Tag Archives: Growth

What are GM’s choices for the Opel plant in Bochum, Germany ?

An article in the New York Times (April 2,2012) describes worker frustration at GM’s Opel plant in Bochum, Germany, with worries that it will be shut down in 2014. Wages at the plant are six times the wage rate in … Continue reading

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Is fiber optic cable capacity too much ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (April 3, 2012) suggests that fiber optic capacity expansion is too optimistic, pointing to 3% utilization of cable in big cities and new laser technology that expanded capacity in the past. But capacity … Continue reading

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Social Networking at P&G to drive sales growth

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 3, 2012) describes Proctor & Gamble’s foray into social networking and its demand impact. A Facebook campiagn for Pepto-Bismol focused on “Celebrate Life” – targeting users of the product on Saturday and Sunday mornings – … Continue reading

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Wal-Mart’s ecommerce approach to combat Amazon.com

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (April 2, 2012) cites WalMart’s 8 % growth in 2011 vs Amazon.com’s 41 % growth as reason for WalMart to innovate in the ecommerce space. The result (a) Endless Aisle – which permits customers to order … Continue reading

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Inditex’s supply chain as it goes global

An article in the Economist (March 24, 2012) describes the fact that future growth for the parent company of Zara will come from Asia and the US, rather than the current 70 % of sales in Europe. Zara, known for … Continue reading

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The impact of natural gas extraction on steel mills

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 26, 2012) describes the doubling of steel tubes, pipes etc in the last two years – thanks to the demand from natural gas extraction facilities across the US. But the abundant supply … Continue reading

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The global supply chain for outsourced services

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (March 19,2012) describes new locations for higher level outsourced work – accounting, research, marketing etc. New locations in Argentina, Guatemala, Poland and Brazil, enable these tasks to be performed closer to the customer, despite being more … Continue reading

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The supply chain impact of minimum wage increases in China, Vietnam and Indonesia

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 14,2012) describes the impact of wage increases in China on Charming Shoppes, owner of the Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherine labels. In addition to wage increases, the company realized that 60% … Continue reading

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India, China trade flows and market access

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (Feb 27,2012) describes the 43 billion dollars of exports from China to India and the 10 billion exports from India to China. This trade imbalance has resulted in 46 complaints by India to the WTO about … Continue reading

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Mexico’s gain at China’s rising cost expense ?

An article in the Wall Street Journal (Feb 6, 2012) describes data that trains and trucks carried 9 % more freight last year from Mexico to the US, while container traffic from Asia dropped 0.2 %. As we have heard … Continue reading

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