Extra! Extra! Read All About Going from The Printing Press to Digital!

 

Smartphones, eReaders and tablets are becoming increasingly popular, which is why today’s consumers want digital material. Printed magazines, newspapers, and books are becoming the thing of the past. According to a Forbes article, Newsweek magazine has decided to go digital. After 80 years of printed publication, Newsweek realized they were in the stage of decline. Newsweek’s circulation went from an estimated 3.1 million between 2001 and 2007 to 1.8 million in 2010. And by July 2012, circulation was 1.57 million. In the declining stage of the product life cycle, a company must eliminate products or services that are not returning good margins. However, despite declining sales of Newsweek, Newsweek’s   founder/editor-in-chief and CEO, Tina Brown and Baba Shetty remain optimistic. Newsweek has come to understand today’s market and the growing demand for digital media, such as, digital books, digital music, online movie viewing etc. Thus, Tina Brown and Baba Shetty have decided to take Newsweek to a digital format and change its name to Newsweek Global. According to Forbes, Newsweek Global will operate on a paid subscription and be distributed via tablets and the Internet. Andrew Sullivan a blogger advised management to make the switch from a physical magazine to digital years ago since no one under the age of 30 read printed material. On the other hand, Felix Salmon of Reuters think reinventing Newsweek is a total waste of time due to the lack of demand for Newsweek. I personally feel Newsweek has a chance of surviving. What do you think, is digital the way to go?

Check Out Forbes Article Here

 

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Soup!

As cold and flu season is fast approaching, it would be fair to assume that soup consumption will rise, not so says the largest soup maker, Campbell’s who has experienced declining consumption of its canned soups. According to research overall canned soup, consumption is down 13 percent and more individuals prefer fresh soups offered at supermarkets and restaurants. In a recent article Campbell’s announced it is will be closing two of their plants to cut cost, which will result in cutting more than 700 jobs. Campbell’s largest and highest production costing plant in California will be the closing in July of 2013 and their spice plant in New Jersey will be transferred to the company’s other spice plant in Milwaukee in March 2013.

 

In order to maintain competitive advantage over their competitors Campbell’s has decided to freshen up their image to lure younger consumers by introducing new soup flavors and sauces, such as, coconut curry with chicken & shiitake mushrooms and tomato roasted garlic bacon bisque and change from the iconic steel can design to offering their new products in pouches. In addition, Campbell’s has taken notice of the growing culture of consumers who seek healthier and fresher foods; thus, Campbell’s has embarked upon the fresh packaged food category by recently purchasing Bolthouse Farms for 1.55 billion dollars. Clearly, Campbell’s operations management strategy is geared towards low cost production, minimizing cost by eliminating products that are not returning good profits and maintaining competitive advantage over it competitors (supermarkets and restaurants offering fresh soup) with the purchase of fresh packaged food company Bolthouse Farms.

Check Out Campbell’s Article

Campbell’s is the world’s largest soup maker that has 19,900 employees globally. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for August 2012 was at 8.1% still considerably high. 700+ Campbell’s soup employees will be joining the others in the unemployment line starting as early as March 2013. What is your take on soup giants’ operations management approach?