Strategic Value Chain Analysis

Strategic value chain analysis disaggregates a firm into the discrete activities through which it designs, produces, markets, delivers, and supports its product, in order to locate the sources of cost advantage and differentiation that underlie competitive advantage. The framework is Michael Porter's, introduced in his 1985 Competitive Advantage, where he divides the firm's activities into five primary categories — inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service — and four support categories — firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development, and procurement — with margin as the difference between total value created and total cost. Porter argued that competitive advantage cannot be understood by looking at the firm as a whole but must be traced to the way particular activities are performed and linked. The analysis extends outward to the value system linking suppliers, the firm, channels, and buyers.