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Case Study

Philips Japan (A)

By Carlos Cordon and Luis Vivanco

3 pages

November 2011

Reference: IMD-6-0333

In the aftermath of the earthquake and ensuing tsunami and nuclear crisis that hit north eastern Japan, Philips created a special purpose team with full responsibility to manage a small but critical cluster of suppliers based in the affected area. The crisis team is made up of purchasing and supply chain management people from all three Philips sectors — consumer, lighting and healthcare — and has been given prescriptive power over all three. Its purpose is to ascertain the continuity of the supply of components to keep the lines running, as well as to assess where an impact on the business is likely to occur.

Learning Objective

The case illustrates a situation in which the normal way of doing business and managing a supply chain has been suspended due to a black swan event (an unexpected scenario of large magnitude and consequence). Participants are provided with an initial assessment of the risks and priorities of the company in such an environment and are asked to assess further potential repercussions, to define operational priorities and the main procedures that need to be established if the team is going to meet its objectives.

Keywords

Supply Chain Management, Crisis Management, Sole Sourcing, Electronics, Medical Equipment, Production Management, Operations Management, Operations

Settings

World/global, Japan
Philips
March-June 2011

Available Languages

English

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This case study is part of a series

Philips Japan (A)
Philips Japan (B)

This case study is part of a series

Philips Japan (A)
Philips Japan (B)

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