value chain

3月28日付のThe Japan Timesのhead Lineに "Hon Hai firms to acquire top Sharp stake" とありました。　SharpはPanasonic, Sonyに続き今期大きな赤字を計上しそうです。　予想では2,900億円の赤字で日本の家電メーカーは韓国を始めとするアジア勢の攻勢および円高の影響をもろに受けているというところです。

Hon Hai自身およびそのGroup企業はSharpの新規株を引き受け筆頭株主になるということです

その記事の抜粋：

To provide attractive products quickly to global markets, "it is important to change the business model and establish a system to compete in the global market," said Takashi Okuda, Sharp's executive managing officer who will assume the presidency next month.

"Sharp has technologies to produce (unique) products," but the company, despite its strengths, has been struggling to appeal to consumers in the global marketplace in recent years due to the yen's strength and other outside factors, Okuda said.

"In order to solve these problems, it is crucial that we have cooperation within the value chain rather than managing everything by Sharp," he added.

ここでvalue chainを調べてみました。  英和辞典では「価値連鎖」とあります。　詳しくはWikipediaを参照　=> http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%90%E3%83%AA%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%81%E3%82%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3

ここでは主活動は支援活動の各活動エリアととらえればいいかと思います