...– Apr 2015 IMS People is an Offshore Recruitment Services firm whose customized services help companies and staffing firms source talent for opportunities at home and abroad. We tailor our services to each client’s needs by providing traditional recruitment services and creative, one-time solutions that help companies gain advantage in their market and drive their recruitment value chain. Achievement: Awarded Performer of the month for May-2014, Sep-2014. Awarded New Comer of the Year 2014. Duties: As a Recruitment consultant I am responsible for building and maintaining relationships with clients, colleagues and candidates. This enables me to research and generate new business opportunities. Duties Included; * Headhunting and sourcing candidates dependant on employer requirements * Regular business development calls with new and existing clients * Interviewing and screening candidates to create a strong pipeline * Marketing...
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...The global sourcing challenges of IKEA Who does not know IKEA? Famous for its design and very affordable house furniture, IKEA is the leader on its market. Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad this business grew tremendous fast that it has become the reference in term of low-cost self assemble furniture in the world. The sourcing strategy of IKEA follows a manufacturing Code of Conduct towards its suppliers named “The IKEA Way in Purchasing Home Furnishing Products” (IWAY) . Besides this code, the strategy is rather well established especially regarding the relationships between the company and its suppliers from the economically developing countries. But the question is; are Ikea’s international procurements processes efficient? Can they be improved? This essay will focus on Ikea’s global sourcing’s tradeoffs and will highlight the way they can be enhanced. The first part of this essay will describe the regular sourcing process of IKEA including the strategy, the second part will emphasize how the sourcing should be done to be successful and the last part will provide recommendations about the processes according to the analysis. For a company, global sourcing is basically choosing different suppliers all around the world in order to use worldwide efficiencies and reduce costs. Global sourcing offers various advantages such as low cost materials and skilled labour, diminution of lead times, and also economical advantages like low taxes or low trade tariffs. These benefits...
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...become big business. Some would argue that the commodification of information has led to a lack of security of personal information and others would argue that the commodification of information is necessary for us to continue growing as a society. This essay will discuss the meaning of information commodification and try to make sense from a utilitarian viewpoint as to whether this is a positive move in the right direction or if this move will cause more adverse effects in the long run. A commodity is a marketable item that is produced to satisfy wants or needs and specifically describes a class of goods that is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market. Commodification is the transformation of goods and services as well as ideas or entities that normally may not be considered goods, into a commodity. Information refers to answers to questions from which knowledge and data can be derived and information requires a cognitive observer (Wikipedia). So information as a commodity is a gathering of usable data or information that has been transformed into a good that is sold in a market, and that is used to help consumers of the information make informed decisions. Those in the business sector do not like commodification due to the fact that it reduces profitability. Businesses pursue “branding” strategies and look for power and influence in...
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...this will be an important sector * (F) Technology Sector: Being a technology company, innovation and production techniques are important. Ravi’s personal rank order is : 1. Techniques of production, computers, IT, science, e-commerce (The Technology sector) 2. Customers, clients, potential users of products and services (The Market sector) 3. Competitors, industry size and competitiveness, related industries (The Industry sector). Technology Sector : Trends are - SDN (Software Defined Networking), commoditization of hardware (switches and routers), maturing market of networking, Virtualization and Cloud based services. Techniques of producing software – Agile versus Waterfall. Techniques of producing hardware – Commodity silicon versus custom ASICs. Outsourcing and off-shoring trend : New cutting edge design and development in US (Art). Work that is easily replicable or that can be scripted (Science), is given to cheaper Asian nations. Customers : Enterprise, Service Providers. New trend among Cisco’s clients : they are graduating to be consumers of IT services; there is a need for end to end architecture rather than specific point solutions. Related industries : IBM moved to services when faced with similar commoditization. Competitiors : Huawei commoditizing routers and switches, Riverbed, Juniper, HP. Dell, HP facing similar commoditization challenges. Next slide : The 2*2 matrix of Envt Complexity versus Stability . Position of Cisco is...
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...Autarky: the equilibrium or maximizes its welfare when it produces and consumes has only one point in the absence of trade. Commodity or net barter terms of trade: The ratio between the prices of exports and imports is called the net barter terms of trade or as Viner puts it, "the commodity terms of trade." To express this symbolically: Community indifference curve: the various combination of two commodities that yield equal satisfaction to the community or nation Deindustrialization: The process of social and economic change which is due to the reduction in industrial capacity or the activities of a country's manufacturing and heavy industry. Equilibrium-relative commodity price in isolation: it is given by the slope of the tangent common to the nation`s production frontier and indifference curve at the autarky point of production and consumption. Equilibrium-relative commodity price with trade: is the common relative price in both nations at which trade is balanced General equilibrium model: the deals with only two nations, two commodities and two factors Incomplete specialization: Production of goods that compete with imports. Increasing opportunity costs: that the nation must give up more and more of one commodity to release just enough resources to produce each additional unit of another commodity Law of reciprocal demand: it explains how the barter rate, of exchange is determined between the two nations. Marginal rate of substitution (MRS): it is of x for y...
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...GLOBAL SOURCING Strategic Soucing at Whirpool China Finding the ideal supplier CASE ANALYSIS Assignment 1 STRATEGIC SOURCING AT WHIRLPOOL CHINA FINDING THE IDEAL SUPPLIER CASE ANALYSIS 1. What are the key problem areas for Whirlpool? Finding the right supplier. 2. What is the importance of strategic sourcing? Sourcing the right components is the first step in launching the new product. 3. What are the pros and cons of Whirlpool’s global sourcing strategies? Cons: Payment terms. Pros: To avoid delays in launching the new product. 4. How are suppliers identified, evaluated and selected? It was necessary to define the commodity and allocate responsibilities and resources through co-ordination of global and regional activities. Using the Sourcing Strategy Development (SSD) process in 4 steps: Step 1: internal analysis, identified and prioritized the process –partner requirements, then evaluated the performance of the existing supply base and reviewed the existing supply base, it also identify the switching costs. Step 2: external analysis, which includes analysing the supplier industry and competitors and evaluating competitor performance and strategies. The evaluation process makes use of SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threat). Step 3: strategy development, is to analyse the competitiveness and their financial impact. Preliminary negotiations could be carried out, a suitable strategy and suppliers should be selected and...
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...rP os t Sw W12079 STRATEGIC SOURCING AT WHIRLPOOL CHINA: FINDING THE IDEAL SUPPLIER op yo Dr. Martin Lockstrom, Thomas E. Callarman and Shengrong Zhang wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2012, CEIBS Version: 2012-06-19 tC It was April 10, 2011, when Gianluca Castelletti, head of Whirlpool’s Asia International Procurement Office in Shanghai, was informed by his colleagues that the company was about to launch a new refrigerator model in just six months. With the current worldwide focus on energy saving, and as one of the biggest home appliances producers, Whirlpool China planned to introduce a new energy-efficient refrigerator. No Castelletti immediately spotted a challenge in Whirlpool...
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...Practicum Strategic Sourcing at Whirlpool China Q1. Whirlpool’s Global Sourcing Strategy (GSS) in China had many advantages as well as disadvantages. As the case explains, China had become one of the world’s largest household appliance makers, and relocation of Whirlpool’s Asian HQ to Shanghai helped the company’s products gain acceptance within the market. Furthermore, setting up an international procurement office in Shanghai helped to eliminate various factors that could make global sourcing a difficult process. Whirlpools Shanghai HQ decreased transportation delays and cultural and language differences and supported the company’s own manufacturing operations in Asia. Other advantages to global sourcing in China include: reducing capital investments, gaining market share, focusing on core competencies, and increasing flexibility in production. Although China may provide a cost advantage in regards to raw materials, disadvantages occurred in areas such as quality, reliability, a lack of capable service providers, and inadequacies in transportation and IT infrastructures. Q2. When it came to potential suppliers, Whirlpool set their standards high. In order to be considered a supplier of Whirlpool, quality requirements set forth by the Whirlpool Supplier Quality System had to be met. Most suppliers in China, however, found difficulty in reaching the minimum required score of 60/100 during the first round of audits. Whirlpool used the Sourcing Strategy Development (SSD)...
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...collecting, cleansing, classifying and analyzing expenditure data with the purpose of reducing procurement costs, improving efficiency and monitoring compliance. It can also be leveraged in other areas of business such as inventory management, budgeting and planning, and product development. There are three core areas of spend analysis - visibility, analysis and process. By leveraging all three, companies can generate answers to the crucial questions affecting their spending, including: ▪ What am I really spending? ▪ With whom am I spending it? ▪ Am I getting what’s been promised for that spend? Spend analysis is often viewed as part of a larger domain known as spend management which incorporates spend analysis, commodity management and strategic sourcing. Companies perform spend analysis for several reasons. The core business driver for most organizations is profitability. In addition to improving compliance and reducing cycle times, performing detailed spend analysis helps companies find new areas of savings that previously went untapped, and hold onto past areas of savings that they have already negotiated. Benefits of Spend Data Management: [pic] 2. Goods Spend Analysis: How is it conducted? 3 major components of a spend analysis: |Component |Activity |Typical deliverable | |(a)Opportunity assessment |Collect and validate category...
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...scarce. He does not deny that in its early stages of development, when IT resources were scare or rare, it was a strategic resource that companies could use to gain a competitive advantage. Carr goes on to explain that IT has become more affordable and thus is available for all companies to use. He claims that this makes IT less of a strategic resource and more a commodity. He compares IT’s transition from resource to commodity to that of the development of railway systems and electrical power. He references the fact that these now common commodities were once strategic resources that were used by companies to gain competitive advantages in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Carr goes on to explain that no companies base their business strategy on using electrical power and thus business now should transition away from basing strategy on IT. Carr continues with his argument that IT doesn’t matter by describing how the biggest risk with IT is overspending on unnecessary resources, creating a cost disadvantage. Carr outlines three key philosophies that companies should employ to properly manage IT as a commodity rather than a strategic resource. First, companies should reduce IT spending by differentiating necessary and unnecessary expenditures and acting only on those that are necessary. Second, companies should not operate on the leading edge of technology. Rather, they should hang back and invest in resources that are proven out....
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...The satisfaction someone receives from consuming commodities is called utulity.Total utility refers to the total satisfaction from consuming some commodity. For example, the total utility of consuming 10 units of any commodity is the total satisfaction those 10 units provide. Marginal utility refers to the change in satisfaction resulting from consuming a little more or a little less of the commodity. The marginal utulity of the tenth unit consumed is the additional satisfaction provided by the consumption of that unit, or in other words, the difference in total utility gained by consuming 9 units and by consuming 10 units. The significance of this distinction can be seen by considering two questions: (1) If you had to give up consuming one of the following commodities completely, which would you choose: water or the movies? (2) If you had to pick one of the following, which would you choose: increasing your water consumption by 35 gallons a month (the amount required for an average bath) or attending one more movie a month? In (1) you are comparing the value you place on your total consumption of water with the value you place on all your attendance at the movies. You are compering the total utility of your water consumption with the total utility of your movie attendance. There is little doubt that everyone would answer (1) in the same way revealing that the total utility derived from consuming water exceeds the total utility derived from attending the movies. In (2)...
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...Purchasing The Low-cost Learning curve t might not be the best habit, but people have a tendency to categorize everything. The same often happens with low-cost country sourcing, which lumps totally diverse countries scattered all over the world into the same category of inexpensive procurement opportunities. Many still debate whether the process itself actually varies that much from country to country. Is the strategy for sourcing from China really any different than it is from India, Turkey or Brazil? For David Hoover, vice president of strategic procurement for HNI Corp., the answer is, “No, it’s not.” Of course, there’s a little more to it than that. “In the end, human beings are always the ones doing the business. And everyone has an interest,” notes Hoover. “The challenge, in any supplier relationship, is to understand what the other party’s interests are, so that you can help satisfy them. When you do that, they will be compelled to help satisfy yours.” A few years ago when HNI, a global office furniture manufacturer, started evaluating the potential cost benefits of sourcing in China, the company took an approach that utilized its decentralized business model called “split and focus.” However, while the model proved very effective on the customer side of the business to accommodate different product markets and consumer bases, the company quickly learned that the approach needed a few minor adjustments to be as successful on the supply side. “[Initially] we were sending...
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... A reverse auction is a type of auction in which the roles of buyer and seller are reversed. In an ordinary or forward auction, buyers compete to obtain a good or service by offering increasingly higher prices. But in a reverse auction, the sellers compete to obtain business from the buyer and the participants place lower and lower bids, until the lowest bidder wins. A reverse auction is similar to a unique bid auction as the basic principle remains the same, however a unique bid auction follows the traditional auction format more closely as each bid is kept confidential and one clear winner will emerge at the completion of the auction. . The reverse auction has been widely used by many organizations and is aimed at reducing costs and sourcing services or products at the lowest possible price from the participating suppliers. Some of the benefits are: A reverse auction provides buyers with the most competitively priced solution to their needs by pitching suppliers against each other to be the one offering the lowest-priced bid. It saves time in the procurement process and also streamlines the procurement process as well as reduces the need to send a different request for proposal to each potential supplier. It equally has some disadvantages that makes it a bad method like creating problems when proper controls are not put in place. Competition for the lowest price can make some suppliers to cut corners to maximize benefit or even send them out of business when the project turns...
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...Case Analyses- Request for Proposal The Request for proposals (RFPs) is used in negotiated acquisitions for the procurement of supplies and services (research and development (R&D), construction and commercial items), by the contracting officer issuing a solicitation to communicate the government needs to prospective contractors. The policies and procedures that govern RFPs vary between the procurement of commercial items and construction. The purpose of this paper is to compare the two RFPs and identify the differences. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires commercial items acquisitions exceeding $5.5 million to be solicited using the RFPs contract method and solicitations is prepared using the standard form (SF) 1449. The commercial items RFP used in this comparison was issued by the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA). The requirement is to provide inscription for blank marble niche covers for Arlington National Cemetery. The acquisition is being set-aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB). The period of performance is for a base period and four option years. The option clause to extend the term of the contract is included. The option clause does not obligate the government to exercise the option years. The government may exercise an option by providing the contractor with a written notice within the time specified in the contract. The solicitation states that prospective contractors must provide an all-inclusive unit price. The...
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...BBCM Silver Oaks Industrial Sites Block 2, 32 Oak Avenue, Ferndale, 2194 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL 01/13 INTRODUCTION Branelli Beads and Clothing Manufacturers (BBCM) is seeking proposals from interested contractors and/or firms to provide procurement and installation of commercial sewing machines, design tables and storage cabinets together with training staff on these machines. BACKGROUND BBCM is a jewellery a/accessories and clothing manufacturers supplying their products to YDE chain stores in South Africa. BBCM is located at Silver Oaks Industrial Sites Block 2, 32 Oak Avenue, Ferndale, 2194. The chain stores managed clothing and jewellery stock stability mainly through BBCM’s products for the past five years. It is well known for their trendy, fashionable throughout all seasons through low cost – high quality products. BBCM is one of the recognised brand labels, especially with young generation throughout South Africa and has won two top awards in the clothing industry. At this point, BBCM is facing a challenge in the production of its clothing as YDE has extended its chain stores to the SADC region with their stores specifically in the main cities of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. BBCM has extended its office space by building a new office block to expand its Manufacturing and Design Departments. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS a) Project Description BBCM is seeking contractor and/or firm to design, procure, fit and train per specifications below: - 8 industrial...
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