Managing Communication Knowledge and Information Essay

Managing Communication Knowledge and Information - Essay Example The department focuses on integrating operations and supply chain strategy with a firm’s operations capabilities. This involves decisions that relate to the design of the processes and infrastructure needed to support these processes. Process design includes selecting the appropriate technology, sizing the process over time, determining the role of inventory in the process, and locating the process (Schultz, 2011, pg, 49). The infrastructure decisions involve the logic associated with the planning and control systems, quality assurance and control approaches, work payment structure, and organisation of system quality assurance and control approaches, work payment structure and organisation of operations and supply chain functions. This department’s operations capabilities can be viewed as portfolio best suited to adapt to the changing product and or service needs of a firm’s customers. Starbucks’ location strategy-its clustering of 20 or more stores in each urban hubwas viewed as enhancing the experience both in creating a local â€Å"Starbucks buzz’’ and in facilitating loyalty by Starbucks’ customers. Starbucks’ analysis of sales by individual store found little evidence that closely located Starbucks stores cannibalized one another’s sales. Recognizing that convenience of location was critical to driving sales; Starbucks began adding drive-through windows to some of its stores and locating stores specifically to capitalize on drive-through customers (Miles & Friedman, 2006, pg. 100). For this reason, the manager requires information to do with the corporate social responsibility (Phillip & Freeman, 2010, pg. 33). This implies that the manager requires understanding what the community around as well as the consumer perceives of the products from the company. In addition, the management in this department requires information on employee perception on the decisions being undertaken in the company. This will ensure that operations are efficient and therefore, the supply chain is up to date. As such, the manager is supposed to

Firm's Operating Cycle vs Cash Conversion Cycle Essay

Firm's Operating Cycle vs Cash Conversion Cycle - Essay Example duration of the cycle by adding together each of these elements.† An greater operating cycle implies that the business will need more working capital and with high working capital will lead to high inventory-carrying cost, this is inclusive of interest payments, thus the firm has greater opportunity cost because it is incapable to invest its funds in high fund investments projects. It is thus advisable to have low operating cycles because there will be more completed cycles in a year, this will lead the business to make greater gross and net profits annually. This is the time (number of days) interval between the time a firm purchases an inventory until the inventory is sold and cash is received from the buyer (accounts recoverable). In other words it is the total time taken by a firm or a business to covert purchases into cash from consumers of the product. Cash conversion process gives imminent into the financial stability of a company, this is because it gives time period during which assets are committed to business processes and therefore are not available to invest to achieve even greater returns. The little the time period to collect cash from sales made in credit the better for the firm, this is because; for a shorter cycle gives the business quick asses to cash, the cash can be used by the business to purchase additional stock or may be used to pay debt to suppliers of the firm. It is therefore of great significance for a firm to have systems that facilitates shorter conversation cycles. This is achieved by speeding the customers to pay up their debts while the firm slows down payments to its suppliers. Cash conversation cycle can also be negatively used by large organization that have a huge market command share whereby they change the payment days to supplies anyhow. The model that a firm’s management adopts is very crucial for achievement of the firm’s final profits. When an organization allows short interval of its operating cycle it means