Business and Educational Opportunities in Many Countries - Essay Example

MB n Supply Chn Mngement module: Chnge nd performnce mesures f orgnstons wsh to tke dvntge of economes of scle nd leverge n procurement decsons,crtclly pprse why t s tht mny orgnstons re optng for decentrlsed procurement. Much ttenton hs been pd on the concept of Supply Chn Mngement s t s vewed s vtl element of ny prosperng orgnzton. Beng cohesve chn between suppler nd customer SCM mes to meet requestes of both sdes. t genertes sles revenue, provdes consumer goods nd helth cre or publc servces, excesses nd outdtes products nd supples te up workng cptl nd storge spce, nd reduce vlble funds for nvestments n plnt, people, servce delvery, nd product development. Multtude functons of SCM gves resons to consder ts mportnce n prtculr feld. When mkng regulr purchsng opertons compnes my turn to ether centrlzed or decentrlzed opton, both of whch re med to nput to economc scle nd leverge of compny. t s common to thnk, however, tht centrlzed opertons tend to be dvntgeous n comprson wth decentrlzed. The ltter brngs fewer volumes of effectve negotton nd brgnng power nd t gurntees flexble nd quck responses for busness. n vew of bove, t s beng questoned why compnes turn to delng wth decentrlzed mngement when centrlzed procurement results n obvously domnnt effectveness. The response to ths queston wll be tht there re no dvntges of one pproch to purchsng over nother; there s one wy of effectve procurement tht gurntees successful outcome nd t by mens - blncng decentrlzed nd centrlzed pproches when dong regulr purchses n the system of supply chn mngement. Further wll explore nd crtclly revew both pproches. Centrlzed keepng of wrehouse purchses s n effectve step towrds keepng the sfety stocks nd ncrese nventory turnover. However, whle centrlzng solves the nventory mngement problem to degree, wth very lrge number of prts the nventory mngement of slow movng prts s stll formdble chllenge. To llustrte the problem we cn use the Preto, or 20/80 rule (Donld, Bowersox, Closs, 1996), to see how lrge number of tems drve up nventory mngement costs nd undermnes the development of more cost-effectve servce strtegy. Usng the rule we cn see tht lmted number of fst movng tems - usully round 20 % of the tems - mke up 80% of sles nd profts nd only smll frcton of nventory mngement costs. These re the fst movng -prts. The rest re the B- nd C- prts tht drve hgh nventory mngement costs whle not contrbutng to the proftblty of the busness (B-prts re the 50% of the products tht mke up 15% of the sles. C-prts contrbute wth 5% of sles but mke up 30% of the tems n nventory). However, the perspectve provded by the Preto nlyss helps us see potentl soluton. Wht f t were found tht number of the slow movng B- nd C- prts fulfl the necessry techncl requrements for beng produced usng Rpd Mnufcturng f ths were the cse t would be possble to replce keepng prt n nventory wth producng t on demnd. n other words, the soluton would be to replce nventory n the centrlzed wrehouse wth Rpd Mnufcturng cpcty n connecton wth the centrlzed spre prts centre. Wht s the potentl beneft of replcng nventory holdng wth rpd mnufcturng cpcty n the centrlzed spre prts centre Currently the slow movng B- nd C- prts drve up nventory holdng nd logstcs costs tht need to be subsdzed wth profts from fst movng prts. ntroducng Rpd Mnufcturng would cut the hgh nventory holdng nd logstcs costs of the slow movng prts, nd reduce the need to subsdze the hgh costs of B- nd C-prts wth profts from fst movng prts. Ths would lso reduce the vulnerblty of the OEM's busness to rlnes nvestng n Rpd Mnufcturng cpcty on ther own. Centrlzed wrehousng combned wth centrlzed Rpd Mnufcturng for the slow movng B- nd C- prts keeps nventory low whle t the sme tme keepng nvestments n rpd mnufcturng cpcty well utlzed. Opertng stnd-lone mchnes n number of dfferent loctons s neffcent becuse the requred qulfed personnel cn not be employed very effectvely. s more prts re found where nventory holdng cn be replced wth Rpd Mnufcturng, nd the demnd for these prts exceeds the cpcty of sngle RM mchne, one sklled techncn cn stll operte multple mchnes. s result, multple mchne envronment such s ths wll hve lower percentge of lbour to totl cost. bove t ws seen tht centrlzton s n effectve strtegy for keepng both stock levels down nd RM cpcty utlzton hgh. The next ssue to consder s decentrlzed procurement of resources emphss on solvng the problem of wrehousng nd spre prt delverng nd cost reducton. f t s necessry to provde servce t seprte locton n short tme the only soluton currently vlble s to keep decentrlzed nventory t the locton. Ths soluton s both expensve nd does not gurntee tht the rght prts re lwys vlble. Wth decentrlzed procurement the costs of wrehousng nd delvery s elmnted. The problem of expensve nd dffcult delvery to remote loctons dsppers. The US Mltry s n the process of evlutng the opportuntes for the dstrbuted producton of spre prts ner to the pont of combt. The objectve s to fnd solutons for producng spre prts n lrge number of loctons usng moble RM mchnes n tmes of conflct. Moble Rpd Mnufcturng presents mny more problems thn dstrbuted sttonry producton fcltes, becuse the current mchnes re not constructed for use n moble envronment. tmospherc dfferences, clbrton dffcultes, nd needed energy supples pose problems for moble RM. Centrlzed procurement on demnd to replce centrl wrehousng wll probbly be the frst pplcton of the new mnufcturng technologes. The prmry busness beneft s n the reducton of the dfferent prts tht need to be stored. Tppng the full potentl of procurement technologes wth dstrbuted mnufcturng cn chnge the supply chn structure sgnfcntly. n the restructurng, the centrlzed wrehouse could be replced by centrl dt repostory. Ths supply chn structure would lso help compnes to prevent the use of ntellectul property n the producton of unuthorzed copes of ther desgns. ndeed mny OEM compnes engged n developng electronc product models hve lso ntted projects to protect ther models gnst unuthorzed use. To llustrte the effectveness of decentrlzed procurement wll use the exmple of computer compny Compq tht redesgned ther PCs to mke modulr ssembly of certn fetures possble, nsted of ssemblng ll PCs t the plnt loctons. They hve, therefore formed ssemble components bse tht s speclzed to customer demnd through modulr ssembly performed by dstrbutors geogrphclly closer to customers. Ths chnge hs enhnced ther responsveness to locl mrket nd sgnfcntly mproved ther customer servce. s t ws mentoned n the ntroducton prt, the best possble soluton for the compny to fx ts procurement opertons s to set blnce between centrlsed nd decentrlsed procurement. 2. Most of the world clss technques nd phlosophes such s TQM, JT, nd Len Supply requre consderble chnge processes to tke plce before they cn be successfully mplemented. Crtclly evlute how supply chn mnger cn mplement such chnge Supply Chn Mngement s closely relted to world clss technques such s TQM, JT, nd Len Supply n the context of necessry efforts to chnge ther structure nd mke them work. Supply chn mngers re currently rechng to mplement these systems nto the nternl structure of ther orgnztons s well s set externl system n supplyng the products to the end customer whch suggests mesurng SL/KP suppler/customer strteges. Mnger should choose one of the bove mentoned technologes to mxmze ncomes nd vod dffcultes wth delverng the products nd fx purchsng opertons. When gvng the preference to executng one or nother operton mnger should py consder reltve strengths of chosen technology, outlne the busness cse wthdrwn from conducted reserch on prtculr ssue, crry out project mngement nd crete vrtul tems tht would sponsor nd mnge the new opertonl chnge wthn the precncts of n orgnzton. t s mportnt to refer to the consultton of thrd prty, who wll gve n ndependent opnon to the necessty nd relevnce of new product mplementton. The opnon of ndependent professonl s counted to gve n objectve overvew of the stuton s he or she do not hve nternl orgnztonl gend nd s lkely to judge from the personl reserch tht hs been conducted bsng on generl nformton bout the compny nd the technology. Under the JT system, producton s drven by mrket requrements s nformton regrdng demnd pulls producton through the processes. Ths my be compred to the push pproch to producton schedulng under trdtonl western mnufcturng n whch output plns re developed on the bss of hstorc nformton nd producton s decoupled from demnd. The ntenton s to reduce the mount of stock, lbour, nd tme (nd hence cost) n the system. Ths n turn reduces the mount of 'bufferng' between processes nd hence producton qulty must be rght-frst-tme. Olver nd Wlknson ( 1992) hve rgued tht the essence of understndng JT les n the recognton tht these producton systems 'drmtclly ncrese the nterdependences between the ctors nvolved n the whole producton process, nd tht these heghtened dependences demnd whole set of supportng condtons f they re to be mnged successfully' (p. 68). Snce JT plces consderble emphss on relble producton qulty, dscusson of JT s regulrly brcketed wth tht of totl qulty mngement. TQM s typclly chrcterzed s set of des tht ws developed by mercns but mplemented by the Jpnese. The mercn 'qulty gurus' such s Crosby nd Jurn were prtculrly nterested n the 'hrd' producton mngement perspectve of qulty nd hence ther nfluence s lrgely on the techncl spects of mnufcturng. However, others, prtculrly Demng nd Fegenbum, lso stressed the sgnfcnce of the workforce n the mngement of qulty. Wlknson et l. (1992) dentfy three pproches to 'qulty'. One focuses on the 'hrd' producton spects of qulty desgn nd conformnce to specfcton wth the use of sttstcl process control to montor qulty nd control stndrds. second pproch concentrtes on the 'soft' qulttve spects nvolvng employees wth customer responsveness nd servce. The thrd pproch emphszes mxture of 'hrd' nd 'soft' whch recognzes the need for process control nd employee prtcpton. Ths thrd vew of qulty n mnufcturng hs become predomnnt s the need to combne effccous nd mutully supportve techncl nd socl spects of mngement hs been emphszed. n prtculr, the notons of 'ft' between these techncl spects of producton nd the mngement of the workforce hve centered on ssues wthn the debtes surroundng humn resource mngement (HRM) nd tem workng. Problems n settng the bove dscussed technologes nto the opertonl ctvty of n orgnzton nclude: Plnnng: mny compnes py not consderble ttenton to the plnnng process wthn the frmes of ther current polces. t s hghly mportnt before consderng n mplementton of TQM, JT, or Len Supply technology to pln the both fnncl nd techncl prt of the operton. t s by mens - outlne plnned expnses nd ncomes from the mplemented technology n order to decded wether the nvestment s worth mkng; nd frmng the lmts of tme tht wll be needed to djust new technology to compny's envronment; mplementton: fter the pln hs been outlned the mplementton process tkes plce. On ths stge compnes need to do ther best to speed up the process of mplementton nd dpt to new devce n dong regulr opertons. Coordnton mples ntegrtng the work of dfferent opertonl deprtments of the compny when dptng to new technology. Once the devce hs been lunched, ll personnel on the compny should be nvolved n ts usge tht wll shortly brng effectveness nd ese executon of dfferent trnsctons. Compettve objectves nsde nd outsde the orgnston s needed to get the best out of possble from the mplemented technologcl devce. Compettveness s lwys effectve where the progress tkes plce. Sklls nd trnng long wth ledershp cpbltes of workers s sgnfcnt for the project mplementton to successfully tke plce. When pyng ttenton to ll these fctors, supply chn mnger s lkely to succeed n mplementng TQM, JT, or Len Supply technology 3. Crtclly pprse how T pplctons cn ssst n orgnston n movng from rectve to strtegc procurement The development of nformtonl technologes n recent tmes hs enhnced n mportnt tool for communcton nd nformton ccess for both ndvduls nd orgnztons. Ths tool s n nternet, whch closes gps of dstnce n the physcl world. Beng solted physclly from the mn economc centers of Europe, North merc nd Est s, the ustrln economy hs been shped by the 'tyrnny of dstnce'. n frmes of Supply Chn Mngement nternet promotes dong busness through executng electronc commercl opertons (e-commerce). The Orgnzton for Economc Cooperton nd Development (OECD) defnes e-commerce s: "busness occurrng over networks whch use non-propretry protocols tht re estblshed through n open stndrd settng process such s the nternet ... the term 'busness' brodly mens ll ctvty tht genertes vlue both wthn frm (nternlly) nd wth supplers nd customers (externlly). n ths sense t would nclude nternl networks (e.g., ntrnets) s well s networks tht extend to lmted number of prtcpnts (e.g., extrnets). Some of ths ctvty my result n monetry trnscton nd some wll not (OECD 1999, p. 28). For present purposes, t s suffcent to defne e-commerce qute smply s "dong busness electronclly". Ths cn nclude gtherng nformton bout, communctng wth, nd ultmtely trdng wth customers nd supplers electronclly. The electronc med nvolved cn nclude 'open' networks lke the nternet, the World Wde Web, the telephone nd the fx mchne s well s 'closed' networks lke ED. The use of nternet sssts n dong mny opertons n speed up lot of processes. Prtculrly, t: (1) ncreses nd mproves strtegc plnnng, forecstng, workng co-opertvely nd n n ntegrted wy wth supplers, ntegrtng processes nd nformton mngement, logstcs nd product cycle tme reducton nd: (2) Reduces the tme demnds of tctcl purchsng through utomton of tsk bsed ctvty, nd elmnton of mnul re-keyng nd error rtes. Besdes E-commerce there re number of other wys tht re sutble nd effectve for supply chn mngement. These re: () Buyer worksttons mke t possble to connect PCs wth tools nd mngement nformton, so tht the processes regulrly tkng plce n n orgnzton could be esly orgnzed nd quckly performed. (b) Electronc Dt nterchnge (ED) pperless trdng fclttes the electronc nterchnge of dt mong multple compnes. By dherng to the stndrds, compnes vod the need lo mntn dfferent system to ccommodte ech of growng number of trdng prtners. ED hs been mplemented by wde vrety of ndustres. ED s the exchnge of routne busness trnsctons n computer-processble formt, coverng such trdtonl pplctons s nqures, plnnng, purchsng, cknowledgements, prcng, order sttus, schedulng, test results, shppng nd recevng, nvoces, pyments, nd fnncl reportng. ddtonl stndrds cover nterchnge of dt reltng to securty, dmnstrtve dt, trdng prtner nformton, specfctons, contrcts, producton dt, nd dstrbuton nd sles ctvtes. (c) nternet (the relevnce of nternet n Supply Chn Mngement hs been dscussed n bove; (d) E-procurement s the term used to descrbe the use of electronc methods n every stge of the purchsng process from dentfcton of requrement through to pyment, nd potentlly to contrct mngement. Electronc enblement of the purchsng process cn be more specfclly dentfed s: E-Sourcng - for contrctul processes. Tools nclude eTenderng, eRFQs (Request for Quottons/evlutons) nd euctons. E-Procurement - for trnsctonl processes.Tools nclude mrketplces usng technques such s eCtlogues nd punch-out. E-Pyment - Tools nclude vrtul or embedded GPC (Government Procurement Crd), envocng nd self-bllng. The benefts of eProcurement nclude: Modernston Effcency mprovements (the wy people work) mproved commercl reltonshps wth supplers Reduce costs for supplers delng wth government Opens up the government mrketplce mprove deprtments' blty to mnge ther supply chn more effcently (h) Electronc bllng: through electronc bllng systems t s possble to settle pyments nd cover expnses. Ths opton s very mportnt when dong e-procurement opertons s t speeds up trnsferrng the money nd mke t possble to execute the operton wthout meetng wth the delverer of goods nd products n person. (g) The Reverse E-ucton event s conducted on-lne wth pre-qulfed supplers beng nvted to compete on predetermned nd publshed wrd crter. Reverse E-ucton cn be on ny combnton of crter, normlly converted to "prce equvlent". Bdders re ble to ntroduce new or mproved vlues to ther bds n vsble nd compettve envronment. The procedure nd durton of the event wll be defned before the Reverse eucton commences. There wll be strtng vlue tht supplers wll bd gnst untl the competton closes. The eucton wll be key stge n the contrctng process. To sum up, nternet enbles nformton, knowledge, servces nd vlue to be trnsferred semlessly round the globe. t thus plys crtcl role n the emergence of globl economy. Some rgue tht the nternet s not revoluton -- rther n mprovement on prevous mens of communcton, such s the telephone nd prvte dt communctons networks. Others contend tht the nternet represents 'dscontnuty' n the process of ongong technologcl dvnce, t lest equvlent to the dffuson of electrc power. t s becuse the nternet offers such potentl for enormous chnge tht busness responded so frenetclly to ts rrvl. 4. Crtclly revew the dffcultes of trnston from job n locl uthorty procurement deprtment to one wth FMCG compny nd how they mght be overcome. Job trnston lwys cuses number of problems for the worker to overcome. wll dscuss the problems cused by chngng the workplce from Locl uthorty to Fst movng consumer goods (FMCG) occupton. There are three major steps an individual making transition from local authority job to FMCG job should consider. Self-evaluation--Most individuals who seek an expatriate assignment are motivated by their perception of the glamour, excitement, and adventure associated with such an assignment. However, the frustrations of the actual job experience coupled with the culture shock of being in a foreign environment often make expatriates long for the familiarity of their home country. Generally, about three to six months after the beginning of their international assignment, expatriates have either terminated the assignment early and returned home or have begun to adjust to life in the host country. What differentiates those who successfully complete their assignments from those who return home early Successful expatriates should be able to work with diverse groups of people in a culture that may be very different from their own. They should be able to recognize and accept societal and business norms that may seem alien or unethical to their own standards. Before individuals choose a FMCG job, they must determine if they have the willingness and motivation to effectively complete such an assignment. Personal characteristics which include the ability to adapt to different norms and modes of behavior, as well a high tolerance for ambiguity, are prerequisites for a successful FMCG career. General exercises, such as those found in Richard Bolles' What Color is Your Parachute, as well as more specific exercises such as those found in Nancy Adler's International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, are valuable self-evaluation tools. Also, it may be useful to read recent publications, such as Gercik's (1992) On Track with the Japanese: A Case by Case Approach to Building Successful Relationships, that illustrate the psychological and emotional effort involved in dealing with a foreign culture. Many expatriate assignments terminate early because of the spouse's inability to adapt. Spouses are vital to the success of an international assignment because they may be the most important social support to the expatriate worker. Individuals who wish to pursue international careers or assignments should include their spouses in the decision-making process. They should discuss their intentions with their spouses and seek their approval before any further commitment is made. Once the husband and wife have made the decision to pursue such a career path, both partners should engage in training for the assignment. Employment or educational opportunities for the spouse should also be investigated at this time. Some useful sources of information about business and educational opportunities in many countries include the U.S. Government's Post Report and The Wall Street Journal's books on business travel in selected countries. Preparing for the Job Transition--Most expatriates are chosen for an assignment because they possess knowledge and skills that foreign nationals do not have. Research indicates that most U.S. FMCG companies do not have a systematic way of selecting and training their expatriate managers. Being an outstanding performer in a specific area of expertise is generally the first criterion used to select someone for a foreign assignment. Expertise is a must because supporting systems are usually absent at foreign locations. Therefore, expatriates must have the technical skills necessary to complete the assignment by themselves. An experienced expatriate manager is usually able to successfully handle any assignment located in any corner of the globe. But for one's FMCG assignment, it is often better to prepare for conditions when first coming down to a job. Worker who wshes to work n FMCG should possess wth the followng sklls: - Computer ltercy; mstery of bsc spredsheets, word processng nd dtbse mngement (Word, Excel nd ccess) - blty to mnge hmself effectvely - Mult tskng - Self-motvted - Good orgnstonl sklls - Excellent dmnstrtve sklls - Effcent t delng wth customer queres - blty to work under pressure, cused by sesonl concentrton of ctvty Locl uthorty procurement wll lkely nqure the worker who s tctcl nd rectve n nture becuse prmry busness s n provson of locl government servces; culturlly stlted, flexble nd rsky, dversrl nd compettve etc. n order to mke the process of job trnston eser for the worker t s dvsble to follow one of the next strteges: 1) To undertke trnng lessons 2) Cochng 3) Mentorng 4) pprentceshps/rotton nd shdowng experenced stff 5) Cler drecton/nducton on ft wth orgnstonl strtegy etc. Bibliography: 1. 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