The term "value chain" involves the orderly progression of activities that allows managers to develop profitable strategies and coordinate operations with suppliers and customers. Using examples from the telecommunications, pharmaceutical, steel and automobile industries, argues for a more complex view of value - ". Values grid" that which presents the Grid approach allows firms to go beyond their lines of industry to identify opportunities and threats. This encourages managers to understand the balance of power between suppliers and manufacturers. New ways to value can be vertical (as firms explore up and down the river from the adjacent levels of the value chain), horizontal (as firms identify opportunities to cover similar levels in several value chains), and even diagonally (as firms appear to be more integratively the entire value chain and level for prospects to improve performance and reduce the risk). "Hide
by Frits K. Pil, Matthias Holweg Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 11 pages. Publication Date: July 13, 2006. Prod. #: SMR216-PDF-ENG
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