Tag Archives: Consumers

Walmart’s environmental efforts in China and US retail impact

An article in the Atlantic (December 2011) suggests that 70 % of Walmart’s $420 billion in sales are provided by 20,000 Chinese suppliers. Walmart’s efforts at decreasing waste, pollution etc thus impact its supply chain in China significantly, and increase … Continue reading

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U.S. multinationals global job growth in the 2000s

A Wall Street Journal article (Nov 22, 2011), describes an analysis by the Commerce Department showing that US multinationals cut 865,000 jobs in the US and added 2.9 million jobs in the rest of the world.  In the manufacturing sector, … Continue reading

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Expiring Lipitor patent, supply chain impact

An article in the Wall Streeat Journal (Nov 22,2011) describes a plan by Pfizer to sell Lipitor (a cholesterol reducing drug) direct to consumers once its patent expires on Nov 30. Health care plans that have contracted to sell Lipitor … Continue reading

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Making brick and mortar stores like ecommerce sites

An article in bloombergbusinessweek (Nov 14, 2011) decribes worries by retailers regrading an increase in informed focused consumers, a decrease in impulse shopping, and steps to compensate. Pacific Sunwear offers iPads to salespeople to assist consumers with possible clothing combinations, … Continue reading

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Topitop – the “Andean Zara” in Peru ?

A Wall Street Journal article (nov 14, 2011) describes the growth in the middle class from 41% to 51% of the population in the last decade in Latin America.  Defined as people earning 45 % to 70% of the per … Continue reading

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Apple’s supply chain strategy – more insights

An article in bloombergbusinessweek (Nov 7,2011) describes Apple’s plans to invest $ 7.1 billion in its supply chain and commit $ 2.4 billion in prepayments to suppliers. It describes Apple’s decisions to buy such large volumes of high-end drills that … Continue reading

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Fair trade usa vs fair trade international – flexibility or selling out ?

An article in bloombergbusinessweek (Nov 7,2011) describes a decision by the Fair Trade USA group to break away from Fair Trade International and enable growth of large OEMs and retailers. This requires permitting fair trade labels on chocolate bars that … Continue reading

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Barnes & Noble swapping book space for e-readers

A Wall Street Journal article (Oct 29, 2011) describes a plan by Barnes & Noble to double the square feet devoted to e-readers to 2000 sq ft in a 26,000 Sq ft store. The space will be freed up by … Continue reading

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Tracking the US supply chain impact of new California Greenhouse Gas Emissions Laws

A New York Times article (Oct 21, 2011, A25) describes recent passage of greenhouse gas emissions laws in California that aim to impose stringent caps on emissions with the flexibility to trade with any other firm across the US for … Continue reading

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A Parallel between Japanese auto and Chinese solar manufacturers ?

An article in the New York Times (Oct 21, 2011, B3) describes a potential reaction to US solar manufacturer unfair trade concerns regarding Chinese competitors , a parallel to Japanese auto manufacturers in the ‘80s.  At that time, Japanese auto … Continue reading

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