International Journal of Value Chain Management

Today"s businesses have become extremely complex. The interplay of the three Cs, viz. consumers, competition and convergence, has thrown up new challenges for organisations all over the world. Sensitivity of economies to the external environment coupled with the turbulent process of globalisation has added the highest degree of uncertainty and unpredictability to business processes. To top it all, the effect of globalisation has shifted the balance of power in favour of the customer, though it may have opened a plethora of opportunities for all, in the form of variety and choice. For a variety of reasons, the pressures of competitive forces have enhanced product changes, supercharged by shortening product and technology development lifecycles.