Operations Management
Whole Foods Market is the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods, with stores throughout North America and the UK.
Supply chain/supplier relationships
A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities convert natural resource raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. In sophisticated supply chain systems, used products may re-enter the supply chain at any point where residual value is recyclable.
A typical supply chain begins with biological and ecological regulation of natural resources, followed by the human extraction of raw material, and includes several production processes before moving on to several layers of storage facilities of ever-decreasing size and ever more remote geographical locations, and finally reaching the consumer (Davenport, 2003). So the objective within any distribution network is to find the best number of facilities that will reduce the total cost curve, the same time still maintaining appropriate levels of customer service.
We need to understand what drives businesses to select certain locations over others.Infact the cost driver that has the least impact on the total cost of selecting a given location is land and building cost (Brealey & Myers, 2004)
Current supplier relationship portfolio
A portfolio refers to a collection of separate but related items. Customer portfolio analysis can provide strategic input in developing a successful planning process. Alternative models have been developed in reference to the market environment and values concepts discussing the triadic relationship among the organization supplier and customer. The purchased products and services are first classified as high and low based on the two dimensions: profit impact and supply risk.
Presence of outsourcing
With outsourcing comes a perceived tension between the competitive pressures faced by domestic firms and the effect that out sourcing has on domestic workers. To address this tension, we present a general-equilibrium model with an oligopolistic export sector and a competitive import-competing sector. When there is a minimum wage, an outsourcing tax switches jobs to unemployed natives. In this case, the policy is both politically popular and economically sound because it raises national income. Technology reduces the relative cost of outsourcing and that firms with a more advanced technology infrastructure tend to outsource more. Firms with high rate of technological change rely more heavily on outsourcing.
Technological change induces companies to outsource. The impact of technological change on outsourcing is not limited to the information technology sector. You change the technology with which you do your product (Drucker, 2002).
Future recommendations
It is also good to note that improvement of the departments towards their objectives is also very important. By such a means, we will have corporation. A good example is like when the marketing department is busy marketing and promoting the products, the engineering department is busy producing high end products. Due to the fact that the marketing department is always in contact with the customers, advice from them should be seriously taken into consideration by the engineers so as to produce what will satisfy the company. In the same manner, the engineers should not be let down by the communications team in ensuring that the company is in proper rapport with each other in the delivery of information.
Finally, as the team focuses on the improvement of values in the company, the manage should take into consideration the importance of competition. This is a two face issue where they should view the challenges they receive from the competitors and at the same time focus on being more competitive towards them. On being challenged by the competitors the main goal should be aiming to improve either the products or the prices so as to be on a better edge. With this recommendations followed and not limiting the organization to just these, the organization is bound to improve in its earnings and ensure that they maintain up to the market levels of equity.
Reference
Brealey, R. & Myers, S. (2004). Principles of Corporate Finance, 2nd ed. NY: McGraw- Hill.
Carr, D., Hard, K. J. & Trahant, W. (2002). Managing the Change Process. NY: McGraw- Hill.
Davenport, T. (2003). Process Innovation. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Drucker, P., (2002). Work and Tools. New York: Prentience Hall
