Study Questions May 2 Green and Competitiveness

1. Study how Dutch flower industry developed a closed-loop system to enhance its global competitiveness. Why did this example prove the traditional debate about the relationship between environment and competitiveness incorrect? 2. What are the hidden costs associated with pollution or resource inefficiencies? 3. What are the similarities between TQM and EM? 4. Review the results of studying 29 chemical plants. 5. What are the two categories of innovations in response to environmental regulation? 6. Study the examples that successfully applied innovations to reduce costs or improve competitiveness. 7. Why is regulation necessary for environmental innovations? 8. What are the six reasons that regulation is needed? 9. From environmental innovation point of view, what do we learn from Japanese and German auto makers? 10. Review three suggestions for managers to accelerate their companies progress toward a more competitive environmental approach: (1) measure direct and indirect environmental impacts, (2) recognize the opportunity cost of underutilized resources, and (3) create a bias in favor of innovation-based solutions.

Strategic alliance in a closed-loop supply chain

1. What are the three stages of EM evolution? 2. Review Figure 2 to understand the closed-loop supply chain. 3. Review the five production recovery operations: Repair/Reuse, Refurbishing, Remanufacturing, Cannibalization, and Recycling. 4. why are companies not considering regain value from returns? 5. Review the Nike/NRC alliance to understand the goals, benefits, and the collection process (3 options) of this alliance.

Study Questions April 25 A. Transportation 1. Use IKEA and Seven-Eleven Japan examples to discuss the strategic role of transportation system. 2. Understand the differences in transportation network between FedEx and UPS. 3. Understand the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of different modes of transportation. 4. Understand the significance (e.g., shipment value, weigh, ton-miles) of different modes of transportation to the economy and international trade. 5. Understand the pros and cons of different transportation networks. 6. How does Toyota use the milk run options differently in Japan vs. in the United States? 7. Which mode of transportation grows with the popularity of JIT deliveries and what is the preferred mode for e-business? 8. What are the benefits of cross-docking? How does Wal-Mart use cross-docking to achieve economies of scale in both inbound and outbound transportation? 9. How does Seven-Eleven make shipment via DC with milk run? 10. How does OshKosh eliminate LTL shipment from its DC to retail stores? B. A voluntary logistics security program
1. Review the process of global logistics operation. Name 7 possible organizations (e.g., 3PL) involved in this process. Name at least three factors that could make this process complex? 2. Why would the C-TPAT certification force U.S. firms to enhance logistics security with more involvement from their foreign suppliers? What specific actions can the U.S. firms take to collaborate with their overseas suppliers? What are the major barriers? 3. Why would companies with previous successful TQM experience be in a better position to implement global security system? 4. Explain why logistics security is FREE.

Study Questions (April 18) Supply chain relationship

1. Review the four major winning points. Understand what they are and why they are critical to the supplier relationship. 2. Why do manufacturers get the best of two worlds when they form strong supplier alliances? 3. What does the article suggest regarding building two different types of relationships for standardized parts and components with uncertain demand respectively? 4. The article suggests the choice for invest in relationships should not be make vs. buy? Why? Eliminate the middleman 1. Evaluate the relationship between USTech and TaiSource prior to the Morris incident in light of the four major winning points: Power Balancing, Co-specialization, Target Costing, and Personal Ties. 2. Evaluate the current relationship between USTech and TaiSource in light of the four major winning points: Power Balancing, Co-specialization, Target Costing, and Personal Ties.

STUDY QUESTIONS (April 11, 2007)

Overview
1. Study the differences between MRP, MRPII, and ERP. 2. What does SAP stand for? What is SAP R/3? What does the 3 mean? 3. Review the applications modules in Figure 1.2. 4. Review Quick Check in the end of the chapter.

Enterprise systems & the supply chain (Skip pages 12-19)

1. Why is EDI not able to provide seamless supply chain integration like the Internet? 2. Use Dreyers and Eastman to illustrate the importance of information integration. 3. Review how Reebok and Boeing applied ES to achieve cross-enterprise integration. 4. Understand how Sara Lee, Heineken, and FedEx used extranets to improve customer service.

STUDY QUESTIONS (April 4, 2007)

The Bullwhip Effect

1. Use the P&G example to define bullwhip effect. 2. Study the four major causes of bullwhip effect? 3. How does the hockey stick or periodic ordering cause bullwhip effect? 4. What is forward buy? How does this practice cause bullwhip effect? 5. Use the Hewlett-Packard example to explain rationing and gaming and explain why they could cause bullwhip effect. 6. What are those options available to remove unnecessary demand fluctuations and thus bullwhip effect? 7. How does 3PL promote frequent replenishment and reduce bullwhip effect? 8. How does EDLP reduce bullwhip effect?

CPFR: An Emerging Supply Chain Tool

1. What are the major differences between the supply chain systems in Figure 1 vs. Figure 2? 2. What does CPFR stand for? What are the primary purposes of CPFR? 3. What are the drawbacks of EDI? 4. Understand the four driving forces behind the CPFR applications. 5. Use the KPMG survey & Heinekens example to illustrate the benefits of CPFR implementation. 6. Review the six obstacles listed for CPFR implementation.

E-Supply Chains
1. According to the author, what problems did Amazon encounter in its e-business? Why? 2. According to the Anderson survey, what are the top two problems related to supply chain performance? 3. What did Anderson experts suggest to build a business model that includes an e-supply chain? 4. Review Figure 3 and the examples of UPS Worldwide Logistics, Nike, & Smart. Can you locate those examples to the 2x2 diagram? 5. Define digital distribution. When is digitial distribution appropriate?

STUDY QUESTIONS (March 14, 2007)

Article #1: Li & Fung 1. Define a dispersed manufacturing system. Explain how Li & Fung manages a dispersed manufacturing system. 2. Draw a supply chain system that represents Li&Fungs operations. Use the figure to discuss how L&F differs from other trading companies in product and information flows. 3. Use Li & Fungs operation to explain good supply chain management strips away time and cost from product delivery cycle. 4. Give an example to discuss how Li & Fung reaches into its supply chain to shorten the buying cycle? Do you see how Dell made similar efforts in its supply chain? 5. Use the container example to explain why managers must consider the entire value chain to minimize total costs. Can you relate this observation to the flaw of local optimization? 6. Give a few examples to illustrate how Li & Fung follows local rules and practices in managing its facilities and employees in different countries. Article #2: Reengineering work: 1. Get familiar with the Ford and MBL examples. Why did Ford need 400 A/P clerks when Mazda had just 5? How did MBL use re-engineering principles to improve its productivity? 2. Use flow chart diagrams to illustrate the differences between Fords original and revised A/P processes. 3. Review the principles of re-engineering and discuss how Ford, MBL, and HP applied some of those principles to improve their operations. 4. Review Dells and Li&Fungs supply chain systems. What re-engineering principles did they apply to develop their business models? 5. Why did we design inefficient processes? Use examples to support your discussion. 6. Why do the authors suggest us to think big?

A voluntary logistics security program

5. Review the process of global logistics operation. Name 7 possible organizations (e.g., 3PL) involved in this process. Name at least three factors that could make this process complex? 6. Why would the C-TPAT certification force U.S. firms to enhance logistics security with more involvement from their foreign suppliers? What specific actions can the U.S. firms take to collaborate with their overseas suppliers? What are the major barriers? 7. Why would companies with previous successful TQM experience be in a better position to implement global security system? 8. Explain why logistics security is FREE. For the presentation group ONLY. Provide three specific examples of how national cultural differences could affect a U.S. firms supply chain practices in overseas.