1. What are the advantages and disadvantages to a firm having a small number of suppliers?

The advantage of a smaller number of suppliers is that a closer relationship can be built with your suppliers. This can lead to long-term relationships, trust, information sharing, and exploiting the individual strengths of the organizations. However, by having fewer suppliers, the risk of something occurring to your source of
an item is increased because of a lack of redundancy.

2. What would be the different steps or elements in a supply chain for a service? Give an example.

Generally, the supply chain is shorter since there is very little, if any, raw material or component parts.

3. How has technology accelerated the trend toward disintermediation?

Better communications allows the gap to close between suppliers and customers regardless of their location in the world.

4. What are the main differences between having a vendor’s employees working in your manufacturing operation and you haring your own employees to do the same work?

The vendor’s employees have direct access to the vendor’s database and can provide the needed information in a shorter period of time.

5. Identify all of the steps in the supply chain for a hamburger that you buy at McDonald’s. How might this supply chain differ for a McDonald’s located in a developing country?

The steps would be growing of the food and manufacture of paper product (wrappers, etc.) to processing of the food, to distribution to the stores, to the customer. The availability of certain foods in developing countries could alter this system.