Additional information
by William D. Presutti (Author)
In his 1985 book, Competitive Advantage, Michael Porter introduced the concept of the value chain and described it as "a systematic way of examining all activities a firm performs and how they interact, (necessary) for analyzing the sources of competitive advantage," and introduced the idea of "linkages," which was the real breakthrough in management thinking. Thinking of a firm as a series of horizontal and vertical linkages put the spotlight on the silo mentality within which firms operated and how business schools structured curriculum. The silo mentality caused business students unable to see the firm as a holistic entity, an understanding of how all of its parts fit together to develop competitive advantage. Students graduating with a silo mentality perpetuated the silo mentality in business firms. This book draws together existing knowledge to help facilitate the shift of mind necessary to effectively manage the value chain, and introduces a new conception of the value chain, one that has been copyrighted (2006) and provides a new perspective of the value chain commensurate with the demands of the 21st-century global economy.
Author Biography
William D. Presutti, Jr., PhD, CPM, is adjunct professor of supply chain management in the Palumbo-Donahue School, Duquesne University. He earned his undergraduate degree from Duquesne, a Master's in Economics from Northeastern University, and a PhD from Carnegie-Mellon University. He founded Duquesne's Supply Chain Management program in 1991 and codeveloped the MBA-level course in Value Chain Management, which he has taught to over 300 students in the past 10 years. He is the author or coauthor of 14 peer-reviewed publications that address many of the elements of value chain management.
