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Business News

A World Without Paper

This is what our world is heading for. With the incredible leaps and bounds that technology is taking, and at the ever increasing speed that it is taking them, soon such banal objects as paper will become obsolete.

The Kindle - Amazon's eBook Reader

FACTS:

  • 24 of the 25 largest newspapers have experienced record declines in circulation in the past few years
  • this past Christmas, more digital books were sold on Amazon.com than normal paper books

We no longer need paper to publish articles or books, as they are now available in digitalversions on either the internet (newspaper’s web articles) or for purchase from estores. Although a huge portion of the world is captivated by advancing technology and the innovations it is continuously affording us, not many of these people consider the fallout of this shift from paper to digital. This fundamental change in the way our society operates will have effects on, among other things:

  • the forestry/logging industry
  • any processing or shipping companies involved with the logging industry
  • the newspaper industry
  • the book publishing industry/authors
  • the magazine industry
  • large office supply stores

As technology charges onwards, society, and in particular the specific businesses that will be affected by this progress, need to seriously assess what the future will look like. Companies must begin making provisions now in order to be able to survive the oncoming digital storm.

Categories
Business News

The Importance of the P.R.O.T.O.T.Y.P.E.

Although it is possible for companies to perfect their supply chain model in order to maximize efficiency, no companies will realize profits unless they are moving the right products. The consumer behavior and preference in many markets, such as the ones for dish-washing liquid, remain relatively stable and predictable, allowing suppliers to quickly respond to demand for their products. However, other industries, such as the clothing industry, are susceptible to quick, volatile changes in demand from customers. It is in these markets that the prototype becomes an extremely important player in gaining an edge over competition and helping to ensure a profitable year.

PROTOTYPE = TEST DUMMY0901_RD_dummy

Take a Zara shirt, for example. The prototype for this shirt is the brainchild of the design team. They use data concerning current market trends and possible shifts in trends in order to determine possible new styles. Once these prototypes have been determined, a number of them are produced in small numbers and shipped to select stores in order to determine their viability and popularity on the store floor. It is information from these trial periods that the company uses to determine which designs will be manufactured in large numbers and be incorporated into the season’s clothing line. The key to this process lies in the company’s ability to PREDICT trends, and develop prototypes before the mass demand for such items occurs.

Prototype: determines whether or not the company commits to manufacturing, shipping, and marketing the product
Categories
Business News

Hewlett Packard – To spy or not to spy?

hp_logo_1

We’ve become accustomed in recent years to hearing reports of newly uncovered ethical scandals involving well-known, and often well-respected, corporations. These scandals most often involve fraud: the use of ponzi schemes and false-advertising to con clients out of considerable sums of money. With the recent arrest and trial of Bernie Madoff fresh in the minds of North Americans, people are taking precautions to ensure that they do not fall victims to such schemes. Because of this current trend of fraud, it came as a surprise to me to read about a different type of ethical misconduct: that of computer giant Hewlett Packard.


Hewlett Packard Spying Scandal


In short, HP executives were discovered to be employing information theft to set up a wire-tapping system that was keeping tabs on hundreds of fellow executives, employees, journalists and clients. Despite the obvious violation of basic ethical principles such as the right to privacy, the implications of HP’s actions set my mind thinking. One would assume that if a company chooses to hire an employee or executive, they have a certain amount of trust that that employee will conduct themselves with the company’s best interests in mind. Why, then, should the company find it necessary to monitor employees’ conversations? By simply hiring trustworthy, honest employees, this gross violation of rights would be entirely avoidable.

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