Managing a borderless value chain : the case of Symbian and Intel

Overview of Value Chain Analysis: Exchange between firms is central to the study of business ? to ? business marketing. Firms perform activities to facilitate these exchanges, principally resources, en route to developing their competitive advantages, in turn creating a basis for differentiation. Activities performed may be product design, sales and marketing, logistics or after - sales support and resources exchanged may include technological, material, knowledge and financial capital. A systematic way of examining the production and procurement of these activities and resources, and hence, how a firm develops its competitive advantage, is through the use of value chain analysis. The analysis focuses on the firm?s operational efficiency, where efficiency meant adding value through the processes. The model therefore has a product or production centric view, aimed at creating efficiencies within and between enterprises. Firms in the value chain view their operations as an extension of their enterprise, collaborating with each other but with each developing their own, specific core competency. There is therefore clear identification of who does what to whom and when in the value chain, in order to facilitate these exchanges.