Summary:
A summary of the current situation at Iowa Elevators from a purchasing and inventory cost perspective is that Iowa Elevators is currently in charge of two divisions—grain-handling and marketing and farm supplies and the company has been experiencing decreasing profitability. Scott McBride was asked to re-evaluate the purchasing department and implement a five year cost-savings plan to save the business.
Analysis:
Current Problems
To get an understanding of the presentation I would give at the executive management meeting I have to outline the current problems at Iowa Elevator. There are currently five problems I have identified with Iowa Elevators. 1.) With human resources, there are currently certain staff members have too
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See if there are additional costs that can be identified and saved with the travel coordinator. 5.) Analyze the 11,926 million in unclassified spending. Figure out where the money is going and cut any loses.
Long-Term Solutions Based on a Hybrid Purchasing Structure
Long term solutions to these issues is: 1.) Restructure Scott’s purchasing department into a hybrid purchasing department. Grain-handling and marketing division will continue to be decentralized but the farms supplies division will be centralized. Because 75% of revenues still come from grain-handling, keeping these field elevator managers happy with their purchasing opinions is very important. This department will have a supervisor, expediting clerk, and analyst. Since the farms supplies division is smaller but more costly, this division will be centralized and decisions will be made at the corporate office. This division will have a supervisor, expediting clerk, analyst, and two buyers to help with the purchasing process. This would take the purchasing power away from the individual elevator managers, but allow Scott to see what areas need improvement and all the data will go directly to the corporate office. 2.) Introduce an ERP system that handles supply chain management with different suppliers, purchasing information and data and all HR and IT management. This ERP system will bring records to a centralized location for
1) Issue – The team wants to develop new ventures and wants to keep it in house. They realize that everyone has things that they are working on. They start thinking of pulling warehouse staff to assist with order fulfillment, but right away Maria says no that it is not cost efficient to outfit them with new hardware. The
Assessment of Problem: Clearly describe the problem in your work unit and your plan to solve the problem.
3. A cost-effective assessment was never done for this program. What should such an assessment have taken into account in terms of costs measured?
While our model of leaving as much individuality of our acquisitions in place as possible; allowing previous business arrangements, staffing levels and management to continue has been effective in building our reputation, efficiency has suffered. By not standardizing things such as automobile fleet usage and sharing facilities, we are incurring more administrative expense than is really necessary. By not centralizing purchasing across the board the company is not taking full advantage of economies of scale. As growth continues the administration of costs and the different contracts will become nightmarish. Expenses as % of total revenue are beginning to move up and currently stand at their highest level (18%). A move away from this model, especially after the image issues I mentioned earlier, may further damage our reputation as being the “preferred acquirer.” To further complicate such a move is our acquisition of numerous rural homes which will present a problem to the logistics of integrating services, etc. efficiently.
6. Question : Discuss the three primary sources of organizational power in hospitals. How should these three
Putting yourself in the shoes of the managers or engineers in the case (Ron Dittemore, Linda Ham, Don McCormack, Rodney Rocha, Pamela Madera, Calvin Schomburg), consider the following questions?
2. Given the markets the company is operating in, what is the best structure for the sales force? How did you decide?
1. Prepare a brief situational analysis of LMF for Dr. Townsend, identifying at least 3 internal issues and 3 external issue/competitive issues that are affecting LMF.
Victoria Heavy Equipment’s most recent organization has been lacking effective communication practices amongst all of its divisions. The company has been suffering from lack of clear goals in measurable terms, for its divisions. The idea of each division functioning as an independent unit, whether it being cost or profit center, is a remarkable beginning. However, clear goals and key measurable need to be set for each center, which in our case have been overlooked. As a result, many of these centers have over spent, resulting in over expenditures, something we can definitely not afford with anticipated slower market.
In order to solve the problems, this report will in turn goes through 7 questions:
Provide a detailed explanation of the various components existing in the management environment that can influence or impact Brinker International. (25)
W. W. Grainger, Inc. is a leading supplier of maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products to businesses and institutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico with an expanding presence in Japan, India, China and Panama. The company works with more than 3,000 suppliers and runs an extensive Website (http://www.grainger.com) where Grainger offers nearly 900,000 products. The products range from industrial adhesives used in manufacturing, to hand tools, janitorial supplies, lighting equipment, and power tools. When something is needed by one of their 1.8 million customers it is often needed quickly, so quick service and product
Basically the Executive Committee Meetings (ECMs) are not effective in achieving their intended purposes. This is not to say that they are a total failure and a waste of time since they have brought some unforeseen advantages in addition to partly achieving their objectives. I would like to point out the strengths and weaknesses of these ECMs.
The new (JITD) system needs to be addressed in a manner that all departments can understand the importance of implementing such a program and how it will benefit the overall success of the supply chain. Overcoming Resistance at Barilla SpA Before trying to convince the distributors, one has to convince everyone at Barilla that the JITD system will be a success. If everyone within the company is convinced and they provide a single front to the distributors, Barilla has a better chance of convincing the distributors. Some of the steps that Barilla will have to take in this situation are: * Convince and use the Upper Level Management: if they are convinced of its feasibility, they will offer full support in trying to convince the Sales department. It will make a lot of difference if the Upper management talks to the Sales people than if just their Logistics department talks to them. * Involve the Sales Department in all stages: To make the Sales people feel important and wanted, Barilla should involve them in all stages of the JITD proposal. They should be made to feel that they would have lots to do even after the system comes into effect. * New Compensation System: The Sales department should be informed that they would still be rewarded for good performance, except that in this case it was the performance of the entire company as a whole and not just they individually. The new system would award a percentage of Barilla’s profits to the
Define the situation (case summary) Define the major issues, conflicts, and the network . Describe the options (alternatives) for solving these issues. Several internal and external influences serve as contributing factors in the reconsideration of the company’s current system. Changes in customer demands, domestic and global competition, and a unique decentralized management system is now forcing the Westminster Company to reevaluate their traditional supply chain practices. (Bowersox & M.B., 2014) Westminster’s domestic operations consist of three separate companies that sell and distribute products to several of the same customers. (Bowersox & M.B., 2014) At first glance consolidation of the systems can significantly improve