International Operational and Logistical Strategies Essay

International Operational and Logistical Strategies - Essay Example They include: 1) Integrating all system transactions with a similar system 2) Sharing common data and practices across the entire business enterprise 3) Production of relevant information that can be used during the process of making decisions. There are a number of benefits associated with Enterprise Resource Planning and they include: Automation of business processes which enhances performance. For instance, the system indicates the consequences of all the decisions. Reduces costs by reducing levels of inventory within the business processes. Ensures free flow of information among all business processes. Improves communication throughout the organization. ERP systems that are highly customized can deliver better opportunities for competitive advantage. Improves the relationship between the organization and its stakeholders. Provides easier import and export of data. ERP has a number of components that enable it work properly and improve performance among different business processe s. ... However, there are a number of disadvantages associated with such systems. They include: High costs of switching to and from ERP systems Creates unnecessary dependencies Requires extensive training which may have high cost implications Unsuitable for production planning and supply chain management 2. Supply Chain and Application of supply chain and logistical tools and techniques This section gives an analysis of the operations management of Apple Inc with regards to it production, marketing, supply chain management and sale of its products. An assessment of the company will be done with respect to its background information, history and the types of goods and services that it sells in the industry that it operates. The supply chain characteristics of the firm will also be highlighted and evaluated so as to offer postulations on what ought to be done so as to increase its profitability (Apple Inc, 2012). Aspects relating to its competitive advantage in the global business, production processes and customer satisfaction will be highlighted. This means that the technology used and commitment to quality and excellence will as also be assessed. This is aimed at ascertaining the operational planning of the company with regard to major organizational models that enhance efficacy and success. History and Background of Apple Inc. Apple Inc. was initially called Apple Computer Inc, it is an internationally recognized company that produces and sells computers, computer software and other forms of consumer electronics such as iPods, iPads and iPhones. The firm is diversified and offers mobile communication and media devices as well as selling related software. It is an American corporation with its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The company has over 250 retail

How, if at all, are 'Thatcherism' and 'New Labour' interrelated Essay

How, if at all, are 'Thatcherism' and 'New Labour' interrelated - Essay Example He was the first serious politician of the left to appreciate the legacy of Mrs. Thatcher and was able, unlike his predecessors, to operate in the post-Thatcher world. Blair identified where the new centre was and quickly occupied it, leading to many branding him as a ‘closet Tory’. However, we have to decide whether he merely stripped down socialism to make it acceptable in post-Thatcher Britain or whether he has taken certain social democratic values and added them to a variant of free market neo-liberalism that was prevalent in Thatcherism. Although there seems to be a significant continuation of policy in many areas, this may have been necessary for Labour to win back lost electoral ground by pursuing a large degree of conformation to the highly successful Thatcherite campaigns. It is therefore necessary to compare Thatcherite and New Labour policies before we can say how interrelated the two ideologies are. Is the ‘Third Way merely a more compassionate version of Thatcherism or is it a new ideology, combining traditional social democratic values with neo-liberal tendencies that have grounded themselves in British politics? Free trade ideology developed out of Adam Smith’s distinctive contribution to the eighteenth-century European Enlightenment and reached its apogee in the Liberalism of William Gladstone, and so forth. (3) The importance of Thatcherism, therefore, lay not in the novelty of its ideas but in the context of their operation in the late 1970s and 1980s. Thatcherism as an ideology stood for a limited but firm government, the rolling back of the welfare state, the end of consensus politics and a staunchly anti-European and independent attitude on many vital issues. (Adams 1998, p. 95) The question of just how successful the Thatcher revolution was in making Britain a better place is a matter of fierce controversy. How