Tag Archives: Margins

Dealing with rising prices of “down”

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (May 8,2012) describes the impact of rising prices of goose down ($12 per pound in 2009 to $28 now) and duck down ($9 to $19). The driver of these price increases range from … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon’s fashion plans

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 8,2012) describes Amazon.com’s plans to sell more fashion product, with the logic that shipping costs are independent of item price and thus fashion goods offer greater margin. Amazon does not plan to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Target pulls Kindles from its stores in a spat with Amazon

Posted on May 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (May 3,2012) describes a decision by Target to stop selling Amazon’s Kindles in its stores. The article describes worries by Target that “showrooming” – a practice of scanning items in the store to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Wal-Mart, the Environmental Defense Fund and sustainable supply chains

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 14, 2012) describes a partnership between the Environmental Defense Council (EDF) and Wal-Mart, as the retailer attempt to make its supply chain more sustainable. Wal-Mart would like to get to zero waste, … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The potential impact of capping patient co-pay on drug prices

Posted on April 15, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (April 12,2012) describes efforts to cap the patient co-pay amounts to shield them from he high cost of specialty drugs – that account for 1% of the units sold but 17 % of … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ban “pink slime” or let the market decide ?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (March 29, 2012) describes a move by supermarket chains to ban ground beef containing “pink slime”, an additive made from leftover beef trimmings, that is used as a filler in beef. Iowa’s governer … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The ripple effect of Foxconn’s changes

Posted on March 29, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the New York Times (March 29, 2012) describes widspread violations discoverd by the Fair Labor Association, hired by Apple to audit its suppliers, at Foxconn. The supplier, Foxconn, has committed to adhere to Chinese law, which restricts … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uniqlo’s global expansion

Posted on March 28, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (March 24, 2012) describes the Japanese retailer’s expansion into the US and China. The company focuses on producing large volume, low cost items that are sold across the season. Given that weather patterns in China … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Minimum wage hikes across China and impact

Posted on March 18, 2012 by aviyer2010

An article in Bloombergbusinessweek ( March 12,2012) describes minimum wage hikes of 9% in Beijing, 14% in Shenzhen and 35% in Henan. Given the Chinese system where minimum wage is a local decision, and local demand supply conditions demanding such … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Private Equity role in turning around manufacturing firms

Posted on February 5, 2012 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (Feb 2, 2012) by Armand Lauzon Jr describes his experience as a private equity company representative with manufacturing firms. Firth Rixson was a metals forging company that he led, and that doubled revenues, improved profitability, added … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment