Value chain analysis of Microsoft

The main purpose of this assignment is to assess a value chain for its effectiveness. The intent is to assess the outcome of the value chain analysis completed in unit 4.
Assessing a value chain offers management the means to evaluate existing and new strategic opportunities. Completing an assessment of a value chain analysis provides insights into how opportunities might be pursued while identifying potential problems to be addressed. The point of the assessment is to identify optimal solutions, i.e., solutions acceptable to customers, suppliers, employees and investors.
Because value is derived from customer needs, activities that do not contribute to meet these needs are considered non-value added waste. One requirement when assessing a value chain is considering the tasks and functions that occur to eliminate any non-value added waste. By streamlining the processes that generate the goods and services that customers value, fewer resources need to be expended and the margins between customer value and the cost of delivery increase thereby improving a firm's profit margin. One of the requirements in this assignment is to identify non-value added waste in the value chain and recommend how to eliminate it from the value chain
Another objective when assessing a value chain is to extend the competitive advantage of the value delivery system, not merely to meet levels of competitive necessity. By addressing specific value drivers, it becomes possible to target added value towards surpassing specific customer expectations.
Using the outline below as your guide, prepare a 10-12 slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation; (not including Title slide, List of Contents slide, or References slides). Use the main slide area for the main points and the notes section for elaboration and application and citation of at least five relevant and respected supportive references. Not only is this presentation a graded Dropbox assignment, it will also be shared with the class as an attachment to your main discussion response in the Unit 6 Value Chain Assessment Discussion.
Here is a possible outline to address the requirements of the Value Chain Assessment presentation:
Slide 1: Title slide
Slide 2: List of Presentation's Contents
Slide 3: Introduction (state the purpose of presentation)
Slides 4 -5: Recap the Value Chain Analysis (from the Unit 4 paper)
Slide 6: Recommend how to eliminate waste in the value chain
Slide 7: Statement of your determination if the Value Chain is effective at this time
Slides 8-10 – Defend your determination of effectiveness of the value chain by including an assessment of the Value Chain's components
Slides 11-12 – Recommendations and suggestions for improvement to a future Value Chain
Slide 13: Summary slide – Recap of the presentation
Slide 14: References