Monthly Archives: October 2012

10/30/12

Operations done right – Asos, the UK wonder

Asos is doing very well in the retail industry, and a big portion of their success derives from their operations.

The UK giant is a top clothing and beauty retailer that “delivers to 190 countries around the world, while [receiving] 65% of its £552.9m of sales from outside the UK.” What these sales do not show is that Asos is a purely online retailer having no high end fashion store anywhere.

“The multi award-winning company gets 18.8 million visitors to its site every month and has a total of five million regular customers.”

In order for Asos to maintain these numbers, their operations must be above par and ready to adapt.

Two big issues arise in Asos in terms of logistics: 1) receiving thousands of diversified products made on five continents on time and 2) delivering the right product to the right customer in an efficient manner.

Firstly in solving these issues I want to note that Asos solely operates with one warehouse located in Yorkshire where they send out all their products for delivery to their customers. I view this as a good idea because this can lead to a more efficient workforce from the unified employees. Additionally, if a problem did come up, it would be easier to source the root of it because there is only one destination to look at. 

Secondly, Mr. Robertson, the CEO, puts a lot of focus into his couriers ensuring a variety of ways to deliver Asos’ products. An attractive feature of Asos is that they also have free delivery, both local AND on an international level.

In essence, these points of differences truly do add to the overall succession of Asos and it is without a doubt, that the suppy chain of Asos is working at a very efficient level. Whether it is the free shipping aspect, or picking out its couriers, Mr. Robertson has made a blueprint for success in terms of operations.

This article has really made me realize how important operations is. With a big company like Asos, it seems that operations is the very driving force to success. A good business will have an efficient supply chain from the very beginning to the end. It pays off as evident in the quote,

However, a look at the company’s latest results show it is paying off. Sales outside the UK increased by 64pc to £332.6m in the year to the end of August, including a 91pc increase in the US.

Lastly, Robertson says this

“We’re constantly pushing the logistics companies to be faster, quicker and cheaper.”

Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/business/norbert-dentressangle/9633870/asos-online-fashion-retail.html

10/26/12

A Leap of Faith

Is it our born duty to help others? Is it a responsibility AND not an obligation?

 

Well in the case of ETIC, the “Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation,” such a duty is a responsibility. After learning more about Social Enterprise, I realized how detrimental this theme could be in our society. ETIC showcases the usefulness of Social Enterprise through their program, which essentially provides the necessary people and resources to start-up companies that were tarnished or completely ruined through a) the tsunami b) the nuclear meltdown and c) the earthquake. Originally when ETIC first started up, they would simply provide emergency supplies and volunteers during times of emergencies; however, since 2011, ETIC has changed their ways and sparked a new movement: a movement of “entrepreneurial recovery.”

ETIC currently has over 200 businessmen from around Japan who have given up their time to “help run temporary housing units, put companies back together, and rebuild the transportation system.”

My opinion is that the main focus here is that these volunteers are real businessmen; people who have vast experience in the field of commerce. Without these people, it would be much harder to create these services and it would slow down the fixing of Japan’s economic status. Japan needs these services, they need to recover from their past devastations.

The World Bank says:

Combined with the tsunami and the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, it was the most economically damaging disaster in world history, costing Japan an estimated $235 billion.

 

Social Entrepreneurship, from my understanding, is all about addressing a social problem, whether it deals with homelessness or the inability to separate yourself from the vicious poverty cycle. It’s about addressing these problems with business strategies. ETIC acts as a great example of a social enterprise. With the withered economic status of Japan, ETIC found it fit to provide business people to help create new businesses which in turn will help lift Japan from the dust.

SOURCES:

http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/disaster-recovery-through-social-entrepreneurship-in-japan/

10/7/12

RE: Air Canada’s New Low-Cost Carrier

Ariel Liu’s post on Air Canada’s decision to start a separate airline has generated much interest for me. When I first read the article, I immediately thought of the point of difference. It appears Air Canada is trying to gain a competitive edge by producing a cheaper airline carrier service UNDER the ownership of Air Canada. By cutting costs of the employees, and increasing the seating capacity by 20%, this new airline carrier is able to reduce it’s price for customers.

Will this move really help out Air Canada? After doing research, I learned that Air Canada is in quite a slump.

With pilots calling a strike vote, disappointing earnings, and a competitor launching a regional airline, Air Canada is getting battered from all directions.

However, my stance is that if this move is positioned well amongst the public, this air carrier line could really be beneficial for Air Canada. It offers them a clean slate in a way because this new airline offers something fresh; something new and efficient. Given that Air Canada can attempt to gain a good first impression, long term benefits will be sure to come. The PoD of this airline being cheaper will also give it a competitive edge toward its rival WestJet and other competing carriers.

It is in my hope that this new airline can bump Air Canada out of the slump. They have been a national icon for Canada and to see them rise again would be uplifting.

Sources:
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1128464–air-canada-pilots-call-strike-vote
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/19/air-canada-low-cost.html
https://blogs.ubc.ca/arielliu/

10/3/12

RE: Record fine for FTC, pocket change for Google

Kevin Lu brought up an interesting story in where Google was fined $22.5 million for

secretly tracking the browsing of Safari users using cookies.

The internet giant violated their own policy just to install unwanted third-party tracking cookies through Safari. As an individual who strongly believes in proper business ethics, I ask why did Google do this? Furthermore, Kevin brings up another good point in saying that Google received the slightest of punishments. Google makes $136 million in revenue a day, and all they get is a $22.5 million fine?

$22.5 million is a big number, but for violation of that capacity, is there no bigger consequence? To me, had this been a lesser known company, they would be branded with a title such as, “Hackers intent on stealing your personal data,”; however, Google continues on to be known as the reliable search engine.

What compelled me to write about this is big companies are not graced with the ability to bypass their own policies. It’s not proper, and no where near ethical. A company can thrive on good ethics; a company with a foundation of good ethics can also expect superb loyalty. Although not a reliable source, I’ve read comments on this topic saying people have STOPPED using Google because of this incident. My hope is Google does not attempt to do something like this again.

Sources:

http://www.bgr.com/2012/08/09/google-ftc-safari-tracking-22-5-million-fine/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2186270/Google-forced-22million-fine-spying-Safari-users-STILL-refuses-admit-wrong.html

https://blogs.ubc.ca/kevinlu/