Inventory management Essay

Part One: Inventory Management and its role within the Supply Chain Inventory management is a method through, which a business handles tangible resources and materials to ensure availability of resources for use. It is a collection of interdisciplinary processes including a full circle from the demand forecasting, supply chain management, inventory control and reverse logistics. Inventory management – is the optimization of inventories of manufactured goods, work in progress, raw materials, and other features of companies in order to reduce storage costs while providing a high level of service and smooth operations. Inventory management in logistics is the optimization of operations directly related to the processing and registration of goods, and to the coordination with the procurement and sales service, it is the calculation of the optimal number of stores and their locations. Effective inventory management allows an organization to meet or exceed customers’ expectations. Several technical applications of inventory management models are incorporated by the inventory management so as to achieve efficiency. Critical role of the inventory management is therefore played by the concepts such as safety stock, cost of goods, economic ordering quantity, customer managed inventory, a vendor managed inventory, and the inventory turnover. The key principles of inventory management remain the same across all the industries; however, some critical areas of emphasizing these principles may vary from one sector of business to another. Inventory management in the supply chain is a complex of supply chain optimization techniques. This is a key element in the supply chain management. Experts emphasize companies’ attention on what constantly improving efficiency in the supply chain has become a market requirement and prerequisite for competitiveness. Global trends for the largest industrial and commercial companies integration lead to the formation of the global system with integrated supply chain, procurement, etc. That is why inventory management in the supply chain cannot be separated from the overall system, a single ‘logistics organism† of the company. Information technology can help to integrate the management of inventory in the supply chain. The purpose of the usage of information technology to manage inventory in the supply chain is to increase the efficiency of all processes. (Supply chain management  consulting 2002) The important aspect of the inventory management lies on the correct application of the right inventory management tools. Understanding of all the details of inventory management leads to the effective control of inventory. When lean practices are applied to all aspects of the inventory management cycle, this means that business can effectively reduce the investment in shipping costs, plant rentals, reverse logistics, and standing inventory while improving or maintaining customer service levels in its overall performance. (Purchasing and Procurement Center, 2012). Therefore, inventory management is important and need to be effected at all levels of business operations to keep the inventory levels stable and to avoid costly errors and inconveniences (Winsner, 2011). Part Two: 1. It is often difficult to find reliable costs of stock. With shortages this seems almost impossible. Discuss how we can find cost of loss of good well or reduced future sales, and to what extent we can have reliable estimates for such costs. Often, it is difficult to find reliable cost of stock because market factors such as shortages come into place. The most important element, which must come into place pertaining to this situation, is intelligence pricing. Intelligent pricing is an element, which will ensure a successful business venture, and without this business will not find reliable costs of stock. Before launching a new business, it is always important for entrepreneurs to have adequate knowledge about the various pricing strategies and components available. Market place factors ought to be weighted by the business owners before prices of goods and services are set. Therefore, factors such as the market, competition and the distribution costs need to be put in place so as to arrive at reliable cost of stock. In any analysis of the inventory management system several factors should be considered: the demand forecast and delivery time, as well as the costs associated with the system operation. The cost parameters must be considered as well. Firstly, the costs of holding reserves, which include the cost of dead capital in stocks,  keeping costs and other costs associated with physical presence of goods in a warehouse. Secondly, order and reorder costs which includes the cost of placing an order, the cost of record-keeping, as well as the cost of set-closing operation if the output is considered in batches. Another important indicator are the costs due to lack of or inability to meet demand(shortage costs), the costs due to changing nature of the products, production costs , as well as losses due to obsolescence or damage. Lets consider shortage costs in details. These are the costs associated with the occurrence of shortage and can show up in those cases when the product is required, but cannot be supplied because it is out of stock. The impact of shortage is wider than lost profit, as it involves the loss of image, goodwill and potential losses from the reduction in the number of sales in the future. These costs may also include such payments for actions ,aimed at reducing the deficit, as freight forwarding, sending a rush order, payment for special types of products, the usage of more expensive suppliers. Most companies believe that shortage is always expensive, so they try avoid it. In other words, they are willing to pay relatively low costs for stock keeping in order to avoid relatively high costs associated with shortage. These costs represent a penalty to be paid by the owner of an enterprise in case when the demand exceeds the supply. It is very difficult to ensure that demand will always be satisfied and, in addition, it is likely for a firm that such guarantees can be joint with extremely high costs. The shortage can be offset by emergency delivery, in this case, penalty is the difference between ordinary value of product and the cost of emergency delivery. Sometimes shortage is offset by back-ordering, i.e. goods are delivered to the customer as soon as they come in stock. In this case, penalty is the loss of goodwill, this can affect customer’s behavior in the future. In extreme case this shortage can lead to the loss of customer, then the penalty will include not only lost sales cost, but also losses of many customers in the future. Identifying shortage costs is exceptionally difficult task, and it does not arise barely because the administration of an enterprise is not interested in reduction of these costs. Direct shortage cost figures were obtained only in a few cases, and only with limited accuracy. One of the most important  elements of the intangible assets of the company is its goodwill. At the same time it cannot be said that the formation of goodwill and maintaining it at a high level is something new and unique for today’s businesses. Goodwill represents the kind of â€Å"good name† of a company and is accounted in its intangible assets, along with copyrights, know-how and trademarks. Goodwill may be either positive or negative. The positive goodwill of a company may help: – To add psychological value for products and services; – To attract new customers in case they have a choice between functionally similar products or services; – to bring a company more qualified employees and increase job satisfaction of an existing staff; – To increase the effectiveness of advertising and sales, to support distributors, advertising agencies, suppliers and business partners; – To raise funds on the stock market and survive in the event of a crisis. Any competitive producer knows that in order to gain the consumer recognition and profit, it is needed to invest primarily in itself. After all, a good name works better than any advertising. It is impossible to generate a goodwill from scratch. The company should enjoy really significant achievements and benefits which lay the foundation for goodwill. The process of generating a goodwill takes a long time and considerable amount of money. This is a long-run, very complicated process that cannot be insured against dangers, losses and risks. (Lean m anufacturing and and operations management, 2012) One of the most important trends in recent years has been towards e-commerce. How does this affect inventory management? Electronic Commerce is a type of trading, which applies the use of modern technologies such as mobile commerce, supply chain management, electronic funds transfer, internet marketing, electronic data interchange, online transaction processing, and inventory management systems among others. (Practical Ecommerce, 2010). Through the application of computerized technology in inventory management, business organizations are able to have a complete inventory description in real-time basis. Investing in e-commerce technology allows business owners to have a strong inventory management backed, which includes bar codes that allow streamlining of the inventory processes. A streamlined process leads to accurate planning due to improved forecasting, product turnover leading  to increased profits and better customer services. E- Commerce inventory management system also means that the business owner can easily integrate with customers through various technologies such the internet and the smart phones. Through this, customers are able to access the available products and their prices and business owners will be able to place their products in the market with ease. Measuring of the inventory turns is also achieved by e-commerce with the use of the appropriate software and proper techniques. Therefore, more frequent inventory turns are achievable, and this boosts the profits. E-commerce is also applied in managing vendors, and maintaining good ties with vendors enables business owners to negotiate favorable terms and conditions for business. Elimination of obsolete inventory in a timely manner is achieved through e-commerce as the seller can easily identify such inventory through real-time observation of the market changes. Inventory items are also reduced through e-commerce since business owners are able to keep just enough items because they know their market capabilities in real-time without false anticipation. Therefore, the overall impact of e-commerce in inventory management is that accurate information is attainable and efficient, and effective operations can be achieved by business owners because the amount of warehousing space required is reduced and constructively used with minimal wastage associated with unpredictable approximations and anticipations (Coyle et al, 2008). Now it is quite obvious that the Internet is changing the image of the world economy. The Internet has the greatest impact on e-commerce between businesses (B2B). Companies form strategic alliances and build relationships with suppliers. The rate of development and growth of e-commerce, as well as promising prospects for increased supply chain efficiencies – all these facts have a significant impact on the companies’ activities engaged in B2B commerce. Such businesses are forced to reduce operating and handling costs and at the same time to accelerate the supply chain activity. Those B2B companies that do business effectively have achieved a leading market positions in their industries. The supplying funds savings can be directed at the enhancement of IT infrastructure operations, and ultimately at the improvement of customer service B2B. The differences between e-commerce B2B and B2C are more significant than between the retail and wholesale trade. From a business perspective, this means savings within the organization, a willingness to enter into profitable alliances with suppliers, a reduction of operative costs in the delivery of goods and services, the precise regulation of the complex coordination within the union in respect of procurement, timely delivery and electronic payments. (Network solutions, 2012). Conclusion A company may command a hefty price on its product or service, but it is amazing how such companies may sometimes observe to be making minimal profit, making no profit or even running at a loss. This means that the cost of the product is different. Perhaps, to arrive at a reliable cost of stock means that business owners need to develop appropriate pricing strategy and to implement it so as it will result in generation of profits. Inventory management is a method through, which a business handles tangible resources and materials to ensure availability of resources for use. Efficient technology such as the application of e-commerce leads to effective inventory management. This is likely to lead to cost efficiency and effectiveness and therefore generate profitability. Main advantages of e-commerce for companies are: global scale, reduction of inventoty costs, supply chain development, fast time-to-market etc. For customers they are: large product variety, personalization, low prices, etc. The high emphasis should be placed on costs parameters when analyzing inventory management. The impact of shortage cost is wider than the lost profit, as it involves the loss of image, goodwill and potential losses from the reduction in the number of sales in the future. Identifying shortage costs is exceptionally difficult task, and it does not arise barely because the management of an enterprise is not interested in lowering these costs. Sometimes the shortage is offset by back-ordering. Shortage costs may lead to the loss of goodwill, this can affect the customer’s behavior in the future. Under present-day conditions, goodwill may change in the shortest possible time. A number of different factors can contribute to this, and therefore the organization’s security policy should include measures to manage reputational risk. Is is evident that the goodwill in the current market environment is the most important competitive advantage for any company.

Ethics and Professionalism in Accounting

AC 216 – Ethics and Professionalism in Accounting Exam #1 Name SOLUTIONS Part I. Multiple Choice (2 pts each, 40 pts total) Instructions: Select the one best answer to each question. 1. The insufficient anchor adjustment cognitive bias refers to: a. placing too much significance on the average value. b. placing significance on an erroneous prior value. c. overconfidence in one’s decision based on insufficient information. d. placing too much significance on a value which is the hardest to recall. 2. Which of the following characteristics typifies a complicated environment? . good practice. b. process reengineering. c. exclusive use of experts. d. best practice. â€Å"c† arguably makes sense but the word â€Å"exclusive† makes it less than the best answer. 3. Which of the following statements is correct: a. Problems can be universally agreed upon, while issues are subject to greater depth of debate. b. Problems and issues are both always universally agreed upon. c. Issues can be universally agreed upon, while problems are subject to greater depth of debate. d. Problems are exactly the same as issues. 4.Deciding whether to use strawberry or grape jam on one’s sandwich is: a. not a moral issue because no real decision needs to be made. b. a moral issue because a choice between alternatives is required. c. not a moral issue because no component of harm exists. d. a moral issue because consequences are important. 5. Ksenia believes that success is under her own control. She most likely has a/an: a. high internal locus of control b. high external locus of control c. high locus of control d. a lack of locus of control 6. Kohlberg’s theories on ethical awareness state that: . differing levels of ethical awareness exist. b. locus of control determines one’s level of ethical awareness. c. most individuals reach a â€Å"stage 3† level of ethical awareness. d. both A and C are correct. 7. Which of the following statem ents regarding Trevino’s eight steps to ethical decision making are incorrect? a. The framework starts off with mechanical steps followed by personal ones. b. Identification of stakeholders and weighing alternatives are two separate steps. c. In real life decision making, not all eight steps are always followed. d.The role of intuition is not considered. 8. Which of the following ethical approaches is considered to be a mixed framework? a. Kant ethics. b. Sidgwick’s dualism. c. Love ethic. d. Existentialism. 9. The Existentialism approach is similar to the egoism approach in what regard? a. Both are teleological approaches. b. Both are deontological approaches. c. Both have a narrow individual focus. d. Both balance individual and group considerations. 10. Which of the following statements is correct? a. Business ethics deals exclusively with the theory behind right and wrong. b.Business ethics deals with the application of standards of right and wrong. c. Ethics and l aw are synonymous. d. Ethics and morality are exactly the same since both deal with application of right and wrong. 11. Which of the following describes law and ethics. a. They are exactly the same. b. Some legal actions may not be ethical. c. All ethical actions are also legal. d. All legal actions are also ethical. 12. According to the textbook and class discussion, U. S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines: a. Treat all firms equally despite their attempts to act ethically. b.Increase the severity of penalties for firms that tried to act ethically but failed to do so. c. Attempt to reduce the severity of penalties when a firm has tried to act ethically. d. Treat misconduct as a clear cut matter of right or wrong. 13. The argument for extreme ethical relativism fails because: a. It is illogical. b. It advocates a consequentialist decision making framework. c. It advocates a mixed framework approach. d. Both A and C are correct. 14. Ethical conduct depends largely on: a. Good decision ma king. b. Practical application of standards of right and wrong. . Making decisions when not all facts are known. d. All of the above. 15. Which of the following best typify’s a Contractarian Ethics approach? a. Treating like cases in a consistent and fair manner. b. Focusing on overall collective benefit for society. c. Balancing just actions for individuals only. d. Everyone should look out for themselves only. In this way, overall society benefits. 16. A set of practices, for polite society, common to a particular group is called: a. etiquette. b. custom. c. law. d. professionalism. 17. According to Jim Collins great companies focus on: a.Short-term goals only. b. Long-term goals only. c. Both short and long term goals. d. Neither short nor long term goals. 18. Intuitionalism: a. is a mixed framework. b. emphasizes rules and exceptions to the rule. c. a deontological framework. d. Both â€Å"a† and â€Å"b† 19. Which of the following is correct regarding the d efinitions of the following terms? | |Morality |Ethics | |a. |Theoretical |Practical | |b. |Practical |Theoretical | |c. Theoretical |Theoretical | |d. |Practical |Practical | 20. Which of the following statements regarding business ethics is incorrect? a. The mechanics of thinking and decision making are key components. b. Use of different approaches and frameworks always yields the same decision since there is always a best option. c. Decisions often need to be made when all facts are not known. d. Just because more than one option exists, it does not mean that all options are acceptable. Part II. Essay (20 points each; 60 points total)Prepare a proper essay response to all three of the questions appearing below. 1. Define the notion of an â€Å"ethical dilemma. † What tests are available which help to indicate the presence of an â€Å"ethical dilemma? † 2. If you had to choose just one of the philosophical approaches discussed in this chapter to guide your decision making, which would you choose? Why? Or, if you had to rank them from most to least helpful, how would you rank them? 3. Citing an example to help illustrate your point, define and apply the 8 steps recommended in ethical decision making as discussed by Trevino.

Forensic Handwriting Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forensic Handwriting Analysis - Essay Example The field of scientific handwriting analysis determines the authenticity of a signature or document. On the other hand, Graphology is the study of handwriting analysis that assesses the writer's traits and personality stating that any two writers are highly unlikely to share similar handwriting characteristics as style, (macro feature) and opening in characters, (micro features), smoothness, size, slant, curvature and angularity etc. Questioned Document Examination or QDE which has been a profession since at least 1870, is related to any "questioned" document in any signature, handwriting, typewriting, computer crime detection, historical dating, fraud investigation or other marks whose source or identity is in dispute or doubtful. The most questioned documents are wills, passports, suicide notes, lottery tickets, organized crime, white collar crime, art and sex crime etc. therefore, to check their authenticity certain methods of forensic analysis have been developed. The method of indented writing or second page writing is the impression captured from the writing instrument on sheets of paper below the one that contains the original writing and is useful in identifying invaluable investigation procedures when medical records are suspected of containing alterations.

Stakeholder analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stakeholder analysis - Essay Example 4. Government –the organizations works with the local government of North Carolina. The identification of the stakeholders has been carried out based on what they do in the organization (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006, p. 9). This information was analyzed in the following ways: collected using observation method, then sampled using systematic method and then reported utilizing the tabular form below. B). The stakeholders have been classified depending on what they bring to the table and their contribution to the whole organization. This is not more of an assumption on the first two classifications; that is the members and the management. The assessment here is that; for the management they make the decisions that involve the everyday activities of the company. For the members, these are the women who benefit from what the organization is doing at the given time (Jigna 2011, p. 12). Looking at what the organization does, one learns that the projects that they do are; physical activity buddy programs, cooking club education, fruit and vegetable purchases at a discount, increased access to produce vendors and increase access to places for physical activity. This means that the organization needs other stakeholders, such as gym owners and vendors, these are the stakeholders that are identified for the last classification of stakeholders above. Jigna D. (2011): Development of the Oxford Hills Healthy Moms Project using a social marketing process: a community-based physical activity and nutrition intervention for low-socioeconomic-status mothers in a rural area in Maine. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina in Greensboro, Greensboro, USA retrieved on May 17, 2015. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2006). Healthy People 2010 midcourse review. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention

Strategy Implementation - Smart Water Research Paper

Strategy Implementation - Smart Water - Research Paper Example This brand is targeted to replace carbonated soft drinks, which are believed to have high calorie intake (Griffin & Moorhead 321). Smart Water is designed to address the needs of the customers who are concerned with their health status. This â€Å"Nutrient enhanced water† has imposed strong competition, not only against other bottled water, but also against other carbonated soft drinks, of which it acts as a perfect substitute (Griffin & Moorhead 322). The Smart Water packaging is designed to conform to the company’s policies and practices. The packaging is made out of sustainable and recyclable materials, which is consistence with the company’s sustainable packaging policy. Key performance indicators are often used to monitor sustainable packaging (Griffin & Moorhead 323). One of the company’s policies is to disclose the use of recycled materials in its products: a strategy that was successfully implemented in the production and packaging of Smart Water. Some of the company’s policies and practices that relate to the packaged water include; water recycling initiatives, water efficiency targets, water efficiency process, disclosed water conserved, reveal water use at Non-US Facilities, disclose normalized water use, policies to improve the efficiency of water use, and climate change policies that address water conservation and use (Griffin & Moorhead

Examining Representation Of Suburbs And Model Dwelling Essay

Examining Representation Of Suburbs And Model Dwelling - Essay Example The house is well fenced with a stone field. The painting shows that Pissarro had visited Bedford Park during the summer in 1987. First, mansion displayed on the other side of Lucien’s house is a modern building with special features. For instance, the entire building is made up of three buildings that are joined together. This design reveals that there is technological development in structural designs of model dwellings or mansions. Secondly, mansions or model dwellings in London are well connected by good transport systems like roads. Pissarro's painting "Bed road" displays the presence of a well-developed road passing between model dwellings. The colorful painting of the mansions in the "Bed road" displays the high quality of the building and the wise selection of colors by ancient house designers. In comparison to the recent picture of the Bed road, Bedford Park in 1995, there are similarities in the house design and the colorful painting on the walls. These similarities depict that Pissarro's ideas on his work would come true in the future. In conclusion, the two paintings discussed above reveal that the 19th century and 20th-century artists had unique skills and capabilities of representing different structures in different places using oil paintings. In his two paintings, Camille Pissarro was able to display the ancient structures developed using high technology. Structures like model dwelling in were characterized by colorful paintings and good transport system as displayed by Pissarro's paintwork.

State Of Integrated Health Delivery System Case Study

State Of Integrated Health Delivery System - Case Study Example The houses of HMA must, therefore, be put in place and in order before any external solutions can be solved. There is also a problem of personal acquaintance to administrative task delivery. By this, reference is being made to what is seemingly an absence of committed understanding of the core needs and strategic focus of the facility by the human resource base of HMA. It will, therefore, be very necessary for there to be a human resource based change that identifies the needs of staff and readily solve them. The essence of this change is that is it only when the service provider who in this case are the staff are well motivated to deliver work and understand the reasons to display committed service that the service provider can receive such guaranteed excellence in service delivery (Wennberg, therefore, In effect, changes in the human resource capacity building of the organization will ensure that there is improved productivity, which could also ensure that there is improvement in f inancial situation of HMA. Impact of current financial crisis on physician groups in the delivery of health care From every indication, the financial strength of a healthcare organization like HMA can greatly affect the plans and focuses of the organization in instituting and implementing for a new strategy (Halvorson, 2007). Once this inhabitation of strategy happens, the delivery of excellent healthcare, in general, can become greatly limited. This is because in most cases, health organizations depend on the use of such strategic changes to bring about excellent service delivery to clients as has been exhibited by HMA which is currently seeking to put in place the integrated delivery system as a strategy. Having said this, there have been other studies and works of literature that have argued that financial crisis at organizations such as HMA does not outrightly mean a flaw in the quest to deliver quality healthcare (Shi and Singh, 2004).