Category Archives: Operations Management

Selling more books vs maximizing profits – are Amazon’s decisions in sync with author preferences ?

Posted on July 5, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (July 5, 2013) describes discount reductions on books by Amazon as the company’s share of book sales grows to 25% of the market. Several authors and small publishers claim that the lowered discounts … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Amazon, author, books, consumer, Cost, Ecommerce, margin, monopoly, Retail, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

The impact of WTO’s ruling to eliminate COOL in US food products

Posted on July 5, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the url (http://info.usa-c.com/2013/05/06/wto-may-23rd-and-cool/) reports on a World Trade Organization ruling requiring US food products to stop the Country of origin labeling (COOL) on food products after May 23, 2013. The WTO ruled that COOL labels are barriers … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, Country of origin label (COOL), Food, Global, Labeling, regulation, WTO | Leave a comment

The global supply chain that clothes US consumers

Posted on July 4, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (July 1,2013) displays data from the Office of Textiles and Apparel at the US Department of Commerce to show exporting countries that clothe US consumers. The participants range from China (exporting $553 million pairs of cotton … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Cost, Global, Outsourcing, regulation, Retail, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Will any of the two proposed rail options or the new proposed canal option compete with the Panama Canal ?

Posted on July 4, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (July 1,2013) described a proposed Chinese-led plan to build a $40 billion canal in Nicaragua, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. But two other rail options have been proposed too. A $10 billion Taiwanese proposal to … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, China, competition, Cost, Global, Guatemala, Honduras, interoceanic, Nicaragua, Panama Canal, rail, ship, Supply Chain, Taiwan, transport | Leave a comment

How widespread is counterfeit food ?

Posted on June 30, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (June 26,2013) describes counterfeit foods such as vegetable oil in chocolate bars, peanuts in almond powder, water in olive oil, liquor marketed as tequila, engine oil in olive oil, nonbranded vodka sold as … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Consumers, Cost, counterfeit, Food, Global, manufacturing, regulation, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain | Leave a comment

Will suspending trade privileges for Bangladesh improve local enforcement of working conditions ?

Posted on June 30, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (June 28, 2013) describes the US administration’s plan to suspend trade privileges for Bangladesh because the country has permitted safety violations and not enforced labor rights, particularly for the apparel manufacturing industry. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Apparel, Bangladesh, competition, consumer, Costs, ethical, global supply chain, Imports, regulation, trade | Leave a comment

The impact of short cell phone life cycles in Japan

Posted on June 26, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (June 26,2013) describes the example of Sony’s Xperia Z smartphone whose life cycle started on February 9 but ended one month later after selling 1 million units. The dominance of cell phone carriers … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, cellphones, competition, Consumers, Cost, Design, Global, Suppliers, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment

US egg price rise (by 42%) and global supply chain impact

Posted on June 24, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (June 14, 2013) describes a 42% rise in US egg prices and explores possible reasons. One key reason is the avian influenza in Mexico that has created a dramatic demand increase in US … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Cost, Demand Surge, eggs, exports, Global, Mexico, price increase, Retail, Risk, Suppliers, Supply Chain, Trends | Leave a comment

Will Tesla’s new 90 second battery swap increase electric car demand ?

Posted on June 21, 2013 by aviyer2010

A report in PCmag.com (June 21, 2013 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2420802,00.asp) describes a demonstration of a 90 second battery swap by Tesla, thus offering consumers the choice of waiting and getting free battery charging or paying close to the price of tank of … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged battery swap, Capacity, charging, competition, Coordination, electric car, Growth, regulation, Retail, Sustainable, Trends | Leave a comment

Can low shale gas prices attract new steel capacity to the US ?

Posted on June 19, 2013 by aviyer2010

An article in the Financial Times (June 19,2013) describes a new plant in Ohio built by Vallourec to produce steel tubes for the oil and gas industry. The company describes the low US gas prices, as well as the surging … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged Capacity, Cost, Global, Growth, manufacturing, Margins, reshoring, shale gas, Supply Chain, Sustainable | Leave a comment