Essays on Inventories

What are the standard logistics operational characteristics of a consumer product company?

Logistics costs reduction, improvement of inventory, and the availability and maintaining optimal service levels are some of the characteristics in standard logistics operations (Gudehus & Kotzab, 2012). Logistics costs management is an essential element in operations of a standard logistics company. Costs determine company efficiencies and earnings. A reduction in logistics cost increases efficiencies and a company’s profit earnings as well as ensuring customer satisfaction. Improving availability of inventory ensures that logistics processes are done in a timely and cost-effective manner. On the other hand, the maintenance of optimal service level ensures that the costs of products are reduced ...

Abstract

Zara International is a clothing and accessory retailer with operations in 88 markets around the world. Spanish Inditex Group owns the company that deals with men clothes, women clothes and has a Zara Kids for children clothing. Zara is one of the most successful fashion retailers in the world. The success of the company has been attributed to strategic management capabilities that involve the inventory management and as well the human resource management. The company human resource strategy was to include a Spanish manager in every store. This allows the company to maintain a management culture that is efficient ...

Lens Crafters Company came into existence in1983 and since then it has successfully been a unique company in the vision care industry. The company has a vision of giving full sight to the world through making every of its customers see one after the other. Over the years, the company has advanced from manual systems of operation to an automated system and hence meeting their major objective of prioritizing customer satisfaction.

Lens crafters’ Operations Strategy and How the Organization Seeks to Gain a Competitive Advantage regarding Sustainability

The mission statement of Lens Crafters focuses on being the leading company in the industry through the creation of customers who are always customers to the company even ...

Procter & Gamble is a Multinational consumer goods company which was incorporated in 1905 in Ohio, United States. It manufactures several consumer products and offers around 65 different brands under several product categories such as “Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care” (The Procter & Gamble Company, 2016). The company sells its products in almost 200 countries and conducts on-the-ground operations in almost 100 countries.

Balance sheet

P&G follows generally accepted accounting principles applicable in the Unites States for presentation and preparation of its financial statements. Much like other publically traded companies, P&G also electronically files its annual, ...

Apple manufactures iPhone, its mobile brand, iPad, Mac, the personal computer brand, iPod, the Apple TV brand, a few software applications, a couple of operating systems, and some accessories. The company also sells digital applications through the Apple’s own app store, iBooks store and Macintosh app store. The Company sells its products worldwide through its retail stores, online stores, and direct sales force, as well as through third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. The company also sells third-party mobiles, related computer hardware and software, and related accessories. These products are sold via the company’s ...

PART A

Question one Apple Computer was incorporated in 1977 to design, manufactures as well as marketing mobile communication and media devices (Reuters.com, 2016). Moreover, it also sells different related software, and third party digital applications. Its products are iPhone, Apple television, iPod, Mac, both consumer and professional software applications, iOS and OSX operating systems. The Apple computers Inc. provides a variety of mobile communications, personal computing products, and portable digital players.

Question two

The operating performance of Apple Inc. relies on the general economic conditions. Therefore, for the last four years (1999 to 2002), the demand for the Apple's products has been ...

What are the problems facing SG in 2010?

Scientific Glass is a provider of specialized glass equipment to a variety of organizations which include research laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and testing facilities. The company faced inventory management problems in 2010 and it is these problems that are the focus of this write-up. As of January 2010, SG noted a substantial increase in the level of inventories (Wheelwright & Schmidt, 2011). The implications were that the company noted increased levels of tied-up capital. The debt to capital ratio rose beyond the target level of 40% meaning that the organization could not use the capital in other areas. Further, the company’ ...

Argumentative Research Paper

Introduction In the recent decades, multiple economic, political and cultural factors have contributed to China’s increasing participation in the global market, particularly in the international retail. The country’s retail market is among the most dynamic in the world today, while the fast and decisive adoption of the technological opportunities for retail operations made China the largest e-commerce market worldwide with the sales revenue of estimated $589 billion as for 2015 (Tong). Chinese retailers readily use the modern technological means to reach both local and foreign consumers, which has led to the dramatic growth of China’s Business-to-Consumer ...

Description of the company

Woodside is an Australian gas and oil company that explores, develops, produces and supplies oil and gas. The company is composed of a portfolio of world-class producing assets, projects and develops in Australia and globally. The company has maintained a strong performance despite the challenges. In December 2015, oil prices reached an 11-year low. The Chairman’s report shows that he is optimistic. The proposed Browse Floating LNG (FLNG) is expected to improve the company’s income. Despite the falling oil prices, the company is confident of a sustainable growth and high returns on shareholders’ investment. It has taken ...

The supply chain management tends to integrate the customers’ logistic requirements, the distributor and the supplier of a particular business entity into a single cohesive system. It is basically a collection of the individual physical entities, for instance, the plants where goods are manufactured, the centers of distribution, retail outlets, the conveyances, personnel and information, all the entities are linked together through the consumption of goods and services. Most of the organizations including the Walmart stores value the supply chain management because it tends to decrease time and also the final costs incurred by the customers in the purchase ...

Abstract

The creation of effective marketing strategy is the key component of successful introduction of new product or service. This research is aimed at formulation of the comprehensive marketing plan for ready-to-enter the market landscaping company Green Art Studio. The company offers innovative EPCM-system of landscape design that results in establishing long-term relations with the clients. Green Art Studio fulfills dreams both of highly and lowly placed clients providing sustainability and innovations. Marketing plan includes overall strategy identification, analysis of industry competition, market positioning, communication tools and 4-Ps definition. Specific attention is given to the issue of target audience as ...

A distribution channel is a series that a commodity passes through to get to the final user, which is the consumer (Cravens & Piercy, 2006). The series might be a business or intermediaries who ensure a product or a service reaches those it is meant to benefit. The series can be one of the following;

Internet

Wholesalers Distributors Retailers Agents It can either be short or long, in that, when sold from the producer to the consumer directly, it is a short, while long when passes through intermediaries. In most cases, the intermediaries receive the product or service from the producer ...

Keurig Green Mountain was founded in 1981 as best coffee and coffeemaker company in the United States of America, initially named as green mountain coffee roasters. It specializes in making best beverages imaginable at homes and workplaces. The company contributes a prominent market share in the coffee industry. The paper highlights the financial department of Keurig Green Mountain and focuses on the assets, liabilities, annual income statements, inventories, stocks, and other financial related concepts. The income statement of Keurig Green Mountain indicates that company is performing well for past few years. The revenues generated by the company are the ...

Performance Measurement

Asset Utilization Revenue generation by each employee is perceived to be better for Boeing at $595,501.86, which may be due to a better employee retention policy. This was concurred by Boeing’s annual report where it revealed that the management has good relations with its employees since 38% are represented by unions (Boeing, 2016, p.20) with Lockheed at 18% (Lockheed, 2016, p.18). Due to the better employee retention, Boeing was able to generate a higher amount of sales based on its investor’s capital or equity at 15.02 but Lockheed was not lagging far behind at 14.90. The ...

Introduction to PepsiCo Incorporated

PepsiCo is an American multinational company having its origin in the United States. The company is a market leader in the global beverage industry. The biggest and worldwide competitor to PepsiCo is the Coca-Cola Company. PepsiCo serves the worldwide market and gain access to audience by mainly sponsoring sports events, players and teams.

Pro-Forma Financial Statements of PepsiCo Incorporated for 2016 (the next period)

This section is aimed at displaying the financial statements of PepsiCo for the next financial accounting period (2016) as well as the last statements for 2015. The pro-forma income statement and balance sheet are prepared by assuming a ten percent increase in sales revenue and cost ...

Part A – Company’s Background 3

Part B – Comparative Financial Data of Last Three Years 3 Part C- Comparative Financial Performance Analysis from 2013 to 2015 5 Current Ratio 5 Inventory Turnover and Receivable Turnover 6 Total Debt Ratio 7 Net Profit Margin 8 Key Findings and Investment Decision – Conclusion 9

References 10

Comparison of Financial Performance between PepsiCo and Coca-Cola from 2013 to 2015 Part A – Company’s Background This research aims to compare financial performance of PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Company from 2013 to 2015. These two companies are actually market leaders as well as largest competitors to one another in the global beverage industry. Both ...

Discussion and Review Questions Assignment 5

Discussion and Review Questions Assignment 5

Chapter 13 – Inventory Management

7. a. List the major assumptions of the EOQ model.

1. Each EOQ model describes one product. 2. It is necessary to know the information about annual demand. 3. The demand should be fixed and unchanged during the whole year. 4. The execution rime is also fixed. 5. EOQ will work if every order is taken in one delivery. 6. EOQ needs to have no quantity discounts. b. How would you respond to the criticism that EOQ models tend to provide misleading results because values of D, S, and H are, at best, ...

Internal Analysis of PetSmart Inc

Resources are considered to be operational incentive, which a business or an organization may have. Identifying with the PetSmart Inc. the resources that the business has are analyzed from the perspective of the tangibles and the intangible resources. According to Ulrich (2013), the choice of the tangible and intangible resources can best fit the description of the internal environment, which the organization has in terms of business management incentives. Tangible resources The domain of the tangible resources is filled with the resources that are seen and can be handled by the metric measures of resource performances. In this case, ...

2.6. Financial Analysis AP Moller Maersk is one of the renowned company in its industry and has been known to provide sustainable returns to the investors. However, the main aim of the financial analysis is not only to provide analysis relating to the company’s profitability, but also to provide an exploratory analysis and evaluation of the performance of APMM. More specifically, the analysis is based on four key qualities affecting the market value of a business, assessed by using traditional financial indicators. The analysis evaluates performance of APMM in liquidity, profitability, leverage and activity over the past 5 ...

RESEARCH REPORT

INTRODUCTION The French accounting had a long way of establishment and development. More so as France was a country with many colonies throughout the whole world. Despite the fact that the metropolis did not really want to develop thee colonies, as only their resources interested the French government, the French accounting system still had an immense influence on the development of the accounting systems in these countries.

French accounting found its origins under the reign of Louis XIV. The first mention and example of an accounting attempt was undertaken when the French wrote an official document named “Ordonnance”. The ...

Inventory Management in Apple and Coca-Cola

Inventory Management in Apple and Coca-Cola

Introduction

Inventory management constitutes one of the major concerns of business organizations. Efficient inventory management enhances the profitability of an organization by ensuring that all activities involving inventories are well controlled (Hill, 2012). In essence, inventories entail all assets that facilitate normal business operations, and they include stock of goods for sale, the raw material for production, and materials consumed in the manufacturing process. Primarily, inventories constitute the largest item in the categories of current assets (Williams, 2015). The valuation of stocks at the end of financial year is crucial for determination of profitability ...

Introduction 3

Comparative Financial Performance Analysis of Pepsi and Coca Cola for the Last Two Years (2014 and 2015) through Ratios and their Interpretations 3 Analysis of Profitability Ratios 4 Gross Profit MarginW 4 Net Profit margin 5 Return on Assets 6 Analysis of Solvency Ratios 7 Current Ratio 8 Quick Ratio 9 Analysis of Capital Structure Ratios 10 Debt-to-Equity Ratio 11 Interest Coverage Ratio 12 Examination of Efficiency Ratios 14 Days Sales are Outstanding 14 Days in Inventory 15 Payables Period 16 Findings and Recommendations 17

References 20

Comparative Financial Performance Analysis of Pepsi and Coca Cola Introduction Because of their global ...

Ethical issues in procurement

Perception of the Impropriety The intention of the appearance in ethical or any compromising conduct, actions, and communication in business should be prevented. The professionals in supply chain management should deal with both internal and external customers and suppliers. Therefore, such interactions must be honest and fair minded (Crmlearning.com). Consequently, certain actions that appear to diminish ethical conduct have to be avoided.

Conflicting Interests

Any personal or other activities should not conflict with the lawful interests of the employers. Therefore, in ethical procurement, the professionals in supply management should not apply their positions to induce other people to offer inappropriate benefits ...

Introduction

A.P Eagers ltd is a retail group trading in automotives and her main operations are based in South- East Queensland, Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and the Hunter Valley in Newcastle. The business operations are centered on the ownership and operation of motor vehicle dealerships. These dealerships are concerned with a range of services that include sale of new and pre owned vehicles, service, spare parts, and customer financing facilitation. This paper seeks to conduct an objective financial analysis (trend and ratio analyses) based on the audited financial reports of the entity for the four year period between 2011 and ...

Abstract

Financial analysis is an essential tool in the hands of the manager, as it is with its help the decisions related to the company’s finances are taken. Without the analysis and grounds for making such management decisions, the firm cannot achieve the desired level of income, or the lack of financial settlement will lead the company to bankruptcy. The purpose of the assignment was to perform financial analysis of a company listed on the Bursa Malaysia. Dominant Enterprise Berhad was chosen for the completion. The Malaysia-located company turned into public listed organization with thirteen subsidiaries, operating on production ...

The IS LM model or the Hicks –Hansen model is the macroeconomic tool that shows the relationship between the interest rates and the real output of goods and services and the money market. The intersection of the investment - saving curve or the IS curve and liquidity preference curve or the money supply curve is the general equilibrium in both the markets .This model explains the changes in the national income when the price level is fixed in the short run and also shows the reason for the shift in the aggregate demand curve. It was first developed by ...

Introduction

This paper seeks to conduct an analysis for the financial performance of the Toyota Motor Corporation and General Motors Company for their financial years ended in 2015. In order to arrive at objective results, the analysis will compare different financial and performance ratios for both businesses. It is a purely objective analysis that will be based on the figures presented on the annual audited final accounts of the companies.

A.Ratios

Liquidity ratios These are financial metrics used to assess and determine an entity’s ability to meet its short term debt obligations. They include:

Current ratio

Quick ratio/Acid test ratio Profitability ratios. ...

In the current century, the accounting and finance field have witnessed increased efforts to converge accounting standards to globally accepted universal standards. The fact owes to the dire need of increasing comparability of the financial statements of different firms in the various countries. Undoubtedly, there exist key areas of departure in different accounting standards applied in different countries. Of more interest, is the difference that exists between the two dominant accounting systems used by various corporations around the globe. That is the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It is, however, worth ...

Inventories week 4

Inventories are items used to produce other products in a manufacturing business setting. Inventories are also those items held by a business for resale purposes usually at a profit. Inventories in a firm include the following raw materials, work in progress and finished goods.

Raw materials

Raw materials are inventories that are used in the process of producing a particular product that a company intends to resell at a profit (Porter & Norton, 2016). Raw materials are the items that make up the components of the finished goods. Raw materials are used in determining the cost of an item by adding the ...

Financial Accounting

[Student ID] [Section No.] [Submission Date]

Computations of the 2014 liquidity ratios for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo

The computations of the 2014 liquidity ratios for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, including the current ratio, accounts receivable turnover, average collection period, inventory turnover, days in inventory and current cash debt coverage, are provided below.

The 2014 liquidity ratios for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo

According to the above-performed analysis, PepsiCo had better liquidity ratios in 2014 comparing to Coca-Cola’s financial performance in this regard. Thus, PepsiCo’s liquidity ratios, such as the current ratio, inventory turnover and current cash debt coverage, are significantly larger than Coca-Cola’s similar financial figures. As a result, PepsiCo’s average collection period, as well as the ...

Introduction

Practical use of inventory management is among the aspects at the core of the supply chain management success. The management of different inventories such as raw material, finished goods, partner inventories, work—in the process, among others rests at the demand and supply intersection. However, the inventory management perhaps has the long way to go. The relationship between the inventory management and the corporate cash flow generation was understood recently and has currently received a broad interest level (Dekker et al., 2013). Now, firms can use supply chain to improve business performance by using the supply chain to generate ...

Inventory Management in Supply Chain

Inventory Management in Supply Chain

Inventory management

Inventory management is about specifying the percentage and shape of the stock goods. Inventory management is necessary on several places to keep the orders, store them and use it for production use. Inventory is the asset of the company and it remains an asset until it is sold and cleared (Salvo et al, 2002).

Inventory system

It is a system in which a company check over its stock. The activity done by the employees to check the company’s stock is known as inventory system. Inventory control majorly refers to logistics, operations management and supply chain ...

Biodata is a recruitment method used as a substitute for cognitive testing since it may be used to predict attributes of job performance that are not detectable through cognitive techniques (Gunter et al., 2016). The rationale involved in the application of this method is that past behaviour may be used to project future behaviour. Apparently, the data submitted by job applicants concerning such issues as previous experiences and education may be used to predict job performance. Nonetheless, the use of biodata demonstrates several attributes that would place the organization at significant risk. One of the attributes that make this ...

This paper will cover oil price dynamics for the period starting from 2005 until the present moment of time. Exact price dynamics will be considered as well as a variety of factors influencing the oil price through the above mentioned period of time. The chart showing the dynamics of crude oil barrel price since 2001 is presented in fig. 1. Figure 1. Dynamics of crude oil price per barrel for the period between January 1, 2001 and April 19, 2016 (Trading Economics, 2016). Before the period, which is the subject of this paper, the oil price had been nearly ...

Inventory Management

Introduction

Throughout its operations, ABC faced the challenge of stock-outs in certain inventory. This refers to circumstances when the company would run out of important inventory, thereby turning the buyers away when they needed certain products. This problem was mostly witnessed among the inventory that would later be classified as under category A. Initially, ABC did not have a system of setting preference as to which products to be closely monitored or to be given priority over others. Commodities under A proved to flow easily. Simply put, their demand was overpowering the supply. With the past inventory management methods, ...

Zara is using the Microsoft Disk Operating System (DOS) which has become obsolete since Microsoft is no longer providing support. With the withdrawal of support, it is risky for Zara to continue using DOS. In case, they encounter a technical problem, or the system fails, the entire operations of the company could stall; from selling points at the stores to inventory management, as well as productions would be slowed down. The only result from this is a reduction in the number of sales volumes or no sales at all which will be a crippling loss in revenue. Besides, the ...

Inventory management and customer satisfaction

Inventory Management and Customer Satisfaction Introduction Inventory management primarily ensures businesses maintain products at affordable cost and still achieve the goal of having sufficient and steady supplies to promote continued operation (Mpwanya, 2005). Importantly, enterprises prioritize inventory management since they want to realize a reduction in costs, offer standard services, ensure products are available and make sure their customers are satisfied. Managing inventory is critical to business since it impacts customer satisfaction, which in turn affects the financial performance of a company.

Body

Inventory management Inventory management is a wide subject, and various researchers define it differently. Arnold (1998) describes ...

Just-in-time (JIT)

Just in Time in production may also be referred to as the Toyota production system or Just in time production. This is a method whose primary objectives is to decrease flow periods within manufacturing as well as response time from customers and suppliers. It originated in Japan in the 1960s at a Toyota factory. It was mitigated to the western industries in the 1980s where many manufacturing industries practiced it. Just In time manufacturing strategy struggles to advance organization returns on a business venture by decreasing the procedure inventory and the linked costs. This just in time in production ...

Essay on Supply Chain and How to Improve.

Essay on supply chain and how to improve it Description of case company (Coca-Cola South Africa) Coca-Cola Fortune (CCF) has been operating in South Africa since 2002 as a franchise and is one of certified soft drink bottle. The Company operates from Port Elisabeth. The company has five production plants located at Port Elisabeth, Polokwane, Nelspruit, Bloemfontein, and Port Shepstone. It has a large number of workers from the diverse ethnicities of South Africa that creates an energetic, vigorous and challenging workplace. I visited Port Elizabeth during an industrial class visit where I observed the following. The company produces ...

Summary

Chesapeake Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1989 and trades at the New York Stock Exchange under the Ticker Symbol (CHK) (Bloomberg). The company operates in the oil and gas industry. The company share price has declined form a 52-week high of $16.98 to a 52-week low of $1.50. As at April 4th, the share closed at $3.86. Over the past 1 year investors have lost 74.46% of their wealth. The share performance is 75.40% lower than the market return (S&P Index). The share price is likely to experience further declines and therefore recommend investors to sell of the company ...

Introduction

The lean concept has gained popularity in the recent past especially in the globalization of various business operations due to the introduction of multinational organizations. Different lean principles as explained in the paper enable organizations to overcome waste in various trade actions carried out. The concept makes business organizations achieve their objectives more flexibility and profitability, making businesses able to control their operations in the most optimal way possible. Waste, as used in the paper, implies the various activities that limit the smooth flow of business process with no value addition to the commerce. Some of the main activities ...

Inventory is stated at the lower of the cost or the market value. The U.S. subsidiary uses the last-in, first-out (LIFO) principle while the value of the rest of the inventory is estimated using the first-in, first-out basis (FIFO). The total inventory under FIFO was found to be $ 8,844 million. The LIFO valuation was $7,866 which was ($978) lower. FIFO method assumes that the inventory units that were first to get to the stores are the ones that will be sold first. The implication is that the old stocks move fast. On the other hand, the LIFO ...

Key issues and problems facing the worldwide.

The worldwide wallpaper Inc. has been susceptible to several challenges that have immensely affected its operations. The issues have centered on the supply chain of the entity, increased the suffering of the financial metrics, increasing levels of the inventories of the company and also several reports from the clients that they aren't satisfied with the level of services offered by the entity. Essentially, the unacceptably low inventory levels make them not meet their productivity standards and as a result, most retailers would opt to give the space to other categories such as paint. Another challenge is that when the ...

Introduction

According to the case study, Somerset had a good strategic marketing plan through a continuous launch of new products after every few years. This took place during the 20th C where the company experienced some positive effects after the application of the total quality management (TQM) in its furniture manufacturing. Somerset is known for the high quality products that are affordable in the domestic market. On the other hand, Somerset experienced stiff competition in the 1990s, high rate of labor and this made the proceeds of the company to decrease. While trying to solve the above problems, Somerset began ...