Imperial also still faces the last of 43 lawsuits surrounding a single industrial accident, as well as product recalls among other social reasons (Imperial Sugar 16). Even more widespread negative social health effects are becoming epidemic, not only from growing sugar consumption, but from society's and institutions' increasing ability to demonstrate causality between refined sugar and liver damage, high blood pressure, and "metabolic changes that lead to diabetes, heart disease and cancer" (Bunim n
Hershey's has a market value to owners of $13.5 billion and owns subsidiaries in Mexico, Canada, and the rest of the world (Hershey's 119), just for example
S. Sugar was recently purchased in its entirety by the State of Florida in 2008 in order to help clean up the Florida Everglades (Hodges, Mulkey, Spreen and Clouser, n
Finally, after adding all the income derived from medical treatment for such preventable diseases to direct consumption of sugar itself, the social, institutional, environmental and economic consequences of the historical reliance on fossil fuels has resulted in the need for a more sustainable alternative which drives the demand for ethanol as a replacement. Ethanol is a byproduct of sugar production and so far represents a relatively minor crop compared to both refined sugar and fossil fuels, but this "promising" substitute is growing in importance (Martinelli and Filoso 885)
S. consumer, allegedly causing reduction in corporate growth rates and thus flight to countries without such support programs (Miraski, n
What lies below these statistics are more hidden questions about the institutions that perpetuate such systems of unsustainable consumption. Is unsustainability a valid assumption? Given social factors of increasing global population growth and real increasing demand (McConnell, Dolman and Haley n
For Lowe's, supply chain integration is essential to the successful operation of their business model, which includes home decorating products, maintenance and repair products and supplies and an extensive supply chain that provides the foundation for the company to grow its market share in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) consumer market segment. Lowe's has found that integrating their supply chain management and execution systems across the many geographies they source from, in conjunction with integrating to the centralized ERP system, is essential to attain economies of scale (Holley, 2002)
(NYSE: LOW) is headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina and currently employs approximately 262,000 people as of January 31, 2014, making it one of the largest home improvement retailers in North America (Lowe's Investor Relations, 2014). The company is renowned for its enterprise IT expertise, including integration of a large-scale SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system throughout its globally-based supply chain (Songini, 2002)
Logistics Planning Businesses strive to influence product and service differentiation -- fully aware that the phenomenon occurs in the mind of the customer. Additive to differentiation of brands, products, and services, retailers are increasingly focused on differentiation of their stores as shopper destinations (Flint, 2010)
Also analyzed is why innovations in it and IS areas concentrate on the value chain activities as defined by Dr. Porter in his value chain model (Porter, 1986)
Six Sigma and its Trends: As a quality improvement mechanism, Six Sigma has attracted an unexpected long period of popularity in the past few years. This is primarily because the concept has created several derivatives and extensions in the course of its development and growth (Goh, 2010, p
Similar to Six Sigma, lean manufacturing has been an important concept in the modern business practices and processes for many organizations because of emerging trends associated with it. First, the main emerging trend in lean management is the green revolution, which has had significant effects on nearly every facet of the organizational and operational structure of businesses (House, 2012)
What is more, new threats to current business practices in this industry are cause for immediate action. On such recent danger occurred in June 2010, when President Obama issued a six-month deep sea drilling moratorium (Davis, 2010)
And by providing fiscal incentives, such plans will help employees to earn extra pay on the job, while also allowing them the opportunity to move up in the company. This type of managerial tactic can prove to be extremely effective, especially when considering that the presence of advancement opportunities is a key indicator in determining how long an individual will remain with his or her current employer (Kickul, 2001)
And as will be further elucidated, Marathon strives to increase its value through both structural and geographic value chain changes and expansions. These operational amendments will primarily take place in the critical value chain areas of logistics, marketing, operations and human resource management (Rainbird, 2004)
Additionally, Marathon's joint venture in the mining of Oil Sands in Canada discussed above illustrates yet another manner in which technological innovation will help to "autonomize" Marathon and its petrochemical industry partners. Such innovative action has shown to be an extremely effective way of improving a company's value chain, while also poising it for the greatest potential level of future success (Roper, Du, & Love, 2008)
Despite their historic dominance in America, oil companies in the United States face yet another threat resulting from President Obama's 2010 six-month deep water drilling moratorium (Davis, 2010). Noting that over 35% of domestic crude oil is sourced from deep water drilling, this poses a serious danger to American oil companies (Savage, 2010)
Considering that the bulk of the retail gas price is attributable to the price of crude oil, and the price of crude oil is determined by global demand, Marathon has been forced to make significant structural changes in its value chain by implementing innovative measures in order to offset prospective losses from fluctuations in crude oil prices. Knowing that a company's value chain is comprised its primary operating and logistical activities, current threats and geopolitical initiatives have been the cause for intense reexamination of Marathon's pre-existent operational tactics (Walters & Lancaster, 2000)
Moreover, with catastrophes like the one that recently occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, the future prospects for political support in this type of extraction seem rather bleak (Savage, 2010). While some oil companies have chosen to augment their value chains by subsequently globalizing their operations in order to escape the possibility of future White House interference, Marathon has chosen to rely on its investments in new technologies to lead it into the future (Wingfield, 2010)
While some oil companies have chosen to augment their value chains by subsequently globalizing their operations in order to escape the possibility of future White House interference, Marathon has chosen to rely on its investments in new technologies to lead it into the future (Wingfield, 2010). Furthermore, when considering that many developing nations have recently begun to nationalize their oil industries (and presumably this trend will continue), the strategic decision by Marathon to develop new technologies seems like a smart choice (Zissis, 2006)