by Kaylee Astle on January 26, 2010
Efficiency, increased profits and cutting costs are all benefits that an efficient supply chain can provide, if it is effectively run. However, unless immense strategy and logistical thought is provoked, a supply chain can have adverse effects on a business. Consumer choice and demand dictate what is manufactured, so management must be able to control what is being produced. Goods are being created at a lower cost and faster speed, and so the knowledge of consumer demand is essential.
Supply chains impose the issue of large volumes of information traveling between distributors and contracted businesses. Outsourcing jobs and responsibilities can become complex, thus, the most challenging attribute of a supply chain is maintaining order and control whilst turning a profit. Management faces the challenge of configuring an information network and handling it in regards to where raw goods, works in progress and finished goods are being created and distributed. The movement of information, money, and goods is incessant so this knowledge must be organized and managed.
Although there are difficulties imposed when managing a supply chain, in order to be profitable many modern companies are faced with the challenge of running efficient supply chains.
by Kaylee Astle on January 20, 2010
My Facebook homepage seems like the distant past, as MSN now pops up every time I click on Internet Explorer. MSN provides to me all the latest news stories from around the globe (and did I mention I can also check my horoscope? I’m Pisces…)
I never realized my ignorance for global issues until I started Business Fundamentals 101, I figured, if a story was something really important, I would eventually hear about it from other people. I also didn’t realize I would be so interested in so many different issues. Of course I’m in business, but that doesn’t mean Google Finance is a tabbed favourite.
I never really considered the serious health risks that lead-laced products pose to people, let alone the health risks any product can pose to a baby, teenagers or senior citizen. This morning, the first headline I read was about how Graco had to recall 1.5 million baby strollers. Knowing the article related to a previous class, I read it… and I liked it.
I recognize how well rounded this course is in terms of the various business options, but I never realized it would truly open my eyes to the world around me, and that is what I believe I will take away from this course.
by Kaylee Astle on January 12, 2010
Sex sells? Existing arguments focus less on the effectiveness of this question and more on the ethics of the concept. Every day we see examples of a half nude individual, selling not only a product but essentially their body.
American Apparel, a company directed at greasy haired, urbanized hipsters, is one that seeks to legalize homosexuals, as well as California’s immigrant workers. Additionally, the company strides to be “vertically integrated” by avoiding the out sourcing of production to vulnerable Asian countries. With these diverse ethical objectives, one may be surprised to realize the unethical aims of the company’s marketing schemes.
The company and its founder, Dov Charney, have been regarded as “cool capitalists” for the use of their unusual marketing strategy. They take sexuality to a whole different level, exploiting taboo concepts and exploring edgy new ideas.
Whether an American Apparel billboard is demonstrating sexual activities, or just an average girl clad in nothing but underwear and a pair of vintage Ray-Ban’s, the company takes on an unethical standpoint in regards to advertising their American made threads. A contemporary company with such strong morals must be above utilizing soft-core porn as a medium for selling a product.
At least the pictures aren’t airbrushed?
http://clamormagazine.org/issues/38/aa/straub.php
