IntroductionIn 1913, Henry Ford designed and implemented a new strategy to meet the needs of his customers by revolutionizing the automobile industry and manufacturing processes. By September 1927, Ford had transformed every step of the manufacturing process, from the refining of raw materials to the final assembly of the automobile, which significantly reduced the assembly time per vehicle, thereby reducing costs, while increasing productivity (AAM, 2003). Managing and innovating productivity while understanding business core competencies are just one way operations management delivers competitive advantage and differentiation advantage. Since Henry Ford's innovative processes, many business strategy models have been designed to give customers more value in their purchases of goods or services. The value chain is the latest proven strategic model that consists of a sequence of activities that create and create value while improving an organization's positioning relative to its competitors (Robbins & Coulter, 2012). Croc's, Inc., an innovative footwear retail company established in 2003, integrated a value chain strategy that had a dramatic effect on market demand and contributed to a dramatic increase in revenue. The purpose of this article is to analyze Croc's value chain strategy and how vertical integration is used to combine the assembly and distribution process under one ownership (Khoi, 2007). Value Chain Strategy As a new company, Croc's management understood that success in footwear is based on customer requirements and driven by demand. The main product sold by Croc's is shoes made from a closed cell resin called Croslite and provides the wearer with high comfort and...... middle of paper ......09/11/ 30/vertical -integration-the-pendulum-swings-back.htmlHoyt, D. and Silverman, A. (2008). Crocs: Revolutionizing an industry's supply chain model for competitive advantage. [Case study]. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Graduate School of Business Khoi, L. (October 2007). Vertical integration as alternative governance. Retrieved from http://webh01.ua.ac.be/cas/PDF/CAS55.pdfQuickMBA. (1999). The value chain. Retrieved from http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/value-chain/Robbins, TP and Coulter, M. (2012). Management. (11th ed., pp. 516-526). Prentice Hall. Thompson, J. (April 5, 2011). Fantastic plastic: the crocodile goes back. Retrieved November 24, 2011 from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/plastic-fantastic-the-croc-snaps-back-2262599.html