Industry Value Chains
Industry-specific solutions are depicted on this site using general value chains for each industry. The value chain concept was described by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in his 1985 best-seller, The Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. N.Y.: Free Press, 1985.
According to the Porter model, within an organization there are primary activities that add value, and there are support activities which are generally administrative, such as human resource management and procurement. The primary activities are organized as steps in a sequence or chain, represented on a value chain map. Each step is described by a value driver – what drives or creates value in that step.
Companies typically organize to support their value chain, so that specific departments are responsible for each value driver, but this is not always the case. On the value chain maps on this site, the activities at each step are shown under the named value drivers. These processes may occur within a single department or they may involve several departments.
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The value chain framework helps define and maximize value creation while minimizing costs. Solutions are most successful when they are designed and implemented in the context of the relevant value chain. The chains shown on this site are specific to an industry, but necessarily general in nature. A customer’s value chain will likely deviate from the general model, or a company may only participate in part of the value chain represented. Our consultants and partners are expert in refining value drivers, helping identify costs and adapt the final solution to each customer’s needs.
