1) Find a credible source on the internet that connects one of your investment decisions (INVESTING PROJECT) or one of the companies whose triple bottom line (people and planet) you will be researching (GOOD GUIDE). This source should drive your research project. Think of it as one of the sources that will be in your Works Cited Page.
3) After you read the source that you find, answer the following questions as a blog entry below. Use an example from this week if you are confused.
- How does the text connect to your research project? (relevant)
- What evidence do you have that the text you found is credible? (credible)
- Create a clear, specific argument based on the text. (argument)
- Support the argument with thoughtful analysis, using cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, part/whole, or other methods of analysis. (analysis)
Keep in mind that everyone else will see what you write below, so please keep it professional. This post is due Thursday, 5/2, by 12:00am.
4) Come to class on Friday ready to discuss the reading and the text you found!
If you need support or have questions, my office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 3:15-4:15 in Room 229.
In the article “McDonald’s Profit Rises, but Year-Over-Year Sales Fall”, it explains that McDonald's is making a lot of money yet when they tried aggressively to promote the dollar menu that did not lift any sales. The company said that overall sales worldwide fell by at least 1 percent during the period and showed that comparable sales were expected to go down again in April. It was the first decline in a decades, in sales at restaurants open at least for 13 months. The author, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, stated that “As Burger King and Wendy’s have stepped up their marketing, McDonald’s has responded by promoting its Dollar Menu and other value deals.”, McDonald has seen that compared to other restaurants they fall short for the people don't demand more McDonald product so to grab the attention of the consumer they promote their dollar menu and give people more deals for less money, one of the things consumer look for beside better quality of the product. “The executives said McDonald’s needed to steal customers from its rivals”, so mcdonald has to stoop so low as to steal customers to make profits, well its understandable since without more customers they will be run out of business and lose to the competition. Some statistics are “McDonald’s earned $1.27 billion, or $1.26 a share, compared with $1.267 billion, or $1.23, a year ago. Revenue edged up 1 percent, to $6.6 billion”, according to the statistics McDonald's revenue has drop since last year, and this article was published April 19,2013 so this is really recent. The expected revenue was $6.59 billion, but made $1.26 billion and dropped 2 percent to $99.92 billion. McDonald in other part of the world, their “sales fell 3.3 percent in the region encompassing Asia, the Middle East and Africa, reflecting weakness in Japan and in China”, showing that not only the us McDonald have been losing money, its because all the competition have been giving people such as burger king selling their whopper Jr. for $1.29 and they charge you .79 for a shake, with those deals McDonalds has so tough competition and we cannot rule out Wendys ether. This is relevant to my research because now we learn why McDonalds always try to promote the dollar menu and not another product that cost more. If McDonald doesn't change their game plan, IE start making better deals than the competitors and start getting their customers or else they will continue to lose money a year and will soon start firing the employees because they can't afford to pay workers any more. Even though they are losing money their product still does harm to the people because their food is the most leading to obesity in the united states, so if McDonald disappears will it really make a difference cause burger king does the same thing. Each company just adds to the bigger problem on how to make healthy choices, which teens are failing at. If they want to promote more of their product they should make healthier food options and promote that their food will help your health while the other just cause more problems to the human body. If they do this then they will be bettering not just the their revenue/profit and community but also give the message that they do care about the health of the people and they can still make money while helping the peoples health in the processes. Even though McDonald is just a part of the fast food industry but its still part of the reason the united states is consider the country fats country in the world. The only way to solve the problem is to eat healthy, but that will solve the problem of obesity but then create the problem that the fast food companies won't be making any money and unemployment rate will start to rise and why would we want that. Its like a double edged sword, if we eat healthy we have to sacrifice the peoples jobs and if we continue to eat their food we will have to sacrifice our health, Health over Jobs or Jobs over Health. Which would you choose?
ReplyDeleteThe article that I read is called “ McDonalds ‘Happy Meals’ Sad for Workers, Study Says.” The article is about a factory in Da Nang City, Vietnam. The factory, named Keyhinge Toys, was hired by M-B Sales to make the Happy Meal toys for McDonald's. Keyhinge Toys has been outed by a study that shows that the factory forced young females to work every day for nine to ten hours a day under hazardous conditions. Keyhinge Toys pays their female employees, who all range from the age of 17 through 20, an ‘apprenticeship’ salary of 700 Dong an hour, which is about 6 U.S. cents. This pay is far below Vietnam’s legal minimum wage. The low wages were not the biggest problem going on in Keyhinge Toys, however. Keyhinge Toys’ workers were exposed to high amounts of acetone pollution in the air. 220 workers fell seriously ill due to the acetone exposure and 200 were later ‘temporarily” sent home as a result of a dispute over the hazardous work conditions in the factories. Keyhinge Toys management promised they will return back, however studies made by the Asia Monitor Research Center (AMRC) show that the 200 who were dismissed never returned back. This article specifically connects to my project because this article talks about McDonald’s violation of human rights. This article also connects to my project because it shows how companies use subcontracts in order to avoid any wrongdoings done by the factories producing their products. Inter Press Services or IPS was started up in 1964 by an Italian journalist Roberto Savio and the Argentine political scientist Pablo Piacentini. IPS focuses on giving voices to oppressed groups and developing countries. Even though McDonald's is a subcontractor and not an outsource, they should still be held somewhat responsible for the working conditions in Keyhinge Toys. Although McDonald's doesn't own Keyhinge Toys, it can be inferred that they are aware of the conditions happening in the factory. Accompanying the hazardous work conditions, Keyhinge Toys is one of factories in Vietnam that are paying their workers far below the legal minimum wage. McDonald's should be held part responsible for this tragedy because assuming they knew about the conditions, McDonald's is placing orders to the factory to keep their cost low.
ReplyDeleteThe text I found connects to my research project because one of the companies Im doing is Apple. In the source it explains the supply chain of Apple. Apple doesn't necessarily use resources from China, Europe, South America, South East Asia and Australia. Apple does their items in China but their materials are all over and its companies.
ReplyDeleteThe article I found its credible because its directly found in the Apple website. A highly trusted website and researched by everyone and read. The author Kevin Bostic is a Appleinsider, he knows what really going on in apple. That knows the details and knowledge of Apple.
People believe that China is the only country that assists in the creation of the iPhone's which is not the case. Well actually Iphones doesnt come from one place or you could say its made in one place. Apple has many countries that they get the materials from in order to make Iphones. The countries have materials that apple needs for less of the prices. Which in fact benefits Apple and gives them an extra income into their companies.
Overall iPhones are built in China, but the materials needed come from all parts. Using the information from the source, we can determine that Apple uses the help from different countries. Using the cheap resources from other countries Apple is able to afford much more resources. It's a win for Apple, they get double the products for a discount.
“Starbucks to Open China Coffee Farm, Securing Global Supply” by Laurie Burkitt connects to my research project Good Guide because it discusses and will discuss about the process that Starbucks is willing to make to gain profit in China and providing jobs to people in need. The way that businesses work to assure their triple bottom line is to look for and gain profit, hunt down/look for possible areas that will suit their standards of production, looking for a country that they know will be a success and in this case it’s China. To fulfill the people’s needs with brewed freshly grown beans →coffee.“China is poised [prepared for action] to become Starbuck’s second-largest market behind the U.S., overtaking Canada, Japan and the U.K” (Burkitt, Laurie). The business has a higher chance of earning/gaining more profit because it has become so popular in china to consume good quality of coffee and if starbucks has a growing profit where population is so high then they will be able to hire and train more people as coffee growers.
ReplyDelete“Starbucks to Open China Coffee Farm, Securing Global Supply” by Laurie Burkitt is a credible text because it describes and discusses about the process that Starbucks is willing to make to gain profit which will be included in my research project. It is also credible because the text comes from The Wall Street Journal; an American English-language international daily newspaper that provides informative evidence and stories on business and economic news. The Wall Street Journal was founded on July 08,1889 and published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company. The Journal is the largest newspaper in the United States, by circulation (distributed around the United States, amount sold). It has a circulation of 2.1 million copies (including 400,000 online paid subscriptions), as of March 2010. The newspaper has won the Pulitzer Prize thirty-three times, including 2007 prizes for its reporting on backdated stock options and the adverse effects of China’s booming economy.They are a trustworthy newspaper who takes ownership of their reports/stories.
Laurie Burkitt plays a major role in this article being that she wrote it. Laurie Burkitt is a reporter in The Wall Street Journal who is covering China’s consumers. When wanting to find Laurie Burkitt I found her twitter page and no other informative source because these days people use technology and social networks to communicate with their viewers/readers and inform/update the people with local/recent news and events.
Opening a Starbucks coffee farm in China is a great plan/idea for the business and people in China because it will give an opportunity to people to get/find jobs as well their coffee will fulfill the people’s needs of wanting their well brewed coffee.
Their coffee should be so good and rich with their high quality beans that people would rather be willing to pay for their high priced coffees/drinks that Starbucks sells rather than buying McDonald's coffee at a cheaper price with their McCafes.
The article" Economic action to end sweatshop and forced child labor" by Green America. It talks about both Coca Cola and Walmart working conditions and their wages. Walmart and Coca Cola are both business that i want to evaluate about there products. This article gives us information about the real problems going on in the sweatshops and not all the positive things going on to produce these products.
ReplyDeleteThe article" Economic action to end sweatshop and forced child labor" came from the web site Green America. Green America is a nonprofit membership organization based in the United States that promotes ethical consumerism. Green America runs several different programs focusing on environmental preservation and on the improvement of human rights. Green America also has many hyperlinks that link to other articles relating to one another.
Walmart sweatshops had poor working conditions and weren't treated as well. Due to this the workers were paid very low wages. As stated " Workers are paid 41 cents per hour, they work mandatory 14 to 15.8 hour shifts seven days per week including night shifts and they have no regularly scheduled days off". The workers weren't even rewarded for all the products they were producing or getting the right pay. Workers worked hard to get paid very low while the company is benefiting from the money coming in from the consumers. Coca Cola company have also struggled with protecting the workers. As stated "November 2005. The International Labor Rights Fund has filed a federal lawsuit charging Coca-Cola and its bottler in Turkey with torture of union activists and their families". They were being tortured and violated , this didn't stop them. The employees went down to strike in for their rights but they were hit with clubs, tear gassed, and then taken to prison. These workers have gone through so much to produce the products we use now and don't even value them.
The New York Times article that I found is called “McDonald’s Set to Phase Out Suppliers’ Use of Sow Crates” connects with my project because it has to do with the people part of the triple bottom line. The animal rights advocates were fighting to get rid of the gestational crates and McDonalds are not only agreeing with them but are also arguing that their are better methods than gestational crates to raise sows. The New York Times has been providing new to the people since 1851 and has grown to become a well known organization. The author Stephanie Strom has been working in the paper industry since 1988 and joined the New York Times since 2002. McDonalds is becoming a company that is putting the people's interest first even if the thing that the people are fighting against dont mostly have to do with them. McDonalds started to help the engaged citizens that fight for animals rights even tho McDonalds “buys just 1 percent of the total pork produced in the country(Strom).” They are not the ones that will be most targeted by this activist since they don’t contribute to a big part of the demand for pork, but they are still taking time out to try and help the animal rights activist get what they want. They are not only pointing about the problem but are also trying to find a solution “The Humane Society has been in contact with McDonald’s over the years about the crate issue but had stepped up the intensity of its discussions over the last month(Strom).” McDonalds is showing that they are using their power in order to influence the changes that the activist are seeking and not only saying that their is a problem. The activist also now that just by McDonalds getting involved there are going to see changes happen “I would go so far as to say that while we’ve been able to pass laws against gestation crates that are very important, this announcement by McDonald’s today does more to put the writing on the wall for the pork industry than anything that’s happened previously(Shapiro).”
ReplyDeleteThe article I found is called “Apple: It’s all About the Brand” by Leander Kahney. Apple is one the three company/business I want to evaluate. This article connects to my project because it tells me some background information on their brand and what certain people think about it. This article gives us information based on advertising budget. This article was written by Leander Kahney which is a former editor and publisher of Apple-centric Blog. He was born November 25, 1965 and was a technology writer and author. He’s also a former managing editor and was previously a reporter at Wired News. Lastly he wrote three books based on Apple products called; The Cult of Mac, Cult of Ipod, and Inside Steve’s Brain. The key to the company’s success in the late 1980’s was their marketing experts. Apple is one of the biggest companies in which designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computer. It’s best known for their hardware products like MAC, IPod and IPhone. But before all that Apple was well-known for their high quality marketing system. Apple’s advertising budget in the late 1980 and early 1990s was from 15 million to 100 million. And in 2012 their budget was at 1,000 million, which means they’re focus isn’t advertising but it’s to improve and create more useful and developed products. By reducing the advertising budget Apple will invest into products that will eventually be a hit. In 1997 Sculley told the Guardian newspaper that Apple was the marketing company of the Brand Channel.com said “ It’s a really powerful brand” and it was the “Brand of the Year” in 2001. Apple’s brand is the key to success.
ReplyDeleteThis week’s reading “iPad Mini 2 Release Date: More Buyers Determined to Wait Resulting in Mini Sales Drop?” is talking about how the demand for apple product for the ipad mini is decreasing due to the fact that there's rumours of an ipad mini 2 soon to come out with better retina display. This is relevant because I invested in apple due to the their good quality products and their high demand for their products but recently apple had a decrease in their stocks. “Apple's supply partners will ship 20% to 30% less iPad minis this quarter than they did from January and March over "lacking demand in the market." (Arlene Paredes) According to this article Apple supply chain decrease to the the lack of demand in the market for their products this is why apple had a huge impact in the market with the stocks lowering in april 17 with a low $390 for their share. Apple is slowly recovering from this major impact in their market by announcing new products and announcing their new and anticipating software IOS 7 which has many people antios but not only will IOS 7 would be release Apple would also release the Iphone 5S alongside IOS 7, Apple is expecting a high demand for these products and a high number in sales are expected as soon as these products are released. This article is credible because it came from the international business site the world’s leading business organization, also the author Arlene Paredes has multiple articles listed in the site itself much of them have to do with apple products and how apple is doing in general this means that she has an interest in Apple to write about how they doing and also talk about future products that would spark the market and increase apple market value.
ReplyDeleteApple is having a hard time in the selling and also a decrease for their product but that doesn't change the fact that they will always be one of the top companies in the market but as soon as Apple releases their new and improve products and the high and anticipated IOS 7 they would keep making money. Apple had a meeting and they announced IOS 7 alongside with their new products the Iphone 5s. This had an effect on Apple fanatics and customers when hearing that IOS 7 will be a new highly improve software with new features added to it and a new Iphone 5s with sire also being improve. The problem before with Apple having a decrease in their sales and their demand for their products was because they weren't giving a good affordable product in this economy. Announcing IOS 7 and the iphone 5S will make a huge impact on their sales and is already catching the people attention and the demand is increase more and more each day this would increase their market value and put more money in investors pockets. Furthermore in the future while technology still improving who knows what Apple has up their sleeves and what other new products will help them stay as one of the top companies in the market.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-02/for-retailers-getting-out-of-bangladesh-isnt-so-easy
ReplyDeleteThe text I read this week is called “For Retailers, Getting Out of Bangladesh Isn't So Easy”. It is about how companies like Wal-Mart and Disney have had to stop ban production in Bangladesh because of Bangladesh’s “ lax regulation, corruption, and little history of support for workers’ rights.” This connects to my good Guide project because I will be researching companies triple bottom line and how the companies make profits, attract business and make customers happiness and evaluating whether or not the companies have a big carbon footprint.
Businessweek is a weekly business magazine that covers national political issues that directly impacts the business world. It is based in New York and was founded in 1929. It is published by Bloomberg LP a multinational mass media corporation founded by Michael R. Bloomberg which is the current mayor of New York. it is a credible source for business news and though owned by independent mayor Bloomberg, reports unbiased news and if they were to print anything false or biased, it could ruin their prestigious reputation and would be bad for its politician owner.
Bangladesh has quickly become the world's second largest apparel exporter after China. It can't afford clothing companies to stop doing business with them and risk lowering their gross domestic, product seeing as how textiles contribute to 10 percent of of the country's GDP and about 80 percent of the nations exports. If nothing changes and conditions in companies continue to get worse than Bangladesh will drive itself to economic downfall as a country.
The country has suffered two major industrial disasters in the past 6 months. The first was a fire in a factory that killed 112 garment workers and in April a factory collapsed killing 433 workers and injuring allot more. The death tolls of these disasters are caused by packed factory floors , no easily accessible exits and harsh working conditions.The Bangladesh government is in a crucial position because they can't intervene to much with the factory working rights and regulations because it might cause production costs to rise in order to accommodate the new better , and safer conditions for their factories. On the other hand they have to step up and take initiative in order to improve worker safety. Bangladesh should use these disasters like the US used the triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 as a turning point for working conditions. The New York industrial accident caused the death of 146 workers and was caused by , like the Bangladesh fires, poor factory safety measures. If the country wants any large orders for finished products or anything to say “Made In Bangladesh” they will have to change working conditions and laws or risk losing business with US companies which account for most of their exports.
The article I found is named Coca-Cola supply chain management success story. This article talks about how the Coca-cola company has manged too maintain for the past 12 years it has maintain number 1 ranking in every category it competes in according to Interbrand’s latest global rankings. This article quotes "For Coca-Cola, achievements like this are byproducts of a vision and an operating framework that is built on excellence. At Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), the exclusive Coca-Cola bottler for its territories in Western Europe, the company’s goal is to be the number 1 or strong number 2 choice in every category it competes in." This means that Coca-Cola has a excellent framework on its field of soft drinks that has kept it as the number 1 preferred drink in many country's.http://www.csc.com/application_services/success_stories/78846-coca_cola_supply_chain_management_success_story. This article connect to my research project because it gave me an insight of how successful the Coca-Cola company is as a chain company but didnt really told me the background affects of the company on environment or society. which makes me want to search more about it and makes me think that the company is not really that good.
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ReplyDeleteThe article I found called “From bean to cup: How Starbucks transformed its supply chain” by James A cooke explains Starbucks chain supply and how they plan to improve their chain supply performance,cut costs,and prepare for the future.This connects to my project because I want to know how does Starbucks produce and manufacture their products and how its transported. Starbucks has 24 co-manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Latin America and one tea processing plant in Portland,Oregon,USA. Starbucks has 9 regional distribution centers, 48 central distribution centers and 6 "green coffee" warehouses. As of September 2009 Starbucks has 142,000 employees worldwide.
ReplyDeleteThe article I found “From bean to cup: How Starbucks transformed its supply chain” by James A cooke is from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Supply Chain Quarterly. The CSCMP Supply Chain Quarterly is the award-winning magazine, has quickly become a leading literary source for over 15,000 SCM professionals seeking unbiased and valuable industry information and insight. With only two years of circulation, it has already been awarded a gold and silver medal for content and design by the American Society of Business Publication Editors”. The author James A Cooke has more than two decades' experience as a journalist covering logistics and transportation as well as supply chain strategy and technology. He also, is a former editor at Logistics Management magazine.
In order for Starbucks to transform its chain supply they should; reorganize the chain supply and cut cost to serve stores. Starbucks experts “...revealed excessive outlays for outsourcing; 65 to 70 percent of Starbucks' supply chain operating expenses were tied to outsourcing agreements for transportation...” Starbucks should cut down or set a price on transportation because that would reduce their their cost to serve stores. Even though Starbucks is outsourcing that has help them as a business to spur over many countries but also lead to inflation in cost and prices. The way Starbucks needs to reorganize its chain supply by creating different departments such as planning, ordering , making and delivering. This would help the company even negotiate better prices because before order were being placed they were being paid based on the ingredient of the coffee or the product that was being bought. This of course will be cheaper. According to Cooke, “the manufacturing group developed a more efficient model for delivering coffee beans to its processing plants, with the goal of manufacturing in the region where the product is sold.” This would eventually be the effect of the reorganizing of the chain supply. Additionally before the cost was so high because coffee plants were working 7 days a week, and now according to Gibbons,( Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz tapped Gibbons, who was then senior vice president of global manufacturing operations, to run the company's supply chain.) said “regionalizing its coffee production allowed Starbucks to reduce its transportation costs and lead times, says Gibbons. Moreover, once the new facility was up and running, all of the U.S. coffee plants were able to switch from seven-day operations to five days.”
The article that I read called “Activists Hold Coca Cola Responsible for Rights Abuses” by Nefer Munoz it talks about how that since the 1990’s Coca-Cola companies has hired people to intimidate and murder trade union leaders. In class we have been talking about how some companies are outsourced companies which means that they have full responsibility, which in some ways is good because no one can steal your ideas, but if anything was to happen to one of the workers they would need to take full responsibility. We also talked about Subcontracted companies which that they don’t have a company so if something happens to a worker they are not responsible which saves them some money. Since Coca-Cola is an outsource company it means that they need to take full responsibility for any injuries to the worker and in their case for murders which is why they neglecting that from happening. Also since Coca-Cola also is a multinational company some of these human right violations have been happening in different areas not only in Colombia. Violations of people’s rights have occurred in China, India, Turkey and more. IPSNEWS.net founded in 1964 is a credible website because it’s the world’s leading news agency on issues such as development, environment, human rights and civil society Nefer Munoz is a credible author because he has a PHD from Harvard university. Coca-Cola might argue that they had nothing to do with these people mysteriously missing, but the evidence is kind of against them. If the union leaders were the ones that were fighting for an increase in wages and better working condition, Coca-Cola knew that more people would start agreeing with these union leaders. Coca-Cola was afraid that people will stop working or that the minimum wage rate will have to increase. Some workers say that people with guns threaten or even kill the union leaders in front of everyone. Since Coca-Cola is an outsource company they need to get full responsibility and that’s why they are denying this because it would then mean that the company would lose lots of money and probably shut down because of the violation of the human rights. The Coca-Cola company is is accused of killing and kidnapping union leaders but if they just increase the workers wages and working condition they would not have to worry about union leaders and people going on strikes and some of the accusation will probably go away.
ReplyDeleteThe article I found is called “In China, Human Costs Are built Into an iPad”. The authors Charles Duhigg and David Barboza discuss how the working conditions in the factory is causing death in some workers and working in unsafe hazardous conditions. Apple only cares about increasing production and lowering their costs in order for them to make more profit, but they do not put the workers in the factories in mind and violate several labor violations. This is relevant to my research because one of the companies that I will be researching on is Apple. Its one of the largest companies in the world which have millions of products to make which are made overseas for cheaper labor and with that come many issues along with it. This source is credible because its from The New York Times has been around since 1851 and still remaining strong today as one of the most popular news papers in the U.S. Its a very trusted source which also has a reputation to keep and has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes which has been more than any other news organization. Charles Duhigg, one of authors is a reporter for the New York Times and is the co-author of “The iEconomy” where he explores the American economy through the lens of Apple and other technology firms. David Barboza, another one of the authors has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting where he exposed the corruption in Chinese Government and has been hired since 1997. Apple is being careless for their factory workers in China. As long as they get their finished Apple product they don’t have any concerns regarding the workers conditions, health, or wages. According to Duhigg and Barboza, “Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Having workers under hazardous conditions risking their life to complete a product, Apple didn't have any concerns, they just wanted the job to be done. Apple has their factory workers in some cases even working seven days a week, living in crowded dorms and some workers stand around so much at work that their legs swell up to the point that they can’t even walk anymore. Having this cheap labor in China results in more money that the company gets to save compared to how much money they would make if most of their factories are in the U.S, which is a reason why the working conditions are horrible. Duhigg and Barboza state “In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing”, they move overseas to decrease their costs which is also a cause of the working conditions in overseas factories, mainly in China. Even though Apple isn't the only company that has workers in China in this condition, they are one of the largest and need more production of their products. There should be more strictly enforced laws in China on labor so that large companies like Apple won't take advantage of Chinese workers up to the point that even their lives are put at risk or a compromise between the workers and the Apple company for workers to work in safer conditions and get payed enough to live a decent lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThe text that I read is about the Coca Cola company laying off 1,000 employees in North America. This connects to my research project because it is about the employees in a company that I am researching. This text is credible because it is from the New York times which is a well known news source.It was founded in 1851 and has won 108 Pulitzer prizes, which is more than any other news organization. It was written by Sherri Day who leads a team of journalists who cover breaking news and has been working for the New York times since 2004. This text shows that there is a problem with the Coca Cola company because they are laying off too many people. It was said that “the company would simplify its supply chain and combine its information technology.” The company is laying off people because they would have new technology. Many unskilled workers are going to lose their jobs. They will have structural unemployment because they need new skills to be able to find a job. This can cause a problem for the economy because more unemployed people can lead to an increase in the unemployment rate. It was also said that “The layoffs, which are a part of the company's plan to realign its business in North America by combining its soda, fountain drink, Minute Maid and water divisions, are expected to be completed by the end of March.” This would be harmful to many employees because the company would hire people who have specialized skills who can fix the machines. They would need less unskilled workers and save a lot of money. The company is coming up with more technology to make more profit and need less workers. If this continues to happen in other big companies the economy will suffer and unemployment rates will rise. This company affects many countries because there are Coca Cola employees in many countries. Coca Cola is a company who makes changes to benefit them by getting more consumers and more money for the company.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/business/company-news-coca-cola-to-lay-off-1000-employees-in-north-america.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intel-names-insider-krzanich-as-new-ceo-2013-05-02?pagenumber=2
ReplyDeleteThe article I found involves with two new companies I would be investing before the market closes. These two companies are part of my new investment technique that would involve competition between each other. I haven’t seen the benefits or the cost of these new companies but with the article it explains a lot of things that I was searching for. One of the investments I have at the moment is with Intel Corporation, and this company hasn’t disappointed me at the moment and it seems that it would be increasing. Not only because I believe it’s a new month and new technologies are coming up, but as well the article states as well. The article is called, “Intel names insider Krzanich as new CEO” by Benjamin Pimentel, which they mostly are mentioning facts about the new CEO and some background information. Also mentions the competition that would be focusing.
This article is credible because comes from Market Watch who are part of The Wall Street Journal. Market Watch describes them as, “leading innovator in business news”. Then as for the authors of this article, Benjamin Pimentel, “specializing in computer hardware and semiconductor companies”.
Intel has just hired a new CEO, and they see a bright future with this new CEO. The article describes the new strategies Intel would be concern and they mention, “Intel’s huge manufacturing technology lead allowed it to dominate the PC market. But Intel has struggled in the mobile market”. Intel would be concentrating on new ways of spreading their new sources to cell phone companies like Samsung and HTC. At the moment I’m just mentioning facts about the new CEO and the benefits for the company. But this will impact my new investments because it would include the big software programming companies. Also since Intel has a new CEO there’s a 50% chance that it would increase massively if they were capable to compete against those other companies. At the moment Intel Corporation, since the day I have invested on them, I only bought 11 shares but feel like increasing it more because since that day, it has increased by $1, and the month of April it has not done any crashes that has affected me much. With the new companies that are coming up, I would be selling few ones that seem to be taking space in my ne investment plan.
The article I found talks about now a beverage giant Coca-cola announced that it is teaming up with French drug maker Sanofi to release a new beauty and improve drink known as "Beautific Oenobiol." This nutritional product will first be sold only in a handful of French pharmacies, which later maybe sold in stores and other retail outlets. This two companies want to increase the companies' market shares by selling this product. This article connects to my research project because Coca-Cola is one of the companies that I want to learned more about the products they are making and with who they making those products. Coca-Cola is teaming up with a French drug maker Sanofi to make a new drink that is mix with another mineral water, fruit juices, and nutrition that will help to strengthen hair and nails, firm skin, promote weight loss, and boost energy levels.
ReplyDeleteThe article comes from NaturalNews Network, non-profit collection of public education websites covering topics that empower individuals to make positive changes in their health, environmental sensitivity, consumer choices and informed skepticism. NaturalNews offers thousands of articles and dozens of downloadable reports and guides that are designed to educate and empower individuals, families and communities so that they may experience improved health, awareness and life fulfillment. A large amount of NaturalNews content is freely given away at no charge.
Coca-Cola is trying to journey out of producing just soft drinks, because obesity rates rise and people seek out soda. Coca-Cola and Sanofi have set up a 50/50 partnership to sell "Beautific Oenobiol" in French drugstores that offer different beauty benefits. This product would improve hair, help with weight loss, sun exposure, and give you energy, it will be aimed at urban women aged 25-45 and since it would be sell in France the priced will be at 2-3 euros. Coca-Cola will handle the creation for "Beautific", while Sanofi supervise its distribution.
Coca-Cola and Sanofi companies are looking for away out and into new areas with this drink project, as the drugmaker seeks to turn from prescription drugs towards consumer health care products, and one of the world’s largest soft drink maker is being pressured to offer healthier beverages. Coca-Cola wants to start making new and healthy drinks and thanks to Sanofi many people are not going to see them as a company that only makes unhealthy drinks. This two companies are both going out of their areas of work to create something new to see where that leads them. Both Coca-Cola and Sanofi are making new product that also target new consumers.
The article that I found is called “USA:Ralph Lauren Sued In Discrimination Dispute”, This article talks about two workers that work in the Ralph Lauren Corporation, and sued the corporation because they refused to give the workers the same pay and working opportunities as the white workers because they were not white.
ReplyDeleteThis article is credible because it comes from www.just-style.com, which is an organization that has existed since 1999, gives news on big corporations like Nike and Polo. They are also a major publisher of market researching. They not only focus on the businesses in the U.S. but also abroad in other countries as well, and rising countries as well.
Discrimination in the fashion industry has been a major problem since fashion became a big thing. Polo however has gone through major problems with their factory workers its inevitable for Polo not to be in court every now and then. Even though Ralph Lauren denied that they have been discriminative towards their workers the court found that the decision not to promote these workers without a real reason was considered "discriminatory in intent and effect".
Recently the Ralph Lauren empire along with other fashion empire like Tommy Hilfiger have been able to survive the Fashion industry up to this date. However Ralph Lauren does seem to have really difficult problems with their workers at their factories and corporations. This lawsuit can easily lead to drop in their business because this could lead to many colored people to stop buying their clothes.
In Allison Linn’s article “Starbucks plans no changes as sugary drinks limited go into effects in NYC” connects to the “Goods Guide” project i'm doing because it projects starbucks going against the new law of limiting sugary drinks since their coffee is mostly are“milk-based, and most are highly customizable”. Starbucks is a large company that has a large variety of consumers.Them changing sugary drink they start losing profit and consumers. This article is credible because it was taken from nbc news. A very dependable source that has a a lot of views nation wide. A lot of other websites and channels depend on nbc news to get there information. Allison Linn is a journalist for nbc news and the today show she mostly specialises in stories about the economy that affects the people today. One of the main drinks that have a high demand is the frappuccinos. They may be very sugary but the company argues that it contains mostly milk and ice. This drink cannot be band from Starbucks specially when summer is around the corner the demand is higher.Other companies are filling out a lawsuit stating to “The American Beverage Association and others also filed a lawsuit in October alleging that the city’s board of health bypassed proper legislative process and overstepped its bounds by passing the rule”. This works in favor of Starbucks because they do not lose revenue since they do not have to change there sugary drinks that have high demand. But also if Starbucks does not fail this lawsuit which they haven’t, they have a 3 month grace period before the city starts fining companies for breaking these rules. Starbucks used this lawsuit in their favor in order to attract more consumers for these types of drinks because as soon as the public notices they have to be band the demand is higher. Since customers mostly want to buy something they cannot have. This is one of the many ways this article connects to the “Goods Guide” project because you can see companies go against the city’s ruling in order to keep revenue up and cost lower.
ReplyDeleteOne company I invested as part of my investment project is WWE ( World Wrestling Entertainment). I really invested in this company because of the worldwide popularlity this company has especially from the kids. I figured that since WWE has introduce the PG era which mean the focus of the young audience it will drive more fans to events , having kids more involve will also have a positive impact in the merchandise that they would buy on behave of there favorite WWE superstar. I also figured that with the tours , t-shirts , PPV and other live event show it would boost its stock market up. I shared a bit on the company because I didnt want to lose myself in the ranking if WWE has a bad day. I also took a lower share because WWE has three events weekly which is Raw , Smackdown and Main Event , so any day in between it could possibly go down. I research the stock market history of WWE and found that in the last three year it has been doing bad , but then i went lower to months and WWE is increasing its stock market up for the past three months. This source is credible because this website is trademarked with WWE , it has the valid contact information about WWE like the location of the headquater the number of the investor ralation. We could also reach the investors by twitting them @WWEInvestor and following them. WWE from what I seen has been better in the stock market since the old time superstars came back , superstars such as The Rock , Triple H and Brocklesnar has made WWE really huge in the stock market. Many fans tune in every week to see this superstars perform and go to events to watch them fans also buy PPV at home just to see fight like Brocklesnar vs Triple H rather then see young superstars fight eachother. WWE last PPV was Wrestlemania 29 it helped out WWE alot it made $72 million which was more than last year which was $ 67 million. Fans has also increase since last year Wreslemania , this year Wrestlemania brought over 80,676 fans at the Met Life stadium where the event was held which was more than 78,363 in Miami last year Wrestlemania. This shows my argument is valid because since these big name superstar came back everything in WWE has grown and has helped them well in the stock market. I'm really glad I choice WWE to invest I might buy more share to the company since their rumors that Batista a big WWE superstar is making his return real soon.
ReplyDeletehttp://ir.corporate.wwe.com/CorporateProfile.aspx?iid=4121687&NoMobile=1
The article I found is called “Apple: It’s all About the Brand” by Leander Kahney. Apple is one out of the three company/business I want to evaluate and seek out information about their brand around the entire globe. This article also tells us the people's opinion about the brand. This article I chose also tells us boosting their advertising budget.This article was written by Leander Kahney which is a former editor and publisher of Apple-centric Blog. He was born November 25, 1965 and was a technology writer and author. He’s also a former managing editor and was previously a reporter at Wired News. Lastly he wrote three books based on Apple products and one of those three books are called called; The Cult of Mac. Even though their goal towards success was based on their marketers, Apple is one of the biggest companies in which designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computer. It’s best known for their hardware products like MAC, IPod and IPhone. Apple’s advertising budget in the late 1980 and early 1990s was from "15 million to 100 million". And in 2012 their budget was at 1,000 million, which proves that they’re focus isn’t advertising but it’s to improve and create more useful and developed products. Gobe states "The company has a unique visual and verbal vocabulary, expressed in product design and advertising: This is true of Apple. Its products and advertising are clearly recognizable. (So is Target's, or even Wal-Mart's". This shows that Apple is the essence on giving and allowing people to use "computing power". Apple is an elite global phenomena and really gets the people's attention to buy their products and use them and get well noticings back in a positive manner. Furthermore in the future while technology still improving who knows what Apple has up their sleeves and what other new products will help them stay as one of the top companies in the market.
ReplyDeleteThe text which I found talks about how Nike's overall profit increased while it has poor sales in China. The article "Nike Profit Rises, Despite Weak China Sales" published by the Associated Press is a relvant article which connects to the triple bottom line theory. In the article it discusses how Nike's income rose 55 percent while they're still having trouble making material costs more affordable. This is steated when written, "Nike, the athletic clothing and equipment maker, said on Thursday that its income rose 55 percent in its most recent quarter as a resurgence in North America and easing material costs helped offset continued weakness in China." This connects to the current research project since the Nike industry is making a large profit of money by selling their sportswear world wide, but are having trouble selling their products in third world countries such as China a country which manufactures their products. This text is credible since it was published by the New York Times a well rounded news print organization recongized world wide. The New York Times was established in 1851 in New York City. The article was also written by The Associated Press a multinational news organization established in New York City in 1846. If Nike income is increasing substantially and at a very quick pace, than they should be able to decrease the cost of their products in certain countries in order to obtain a higher percentage of constumers. Ultimately this would still increase the number of income for the company. The problem is that since Nike have subcontratcs with many factories specifically in Asia and around the world they don;t control the wages of the workers. With that being said consumers barely have enough money to afford their products. If Nike would be in control of these factories by establishing their own factories than they would be in control of worker wages. Thus causing Nike to give these workers discounts to their stores to get the workers to buy from Nike.
ReplyDeleteKarla Arroyo
ReplyDeleteEconomics
Mr. Rochowicz
5/2/13
The text I selected this week is “Ralph Lauren’s Supply Chain: A Lot More Complex Than You Think!” by Robert Handfield. This text elaborates on Ralph Lauren’s expansion and key marketing skills. Ralph Lauren is a multinational company which focuses on selling an image of “who you want to be” through their products. Most of its factories are located in South Korea, Indonesia, and Mexico in which the company uses to place orders and distribute their products. This is an example of an outsourcing business.
This text connects to my research project because it focuses on the marketing strategies and supply chain of Ralph Lauren. For instance, since the company has many different locations, it has a different “theme” for each location. In Aspen, Ralph Lauren stores are mainly ski-apparel, in Cannes, they are beachwear, while in Beverly Hills, they focus more on the “luxury look”. With this method, Ralph Lauren appeals to the “triple bottom line” since they are trying to balance the search for their profit and still having in mind the potential impacts of the people in the supply chain and locations in the planet. Handfield states, “Ralph Lauren not only buys in every geography, but sells in every geography. The Mansion is the Flagship in New York, and there are others in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris, Moscow” (1). Being a multinational company, Ralph Lauren owns capital in other locations but its headquarters are primarily located in NYC.
The text I chose is credible because it is from the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative. The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative is an industry-university partnership specifically dedicated to the advancement of the supply chain industry. The SCRC provides support to corporate partners from diverse businesses and industries. The author of this text, Robert Handfield, is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management and has earned his PhD at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1990.
Being a shared service, the supply chain organization collaborates with Ralph Lauren’s international enterprises. RL is an outsourced business which means they move their products internationally yet they still own the factories. Although it is a company with multiple brand channels, it also moves production outside of the U.S because other countries such as Indonesia are willing to do cheap labor which benefits RL because wages are always part of a company’s costs.
As a world-leading brand, Ralph Lauren is very similar to Nike and its practices. Both companies don’t actually sell their products- they sell an image of athleticism yet they can be formal for the occasion. Both companies are outsourcers because they want to assure the quality of their products. Consumers would stop purchasing RL products if they notice a decrease in its quality, since the company wasn’t able to assure their product quality. RL also measures the economic freedom and economic security with its brand. Consumers are granted economic freedom because they can chose the products they purchase and respect others’ economic choices as well. They also have the right to economic security because RL secures steady products since they can always place orders from their foreign factories.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-sales-jump-beating-estimates-2013-05-01-161032315
ReplyDeleteThe article “Facebook sales jump, beating estimates; Mobile business soars; shares flat on big jump in spending” by Benjamin Pimentel relates to this weeks project on investments. Companies who come out with an idea of releasing a product is the right time to invest on that company. Last week I invested on Facebook since it’s a product that is used everyday by millions of people. The downfall was that Facebook total shares rarely increased until this week. In the article, Pimentel writes about the increase in shares for Facebook Inc due to its new mobile technology. This week, Facebook has launched their new services like “Graph Search” and “Facebook home” for mobile technology. Because of this, according to Marketwatch, charts show that Facebook’s total shares increased by 5% this week. Compared to the past week, Facebook shares has been at its lowest around $26.00. However, by May 2nd, Facebook reaches it’s highest this week at around $28.00 with an estimate of 14,000,000 shares. With a total of 751 million mobile active users each month, It is expected that investors will consider investing on Facebook. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that “These services are also big long term investments, so I want to be clear up front that we’re making these big investments because I think these are important areas for us to focus on,”. Facebook is well known for its idea of wanting people to stay connected, and it has been proven through Facebook profiles on the internet where people can check through their computers and phones. Facebook’s innovation shows that there can be different ways to share with friends and family. Therefore, I am expecting my overall returns to increase because of Facebooks new innovation.
This text is credible because sources from MarketWatch are from the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal is well known for its daily news specifically on business and economic news. The Wall Street Journal is known to be one the largest newspapers in the United States.
The text I found is from the New York Times “ In America Nike Pyramid Scheme “. This article is relevant to this week work and helpful for my project because Nike is not the one making the sneakers they have broads all around the world building the sneakers. Nike is the one in charge of everything that goes around somewhat. But this article is relevant because it helps me find out the countries working for nike , how much the workers in those countries working for. Another article I found is called “Nike moves faster to clean up its Supply Chain” which is also relevant because it helps us find out what nike companies are planning on doing. The text I chosed is credible because is coming from the New York Times and they would not give false statement because they are a big industry and it could mess up their reputation and is also coming from news reporter Bob Herbert. Bob Herbert attended The State University Of New York and received a bachelor of science and journalism. And my article is coming from greenbiz which is a credible business website. Nike companies would increase competition between the countries and then would be able to produce more sneakers. For example in the new york times article “More than a third of Nike's products are manufactured in Indonesia” if their is more competition we could noticing new types of brands of nike and better quality too because the better quality one would get more money back. Also from the same article if “Workers at sweatshops with Nike contracts are grudgingly paid $2.20 a day” then Nike doesn’t have to be involved with anything that happens in the shop or setting wages for the workers. Nike is like a subcontract because they are not involved they only want their products and thats all. And in the article from green biz shows us how many companies Nike has all around the world “Nike is the world's largest sportswear brand and its supply chain spans 50 countries, 800 contract factories and hundreds of textile manufacturers that supply them” this is showing us globalization because is world wide.
ReplyDeleteThe article I found is "After Apple's Rise, a Bruising Fall" by Nathaniel Popper and Nick Wingfield of the New York times.
ReplyDelete1. This article helps explain as to why during the market games, my total returns was relatively low from Apple, thus pushing me down a couple of ranks. Apple, being the trade I put a lot of stocks in, frequently fluxuates in the amount of stocks it has. This helps me understand why total returns that day increased while others it decreased.
2, This source is credible because both Nathaniel and Wingfield both work for the New York Times, a highly reputable newspaper company that have to live up to its name in order to remain a profitable business. Plus, the company was founded in September 18,1851, which proves that this company has long since strived and continues to give out true facts in its stories.
3 and 4. I believe that the fact that Apple's stock keeps going up or down depending on the day totally affects the Market Watch game and whether or not a person who put in a trade will get a high return or no return at all. Due to the constant "Buying of iPhones and iPads, Apple cease's from ontop of the leader board." However, I had missed this opportunity when I created a game way later than the boom of this uprise. I joined the game and invested a great amount of stocks into Apple when it was coming back down because like Wall Street said, "What comes up, will come down." I believed this was one of the more riskier decision I have chosen since the rate is not consistent. This has taught me that the next time I do trade i should check on the stock rise and loss chart because companies with sporadic rate's are a big gamble and I would much rather make money than gamble the money and lose it all in stock that does horrible.
http://retailindustry.about.com/b/2013/03/25/global-supply-chain-challenges-rumors-disruptions-for-apple-amazon-ikea-nike-and-forever-21-retail-supply-chain-ignorance-now-a-common-defense-aapl-amzn-nke-wmt.htm
ReplyDeleteThe following article called “Global Supply Chain Challenges, Rumors, Disruptions for Apple, Amazon, IKEA, Nike and Forever 21 – Retail Supply Chain Ignorance Now a Common Defense (AAPL, AMZN, NIKE, WMT)” by Barbara Farfan connects to my research project because I would like to discuss ideas based on the company Apple. Therefore, this article would be a great use of resource for my research project because it explains the status of Apple’s supply chain.
The article I found is credible because in the article, there is a hyperlink to the author’s, Barbara Farfan, name. Once her name is clicked, it will state her experiences and sayings. For example, her biography says the following, “For over a decade, Barbara has been a management and operations consultant to some of the largest retail organization in the world. Her speaking and consulting clients have included Fortune 500 retailers such as Toys ‘R Us, Texaco, and ExxonMobil”. Even though some companies mentioned are not known as much as Toys ‘R Us, but the main importance is that she manages being a consultant in many companies around the world.
This article written by Barbara Farfan discusses on various companies, but I would like to maintain my focus on the ideas of Apple. Farfan said the following “… Apple has been judged to have the best supply chain management out of all businesses operating anywhere in the world for the past five years”. This supports my argument because it’s emphasizing the idea on Apple’s supply chain having positive outcomes. Apple’s supply chain being a positive idea will definitely lead to more connections with other positive ideas from Apple.
The fact that Apple has a very good use of supply chain can actually lead to positive effects. The more time the supply chain maintains strong, the more possibility there is that Apple well sell more products, especially a faster pace. For instant, Farfan states the following, “… the release of a hig-res iPad Mini with Retina display, the less of supply chain control to Samsung …” In other words, this statement implies that the fact that Apple is selling their products is affecting the process of Samsung’s supply chain. Therefore, Apple is proving that they have a higher and positive chance in making their supply chain more efficient than Samsung and other companies.
This week I chose to do further research on a different company from the three I have to do for my final project. This week I decided to do more research on the Apple Company. Apple is well known for its advance technology and outstanding cell phones and laptops. I found an article that’s called “Apple's New Foxconn Embarrassment” by Susan Adams. In this article Apple faces a debate with workers from Foxconn. Foxconn workers say that there is of abuse tours the workers. They are forced to work long hours in really bad conditions. In earlier years there was records of suicides from Foxconn workers. This article relates to the my topic because every single time we buy apple products we never ask ourselves who makes them?. This article shows that with the new popular Iphone 5 a lot of workers are forced to work long hours making them in really bad conditions. The public also doesn’t know that there is child and women labor involve in the creation of the apple products and that’s the point of this project, to bring the truth behind some companies. To tell you all the things they don’t necessarily advertise and tell the customer. The article I found is credible because it comes from the website Forbes.com. Forbes has its own magazines and it also has an office that’s located in New York. Also the websites releases daily articles on different topics like sports, technology, business and world news among many others. The author Susan Adams is a graduate from Yale College. She was also a writer for a website call “The American lawyer”. I have always wondered why I have never met or never knew of any one that works making products for popular brands. But after doing a couple of research I finally came to a conclusion. Companies like Apple would never be able to have factories in the United States because of all the regulations that the country makes to protect employee’s rights. With regulations like Minimum wage companies like apple won’t be making as much money as they are making now. All the factories that have poor working conditions, suicide records and low wages exist in countries where there is no government support or involvement. The abuse tours workers would never stop until the government steps in and creates regulations to protect the rights of young kids and women who work for these huge popular companies. If environmentalist groups and the government step in to protect workers’ rights all the abuse would stop.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/global-report
ReplyDeleteThe text I picked was the “Global Responsibility Report Goals & Progress 2012” for Starbucks. This text is relevant because one of the companies that I chose is Starbucks and the information is coming straight from the company in question. Furthermore, the text mainly discusses the type of impact their involvement has on the community demonstrating their take on the triple bottom line.
This text is credible to an extent because it comes directly from the company. The only doubt about credibility is that there may be some (to a lot) of bias since Starbucks may want to just further sell their brand. This text was created by Blair Taylor, Chief Community Officer. Blair Taylor is a community leader as well as the President and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League, an affiliate of one of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations. Since Taylor has a prestigious background as an influential community man we can assume that he is a credible source since he should know the impact that Starbucks has on Communities around the world given that he himself has influenced his own community greatly.
Using the triple bottom line, is Starbucks doing all it can for the people, the communities, and more importantly, the world? According to this text from Starbucks themselves the answer is yes. From the report Starbucks is reaching out to the people and communities in which they do business in. In a way this could just be propaganda to help sell their brand.Whether it’s purely to create a better image or genuine interest, they are fulfilling their duties to the people by doing what other corporate companies neglect, reject, or fail to do. This duty is to actually care not just about the profits that the company reaps, but also the impact they leave on their consumers, the impact they leave on the community, and if they go global, the impact they create in the world. From the text Starbucks is out to make a difference and create change, something companies are hesitant to do. One person testified for Starbucks and said “You have changed our neighborhood forever. It’s because people see this going on and now they will be more likely to take action themselves.” This goes to show that Starbucks doesn't just talk the talk, but they can actually walk the walk as well.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/business/company-news-coca-cola-to-lay-off-1000-employees-in-north-america.html
DeleteThe article I found was “Company News; Coca-Cola To Lay Off 1,000 Employees In North America” By Sharri Day. Coca-Cola being one of the 3 companies that I am evaluating for my project and their business decisions. In this article Coca Cola is “laying off 1,000 North American Workers... simplify its supply chain... combine its information technology and [while at same time] eliminate 5,000 jobs”.
This text is credible because it’s from the New York Times, The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18, 1851. It has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. This article was published by Sharri Day, an assistant metro editor for the Tampa Bay Times. She leads a team of journalists who cover breaking news, law enforcement and courts in Tampa. Sherri joined the Times in 2004 after a four-year stint at the New York Times. A native of Tifton, Ga., Sherri received her bachelor's degree in mass media arts from Clark Atlanta University. She completed her master's degree at the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
Coca-Cola is hoping to shorten its supply chain by cutting out subcontracted companies in order to lower its cost and increase its revenue by eliminating 5,000 jobs in North America. These laborers will most likely be replaced by new technology which produce products all around the clock. The jobs eliminated in North America are a result minimum wage inforced in that part of the hemisphere and Coca-Cola will most likely continue to add on to its “30,000 people [employed] worldwide” compare to its “12,000 workers in the United States” in order to lower its cost.
Rossy Barahona
ReplyDeleteEconomics
Mr. Rochowicz
May 2, 2013
The article “Latest iPad: Apple Still Exploiting Chinese Workers” by David Zielenziger unveils Apple shady business practices in China. Their decision to go International consisted of expanding their property in order to increase production. The pull factor that drove Apple to foreign countries is that wages are lower and there are less laws on regulation whereas in the United States there is a already a minimum wage set and many laws that restrict production, which is a push factor. This articles informs the reader of the outrageous working conditions that Chinese Workers have to go through in order to meet Apple’s commodities, one of which being replacing plastic with glass because co-founder Steve Jobs simply didn’t like it’s appearance. Considering the triple bottom line, a business score based on the way they appeal to people, the environment and their own profits, Apple has flourishing profits and several different ways to fulfill people’s needs such as providing customization for its consumers. However, Apple’s care towards its workers is questionable.
David Zielenziger is a veteran editor and journalist who graduated Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University where he was also served as Chairman of the Daily Princetonian, school’s independent student newspaper. Zielenziger wrote this article March 08, 2012 7:18AM and posted it on the International Business Times which is a growing digital global news publication that delivers news to over 7 million people in the United States and 13 million world wide.
Apple happens to be a brand that is very popular but isn't very well known by it's customers. Most customers, including myself, wouldn't imagine their products being made in an assembly line operated by Chinese workers who are being exploited with ridiculous requests. A what seems to be small request turned out to have much larger impacts within a small period of time. Co-founder Steve Job's request to replace the plastic screens with onces made out of glass meant that workers were unfortunately required to work "80 to 100 [extra] hours of overtime" aside from the 174 hours of regular working hours. Although this business is very successful, the triple bottom business report would also evaluate the way this company tends to its customers, workers, suppliers, etc. and that's a factor would drive their scores down due to it's negligence.
Working conditions are always something to consider in a business, whether it be a factory with a subcontract or an outsource because it's a detail that's might benefit or tarnish the company's reputation. The working conditions of a worker might also determine the quality of the product that the company is in need of. The terrible working conditions in Taiwan's Hon Hai factories is not only put the apple products at risk but also lives of the workers considering the reports from factories such as the ones "in Shenzhen and Chengdu where there had been reports of worker suicides and other problems." Apple in general needs to live up to it's name and should focus on the way they treat their workers, the same way they focus on their pockets.
In the article “What Apple's Supply Chain Woes Mean for the IT Industry” by Erica Gies talks about major companies such as Nike and apple globalizing and using the supply chain. It talks about how Nike became infamous for the exploitation of their factories in other countries. In the article it says “That furor has faded from the headlines, thanks in part to the company's efforts to get its supply chain under control, including disclosing the names and locations of its factories. Perhaps it's also thanks to a short public attention span: Nike still struggles to ensure that its factories live up to its code of conduct and sometimes it falls short -- but that no longer seems to hurt its increasing sales and record-high profits.” This is an example of how companies like nike are not living up to their promise of making their companies have a different structure on the way they handled things. Companies such as Nike should follow the triple bottom line no matter where they are in the world because it really does affect their companies having a bad reputation could diminish your audience. They have to be smart in what they, which in some ways they are by going to another country and such, but more than that they have to be sure to follow the same guide lines as far as how they treat their workers and the quality of the product.
ReplyDeleteErica Gies is the author of this article. She is the co- founder and editor – in – chief of the website This Week on Earth. She also covers the environment for New York Times, Forbes.com, International Herald Tribune , and Wire news , as well as other outlets.
The Article that i have found was Smartphone Supply Chain Disruptions Poised to Be 'New Norm' by Andrea Tse talking about how apple production has been going over the year of 2013 with the new Iphone and other product that are being made and how apple is using Foxconn to make there products in china and how the demand for the product has rises do to T-mobile and Sprint now running the Iphone and it also talks about how apple opponent are doing with there phones like Samsung with there new phone that coming out later on in the year , this article is creditable because it's from The Street a website mostly talking about the Stock market and the rate of products all over the world and its relevant because its was one of the thing that wee learn in class this week and also help on the Good Guide Project do to it talk about how apples company is really doing with there products and how they really get them . The thing with apple is that they are to keep themselves on top but by doing this there are paying people in different country's to make there products which is a danger do to copy rights which is was one problem with apple and Samsung which could lead to apple being robbed for there new product and also if apple can't really spot it because the y don't own the company so anything goes and apple would lose a large amount of money that way so it's mostly the company stealing credit for the "hard" work from apple.
ReplyDeleteGarmandy Candelario
ReplyDeleteThe article i found was called “Ralph Lauren’s Chain Supply: Its More Complex Than You Think” talks about the rise of the Ralph Lauren company. From everything like how it started to even the networth of the company today. This text does relate to my research project and also what we have been learning about in class because not only does it talk about the foundations of the company but it also describes some of the marketing strategy that this international apparel company uses to draw in its customers. Ralph Lauren targets customers depending on their location for example “In Aspen it will be ski apparel, in Beverly Hills more luxury, and Cannes more beachwear.” showing that the Ralph Lauren franchise is flexible in terms of their apparel in order to draw in customs from all region because it is obvious that beachwear can’t be sold in a place like Aspen due to the temperatures of the region. Ralph Lauren’s most valuable product is surprisingly it’s image, this is where the word complex is chipped in. Many people may believe that Ralph Lauren is unique in terms of quality and design then the other apparel company but in reality Ralph Lauren is just an image and the company subcontracts foreign factories to produce their products meaning that it does not make its own clothing. A subcontract is when a company contracts a foreign factory to make their goods.That Horse logo cost a lot more than you think. The text i found is a reliable source because it is an article done by Robert Handfields a professor of supply chain management , this shows that he knows what he is talking about since he majored in this specific field. Overall Ralph Lauren is a subtracting company that holds its real value in simply the image of the brand. It is a lot more beneficial to the Ralph Lauren to subcontract foreign factories because their profit would be bigger since these labor is cheaper in these countries like Vietnam or China. Also Ralph Lauren would not have the responsibility of dealing with the employees is anything happens and finally , Ralph Lauren doesn't have to deal with the strict laws that positively affect the environment so overall its a better look for the company if it doesn't have a dirty reputation of damaging the environment.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11910806/1/texas-instruments-reaches-new-52-week-high-txn.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnbc.com/id/100481386
Texas Instrument Inc (TXN) is the company I decided to invest in this week noticing early in the week it has been increasing steadily based on the graph. I didn’t know whether or not it was going to keep increasing or decreasing but to my fortune TXN hit its all “new 52 week high Wednesday currently trading at 36.29.” What contributed to this growth factor was the chipmaker “boosted its dividend by 33 percent and announced an additional $5 billion in share buybacks. Shares rose in extended-hours trading.”
The street is a credible source because they are one of the leading digital financial media companies, which means they have lots of followers who trust their findings and results. It also has an unbiased coverage which is essential in the financial markets not only to avoid preference but as well as getting the whole view of the market in multiple perspectives. CNBC is a credible source because it’s consider a world leader in business news and provides information to approximately 390 million homes. It is also located all around the world including Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.
Due to a dividend increase and additional money in share buybacks, TXN was able to reach Rank #2 in Zack. TXN has reached a market cap of 39.8 billion and the “average volume has been 9.9 million shares over the past 30 days.” TXN has also acquired a P/E ratio 5.6 higher than the S&P 500. With a high P/E ratio meaning more expected earnings, the street rates Texas Instruments as a buy for investors.