Premium Essay

Northwest Company Case Analysis

In:

Submitted By prudente
Words 1412
Pages 6
North West Company Case Analysis

Barry McLeod, Director of Procurement & Marketing
Ken Claudel, VP of Logistics & Supply Chain

Issue Identification
Barry McLeod is currently faced with the decision to recommend a supply chain strategy to Ken Claudel as to whether or not implement localization at North West. This is a pull stategy approach as opposed to their current push model.
North West is facing low inventory turns which is affecting their inventory costs and warehousing costs. They lack accuracy in forecasting and have long lead times for most of their products and especially in their more remote store locations.
Barry needs to decide to implement localization or not, and if not, then have a plan B in mind for how to address the issues listed above.

Environmental & Root Analysis:
Category Management * Winnipeg Category Managers analyze trends, place orders and allocate products to stores. They are disconnected from customers and what their preferences are. * POs submitted at least 4 months in advance of popular selling periods * Category managers worked with store managers to review the previous year’s lineup, order and actual sales * Historical averages and next year’s forecasted growth, estimate demand at company level. Not done at the store level, there are large differences between consumer preferences in Alberta and Yellowknife. * General merchandise category: non-food, home furnishing, apparel, footwear, luggage… Too wide of a category. How can a manager really know in depth each of these? They are not even related items. Impossible to forecast company wide needs on these, without breaking it down to store level, especially when North West stores are so spread thin across the country, including very remote locations.
Transportation
* Products arrived at warehouse 2 months prior to selling period. Inventory

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Starbucks-Delivering Customer Service

...Operations Management – Team Case Study Analysis Raghuvarma Pasupuleti Narasimha Vangari BUSM5463 Dr. Larry A. Walker Northwest University-Kirkland Author Note Raghuvarma Pasupuleti, MBA College of Business Management, Northwest University. This research was written in context with the Operations Management course within the MBA program at Northwest University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Raghuvarma Pasupuleti, MBA Program, Northwest University Kirkland WA 98033. Contact: r.pasupuleti15@northwestu.edu Team Case Study Analysis Starbucks – Delivering Customer Service Starbucks – one of the fastest developing companies has its objective to be the “most recognized and respected brand in the world “. The company has built its position in the market by envisioning and creating “third place” beside home and work, where people could go to relax and enjoy others, or just be by themselves. Living up to the long term vision of founder Howard Schultz, who inspired the company to make the customer as the center of its success, company has become the giant of the coffee world. This success can be attributed to Schultz commitment who changed the coffee drinking experience in the U.S. With core values towards presenting quality coffee, atmosphere, and the best...

Words: 1575 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Northwest Airlines

...Sub : Northwest Airlines and the Detroit Snowstorm Analysis in January’1999. ------------------------------------------------- Date : March 17, 2014 The incident involving the Detroit snowstorm and Northwest Airlines is the quintessential of a failure to deliver a “Now you're flying smart" experience for our travelers. The course of events detail the experience of travelers, mis-calculated decisions by the ground staff and the lack of an effective emergency response plan that should have been implemented to provide the promise of delivering passengers from point A to point B. The “act of god” and the associated repercussions in this case could have been managed and avoided with the following recommendations: a. The passengers aboard the NW 1829 to Detroit had already been through the agony of a layover in Tampa, FL. (The experience involved waiting in long lines to check-in and eat at the buffets at the selected layover hotels.) This was coupled with an all over the place approach to accommodate their not too smooth transition to the next flight. After reaching their hotels at midnight, the passengers were made to arrive at the airport by 05.30 am for a flight that eventually took off only at 11.00 am. Recommendation: A probable solution in the case above could have been having adequate staff to manage the experience of the passengers at the hotel and answer queries related to the delay. If the consumers were made aware that their concerns were being handled, they would...

Words: 1602 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

7031

...Contents 1. The reasons for the cost analysis 1 2. The strengths and weaknesses of ABC 2 2.1 Strengths of ABC 2 2.2 Weaknesses of ABC 3 3. Comments of giving opportunity to municipal employees to reduce costs 4 4. Calculation of union’s bids 5 4.1 Unit Cost 5 4.2 Quantity 7 4.3 Total Bid 9 5. The problem and advice for management 10 The reasons for the cost analysis The Indianapolis government decides to privatize some of its public services. Although not all the government services are suitable for private sectors (such as police), for many services, competitive market powers can make them do things more efficiently and cost-saving than public sectors. Therefore privatizing government services is a good tool for the improvement of public service. A cost analysis is necessary before the privatizing process. Before the reformation, the government did not have a specific cost system based on different activities so nothing can be measured. For a particular government service, the managers cannot measure its cost. The lack of cost data can lead to serious problems. One is no plans. As the managers do not have historical data, they cannot make any development or maintenance plans. They just follow the same things they did last year and require a fixed amount of greater budget. As a consequence, they have been using the old plans which were from many years ago. If government has no clear plans for future development, it cannot privatize any services...

Words: 2746 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Verizon Mci Acquisition

...Battle” Case Analysis Attached is an analysis of “The MCI Takeover Battle: Verizon versus Qwest” I. STRATEGIC PROFILE This case profiles MCI’s merger debate between Verizon and Qwest in 2005. At this time, many other companies are merging due to the industry consolidation, therefore forcing MCI to keep up with its competition. MCI was acquired after a bidding war between WorldCom, British Telecom and GTE, with the winning bid being a $37 billion offer from WorldCom. MCI-WorldCom then acquired many other communication companies excluding Sprint due to a U.S. Justice Department ruling. WorldCom operated throughout its filing of bankruptcy, resulting with MCI being not only the surviving company, but one of the most extensive networks in the world. After posting losses in 2004, MCI must undergo a strategic process in which to choose the better bid, Verizon or Qwest, in order to stay on top of the industry. II. SITUATION ANALYSIS Many general environmental trends are effecting Verizon, Qwest, and the communications industry as a whole. The always changing technological needs are shifting from landlines to wireless, where Verizon has seen about one in five people using their wireless phones as their primary forms of communication. However, Qwest is still generating a strong majority of its revenue from their wireline segment, and will therefore have to eventually undergo the process of shifting to wireless. Demographics also play a large role in the success of a company. While...

Words: 1276 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

United Airlines

...United Airlines vs. Delta Airlines Ushma S. Patel 3/31/2013 Ushma821@gmail.com Work Cited 1. Introduction 3 2. United Airlines vs Delta Airlines 4 3. The Four-Frame Model 8 4. SWOT Analysis- United Airlines 12 5. SWOT Analysis- Delta Airlines 14 6. Analysis 15 7. Recommedations 16 8. Work Cited 17 INTRODUCTION In evaluating two companies who have had to restructure their business models to evolve to changing times I choose United Airlines and Delta Airlines. Both companies filled for bankruptcy in the early 2000’s and since then have nursed their company back to health and to becoming the industries leaders for airlines. I choose these two airlines because I frequently use them to travel. My family are also huge travelers and I spend a lot of time looking for the best deals for them. United Airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and would become the longest case in the United States lasting until 2006. The airline was able to get their reorganization plan approved by the United States government by restructuring their management plan. In the restructure they also changed how their bonus plan was organized for successful executives. They also had to evaluate their employee’s efficiency while on the clock. They were able to reduce their workforce from 100,000 employees to half of that. Finally the airline had to revaluate the routes they were taking and then see which ones...

Words: 2958 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

Texas Air

...Case analysis Texas Air, Inc. I. Main Problem * Pricing Strategy Sub problem: * Late departures * Poor service and safety II. Objectives * To defend its price leadership over its competitors in the airline industry. * To amend its pricing strategy to avoid massive losses. * To shun being the lowest rank out of fourteen major airline in its evaluation on time arrival. * To improve service and safety of the Texas Air Inc. III. SWOT analysis Strengths * Price leadership * Largest airline system * High number of established, high frequency discount rates Weaknesses * Poor service and safety * Ultra low-fares Opportunities * Growth and expansion * partnership Threats * Competition * Passengers complaints IV. Alternative Course s of Actions (ACAs) ACA1. Texas Air Inc. will now be increasing its price by 30%. Expect high quality service would be given to its consumers. ACA2. Set aside pricing philosophy Peanut and MaxSaver fares. V. Recommendation We decided to adapt ACA1 because this can be better strategic move for the Texas Air Inc. In this strategy, they can avoid passenger’s complaints such as late departures, canceled flights and dirty planes. We believe that they can give their passengers a high quality services. VI. Marketing Strategy Executive Summary: Early in 1987, Texas Air bought Eastern Airlines and the financially troubled People Express. Texas merged Continental, New York...

Words: 1014 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Interclean Benchmarking

...Benchmarking Today's organizations thrive on benchmarking to find best practices or solutions to a company's problems through outside industries or companies. This paper highlights some of those issues focusing on how other companies have implemented plans to handle those issues. The issues facing InterClean highlighted in this analysis are human resource philosophy, employee retention, mergers and acquisitions, human resources product handling and servicing. Benchmarking was conducted to evaluate how other companies had handled situations similar to those of Interclean. Outside companies evaluated for comparison come from the mortgage industry, pharmaceutical industry, oil industry, specialty eatery industry, technology industry, airlines industry, chemical industry, insurance industry, and home improvement retail industry. The companies evaluated in this paper were Guardian First Funding Group, Trinity-Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, BP Amoco, Starbucks, Google, Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines, Rohm and Haas Company, Liberty Mutual Holding Company, Pepsico, and LOWE’s. Evaluation of these companies showed several concepts used in handling the issues and how the companies used these concepts. Situational Analysis Retaining Employees Guardian First Funding Group - Guardian First Funding Group (GFFG) is a mortgage company exclusively involved in the reverse mortgage business. They have been selling reverse mortgages for a little more than a year now. In this time, GFFG has...

Words: 4333 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Accounting

...traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1997. In its 2005 annual report, China Eastern Airlines presents two sets of financial statements: one prepared under People’s Republic of China accounting regulations, and a second set prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards. In addition, as a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange, China Eastern Airlines files Form 20-F with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This filing includes a limited reconciliation of net income and net assets from International Financial Reporting Standards to United States’ generally accepted accounting principles. Your job is to examine these financial statements, explore any differences noted between each of the financial statements and U.S. GAAP, and highlight some issues to be included in a financial analysis of China Eastern Airlines for possible inclusion in an investment portfolio. W INTRODUCTION alt Gregory is a junior portfolio analyst at Chartgood, a portfolio manager for several major mutual funds. Susan Bedell, the portfolio manager, just informed Walt that one of the funds she managed, the Global Horizon Fund, was considering adding one company from the People’s Republic of China to its portfolio. She asked Walt to investigate Chinese airlines, since airlines were under-represented in this particular international portfolio. She felt that with the People’s Republic of China’s recent accession to the World Trade Organization and their selection as host...

Words: 9328 - Pages: 38

Free Essay

Home

...Market Analysis Summary There is tremendous potential for a product that provides supervisors and parents with the control to monitor and encourage hand washing. Considering the large scope of our potential markets, we feel it is imperative to focus our limited resources on a particular geographic region where we can establish demand for our product. After successful market penetration, we will begin  implementation into the restaurant and hospital markets. Market Segmentation SAFEassure's first product line addresses the day care market. CHILDassure will first be introduced in the Portland, OR area, before sequential expansion to additional day care markets. There are currently 516 day care facilities in the Portland Metro area. After successful implementation in Portland, we will begin expansion into the greater Northwest. There are 3,414 day care facilities in the greater Northwest. Successful penetration into the day care market will be followed by implementation into the restaurant and hospital markets. There are currently 19,362 restaurants in the Northwest, followed by health care services, which includes 23,108 organizations in the Northwest. Industry Analysis The Industrial and Institutional soap industry, of which we are a part, is quite fragmented, but contains several well known main competitors: Gojo, Kimberley Clark, Dial, Provon, and SoftSoap, as well as generic brands that provide to distributors like Massco and Sysco. The industry is stable and growing;...

Words: 1629 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Antitrust Matters

...open market. The first anti-trust laws have emerged in the United States at the end of 19th century: some companies were so powerful that they had a monopoly or quasi-monopoly in the sector. Companies like Standard Oil and American Tobacco have been dismantled through anti-trust laws. In addition, the antitrust laws prohibit price fixing between competitors. In 1934, Boeing became a large enterprise, producing aircraft engines, carrying mail, dealing with airports and ensuring many airlines. But under pressure from anti-trust law prohibiting manufacturers to operate airlines, its creators sold their holdings and "United Aircraft and Transport" got divided into three entities: * United Airlines responsible for air transport * United Aircraft responsible for manufacturing in the East * Boeing Airplane Company responsible for manufacturing in Western countries. United Aircraft and Transport Corporation is a vertically integrated group, present in all sectors of aviation. In 1934, an anti-trust law is to separate aircraft manufacturers companies carrying mail, and forces the company to split into three entities, * United Air Lines in 2011, which is the largest airline in the world * United Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, which later became the United Technologies Corporation * Boeing Airplane Company, which became in 1941 The Boeing Company. Case example of Air France / KLM In September 2003, it was announced by Air France and KLM that they would merge...

Words: 997 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Managerial Economics- Term Paper

...protection. Timber harvesting restrictions have the effect of curtailing the supply of lumber available for the market. In the case of harvesting restrictions related to the protection of spotted owl habitat, most of the timber affected is softwood lumber used extensively in the construction of houses. When the supply of lumber is restricted with no corresponding curtailment of demand, supply and demand analysis predicts that lumber prices will increase in the short run. This analysis, however, is very narrow and does not take into consideration the impacts of alternative sources of the product or substitutes for the product (Janigan, 2002). In the case of softwood lumber used in the construction of houses, there are few viable substitutes. There is, however, for homebuilders in the United States a reliable alternative source of softwood lumber. The alternative source is Canada. Therefore, while curtailing the harvesting of softwood lumber in the Pacific Northwest did lead to a reduction in the domestically produced supply of softwood lumber in the United States, the action did not lead to an immediate reduction in the overall supply of softwood lumber because lumber suppliers in Canada made up the difference. As a consequence, prices for softwood lumber did not change at once because of the timber harvesting curtailment (Janigan, 2002). The lumber companies in the United States, however, pressured the federal government of the United...

Words: 306 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Srategie Managment

...CASE STUDY Monday 21th November 2011 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Charles LUMBERS Case study: Wells Fargo 1 Established in 1852, Wells Fargo is the oldest operating bank in the US. The bank is currently the fourth largest bank in the United States. The success of Wells Fargo lies within its remarkable strategy and competent management, which have allowed the bank to grow and diversify in ways that their competitors could only dream. The bank went through several changes, with over 1500 mergers and acquisitions. The most important merger was with Northwest Corporation, a merger, which is at the foundation of Wells Fargo as it operates today. It is clear that the underlying reason of the merger was management’s ability to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their respective banks, while foreseeing the complementary benefit their respective skill-sets could provide. Indeed, the merger brought together two halves and through the effects of synergy, it surpassed the potential of the separate halves. The story of Wells Fargo is full of similar cases in which the ability of strategic thinking and competent management laid the groundwork for what is now one of the most respectable banks in the US. This paper will analyse key strategic factors and competencies, which have resulted in the success of the bank. It will examine the bank through an analysis of their business environment, strategic capabilities and sources of sustainable corporate advantage. The analysis will...

Words: 3211 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Organizational Analysis

...target markets; and (f) methods of product and service delivery. History This section describes the history of Delta. The company was founded in Macon, Georgia, in 1924, as the world’s first crop-dusting service, Huff-Daland Dusters. The company moved to Monroe, Louisiana, in 1925. In 1928, field manager C. E. Woolman and two partners purchased the service and renamed it Delta Air Service after the Mississippi Delta region it served. Delta was the first international mail and passenger route on the west coast of South America. Delta operated its first passenger flights over route stretching from Dallas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi, via Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. Also, Delta was awarded a US Postal Service contract in 1934 to fly from Fort Worth to Charleston via Atlanta (Hoover’s, 2011). In 1941, Delta relocated to Atlanta. Woolman became the president in 1945 and he managed the company until his death in 1966 (Delta, 2011). Delta offered its first night service in 1935, using the Stinson Model A; the first Delta aircraft with two pilots. Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 service was introduced and the introduction of flight attendants, called “stewardesses,” added to flight crews. Delta contributed to the war effort by modifying 1,000 plus aircraft, over-hauling engines and instruments and training Army pilots and mechanics. The company was recognized in 1945 by the National Safety Council, for more than 300 million passenger miles and 10 years of flights without...

Words: 7453 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Case Study

...Analysis of Ethical Corporate Culture between 2013 and 2015 Group 6: Michelle Delgado Lok Sum Lydia Fung Chau Nguyen ACCT 415 Dr. James Gong 5/14/2015 Executive Summary In business, leaders, managers, and employees face conflicting incentives, messages and pressures from multiple stakeholders. Conflict of interest is said to occur when a professional’s self interest offers an incentive that mitigates his or her judgment against the best interest of the corporation or its customers. In turn, most professionals are unaware of their unethical progression because they are blindsided by internal motivation and expectations. It has been proclaimed that the most important job of the board of directors is hiring the right CEO, causing most boards to fail to notice unethical behavior in someone they do not wish or expect to find it. In fact, research suggests that it is usually difficult to report wrongdoing in an organization because most employees believe the same and fear retaliation, rejection, or disbelief from corporate leaders. Ethical principles will often offer advice for procedures and norms that can reinstate ethical concerns before unforeseen behavior damages an enterprises culture or reputation. In general, ethical systems are designed to improve the ethical behavior within an organization. To do so requires examining the interaction of many factors and forces in a working environment - which were investigated (analyzed) in this report. Executives...

Words: 6451 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Evaluation of a Business Plan

...Marketing……………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 3.1. Market research …………………………………………………………………. 3 3.2. Market analysis ………………………………………………………………………. 3 3.2.1. Industry trend……….…………………………………………………… 3 3.2.2. Competitor analysis ………………………………………………………… 4 3.2.3. Partners analysis ……………………………………………………………… 4 3.3 Marketing plan……………………………………………………………………………………4 3.3.1. Products/ services …………………………………………………………… 4 3.3.2. Placement …………………………………………………………………………5 3.3.3. Promotion and advertising …………………………………………………5 3.3.4. Pricing …………………………………………………………………...... 5 4. Operations …………………………………………………………………………………………. 6 4.1. Management details……………………………………………………………. 6 4.2. Operational structure and staffing ………………………………………. 6 4.3. Operational planning …………………………………………………………………… 6 4.4. Critical risks…………………………………………………………………………………. 6 5. Finances………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 6. Conclusion and recommendations……………………………………………………………. 7 References list ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8 Appendix – New World Delicatessen’s business plan 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is to evaluate the business plan of New World Delicatessen restaurant in all aspects of the business, including marketing, operation and finance that have been planned by its owner. The plan was well prepared with relevant aspects in implementing the business, including: * The business goals and objectives of bringing up a fast food service in deli and Northwest cuisine to customer in the local area of Oregon and remain a growth in business...

Words: 10845 - Pages: 44