...Besides its pasta business, Barilla manufactures bakery and bread products as well. In order to tackle the increasing fluctuating demand, the Just-in-Time Distribution (JITD) was introduced by Brando Vitali in late 1980s, which was designed to streamline the manufacturing process and reduce the inventory cost. However, after two years’ implementation, Giorgio Maggiali, the successor of Brando felt frustrated facing so much internal resistance and ineffectiveness of the system. In my decision, I suggest that Barilla SpA should continue to apply the JITD program as long as several improvements could be made. I will illustrate my recommendation and implementation plans accordingly. Issue identification Based on the current situation of Barilla’s supply chain, two aspects of issue can be concluded as below. Immediate issue Due to the fluctuating demand in the market, orders for Barilla dry products often swung wildly from week to week. Such extreme demand variability strained Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics operations. Based on the existing process, it was very difficult for Barilla to quickly react to changing market demand by producing particular pasta. Thus it directly resulted in stockouts and losing potential sales. Systemic issues 1. Category Management (Timing: Short Term) Barilla’s pasta was made in 200 different shapes and sizes and was sold in over 470 different packaged SKUs. To cater for regional preferences and differences in retail requirements...
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...are classified into primary and support activities. Each of the activities performed will add value to the product and services provided by an organization. LEGO had incorporated various strategies to gain a competitive advantage. LEGO’s inbound logistics was not in proper shape. There was no control over the inbound logistics and management of inventory. The supply and demand of the goods was not in parity. In most situations, the forecasting was done dynamically without any evaluation of estimates. Later, LEGO management team synchronized the sales supply and demand by starting a sales and operations planning process (S&OP). This technique helped LEGO to optimize their demand planning, forecasting and inventory management. LEGO can accurately estimate their demand, supply and estimate customer demand for particular product during a given period. Using demand planning to develop accurate forecasts is critical for effective inventory management. Forecasts are compared to inventory levels to ensure that distribution centers have enough, but not too much, inventory to supply stores with a sufficient amount of product to meet demand. The optimal amount of raw materials was released to cater to the demand. This played a pivotal role in building an efficient supply chain management. VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS FOR LEGO LEGO bypassed intermediaries by developing own stores across Europe and USA. It also provided an online medium for shopping. Later, LEGO focused on building efficient...
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...individuals within the group. Common throughout this change effort is the continuing focus on behavior, what drives it and what factors can be leveraged to cause a change from the existing behavior to another that is desired by the intervener. ) Ross A. Wirth, Ph.D. (2004) Today, business leaders are facing the complex task of leading their organizations and even their countries into the future. A tendency aimed at stressing opposite values. Decentralization, involvement, and personnel development are believed to be better means to capture the essential value of all organizational coordination and productivity. For instance, cultural change has produced a workforce that virtually demands being involved into the life of the organization. This new organization form is horizontal rather than vertical in its basic shape. It results from the elimination of layers of management and the delegation of more...
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...FORECASTING AND ENVIRONMENT FORECASTING Forecasting is essentially the study of internal and external forces that shapes demand and supply. The shape of the things to come will depend partially upon how one shapes the controllable factors. With different strategies, the forecasting will be different, offering multiple scenarios for management decision making. Forecasting is an estimate of sales in physical units for a specified future period under proposed marketing plan or programme and under the assumed set of economic and other forces outside the organization for which the forecast is made. Long term forecasts: Product diversification, sales, advertizing budgets, capacity planning and investment planning, Short term forecasts: Material control, loading and scheduling, and budgeting. Objectives of forecasting Short term objectives • • • • • • Formulation of production policy – Regular supply of material, Maximum utilization of machines, Regular availability of labour Formulation of pricing policy Proper control of sales Arrangement of finance Production capacity Labour requirements Long term objectives • Capital restructuring and resourcing Steps in forecasting demand Determining the objectives Period of forecasting – Short term or long term Collection and analysis of data – data to be collected, tabulated, analyzed and cross-checked by applying statistical or graphical techniques Study of correlation – between sales forecasts and sales promotion plans studying policies...
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...Ch. 13 Aggregate Demand Curves- combination of gdp Aggregate Supply Curves Business Cycle Ch.15 Federal Reserve- Ch.16 Monetary Policy Ch.18 Fiscal Policy What is annual growth rate in the U.S- 3.2% What is a recession- lowering of GDP in a country and an increase in unemployment What is the aggregate demand curve- shows combinations of gdp and aggregate growth rate What is the Solow growth rate- potential growth rate of the real gdp consistent with resisting sources. What is the shape of the long run aggregate supply curve- vertical What is the Shape of short run aggregate supply curve- slopping upward Hurricane blows up bridges it is a- negative real shock Rain fall is good on a agricultural country- positive real shock What are menu costs- the cost of changing prices Definition of money- anything accepted as a payment Characteristic of money What is tool does the fed us effect monetary policy- open market operation, interest on reserves to the bank What is the open market operation- What is the Fractional reserve system- the banks only lend a fraction of the customers deposits What are some reasons that effect monetary policy What will a higher banking reserve ratio result in- prevents them in loaning as much as they would like to Rules in digression the left from the right side- gov has a rule??? What is crowding out- gov. goes to the market to increase spending causing the price of the loan to increase and people wont be able to afford ...
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...Hospitality Michelle Snyder HTT/200 April 4, 2012 Karen Stevens Diversity and Hospitality Identify the major trends related to diversity and explain their effects on the hospitality industry… There are many elements of diversity. To describe diversity real simple, it means difference or change. “Diversity” means merely that the employees in the workplace are “diverse.” Elements of diversity can include: skin color, ethnicity, gender, education, age, sexual orientation, economic background, beliefs, religion, and culture, learning style, country of origin, geographic region, physical ability, mental ability, personality, experience, expressiveness, veteran status, and weight. Diversity is all around us and is changing all the time. How many trends are out in the world that has to do with hospitality...? To start there are many new trends out there today, but there are some old ones that still remain. The major trend in diversity is towards a fairly even mix of genders and skin colors. Some trends in the world today that have to do with hospitality include: The Emergence of the Internet and E-Commerce, E-booking and Employment and Recruitment. To give an example of a new trend right now in hospitality would be online booking in the hospitality industry. It is an easy and convenient way for the consumer and also assists in helping hotels to keep better records. The percentage of reservations made online for a hotel is close...
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...Business issues and the contexts of human resources Student’s name: University’s name: Author’s note: Executive summary Business issues have been one of the major contexts of HR. This has contributed effectively on organizational development. The major focus of the researcher in this topic will be to assess key features on performance appraisals and other areas of business. The researcher has studied major forces that shape the HR agenda. In order, with Harvard and Ulrich model, the researcher has studied organizational effectiveness on business ethics and accountability positions. Moreover, the researcher has studied core aspects of organizational and HR strategy on business environment and planning attributes. Thus, through SWOT analysis, the researcher has initiated vertical and horizontal aspects of business planning and strategies on major policies and plans. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Identification and analysis of the major forces shaping the HR agenda in the organization (AC 3.1) 4 Examination of HR roles within the organization that contributes to organizational effectiveness, business ethics and accountability (AC 3.2, 3.3, 3.4) 5 Flow of human resource 7 Reward systems 7 Employee influence 7 Work systems 7 HR contribution to design and implementation of organization’s business and HR strategies in describing the techniques and tools required to analyze the business environment on planning purpose (AC 4.1, 4.2, 5.2) 9 Management capability...
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...PRICE ELASTICITY “Have U.S. Drivers Reached Filling Point of No Return?” by Justin Lahart & “Airlines Try Business-Fare Cuts, Find They Don’t Lose Revenue” by Scott McCartney While price is the strongest factor affecting demand, there are several factors that heavily influence the price elasticity of demand. Inelastic products are much less resistant to affects from price increases, allowing managers the flexibility to raise prices with little to no concern for losing sales. On the contrary, elastic products are highly vulnerable to and influenced by fluctuations in price. The elasticity of a product can change over time, affecting firms and industries that utilize that product. “Have U.S. Drivers Reached Filling Point of No Return?” by Justin Lahart and “Airlines Try Business-Fare Cuts, Find They Don’t Lose Revenue” by Scott McCartney discuss the affects of changing elasticity in gasoline and airplane tickets, respectively. The articles highlight the number of substitute goods, the percentage of a consumer’s budget spent on a product, and the time period that the product is under construction as strong influences on the price elasticity of gas and airplane ticket prices. The price of gasoline has begun to show a shift from heavily inelastic to more elastic in recent history. Our textbook, Economics for Managers, discusses the affects of the in-elasticity of gasoline prices that was present in the mid 2000s. The book points to higher incomes within a sustainable...
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...THE NEW BEETLE INTRODUCTION The Volkswagen beetle was born in the mid-1930’s in Germany by Ferdinand Porsche. It was initially known as the people’s car. Americans first had a glimpse of the beetle in 1949 when it entered the US market with its first model name-Type 1- Volkswagen for the beetle. It had a distinctive round shape, face-like front end and low price. Above all, it stood out from the overpriced and oversized domestic cars. It was popular with budget-minded students as well as drivers who sought to express their individuality. Volkswagen sales in the United States took a huge dip from 500,000 in 1973 to 50,000 in 1993. Volkswagen is re-launching its brand in America and is looking for ways to position the new beetle with one foot in the past and the other on the accelerator heading to the future. With its design work complete and initial positive reaction from the market, VW is now faced with the task of turning the excitement surrounding the car into actual sales. It has to have full knowledge about the current market forces, dynamics, consumer behavior and the market segments available. Marketing Problem Volkswagen is unclear of their target market. It has two segments of target audience; the baby boomers and Gen-X. Knowing they have the potential to attract both the baby boomers and Generation X, Volkswagen will need to evaluate both target markets’ preferences and lifestyles in order to come up with ways to promote the beetle. The product/brands should...
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...subcontracting work out c. building up inventories d. explosion of end-item requirements 2. Which of the following is not an input to the aggregate planning system? a. demand forecasts b. capacity constraints c. strategic objectives d. company policies e. master production schedule 3. Capacity planning is… a. long range planning b. short range planning c. involves facility size, expansion and location decisions d. all of the above e. a and c only 4. In terms of production planning, aggregate production planning produces outputs that are used in the creation of a. a facility expansion plan b. a master production schedule c. an enterprise architecture plan d. all of the above e. a and b only 5. Kaizen is another term for a. continuous improvement. b. JIT. c. visual control. d. defect prevention. 6. Which of the following is an element of lean production? a. flexible resources b. total quality management c. push system d. business process engineering 7. In lean production, waste, or muda, is defined as a. anything other than that which adds value to the product or service b. high levels of inventory only c. unnecessary movement only d. waiting time only 8. The pace at which production should take place to match the rate of customer demand is known as a. product flow time b....
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...market is the group of university students. For the product design part, I used the eco-friendly materials because they have high demand for this materials, the shape of the bag is rounded top with thin spaghetti straps, and no special features on it. The unite cost is $10, and the marketing price is $35. I choose the university store to sell the products and no advertisements. At the fist turn, I got $2957.99 for the net profit. As the game progressed, I tried to choose different groups of customer to sell my products, Then I got the different results. At the second turn, I chose the the school children for my main customers, according to their demand requirements, I changed the basic straps, the green color and syntheic materials for the bag based on the first turn bag. I chose to sell the products directly through the company website to the customers. And I decreased the price from $35 to $28. I got only $63 net profit in this turn. At the third turn, I changed the outdoor enthusiasts for my customers, in this turn, I pressed the wrong botton, I added the University logo on the bag and increased the price from $28 to $37 but chose the wrong customers, so I lost $599 in this turn. At the last two turns, I kept losing money. I still chose outdoor enthusiasts for my customer group, but I added many new things on my bag, I used the large rectangular shape, wide padded straps, advanced materials with GPS and waterproofing special features. The price incresed a little high, it became...
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...statutory minimum wage affects all businesses, as do consumer and health and safety laws and so on. Economical – businesses are affected by these factors nationally and globally. Interest rate policy and fiscal policy will have to be set accordingly. Within the UK the climate of the economy dictates how consumers may behave within society. Whether an economy is in a boom, recession or recovery will also have an effect on consumer confidence and behaviour. An economy that is booming is characterised by certain variables. Unemployment is low, job confidence is high, and because of this confidence spending by consumers is also high. This has an impact on most businesses. Organisations have to be able to keep up with the increased demand if they are to increase turnover. An economy that is in a recession is characterised by high unemployment and low confidence. Because of high unemployment spending is low, confidence about job security is also low. Businesses face a tough time, consumers will not spend because of low disposable income. Many businesses start cutting back on costs i.e. labour, introduce shorter weeks and cut back on advertising to save...
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...Brand Vs. Product There are many definitions about a product, some says a product is merchandise, the commodities offered for sale, an artifact that has been created by someone or some process and a consequence of someone’s efforts of a particular set of circumstances. In marketing, it defines as a product of anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. It is not just a physical object but a complete bundle of benefits or satisfaction that buyers perceive when they will obtain if they purchase the product. It is the sum of all physical, psychological, symbolic and service attributes (Kum, Bergkvist, Lee & Leong, 2012). On the other hand, a brand is trade name given to particular product or service. It is the recognizable kind, a trademark. In marketing, a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service. It includes a name, a logo, and other visual elements such as images or symbols. It also encompasses the set of expectations associated with a product or service which typically arise in the minds of the people. Such people include the employees of the brand owner, people involved with the distribution, sale or supply of the product or service and the ultimate consumers (Sellani, 2007). There are many differences between a product and a brand. A product is tangible, you can see and touch it. It has physical attributes, different models, features and prices. It has objective qualities...
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...Strategic Plan, Part I: Conceptualizing a Business Eleven Boutique Mission/Vision Statement The mission of Eleven Boutique is to provide stellar customer service to all clients while offering the most current fashion pieces. Eleven Boutique visions of bring the fashion and convenience of Eleven Boutiques to the clientele’s door step. The company will pride themselves on their integrity, commitment, and ability to keep up with the ever changing fashion must haves for every fashionista in the San Diego area. The goals will be set from the statement above to keep Eleven Boutique true to their mission. Goals: • To expand store front from one to three in the next three years • To expand the stylist services to 50 regular clients within the second year Guiding Principles Eleven Boutique had established 3 guiding principles that all employees of the boutique is expected to follow and will be evaluated yearly on their ability to uphold the guiding principles. The guiding principles are as follows: • Commitment • Integrity • Teamwork Commitment: Commitment to the boutique’s success and reputation; commitment to the client’s happiness; and commitment to the community in which Eleven Boutique resides in. Integrity: To uphold the highest level of integrity to the boutique and the clients. Teamwork: To work as a team inside the boutique and outside the boutique to bring harmony amongst the partners (co-workers) and the clients. The Eleven Boutique will live by these...
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...Case Study: Chipping Away at Intel Ivy Cuttino Strayer University Dr. Bobby Barrett HRM 560- Managing Organizational Change April 20, 2012 Intel was in the bad shape in the Barrett’s tenure and he had to implement changes to cope with internal and external pressures. The specific pressures that required Intel to change were Intel’s bad products with delays and shortages, overpricing, bugs in its system, shares going down, slowing global chip demand, slowing economy under impact of September 11, 2011 and its rivals becoming stronger. It was a really hard time for Intel and a big challenge for Barrett in order to remain the company’s reputation. Discuss the different changes at Intel over the first 3 years of CEO Barrett’s tenure. When Barrett came in Intel three years ago, he took some bold moves. He expanded into the production of information and communication appliances as well as services related to the internet. He also reorganized internal system to avoid duplications and improve coordination within the organization. The example of duplication was that the network operations group and the communications unit sometimes were in competition with each other, selling similar products to the same customers and Barrett needed to reorganize them. Moreover, new business units were created to enable decentralization and delegation of decision making, which makes the company better coordinated and more nimble. Barrett also wanted to change the culture of the organization toward...
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