Darden Restaurants (subject of the Global Company Profile at the beginning of this chapter), owner of popular brands such as Olive Garden and Red Lobster, requires unique supply chains to serve more than 300 million meals annually. Darden’s strategy is operations excellence, and Senior VP Jim Lawrence’s task is to ensure competitive advantage via Darden’s supply chains. For a firm with purchases exceeding $1.5 billion, managing the supply chains is a complex and challenging cask.

Discussion Questions
1. What are the advantages of each of Darden’s four supply chains?
2. What are the complications of having four supply chains?
3. Where would you expect ownership/title to change in each of Darden’s four supply chains?
4. How do Darden's four supply chains compare with those of other firms, such as Dell or an automobile manufacturer? Why do the differences exist, and how are they addressed?