The structure and working of the supply chain management

ABSTRACTTHE STRUCTURE and WORKING of the SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENTIşıl Fatma KARASUBusiness Administration DepartmentAnadolu University Institute of Social Sciences, May 2006Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mehmet ŞAH NIn recent years, companies get affected by the fascinating changes coming outwith globalization and have to adapt themselves to these changes in order not to loosetheir competitiveness.Under these conditions, effectice Supply Chain Management offers significantbenefits to the companies. Companies processes are being revised in line with theimprovements in information Technologies during the last year. However, companieshaven?t been comprehended the fundamental dimensions of the Supply ChainManagement.Today, the strategic importance of the cooperation with suppliers and customersin the supply chain is widely accepted. The fact that information sharing and supplychain integration will minimize the risks caused by uncertainty is considered as acommon opinion related to the establishment of strategic relationships and therealization of cooperation among supply chain partners. Therefore, competitiveadvantage and performance improvement are the two underlying factors of the adoptionof the Supply Chain Management as a management strategy. Information technologyplays a key role in this field where information sharing is a critical factor.Starting out from this point to examine the integration of the structure andworking of the Supply Chain Management. Supply Chain Management is investigatedand Supply Chain Management is analysed as a sample model, operating in Turkey.