Question

SECTION A: CASE STUDY

QUESTION 1

This is an extract describing a fashion house noted for custom-made gowns in Ghana. Use the case information to answer the questions that follow. Pistis is a Ghanaian based fashion house headquartered in Accra. The company currently stands at the frontline of the fast growing African fashion industry while making major strides on the international markets. Pistis, at the core, prides itself on creating master pieces for every client and, as result, has garnered a name as the leader in special occasion clothes. From their unique hand beaded bridal gowns to their creative use of African fabrics such as kente, the brand aims at making every woman standout as royalty in a Pistis gown. All clothing are specially made to order and the organisation does not stock clothing. There are minimum slots per month for the clothes that can be made so its best to confirm an order when you are certain with the dates to start the process. The organisation has only one facility in Ghana but has a website where orders can be placed online. Pisits was started in 2008 by Kabutey and Sumaya right after graduating from Vogue Style School of School and Design in Accra, Ghana. The brand was founded on a common vision of uniquely providing the perfect fit and style to a fast evolving woman who exuberates ambition, reveres culture and embraces innovation. By acknowledging the demand in the growing African and global market, the brand, through the years, has grown expediently by focusing on providing customers with the best service through rigorous product development in regard to originality and quality. Pistis has been featured in various shows such as the Runway Dubai Season III, Glitz Africa Fashion Week 2013, Radiance Bridal Show and headlining 3 seasons of the Vlisco Fashion Show in Ghana. In addition, Pistis has had the opportunity to dress the finalists for the Miss Malaika Pageant Ghana for 2012, 2013, and 2014 seasons. Through the years, Pistis has had the opportunity to dress dignitaries, celebrities, corporate executives, religious leaders and most importantly, the hardworking everyday woman.


a. If a key need of the customer segment the organisation aims to fill is increase rate of innovation, how would the key customer need identified influence the implied demand uncertainty? (3 Mark) b. Which capabilities of responsiveness (mention 2) does the organisation’s supply chain possess (use information from the case to explain why)? c. How can the organisation use the pricing driver to a. Match supply and demand b. Increase responsiveness c. Increase efficiency?

SECTION B: APPLICATION QUESTION 2

ADJ Company Limited is an organisation that deals in the manufacturing of bespoke cars in Ghana. Its cars are held by distributors/retailers in intermediate warehouses and package carriers are used to transport the cars from the intermediate location to the final customer.   
As an expert in supply chain management, you are to analyse the operations of the company and submit a report detailing the following to management of the company:
a. Indicate the distribution design in use

b. An evaluation of the performance of the current distribution network compared to Manufacturer Storage with Direct Shipping (compare along 4 dimensions).
c. The types of customers and products (mention 2 each) which are more suited to the type of distribution design being used by the company than retail storage with customer pickup and why?

SECTION C: ESSAY TYPE QUESTION 3

The Internet has affected the structure and performance of various distribution networks in a supply chain. Using the case of Jumia or other relevant example state and critically discuss how online sales impacts on a supply chain’s ability to meet customer needs (discuss 4 elements)

Answer 1

Answer to the first question and its subpart:

1. The demand for being innovative is increasing with the same trend as the customer need is also evolving. In order to keep pace with the customer need evolvement, the organization must take the support of innovation at work to create the new product offerings that satisfy the customer need. The implied demand uncertainty is the inability to meet the part of demand and this can result in lower customer satisfaction. As the customer needs to keep changing it becomes more challenging to satisfy the complete need of the customer.
2. The Responsiveness capability is to meet the delivery timeline as well as the quality to be maintained while making the effort for meeting the set delivery timeline. The organization in the case takes only that many orders which they can make so that their response time to the customer does not increases and the organization does not keep any stock and all the orders are to made on order.
3. Pricing can be used as a driver to match the supply and demand, as we know that price is one of the key drivers of the demand, therefore if the orders are less in number compared to the capacity the organization can supply the price should be decreased and if the demand is very high then the price should be increased to moderate the demand and still being profitable. To increase responsiveness the price can have a different premiums for different delivery timeline, for example for express delivery it can be priced higher. To increase the efficiency the new machines can be installed or workers can be motivated to improve the production level, whatever the way we want to take the price will play an important role, with increasing the price, revenue will increase and the same can be invested back in the production system through equipments or rewarding workers for higher production while maintaining the quality.