Launching CPFR at Texan Foods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Launching CPFR at Texan Foods - Assignment Example Traditionally the products were designed and manufactured by the manufacturing firms to be distributed by retailers and other agencies. This entailed only a very little communication between the manufacturer and the retailers. But the modern day business concepts have undergone tremendous changes with the relationships between different players of the industry are no longer defined by the old standards. In fact many retailers have begun manufacturing and many manufacturers have started their retail operations. Thus the traditional concept of supply chain model has been subjected to a radical change and it has become a supply complex. In order to obviate the complexities involved in the present day supply chain, CPFR acts as a transformational strategy. CPFR takes the business processes, people, and technology to higher levels of performance. The process of CPFR strives to promote "openness, information sharing, data exchange, visibility, and joint decisions". (Aghazadeh, Seyed-Mahmou d, 2003) Thus the ultimate aim of CPFR is being about total value chain collaboration among all the players in the supply chain who help to improve the value of the product to the end-customer. With this background this paper details of the challenges being faced by Texan Foods in the launching of full CPFR and also possible solutions for the effectiveness of the CPFR project. CPFR - an Overview "The concept of collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment has been promoted as a cure for what ails the food industry's supply chain." (Len Lewis 2007) CPFR has a greater role to play in the promotion of business for any business where there is a large network of supply chain is involved. The concept aims at improving the final value of the product at the hands of the customer. In this process the process links all the supply chain partners who have a role to play in improving the value. The use of the latest information technology is at the root of the success of any CPFR plan. Hence it is important that the companies collaborating with each other are technologically savvy. A definition of the process of CPFR goes like: "Collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR) is an innovative and relatively new business process that allows supply chain partners to use their information technology for collaboration on forecasts of future demand, and for planning for future inventory replenishment. Usually, the partners involved in a CPFR initiative use the Internet to share data, exchange ideas, or otherwise collaborate with respect to inventory management tasks that are shared by the involved companies. At other times, the members of the alliance will meet in person to discuss various issues that arise in the weekly or monthly operation of CPFR." (Chad W. Autry) Texan Foods - A Background Texan Foods is a gourmet grocery chain founded in the year 1941 as a combination general store and family food market. Over the time the store developed into well-known medium sized grocery chain with about 65 store locations in South and Southwestern United States with most of the stores located in thickly populated areas. "The chain was known for the quality of its fresh produce, its wide variety

Family Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Family Business - Research Paper Example The other family members in family-run businesses do not often accord the same level of respect to the decisions made by their siblings or relatives who may be in charge of the family business. Many times, siblings will overrule the decision of a sibling who was chosen by the parents to hold a position of authority. This shows a lack of structure that is vital in ensuring that organizations realize their goals. This lack of structure is also to blame for the procrastination of important tasks within an organization. Procrastination can result in delayed succession planning which is detrimental to a company. According to the family business survey, which was meant to assess different how the different functions in family-run businesses are conducted, only 12% of the reviewed family businesses had documented plans dealing with succession planning (The Family Business Survey, 5). This is somewhat better than the survey of Australian KPMG and Family Businesses, conducted to further under stand the success of family businesses, which established that 80.7% of respondent family businesses did not have any succession planning program in effect (KPMG and Family Business Australia Survey of Family Businesses, 3). ... Another common concern is favoritism. According to a family survey conducted in the UK, it was discovered that 18% of the respondents felt that their lives were in some way hampered by their responsibilities towards the family business. 17% of the respondents also affirmed that it is easy for business disagreements to bet in the way of building strong family relationships (The Family Business Survey, 4). There were similar findings from the According to CBIA/UCONN Family Business Program Survey, which established that only 31% of the participants felt that the responsibilities were fairly allocated (Rathgeber and Nino, 12). The accusation of favoritism is common in most family organizations and can sometimes interfere with realizing organizational objectives. The employment of qualified workers is another issue that often causes misunderstandings within family run businesses. For the most part, the children or relatives of people who launch successful businesses expect that they will hold positions of authority in the said businesses even if they may not be qualified for them (Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 39). However, for any business to succeed, it requires the input of skilled workers who are trained in professional institutions. Sometimes, parents have to hire workers from outside the family in order to keep their companies afloat while placating their children with junior positions. According to the Family Business Survey, 61% of the respondents had 2 or 3 relations who worked in the family-run companies (Family Business Survey, 7). The Australia KPMG and Family Business Survey’s results indicated that 40% of the surveyed

In The News Week 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

In The News Week 5 - Essay Example In times of economic recession, businesses are mostly facing such situations as they are not able to gain the required profits from all their business units operating locally and at the global level. The closure of three units currently would affect the economic cycle of Wales greatly but Unilever as an organization is facing the effects of recession and therefore has to take such steps of downsizing and closures of factories in certain areas (Wright, 2012). Business shuts down some factories by reviewing their profits and losses. The main reason for business shutdowns are due to the fact that their marginal revenue is below their average variable cost. The analysis is done based upon whether the particular factory is adding on to the profits or is allowing it to be an expense for the organization. Such decisions need to be carefully reviewed by the managers before giving the final verdict as shut down decisions allows the unemployment rate to increase for the economy. The organization also has to face charges against being not a corporate socially responsible organization as shutting down factories in between work operations impacts the work force tremendously. The shutdown of business leads the workforce to be in a stressful situation as their source of income and medical facilities are impacted due to loss of jobs. Along with impacting the economy, this further affects the family life of the employees. The managers need to disclose the news on an immediate basis and with full honesty and sincerity. The clear picture should be told to the employees so that they don’t have doubts about any prevailing or future circumstances taking place in the organization. The managers should let the employees reveal their emotional response without getting agitated or frustrated. The emotional responses of employees may be through showing anger, depression, and insecurity so on and so forth. The managers should console