Case Study: “Supply chain whirl”
While the 2001 global overhaul of Whirlpool's supply chain systems remains a work in progress today, managers say its success to date is encouraging the remaining systems work.
The supply chain at Whirlpool in 2000 was broken. Indeed, a manager there at the time quipped that among the four major appliance makers in the U.S., Whirlpool ranked fifth in delivery performance.
"We had too much inventory, too little inventory, wrong inventory, right inventory/wrong place, any combination of those things," says J.B. Hoyt, who was then supply chain project director. He says a sales vice president approached him one day and said he'd accept even worse performance from supply systems if they would just be consistent rather than wildly bouncing back and forth between good and poor production and shipping plans.
So in 2001, Whirlpool embarked on a multiproject global overhaul of its supply chain systems. The meta project remains a work in progress today, with a number of systems yet to be rolled out and some major technical issues to be resolved. But managers at Whirlpool say its success to date -- including huge improvements in customer service and reduced supply chain costs -- is providing the psychological and financial impetus to drive the remaining systems work.
Source: Anthes, G.H. (2015)

1. In order to understand Whirlpool’s supply chain information needs, discuss the purpose, characteristics and key performance dimensions for information flows for the following supply chain activities:
 Strategic decision making
 Tactical planning
 Routine decision making
 Execution and transaction processing (20)

2. Discuss, using examples, the difference between CRM and SRM applications. (5)

Discuss the pros and cons of a strategy of unrelated diversification.

With product development and product positioning in mind, describe a new product concept that you think would meet unfulfilled consumer needs in your favorite sport. Be sure to describe the product and explain/justify your decision.

1. How do consumers process and evaluate prices?

2. How should a company set prices initially for products or services?

3. How should a company adapt prices to meet varying circumstances and opportunities?

4. When and how should a company initiate a price change?

5. How should a company respond to a competitor’s price change?

Hyewon Kim owns her own catering business. She continually monitors her other expense costs, including the cost of liability insurance for drivers of her catering vans. This year, Hyewon’s auto insurer advises her that insurance rates for her coverage will increase by 15 percent next year. The insurance company also states that if Hyewon will institute a preemployment drug-testing program for those employees who will drive her vans, there will be no insurance rate increase. Hyewon does not currently require potential employees to agree to be drug-tested prior to becoming employed in her business, but it is legal to do so in her state. What should Hyewon tell potential employees about her reason for implementing a preemployment drug-testing program? What should she do if a potential employee refuses to agree to the test?

Student Instruction for This Assignment

You have entered the OM Program after finishing an a post-secondary degree in a discipline. Some of you have worked after you last graduated and thus have acquired work experience. These two background can lead you to start a career in Operations Management in Canada, for which you will have to go through job interviews. Your confidence in presenting your work experience and education is crucial for your success. It would be prudent to build and showcase such confidence and this assignment intends to help you with this task.

In this assignment you consider yourself in a job interview and faced with this question: what do you know about Operations Management that distinguishes you from others? Give us an example of how you may apply your skills and knowledge.

-Choose one area (method, procedure, etc.) of Operations Management you have learned well,

-Give an example of how you can apply that area to what you had learned or the area you worked in previously.

1-What is a marketing channel system and value network?

2.What work do marketing channels perform?

3.How should channels be designed?

4.What decisions do companies face in managing their channels?

5.How should companies integrate channels?

Q3.

Premium Toyota dealership wants to develop forecasts for next year’s quarterly sales of a midsize SUV. Sales were 80,000 in 2018 and 84,000 in 2019. It has collected quarterly sales for the past two years. It has also forecast total annual sales for next year to be 90,000 SUVs. What is the forecast for each of the four quarters of next year?

Q4

Mister Baker wants to evaluate performance of its pastries forecast. Mister Baker sales in last four weeks were 80, 100, 105, and 90 units, respectively. In addition, the sales forecasts (for the same four weeks) were 60, 80, 95, and 75 units, respectively. Calculate the MAD, MSE, and MAPE for these four weeks.

National Scan, Inc., sells radio frequency inventory tags. Monthly sales for a seven-month period were as follows:

b. Forecast September sales volume using each of the following:

(1) A linear trend equation.(Round your intermediate calculations and final answer to 2 decimal places.)

Yt   ______thousands

(2) A five-month moving average. (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

Moving average _______ thousands

(3) Exponential smoothing with a smoothing constant equal to .15, assuming a March forecast of 16(000). (Round your intermediate forecast values and final answer to 2 decimal places)

Forecast ______ thousands

(4) The naive approach.

Naive approach _______ thousands

(5) A weighted average using .65 for August, .15 for July, and .20 for June. (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

Weighted average ______thousands

Grammar Exercises

35. Microsoft faces two major threats: piracy and patent lawsuits.

36. Bill Gates focuses on product development and strategy; Satya Nadella focuses on operations.

37. Bill Gates focuses on product development and strategy; on the other hand, Satya Nadella focuses on operations.

38. Microsoft’s American offices are in Redmond Washington, New York City, San Francisco , Birmingham Alabama, and Phoenix Arizona.

39. Cloud computing involves three possible platforms: software as-a-service (SaaS) platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).

48. The recent story about Microsoft in The Wall Street Journal/“The Wall Street Journal” was called Microsoft’s Gamble on Cloud Computing/“Microsoft’s Gamble on Cloud

Computing.”

49. Bill Gates said that he’d like to see the phrase go bing it/“go bing it” replace the phrase go google it/“go google it.”

50. At the luncheon, his speech, titled The Road to the Future/“The Road to the Future,” laid out his vision for cloud computing over the next decade.

51. In 2013, 3/three Microsoft business divisions were combined.

52. Revenues for the last fiscal year were $62,484 million/$62,484,000,000.

53. Revenues rose 28 percent/28% over the past year.

54. Microsoft employs over 89 thousand/89,000 employees.

55. Microsoft has five/5 business divisions.

56. 5/Five Microsoft divisions make up the Microsoft corporation.

57. Microsoft lost money in 3/three of the 17/seventeen product groups.

62. Microsoft joined with Accenture to create Avanade, an IT consultancy. They/It specialize/s in connecting to consumers through online platforms such as social networks.

63. Neither Yahoo! nor Microsoft has/have increased its/their market share in the search engine market for the past five years.

64. Microsoft hold/s its/their annual shareholders meeting at the corporate headquarters.

65. Every new Microsoft employee should provide copies of his/her/their Social Security card/s at the orientation.

66. The manual about computer programming tips are/is on reserve at the corporate reading room.

67. Microsoft and its competitors in the technology industry is/are constantly changing.

68. Many of Google’s HR policies are aimed at eliciting/illiciting honest feedback.

69. The advice/advise on Microsoft’s Help menu is not helpful.

70. All employees should ensure/insure that their LinkedIn pages do not contain any content contrary to the Code of Conduct.

71. This decision affects/effects every aspect of our marketing strategy.

72. Their next step is to identify how to raise enough capital/capitol for the venture.

73. She told me that the two products contain complementary/complimentary features.

74. This search engine is much more reliable than/then Google’s.

75. Sundar Pichai, CEO/ceo of Google, says that Google is ahead of its competitors in the race to develop artificial intelligence capabilities."

76. We just hired her for a Senior Developer/senior developer position.

77. Google’s headquarters are located in Silicon Valley/silicon valley.

78. The headquarters are located just West/west of Sunnyvale.

79. Please contact Eileen Chao, Communications Lead/communications lead, for additional press inquires.

80. Ms. Chao explained, “We/we will invest more than $50 million this year to research and develop artificial intelligence.”

Business is becoming more and more competitive, and organisations have realised that purchasing and Supply Chain Management (SCM) are key factors in satisfying customers. Buyers and supply chain managers can contribute significantly to the organisation's profits. An organisation can spend as much as 50% of its sales revenue on purchasing parts, services, components and raw material. Therefore, efficient, mutually beneficial and constructive relationships with suppliers are very important to the organisation's short-term financial position and long-term competitive power.

1. Differentiate between constructive and competitive negotiation. (10)
2. Discuss the guidelines for maintaining positive supplier and customer relationships. (10)

We are at the point where we must make a decision on the promotions of Margaret Adams and Beth Taylor, members of our administrative staff. They are both very competent employees, and I am convinced that they are capable of handling even more responsibility.

Margaret’s file indicates that she has history of chemical dependency but has had treatment and has been OK for a year. She is not currently enrolled in any treatment program. She believes that she should very rarely stay late at the office or participate in weekend meetings. She believes that her first duty is to her health and that she should manage her time accordingly.

In Beth’s case, I am not altogether certain that she is willing to subordinate time with her family to time on the job, to the extent that may be required. I have had the opportunity to explore with her the general problem of family vs. job, and she strongly believes that she should very rarely stay late at the office or participate in weekend meetings. She believes that her first duty is to her family and that she should manage her time accordingly. These viewpoints have not affected their performance in the past, but it could be a problem in a more demanding role.

Which option do you choose?

1. Promote Margaret only.

2. Promote Beth only.

3. Promote both Margaret and Beth.

4. Promote neither Margaret nor Beth.

eBay

1- Why has eBay succeeded as an online auction marketplace while so many others have failed?

2- Evaluate eBay's fee structure. is it optimal, or could it be improved? why? How?

3- Discuss Donahoe's vision for eBay. Is moving away from online auctions sustainable for the company?

2.)How should IKEA respond to some of the recent scandals concerning product contamination, sourcing, working conditions, and product safety?