Month: November 2011

It is evident from our carbon footprint calculations that driving emits a significant amount of greenhouse gas into the environment. Falicity Carus, a writer of The Guardian’s Sustainable Business Blog, believes that “the benchmark for environmental improvements is set pretty low”.
Ford must consider sustainability, but they need to produce an end product through their various supply chains that is still viable to the economy. Major North American car companies such as Ford and GM must have the corporate social responsibility to exploit this problem and transform it into an opportunity to redefine the automotive industry.

While Ford has put forth the effort to successfully reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, the company could choose to take an even more innovative approach and differentiate against its competitors. Toyota surprised the world back in 2001 with the Toyota Prius, which is now known as the world’s most environmentally-friendly car. Nissan introduced the Nissan Leaf – the Leading, Environmentally-friendly, Affordable, Family, all electric car in 2010.
Ford operates with supply chains from 20 countries from all around the world, and even though their various frameworks of operations need to be adjusted for a new innovation, a final result that could emerge as a market leader for automotive sustainability would put the company in a prominent position in the average consumer’s eye of today’s society.

In early 2011, Target announced that the company planned to expand outside of the U.S., by purchasing leases of the Canadian retail chain Zellers, for $1.8 billion. Although locations are not expected to be officially opened until 2013 or 2014, Target has already made the executive decision to sell Zellers’ existing “prescription customer files to rivals and start fresh with new pharmacies”. The question then is, how does this move put the newly acquired retailer at a competitive advantage against its competition?

The approximate 6 months of renovation closures that Zellers will face when stores are being redesigned means that patients will need to find pharmacy alternatives. One company that could perhaps be interested is Shoppers Drug Mart, the largest Canadian drugstore retailer. However, the “selling” of customer files immediately triggers legal issues and business ethics regarding patient confidentiality. If Target chooses to sell the existing pharmacy chain (valued at $500 billion CAD), then start up and finance its own Canadian pharmacy chain, this long-term strategy could be extremely profitable considering the brand’s cost differentiation reputation. Although Shoppers may appear to have the greater advantage in the short run – the consumers that they have “purchased” will most likely go back to their usual routine, purchasing from Target’s pharmacy, after the renovations are complete.

Canada has built a reputation for being a country that is desirable for outsourcing – the practice of contracting business processes to a third party provider. I agree with Karsten Hagge’s blog post about the concept of outsourcing, and how its positive or negative impact depends on the current situation the company faces. Outsourcing can be extremely beneficial for large-scale companies, because it gives the company the valuable opportunity to focus on activities most important to the business. It is both cost and time efficient, saving on fixed costs such as overhead, and variable costs for day-to-day operations. Overall, such practices should yield positive results and help improve business performance.

Over the past few years, trends have shown an increase in selective outsourcing – when companies choose outsourcing providers, but only give them specific tasks to complete, while the company itself continues the main operations of the  function. This business practice is smart and beneficial, because it allows both parties to “test the waters” with each other, allowing a trustful relationship to build. Trust is crucial between two business partners, as overlooking every operation that a provider would defeat the all the purposes of outsourcing.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has yet to become a common household name, but at the rate of which the business is currently growing at, they are visioned to be only a couple years short of that position. Green Mountain, ranked 2nd in 2010 as the Top 100 Fastest-Growing Companies, revolutionized the concept of one-cup coffee with their subsidiary, Keurig’s K Cup. The Keurig system brews a single cup of gourmet coffee in under a minute, completely avoiding the hassle of selecting and grinding beans, measuring coffee, and cleaning up afterwards.

The company’s entrepreneurialism lies in their patent on the brilliant innovation designed to fulfill all society’s needs today. Unlike traditional drip machines, the process itself is simple and time efficient, guaranteeing a quality cup of coffee. The machine is ideal for all types of people, whether it be on-the-go parents or sleep-deprived college students. The concept has not only attracted coffee-lovers from all around the world, but the internationally renown coffeehouse Starbucks. The company currently gives its investors many valid reasons to trust the brand and the company’s future direction and growth.