An analysis of porters value chain

To analyse the specific activities through which firms can gain a competitive advantage, it is useful to model the firm as a chain of value creating activities. For this purpose, Porter identified a range of interrelated generic activities common to a wide range of firms. The resulting model is known as the value chain. According to Porter (1985), " Competitive Advantage arises out of the way firms organise and arrange discrete activities". Through using the Value Chain, …

…be beneficial to outsource the activity to remain flexible and avoid the risk of investing in specialised assets. 4.<Tab/>Will outsourcing result in business process improvements e.g. reduced lead-time, reduced inventory, increased flexibility etc. Bank of Ireland have recently outsourced their I.T department to Hewlett Packard as they realised they did not have a competitive advantage in this area and it would be undertaken more efficiently by another company.