresponding processes can be leveraged for competitive advantage through concrete examples