Shell Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shell Canada - Essay Example The company specializes in the production and sale of a number of products including natural gas, crude oil, solvents, diesel fuels, gas, ethane, butane, asphalts, propane, lubricating oils, greases, sulphur, gasoline and natural gas liquids, just to name but a few. Shell also provides a number of services which include refining, marketing, and transporting petroleum products (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). Value chain Shell’s value chain refers to all the activities that take place in the company with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction while managing cost of production effectively. In this regard, Shell has three key value chain components, including fuel supply, customer support, and maintenance. As such, once the petroleum products have been produced, Shell ensures that they are transported to the customers efficiently and timely. In addition, the company has an efficient customer support team whose mandate is to ensure that customer’s demands are met. The maintenance component of Shell’s value chain is concerned with ensuring that the plant and transport facilities are in good condition to enhance the production and supply of products to the customers (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). Competitors Shell Canada operates in a very competitive business environment. In fact, most of its strategies are aimed at ensuring that it competes favorably with other players in the industry. Currently, Shell Canada has three major competitors, which include Imperial Oil Limited, Suncor Energy Inc., and Canadian Natural Resources Limited. This company poses the greatest threat to Shell Canada in the oil industry (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). ... ive strategy The management of Shell Canada understands that, for the company to gain competitive advantage of its main rivals, it must improve the quality of product and service delivery to its customers. In this regard, the company focuses on the production of quality petroleum products that suit the needs of its customers. The company has also focused on the delivery of best customer service by establishing a customer support department that handles all customer queries and problems. In addition, the company intends to have a wide outreach by exploring and producing petroleum products in other countries. This will help increase its customer base, thereby according it a competitive advantage over its rivals. Further, the company is in the process of designing the most modern technology that will enable it conduct deep-sea exploration as a means of moving ahead of its competitors. At the same time, Shell intends to adopt a technology that will enable the company produces petroleum i n an environmental friendly manner. The company believes that reducing environmental pollution will enable it explore several markets without resistance from the governments and the locals (Shell Canada Limited, 2007). Q#2. The world has experienced rapid technological advancements over the past few decades. The new technological have had a huge impact in most business operations. In fact, no single company can compete favorably in the present business environment without the integration of technology. The same applies to Shell Canada, whose competitiveness depends on how well it introduces and uses technology. Currently, Shell can benefit significantly by introducing a number of technologies in its business operations. ERP Firstly, the implementation of ERP technology can be of huge