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New Discussion Site Assignments

Well the management circle suggests that we try something with an expected outcome, measure the outcome, and then adjust accordingly and try again. And so, examining the discussion site, I realize that much more structure is needed. A nod to Jordan McClary and a few others that have made contributions in 5130, others of you have, how can I put this, NOT done much of anything. This is not the purpose of an on line course. The purpose is yes to allow less class time but not to decrease the involvement time. And so, I am thinking requirements need to be tailored to getting you to connect the material in the text wiht the material on the blog.

Each of you will be required to write a piece on each chapter, take the concept of the CGM statement say from Chapter Two or the CGS or the importance of Gross Margin, pick a Learning Objective from the chapter. Then pick an event off the blog or find one yourself, yes we will require that you be able to lead us to the article you pick. I will expect then each of you to

write and post an article, by chapter, linking a learning objective from a chapter with some news event or realization or happening in the business world. In this way you would be linking the LBOs with a real event. Then each person will be required to post a comment on your written work. No one sentence for your article is not what I have in mind here. Your contribution will need to be long enough to demonstrate that you effectively have linked the learning concept to the real event. In this way you will be required to write something about a learning objective from every chapter, and one or four people will not be carrying the entire discussion.

Okay, you can start anytime. For this class, you can skip chapter one, but need to get on with chapters 16,2,3.

YEs this is in addition to the Deming paper. Okay this is for the graduate class. The undergrad classes can and should do the same for chapters we have already covered. I will announce the specifics in class Monday Yes I know we have an exam in 4270 MOnday, no you will not have to do anything abou this by monday if you are in an undergrad class.

See you Monday, I welcome e mail on the subject.

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4 responses to “New Discussion Site Assignments”

  1. Jason Raper Avatar
    Jason Raper

    I am not too sure that this is how you want this done, but let me know how to post directly…I am not blog savy and have not used them mucdh before.
    Learning Objective 3 Chapter 3—Supply Chain Management.
    The article from Yahoo News does not go into specifics about HD Supply and their infrastructure, but I am wondering why such a promising division of Home Depot is being considered for auction? HD is well know for their superior logistics just as Walmart and Dell are known for theirs. Many companies try to mimic their success in delivering lowest total cost through supply chain channels but have very little hope of duplicating it. Pilferage and shrinkage are at phenom lows with them…due to advanced techniques. Walmart and HD both have spent millions engineering the best networks around; and it has saved them a tremondous amount of money. As I was once told, profit is not always generated through sales. Awesome buy for whomever get this company. It has alot of promise and an already established supply chain network that most wish they could duplicate. I think that the strategic review of this company is that it is worth a ton!
    Home Depot weighing sale of supply unit By HARRY R. WEBER, AP Business Writer
    Mon Feb 12, 9:58 AM ET
    ATLANTA – The Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home improvement store chain, said Monday it will consider shedding its division serving contractors, homebuilders and other business customers, distancing itself further from the strategies advanced by former Chief Executive Bob Nardelli. Its shares rose more than 2 percent in early trading.
    The Atlanta-based company said it may sell or spin off its wholesale distribution arm, Home Depot Supply.
    Frank Blake, the current chairman and CEO of The Home Depot, said the company wants to concentrate more on its retail business.
    The company said it would “evaluate strategic alternatives” that could also include an initial public offering of the supply business.
    Just last year, Home Depot announced it had completed its $3.2 billion purchase of Orlando, Fla.-based Hughes Supply Inc., a distributor of construction, repair and maintenance products.
    The deal, Home Depot’s largest acquisition ever, doubled the size of HD Supply division, which serves business customers including municipalities and maintenance professionals.
    The division was seen as a big opportunity for growth by former CEO Nardelli, who resigned in early January after six years at the helm of Home Depot.
    Nardelli had said repeatedly that he believed the company’s strategy under his watch did not need changing. But earlier this month, the company said it is giving a seat on its board to an investment group that wants the company to consider, among other things, a leveraged buyout as a way to generate shareholder value.
    The group, Relational Investors LLC, had threatened a proxy fight over the home-improvement company’s strategic direction, part of an undercurrent that led to Nardelli’s resignation.
    Blake said Monday’s announcement regarding Home Depot Supply was part of a strategic review the company conducted in November.
    HD supply has annual revenues of approximately $12 billion, has nearly 1,000 locations nationwide and in Canada, and employs more than 26,000 associates, the company said.
    Home Depot has retained the investment firm Lehman Brothers as its financial adviser to assist in this process.
    Home Depot shares rose 92 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $41.92 in morning trading on the

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  2. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    Jason
    Nice job, this will serve as a good example of what I had in mind. Note that Jason linked the Learning Objective of Supply Chain Management with something in the business world, spinning off a supply chain. I hope the rest of you can follow this example and post an article before class on Saturday. Don’t worry about necessarily responding to this one, just post your own.

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  3. Jason Raper Avatar
    Jason Raper

    I think that this one really illustrates the LO of Capital Budgeting in ch.16…(LO 1-3). This an article regarding the Hershey company from Yahoo Business News today….
    Hershey is planning on cutting jobs here in the US, but they are planning to open a factory in Mexico. What capital budgeting model were used for this decision. Did they use NPV and IRR in respect to the decision that they made to save $190 million? Quite obviously this had the theory of capital budgeting in mind when they decided what the opportunity costs were for investing and divesting in their workforce.
    Hershey plans to cut work force by 1,500 By PETER JACKSON, Associated Press Writer
    32 minutes ago
    HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Hershey Co., whose name has been synonymous with U.S. candymaking for more than a century, is moving a bigger chunk of its production to Mexico.
    A day after Valentine sweethearts across the country enjoyed bags of Hershey Kisses, the company on Thursday announced a restructuring plan that will scale back its work force by 1,500 jobs and force some plants to close.
    Hershey said the three-year blueprint would reduce the number of production lines by more than one-third while saving the company as much as $190 million a year.
    The maker of Hershey’s Kisses, Reese’s peanut butter cups and Mounds bars currently employs about 13,000 people at 20 plants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The planned cuts amount to 11.5 percent of that work force.
    The proportion of Hershey’s manufacturing done in the U.S. and Canada will shrink, from 90 percent currently to 80 percent, and the impact will vary from one plant to another.
    “Some will be expanded, some will be downsized and some will close,” said Hershey spokesman Kirk Saville. He declined to elaborate.
    “We recognize this will involve considerable change over the next three years, and intend to make this transformation of our supply chain as smooth as possible for our employees and customers,” said Richard H. Lenny, Hershey’s president, chairman and CEO.
    A union leader suggested that the planned new plant in Monterrey, Mexico, would make the job cuts in the United States and Canada particularly acute.
    Dennis Bomberger, business manager for Chocolate Workers Local 464, which represents 2,500 workers at Hershey plants in Hershey and Reading, speculated that the actual job cuts could have to be deeper to achieve a net work force reduction of 1,500.
    “They’re going to gain some jobs in Mexico … so there’s going to be a higher number lost” in the U.S. and Canada, Bomberger said. “Whenever they move something out the country, that’s not good news for any company from the workers’ standpoint.”
    Saville declined to discuss any details about the job cuts or the Mexico plant. Hershey managers began holding meetings with employees Thursday to discuss the changes ahead.
    “We will communicate with our employees and (their) union representatives,” he said.
    Hershey’s stock rose 1.6 percent Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, to close at $52.10, up 80 cents.
    Hershey, the nation’s largest candy maker, reported a 10 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings last month on lackluster sales. Results lagged due to weak merchandising, the company said, as well as a recall of products made at a plant in Canada last year after salmonella bacteria was discovered.
    Reaction to Thursday’s announcement among financial analysts was mixed.
    “Bottom-line, this plan should provide (Hershey) with far more marketing firepower, behind which to invest in its core brands … as well as new platforms,” such as premium chocolate and dark chocolate, “while still delivering margin improvement,” wrote Andrew Lazar of Lehman Brothers.
    Wachovia Securities analyst Jonathan P. Feeney said the plan leaves fundamental problems unaddressed.
    “We are skeptical that pulling capacity out of the system while allocating capital away from the core business accomplishes the critical mission, which is to reinvigorate consumer response to its core chocolate products,” Feeney wrote.
    The company said it will outsource production of low value-added items and that the new Mexico plant would help meet growing demand for its products in that country.
    “The long-term benefits will include a significant, sustainable increase in investment behind Hershey’s iconic brands and new product innovation, as well as targeted, profitable international expansion,” said Chief Operating Officer David J. West.
    Hershey reaffirmed its long-term target for sales growth of 3 percent to 4 percent.

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  4. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    Good job Jason, Walter Wiliams has suggested that the high prices we maintain on sugar would eventually force US candymakers to locate elsewhere, I wonder if that is behind this move to Mexico?

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