Search results for: 'Market'

“Notes and cases of operations often seem to be based on the analysis of operating systems in an unchanging environment. The emphasis is placed on understanding and evaluating basic characteristics of company’s operations, working under reasonably stable conditions in terms of demand and markets. However, business works differently in practice. Markets demand competition and strategic change. Operating systems should be adapted to new strategic needs. Even in situations where strategic and competitive framework is reasonably stable (where the convenience or otherwise making of changes in a coherently designed and well managed operating system could be questioned), demand does not usually remain stable in the course of time.”
This technical note related to strategy details planning and scheduling procedures to manage dynamic capacity.

Lawnworks a division of a Fortune-500 North-American company builds garden tractors for the consumer and professional market. After two decades of steady growth an economic recession forces divisional management to rethink the operations and market strategy of the division or face dismissal from the parent company.

Multiforms a tooling equipment manufacturer has traditionally served its customers by offering an engineering service to customize its products. Rapidly shrinking margins signal to the management the need to radically revise the order acquisition and fulfillment process while keeping in mind the constraints of a small company. In any case a new approach to the market and process blueprint are needed.

La Bugaderia, an industrial laundry service for institutions and companies that employees people with intellectual impairments, was discussing whether or not to expand its capacity by purchasing a second washing machine. It was facing a challenge because sometimes it could not handle all the work it had and other times there was excess capacity. This led to the idea of expanding capacity in the washing machine area. However, the company had to keep in mind that it was not just the washing phase slowing down the process. The team knew they had to standardize processes and be as competitive as any other competitor in the market, bearing in mind quality, the price and service. The manager thought it would be best to contact an external consultant to analyze the situation in a way that the solution would add value to the specific case as well as address any other production capacity and process problem. After walking the readers through the company’s current process, the consultant explains that orders must be transformed into units that can be used to help make decisions by drawing up a table showing the time use per unit for each step and each kind of resource. The case wraps up with the consultant stating that he will draw up a series of proposals along with a list of questions so that La Bugaderia can decide what step to take.

The Russian Market is of strategic importance to Nestle S.A., the world’s biggest consumer goods company, headquartered in Switzerland. However, the operating environment in Russia is unique in terms of the trade terms that are the norm. Business to business transactions are primarily carried out on a near-cash basis. This places large demands on the working capital requirements for companies like Nestlé that operate between retailers and suppliers in the supply chain. Nestlé Russia’s CFO Philippe Blondiaux, charged with finding a solution, considers reverse factoring, at the time of case writing the most popular supply chain finance instrument (Financial Times 2009). The case analyses the implementation of the supplier finance solution and its viability of implementation in other geographies. 

Overall the decision of the supplier is analyzed from a financial, procedural and relational point of view and is relevant for courses related to operations and supply chain management.

The case presents operational and supply chain management issues of Al-Kadi, a large truck and trailer parts company in Saudi Arabia. The company has observed an increase in stock levels and working capital that surpasses growth in sales, threatening the feasibility and healthiness of the business. The efficiency vs. effectiveness dilemma of inventory management strategy is the main focus of this case.

Between 1992 and 2005, Banesco Banco Universal experienced sustainable and inexorable growth within Venezuela’s complex financial and banking market. Venezuela had weathered several political, social and economic crises over the last fifteen years. The vision of its founders Juan Carlos Escotet and Luis Xavier Lujan had been a key driver for the Bank’s success. However, after thirteen years of good decisions and results, Banesco was now a large and complex organization and was starting to show certain weaknesses that needed to be addressed by reviewing management and innovation processes to date. 

In 2005, the Bank was in a situation in which it was able to launch a number of initiatives and projects designed to leverage strategic objectives. The demand for projects, however, was bigger than the Bank’s capacity to implement them, and it did not seem capable of prioritizing them.