SUPPLY CHAIN COMO UM FATOR DE GERAÇÃO DE VALOR: UMA APLICAÇÃO DO CONCEITO DE EVA

The direct channels of distribution growth is demanding new strategies and different management practices and supply chain logistics. These strategies will be characterized by agility, reliability, quality, cost, flexibility and integration of resources, due to the increase of assets on the one hand, and by cost reductions on the other. The globalization and deregulation of the Latin American economy provide new business opportunities and business alternatives for strengthening its position in markets. These changes, arising from external factors cause impact on the supply chain, changes in organizational structures and influence in generating value for shareholders. In the stores of the future, for example, the retailer will be able to control the entire supply chain through the integrated management of the business. By collecting data through radio frequency, one will be able to check claims upon receipt of the goods with the vendor, carry out inventories, check prices on the shelves and automate warehouse operations more quickly and safely. In this competitive and dynamic environment which proposes to meet the growing demands of customers, it is necessary to reduce development cycles and improve the quality of products and services. At the same time, it is necessary to cut costs, increase net income and, consequently add value to the customer and company. It is clearly not an easy task. By creating a demand, production and distribution planning, even a minimal error can cause costly consequences. What if, suddenly, the market trend changes or a link on the supply chain does not function efficiently, it is important that one can view and act without delay. For companies that have a multidimensional and updated global market overview, it is not enough in this hostile environment to establish efficiency and rapid response capabilities in just one of its companies in a given country, but in its totality and in the various countries where they are located. It is necessary to monitor thousands of points of data collection and to be positioned to act quickly and efficiently throughout the supply chain, coordinating activities of various industrial segments, people and processes, matching supply with demand and switch without interrupting the plans of the supply chain for the effective execution of the corresponding tasks. In a supply chain management, activities such as converting in real time a vast amount of data from multiple sources into meaningful information and allowing the simulation of strategies and tactics in a commercial environment that is highly dynamic, remain vital if the company intends to meet market and avoid a costly increase in stock. One must make continuous adjustments on strategic planning and make the best use of its fixed assets, adjusting supply and demand, defining the limits of target markets, distribution, transportation, production and raw materials. This means making realistic and trustworthy plans that take into account the ability of one's company's resources and its trading partners, with results such as inventory reduction, better utilization of fixed assets, improvement in customer service, accurate generation of programs for efficient production, possibility to check the availability of raw materials and components in distribution centers, production plant and storage sites in different levels, through multiple systems simultaneously. It is a continuing effort to make the company more effective as a whole. Administrators need to have measures or indicators of tendencies to synchronize the elements of the supply chain to reduce costs, increase profitability, while part of the larger goal of continuous improvement of products and services available to customers. Measure is important: "What is not measured is not managed," said Kaplan & Norton (1997). The indicator system strongly affects the behavior of people inside and outside the company. If companies want to survive and thrive in the information age, they must use management systems and performance measurement derived from their strategies and capabilities. Currently, the financial performance of business units achieves a high level of sophistication. However, many analysts have criticized the extensive use of financial measures in business. In practice excessive emphasis on achievement and maintenance of short-term financial results can lead firms to invest too much on quick and superficial fixes at the expense of creating long-term value, particularly in intangible and intellectual assets which supports the future growth. Inevitably, when executives are pressured to produce an excellent financial performance in the short term, choices are made that limit the search for investments in growth opportunities. The risk is the pressure for financial performance in the short term, it can lead companies to reduce investment in product development, process improvement, human resource development, information technology, databases and systems, and the development of clients and markets. In the short term, the financial accounting model combines spending cuts with profitability increases, even when reductions "cannibalize" the assets reserve of a company and its ability to create future economic value. In addition, a company could maximize its financial results in the short term, serving customers with high prices and poor quality of services. These actions increase reported profits but infidelity and dissatisfied customers will make the company highly vulnerable to competition attacks. The financial measures alone are inadequate to guide and assess the organizational career in competitive environments, when only part of the past actions are showed and don't provide adequate guidance to the actions which should be performed today and tomorrow to create future financial value. Recognizing that financial goals are interdependent, a company learns quickly that a change in one of the goals requires a compensatory adjustment (trade-off) at some point in the revenue-expenditure equation. Depending on where the change comes from and which aspects stimulate or dominate the system of financial goals, academics and executives believe that shareholder wealth and the return on investment are the most important company priorities. As a rule, in a competitive and globalized market the priorities are dictated by customer needs. Therefore, customers are crucial to any enterprise strategy and affect the productive or financial systems to any changes made. This article shows the impact factors of competitive performance in supply chain management, aiming to increase the generation of shareholder value, measured by the concept of Economic Value Added (EVA ®) and Market Value Added (MVA), developed by the American consulting firm Stern Stewart, with the brand since 1992.