The Harvard Bookstore is a locally owned, independently run bookstore in Cambridge. Against all odds and global market trends, it has survived the rising popularity and demand of eBooks and online bookstores such as Amazon. This is partly due to the unique Espresso Book Machine that it has invested in, which creates perfectly bound paperbacks of any eBook within minutes. In this report, we analyse the business, identifying its strategy and thinking behind its actions through the use of Operations Management theories, with particular focus on the 4V’s. The main purpose of a transformation process is to add value through processing inputs into outputs of goods or services. The Harvard Book Store performs two forms of materials processing as …show more content…
There may thus be exceptions; if a ‘bestseller’ is released, it will lead to a sudden and unexpected increase in demand. Another example of rise in demand would be the Christmas period. In these particular scenarios, the bookstore will have to quickly adjust their resources in order to meet the demand. In order to react to these changes in demand, the company can hire extra staff during high demand seasons in order to be able to meet the needs of the customers. For the Harvard Bookstore, having the Espresso Book Machine can be a form of ‘capacity cushion’, absorbing the unexpected demand by printing out the books requested by customers. As printing resources do not have a particular use by date, having a high amount of stock should not pose an operational …show more content…
Here, depending on the purchase, we have either a low or high visibility. If the customer buys a book already in store, the visibility will be low as the product was produced prior to the customer purchasing it. The only contact this client will have with the seller is when paying; only experiencing the change of possession. The second alternative is when the customer buys a book from the Espresso Book Machine. In this case, the degree of operational visibility is high as the whole process is exposed to the customer. The purchaser experiences the whole production process: from the selection of a desired item, the item becomes physical and, after payment, is owned by the customer. There is clearly a high customer contact as the bookstore prints out the book on the spot; the client seeing it being transformed. The thinking behind these two options is that this provides the customer with alternatives. A client that wants a quick experience and a relatively standard product can pick an item on a shelf and purchase it quickly. Also, a client that wants a specific product and that is willing to spend a little more time in the shop is able to do so as
Operations management is essential for the survival and success of any organization. According to Heizer & Render (2011), operations management (OM) is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. Operations managers today contend with competition, globalization, inflation, consumer demand, and consistent change in technology. Managers must focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes such as cost, dependability, distribution, flexibility, and speed. The intent of this paper is to discuss the processes and operations management of the Kroger Company.
Amazon.com’s US operation business model is based on “sell all, carry few”. Amazon offers consumers a wide selection of products while keeping inventories at low levels. A major interest for Amazon in the US is optimization of netwo...
My company of choice for this report is Macy 's. 'The Magic of Macy 's ', as the company advertises it, has inspired me to shop there, take advantage of their incomparable discounts and great online shopping experience. Macy 's, Inc. is one of the largest department store chains in the United States of America. Macy 's manages stores under the Macy 's and Bloomingdale 's brands. I enjoy shopping at both of the company 's store brands, Macy 's and Bloomingdales. Bloomingdales provides a more personalized experience
What core competencies do you think the company has and what is needed to exploit opportunity and counter threats.
Jeff Bezo’s began Amazon in his garage in July 1995 with three Sun workstations setting on wooden doors for tables and extension cords running from everywhere (Academy of Achievement, 2010). Right from the beginning he was a visionary leaving his well paying job as a senior vice president with D. E. Shaw to begin Amazon.com (Academy of Achievement, 2010). Being the visionary that he is he saw an opportunity prompted by the huge growth rate of internet use in a single year and ran with it never looking back. Jeff realized that the internet had “no real commerce to speak of” so he began researching possible businesses (Academy of Achievement, 2010). “After reviewing 20 mail order businesses and deciding which could be conducted more efficiently over the internet than by traditional means he decided on books” (Academy of Achievement, 2010). He thought books were perfect because attempting to send huge catalogs for all the available books would be expensive and cumbersome, but an online resource database that was easy to navigate would provide customers with easy access and a single point from which to shop. “In 30 days, with no press, Amazon had sold books in all 50 states and 45 foreign countries, obviously by the success of Amazon he was right (Academy of Achievement, 2010). In a case study written by Javad Kargar called “Amazon.com in 2003” he stated that “Amazon's online store was a big hit, with about $5 million in the first year of operations” (2004). This huge success so quickly would have confirmed for Jeff that his idea was viable and drove him to continue to strive for more. Jeff Bezo’s charismatic-visionary leadership is the key to his and Amazon’s success.
4-16. The type of departmentalization Sarah is using to group her employees is functional departmentalization. Sarah oversees three individuals who are divided into different job responsibilities throughout the Barn’s and Noble university bookstore. One of her employees oversees logging the products into the inventory system, another employee is responsible to check if the order of items is correct, and another employee is responsible for unpacking the products and stock them in their designated area. Sarah herself is responsible for signing the invoice and forwarding it to the bookkeeper. This shows that each employee has their own specific job that they must do to make sure that the store is running smoothly.
... Shop Management,revised 1947 and republished 1964 as scientific Managament,New York: Harper and Row 1903
In the first stage Amazon’s main objective was to create a virtual bookshop, where customers could have more choices than any physical bookshop in the world, but also, he did not want to spend time and money on building warehouses and deal with inventory b...
Contemporary management of the business. 7 ed. of the book. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. McComb, S., Schroeder, A., Kennedy, D., & Vozdolska, R. (2012).
Dunnes Stores is an indigenous, family owned Irish Company. The Company is a retailer in both the food and textile market who work around the principle of providing competitive prices, high quality products and a vast variety of choices. The company’s motto of “Better Value” looks to draw in all these principles together.
Amazon model initially offered customers access to massive selection without the needs to incur cost, time and stress of opening warehouses and stores and the needs for inventory handling. Amazon realized to ensure customers get a pleasant experience and Amazon acquire its inventory at reasonable prices, they need to be in control of the transaction process from beginning to the end through operating the business from their own warehouses.
In addition, at the time, the economy was doing great, therefore, using the push system to stock pile inventory was acceptable. However, during the dot-com bust of the 2000’s, its sales and the demand for its products greatly decreased. Unfortunately, during this time, Cisco discovered that it possessed an abundance of inventory, and, wrote off more than $1 billion in inventory. Consequently, the company learned that acquiring inventory in anticipation of market demand, and not factoring in the human element of its business increased its risks of failure. Obviously, Cisco wanted to meet its customer’s demands, however, the problem was that it held more inventory than what the customers were demanding. Nevertheless, afterwards, it knew that it needed to adopt a new, more efficient approach to inventory. Therefore, Cisco had to reevaluate its supply chain system and seek input from IT, customers, suppliers, and finance. Further, by including input from these sources, Cisco adopted the more efficient pull system. The pull system, is dependent upon producing smaller repeating orders. Rather than the push system, which relies on larger less repeating orders. Effective inventory management, when administered correctly, can reduce and keep the inventory to a more desired level. In addition, Cisco discovered that inventory management can reduce inventory levels, enhance cash flow and reduce overall
It is undeniable that Inventory Management is an important key to success at Walmart this paper will discuss the two main methods of Inventory Management used by Wal-Mart: Material Requirements Planning and Just-in Time. Next we write about the technical means of keeping track of inventories like RFID tags. We conclude with discussing how
A firm 's competitive advantage is achieved through offering customers a greater value, either by way of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies a higher price. Nordstrom strengthens its competitive advantage and generic strategy through cost leadership and differentiation in order to differentiate themselves from other high end retailers. Nordstrom has consistently maintained a unique reputation from their establishment in 1901 to the today. Since developing a strong competitive advantage from inception, Nordstrom has been able to adapt to changing environments and market conditions to maintain their success. Nordstrom has set the bench mark in the retail sector through customer service and product quality.
Inventory can be explained as any assets that are held for future use or sale. Inventories are held for a variety of reasons, such as customer demand for end items, smoothing production, a hedge against stock outs and price increases, and economical purchasing. It is very costly and wasteful to keep large inventory on hand. The new technology and application quantitative tools and techniques for inventory management have permitted decrease in inventory. Top management needs to understand the role that inventories have on a company’s financial performance, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction and strike the proper balance in meeting strategic objectives. They are responsible in keeping sufficient inventories to meet demand of the customers by sustaining the lower cost as possible. Inventories are required for a business to operate efficiently and effectively. Inventory management is a very significant part of basic operations activities. Most businesses and general organizations obtain most of their revenue through the sale of inventory.