Submitted by: Anjo Princy

N01356152

True/False (10 marks)

1. The last decade of the twentieth century was a period of rapid change for
organizations, especially businesses. True

2. A key element in Wal-Mart’s ability to discount brand name products was an

understanding of the criticality of efficiency in its logistics and supply chain
system. True

3. Globalization has had little effect on consumers. False

4. Supply and demand has become less volatile as managers become more adept
at controlling the elements. False

5. Supply chain managers no longer need to worry about suboptimization in light of

today’s technology. False

6. To hold down distribution cost, the lowest cost carrier should always be used.
False

7. The utility created through the basic marketing activities is known as place utility.
False

8. Transportation is the physical movement or flow of goods. True

9. During the 1990s and 2000s, logistics costs as a percentage of gross national
product declined. True
10. In a logistics system, warehousing should be optimized at the expense of related
logistics activities, such as transportation and procurement. False

Short Answer (15 marks)

Target opened a network of retail stores in Canada in 2013 but by April 2015 had exited
the market after a short lived unsuccessful launch.  There are a number of issues that
have affected their performance and the decision to pull out of Canada, not the least are
challenges they have faced in the establishment and management of their supply chain.

Making reference to some of the key 10 key issues in managing a supply chain that are
highlighted in the readings in Chapter 1, write a short one page assessment as to what
you feel are the key 3 or 4 factors that have affected Target's Canadian supply chain
and impacted their ultimate decision to leave Canada. 

Answer:

One of the biggest retailers of U.S., Target corporation, pulled out its operations from
Canada by closing almost 130 stores across Canada due to the losses and
disappointing results after being in function for just around 2 years. There were a lot of
reasons as to why the U.S. giant decided to stop its function in Canada of which the
major ones were linked with the inefficient supply chain management. Other reasons
included high prices in Canada compared to the same products being offered in U.S.
cheaper and high expectations by the Canadians.

One of the biggest issues faced by target in its existence in Canada was its customers
complaining about empty shelves. The company struggled with keeping the inventory
available at the right place at the right time. Often, some products would be loaded with
excess inventory and the others, not enough. Therefore, considering the general major
supply chain issues, the main factors which played an important role in the failure of
Target in Canada would include the inefficient supply chain network facilities and
supporting transportation as there was a delayed availability of inventory and the
ordering service or the computerized- assisted ordering got the orders wrong and since
the system appeared to be faulty, the company lost on a lot of orders and were unable
to keep up with the demands of its products. [ CITATION Can14 \l 4105 ] , transportation
management which makes sure the right product is being made available at the right
place at the right time at the right quantity and right quality for a right cost. Along with
that, customers often complained about the inefficient website of the company which did
not offer any online presence and since Canadians shop majorly online, they were
disappointed at finding the non online presence of target which comes under the
technology issue of the supply chain.

Since the company entered a new country, keeping up with the local trends and
expectations is important. The company management and organizations suffered a lack
of the same as the expectations of Canadian consumers were different than of from the
Americans. There was an increased complexity for the organization to keep with the
expectations in terms of price and products being offered.

Therefore, if the company had a more efficient supply chain network and system in
place to cater to the needs of the demands with a good transportation management, an
online presence and an understanding of the Canadian expectations, the hard fall took
by the company could have been reduced.