7 Sustainability

Patagonia & The Footprint Chronicles

Posted on by f1232skrissanov

Early this year, CEO of Patagonia, Casey Sheahan, raised a few eyebrows by introducing a “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign. Sheahan explained Patagonia must do the opposite of other businesses today for them to stay in business for a long time, as well as leaving an inhabitable planet for future generations. He goes on to say, “We ask you to buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime on this jacket or anything else.” Not only does this give a subtle hint that Patagonia strives for unparalleled quality, it shows the company highly values humanity and environmental consciousness.

More recently however, Patagonia has gone to new lengths to prove the ingenuity of their values and offer unprecedented transparency concerning their business operations to their customers. Patagonia has introduced The Footprint Chronicles, an interactive map of the world on their website that pinpoints all of the members of its operational supply chain, both textile mills and factories. Clicking on a pinpoint on the map brings up information on the location including what they are, their exact address, what they produce, work force, gender ratio, and how long they have worked with Patagonia.

For most companies, an informational map like this could just be a marketing ploy, but for Patagonia, it is an attempt to take business practices and operations to a new level of transparency for all to see. Patagonia is well known for the labor and working condition standards it surpasses every year, but nowadays it just isn’t enough for a company to have a piece of paper saying it passed regulations. This is due to the fact that sometimes these big manufacturers seemingly meet requirements for issues surrounding labor operations and working conditions, however, they are usually the ones who end up on a negative headline about underage labor practices, poor working conditions, etc.

Patagonia has always been know to champion quality over everything; not only a quality product, but quality operations that put people and the environment over profit. According to Patagonia, there are no private/closed-off managerial offices at their locations, creating a closer link between their corporate, business, and functional levels of the company. Though it may seem Patagonia’s humanity, sustainability, and environment driven business strategy leaves little room for profit, it is not true as the company has actually doubled revenue and tripled profits since 2008 ($540 million in 12 months ending with this past April) accoring to the Los Angeles Times.

Patagonia is definitely proving that not taking the easy short-cut to profits can undoubtedly pay off in the long-run. Could this be a sign that you do not have to be inhumane, greedy, or careless of the environment for your company to turn a profit and be successful?

http://www.patagonia.com/us/footprint/

Intake of Lexapro Medication Linked to Birth Defects

Posted on by jenniferre301s12

Welllbutrin Lawyers Handling Birth Defects Cases

 

The effects of consistent and continuous intake of medications containing selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, such as Lexapro, has been tested for various side-effects. Recent tests have shown a significant correlation between such medications and the number of  newborn children born with pulmonary hypertension for medicated patients.  While this these statistics do not pertain directly to seller’s risk or buyer’s risk of the manufacturing company of Lexapro and the intermediaries, which sell this medication directly to the public, these statistics do relate to the seller’s risk and buyer’s risk of the manufacturing company of Lexapro and the genreally medicated public, respectively.

Past a certain rate of occurrence, or once the correlation between the intake of medication containing selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors and any resulting birth defects similar in nature to pulmonary hypertension in children of prescribed patients have been proven to significant enough, the drug control agency of various governments will mostly likely restrict or ban the sale of Lexapro and similar medications.

In order to determine an acceptable rate of occurrence or statistical correlation, many of the same mathematical procedures demonstrated in our assigned readings will be utilized in the process of that determination. Buyer’s risk, seller’s risk, and statistical process control are all mathematical procedures likely to be utilized. Theories covered in our assigned reading, such as sustainability, will also be considered in the process of determination for the various drug control agencies and judicial systems likely to be involved in this case. Specifically the regulation and reputation components of the sustainbility theory will be considered, not only for the manufacturing company of Lexapro medication and the like, but also for the respective drug control agencies likely to be involved in this case. What is most important to note in my posting, in my opinion, would be that the theories and procedures described in our text and during our class sessions, do not only pertain to management operations considerations of specific companies, but they also pertain the considerations of various governmental agencies and individuals, which themselves often operate as a company and operations manager, respectively.

 

http://www.timesunion.com/business/press-releases/article/Lexapro-Investigation-Reveals-Severe-Side-Effects-3698320.php

http://www.lexaprobirthdefectslawsuits.com/

Supply Chain Management …..the Netflix way

Posted on by thomasm301s12

As a loyal customer of Netflix since 2008, or whenever it became available to stream on Xbox, I have been completely satisfied with my subscription…..until…..the whole Qwikster fiasco.

As was probably the case with almost every subscriber at the time of the price and company changes, I was extremely upset.  I was very happen with the product I was getting and I was extremely happy with the price I was paying for it.  One factor i never noticed until taking Operations Management was how it directly influenced Netflix’s business decisions.

Please check out this article by CNET, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57468798-93/netflixs-lost-year-the-inside-story-of-the-price-hike-train-wreck/?tag=mncol;morePosts

…I know it is kind of lengthy, but it really gives the inside look into why Netflix’s CEO did what he did.(regardless of if he was wrong or right)

Netflix success was founded on there efficient structure of Supply Chain Management.  They became the best at delivering movies straight to the customer.  Netflix, with the help from the internet, can claim that they killed the retail movie rental business(anyone remember Blockbuster).  But with success comes ego!  The very strength of Netflix was also going to be its demise for the future.  The CEO Reed Hastings recognized this and wanted to make steps to prepare Netflix to change with the future.

The article does a great job of hammering home the fact that Reed Hastings failure was how and when  he chose to implement his plan for the future.  The greatest threat to Netflix’s strength, its Supply Chain Management, is that Netflix has no real Supply.  Netflix’s product is produced by other companies.  These other companies are starting to steal Netflix’s online model and cut Netflix out or raise its prices.  This reason drove the CEO to want to be the first in providing all online streaming content, because if your first then your the best, right?

When you read every decision, or mistake, Netflix made with a focus on Operations Management, you can sympathize with the CEO’s decision to rush Netflix’s changes.  Reed Hastings wanted to eliminate the biggest cost to Netflix’s Supply Chain, the DVDs, and along the way incidentally got rid of most of their own Management talent.

Do you agree or disagree with CEO Reed Hastings vision for Netflix?

and Is it too late for Netflix?…..are they the new Blockbuster?

     =     

References:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57468798-93/netflixs-lost-year-the-inside-story-of-the-price-hike-train-wreck/?tag=mncol;morePosts

http://matthewmolinari.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/netflix-loses-a-star-supplier/

 

Transforming Waste into Profit

Posted on by suhanip301s12

Deishin Lee, a professor at Harvard Business School, is conducting a research paper on the way manufacturing companies can turn their waste into by-products.  By-product synergy (BPS) is basically taking waste from one part of the production process and using that waste in order to generate a new product.  The idea of BPS in not a new, as it is most often used in the agriculture industry.   Furthermore, she explains that in order for a manufacturing company to implement such an idea, it is important for the managers to “stop thinking of yourself as a company that creates a certain product and instead think about how you can use them to produce as much value possible.”

Since Lee is researching about recycling, she talked with Gordon Forward, CEO of Chaparral Steel.  His company use wastes from producing steel to make cement.  After an interview with Forward, she concluded that the main challenge as mentioned above is thinking outside the box, to produce an innovative product that companies/consumers will be able to purchase.

As a result of her research, Lee was able to come up with three scenarios for BPS.

1)      In a case where the by-product is a low value, a company may choose to maximize profits by using only a partial amount of the waste to produce a new product.

2)      In the second case, if the value of the new product/by-product increases, then the company might choose to actually increase the production of the primary product in order to create more “waste.”

3)      Lastly, Lee proposes a scenario in which the by-product ends up being more profitable then the primary product.  She suggests it would be wise for a company to find virgin material to make more of the secondary product.

Although using the wastes of a particular product can be beneficial to the company, it may not end up being so good for the environment.  Lee points out that sometimes using by-product to make new products can lead to more pollution.  Do you think companies should push manager into thinking “outside the box,” in order to find ways to use the waste?

Source: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6800.html

 

Sitting On Sustainable Luxury, A Process Not Many People Appreciate!

Posted on by danab502

Have you ever thought about how much time and effort it takes to produce the chair and sofa you sit on, or the bed you sleep on?

I can certainly relate to the chapters we studied relating to product design, and quality management and international standards. Working for a furniture company, I get to watch training videos of how our products are produced. I must admit furniture design is very intense. Every chair, bed, and table has to be designed according to the ergonomics of the human body, as well as international standards; since our furniture is sold worldwide. Every piece is designed to assure comfort, convenience and style. Along with product design, the main focus has now become on “ecodesign”, the following is the statement our company shares regarding sustainability:  “Like any industrial product, furniture is a source of environmental impact. Thereby participating in its degradation to the extent that it requires materials and energy, it must be transported and packaged, it can be maintained and repaired, and it will one day become a waste… This policy is now inseparable to our commitments of quality and creativity.” This statement clearly shows our company’s use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Our furniture pieces are designed by top European designers, creators and architects. Every piece of furniture produced goes through a very long production cycle. Furniture design begins with creativity, followed by design with the use of software such as Computer-aided design (CAD), and Design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA). Once the design is completed digitally, a prototype is then produced with the use of human labor as well as Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). The prototype is then tested by the designer and management.

Quality management is of crucial importance when it comes to the furniture we sell. To assure quality our furniture is only made with solid wood from environmentally sustainable forests, and the fabrics and leathers used in our furniture go through a series of detailed tests. Our fabrics go through a rub test, known as Martindale Test, which tests a fabric’s durability by counting the number of rubs it takes for a fabric to wear out. If a fabric wears out before 30,000 rubs then it is not durable, the most durable are fabrics from 30,000 to 100,000 rubs. Our leathers also go through a series of different testing methods such as absorbency, burning and stretching. A thorough inspection of the materials used is done by experts who “have the eye” to spot mistakes or natural defects. Some natural defects are usually found in leather. Since it comes from cows, some cows might get scars which are then found in the leather. A piece of furniture will only go into production, once it meets the European Furniture Standards and passes quality control.

Now that you have a better understanding about the creation of sustainable furniture, can you relate the importance of product design and quality management to other daily life objects?