The Northern Gateway Project aims to build a new twin pipeline system running near Edmonton, Alberta, to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia to export petroleum and import condensate. What is the issue? Well, for this $7.9-billion Northern Gateway project, piplines have to be built on the heart of Nak’azdli territory, the reserves of First Nations.

Unlike many cases where First Nations were simply forced into signing treaties and contracts, this time the Yinka Dene Alliance, a group of six First Nations, has sworn they will not let the oil pipeline be built.  The First Nations is a  stakeholder in this project as they think that economic benefit from the pipeline is not worth the risk of a spill on the waterways in their traditional territory.

The First Nations’ firm decision is a serious external threat to the company, Enbridge as Enbridge, if the Northern Gateway Project does not succeed, will lose out on a huge opportunity to expand their company even farther.  Even if they were allowed to build the pipelines, the criticism of the public will surely put a burden on the company as it is the largest natural as distributor in Canada and a major oil pipeline operator in North America.

In my opinion, as Enbridge will lose either the opportunity to expand the company, or the reputation without the consent of the First Nations, the only possible solution will be to satisfy the First Nations by better contracts and ensuring them of potential hazards of oil leaking with better security.

Work cited:

Hoekstra, Gordon. “‘There Will Be No Pipeline’ In the Heart of Nak’azdli Territory, There Is a Steely Resolve — the People Are Firmly against Northern Gateway.” Www.vancouversun.com. N.p., 16 Aug. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. <http://www.vancouversun.com/news/There+will+pipeline/10122968/story.html>.

News, CBC. “Northern Gateway Pipeline Approved: B.C. Reacts.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 18 June 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/northern-gateway-pipeline-approved-b-c-reacts-1.2672279>.

Upon reading Sandra’s post on the shoe company, Jack Erwin, I proceeded to reflect on some of the business strategies employed. One of the most notable would be the direct sales strategy, also practiced by Dell.

Dell Computer Corporation was formed in 1984 by Michael Dell with the idea of selling computers in a better way. Dell believes that direct sales to customers create a much better level of service and it is seen as the final competing element in a matured industry. With its computers as assembled machines, Dell has approached providing service as a product. As apple did product innovations, Dell did operations innovations. Dell is at present a leading provider of products and services worldwide and has been among the top three companies by market share.

Dell’s Strategy:

• Just-in-time manufacturing
• Direct sales, customer service
• Mass Customization, Build-to-order
• Partnership with suppliers and extensive data and information sharing

Dell has followed lean manufacturing practices and has adopted just-in-time manufacturing unlike any other company. For this it has established partnerships with its suppliers and goes on to form cross-company design teams to deliver better quality products. Some of the Dell’s suppliers are located inclose proximity of Dell’s assembly plants thus reducing lead times and associated costs.Dell is not competing in the highly competitive market of component design and manufacturing. The just-in-time manufacturing system has resulted in cost savings which it can pass over to the customers who are price sensitive and thus get market share away from competitors. As showed by Prof Nagarajan, the days of inventory of Dell compared to companies like Apple, and IBM, were much shorter. This is especially good for companies related to technology as products because if these products sit too long in storage then they become outdated and lose their value.

Due to the innovative operation system, Dell is faster, and more efficient, cutting down costs.

Work Cited:

“Sandra Lin’s Blog.” Sandra Lins Blog. N.p., 05 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/sandralin/2014/10/05/blog-post-5-quality-curation-experience-fair-prices/>

Wulff, Mikael. “And The Last Post Reads.” Web log post. : Managing Operations – A Study On Dell’s Supply Chain Management. N.p., 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. <http://www.mixologist84.com/2013/01/managing-operations-study-on-dells.html>