The Demand Chain

A demand chain is an interconnected series of business processes and activities designed so firms can understand, manage and motivate customer demand in markets within the firm’s current and potential capabilities and product range. If a firm does not understand its demand chain, it is impossible for the firm to design an effective supply chain. A value chain is essentially the demand chain plus the supply chain. Although presented as two distinct areas for analysis, in reality the demand chain and the supply chain must be harmonious, especially at the point of achieving theValue Proposition(refer to Figure 1.1 on page 19 of the Walters and Rainbird (2007) textbook for an illustration).

Required Reference Materials

For this discussion assignment it is required thatat leasttwo resources from our Unit 2 reading be applied and cited, both within the response and at the end of the response (using APA formatting).

The main purpose of this discussion assignment is to demonstrate an understanding of a demand chain, in the student’s own words and by applying and citing relevant supportive references. The response should be based upon the student’s experience and the knowledge gained from reading Unit 2’s assigned reading. The content should include:

1. An explanation of a demand chain
2. An identification of the constituent parts of a demand chain
3. Why a business should understand the constituent parts of their demand chain
4. A description of how a demand chain is created
5. A description of how a demand chain can be beneficially used
6. An example of a demand chain
   1. Choose a Fortune 500 company (not on the GB570 project list) and describe its demand chain.
7. The description should be supported by at least two applied and cited references from the Unit 2 reading materials. Additionally cite any other references used when creating the response and apply APA style and formatting.

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The Unit 2 Project Discussion involves everyone in the class. You will post your choice of the company you will analyze and assess. Select one company from a predefined list of choices as described in the file below. In this discussion, you will share information; about yourchoice and about the potential resources that might be used to achieve requirements described in the Unit 4 Individual Project Paper: Value Chain Analysis, and the Unit 5 Individual Project Presentation: Value Chain Assessment.

The specific requirements for this Unit 2 Project Discussion arelisted here.In Unit 6, we will reconvene to review our Unit 5 assessment presentation and to bring closure to our Value Chain Analysis and Assessment adventure.