Rfid at the Metro Group Essay

The market is mature and continually seeks innovative ideas to enhance competitive advantage -Highly capital intensive -Low to moderate labor intensiveness -Low margin; high volume – they take advantage of economies of scale -Characterized by high volume holding capacity controlled through Information Technology Company Facts Metro Group was Germany’s biggest retailer (250 stores, 10 warehouses, 100 suppliers) that operates globally in 6 divisions: Metro Cash & Carry (wholesale), Retail (hypermarkets), Extra (supermarkets), Media Market and Saturn (consumer electronics), Praktiker (building materials), Galeria Kaufhof (department stores) -Metro Group (hereafter, Metro) is the world’s 3rd-largest retailer -Having the capacity to carry large volumes of inventory and have it adequately controlled and managed by cost efficient Information Technology resources – Increased company international expansion overseas -Metro is seeking to improve product accessibility: Having products consumers want in locations consumers can find them easily oReducing shrink in the Supply chain oHaving little to no Out of Stock occurrences -Launched the Future Store Initiative in September 2002 to test different initiative aimed at improving all aspects of the customer experience Competitive Environment -Porter’s Five Forces o Supplier Power- Relatively low; products can be procured from many different places at low price. Products have low differentiation oSubstitutes- High threat with established companies such as Walmart, Tesco, and Carrefour in the same industry. Buyer Power- Moderate level of buyer power. Customers are sensitive to prices, brand names and are willing to investigate substitutes oBarriers to Entry- Relatively high- Metro is rather large and established as well as some of its competitors. Need lots of capital, innovative supply chain management strategy will be need to be able to compete. oRivalry- Moderate to high level of rivalry between the competition. Companies are investigating new way to improve product availability and cut costs Strategic Fit or Alignment -Metro’s supplier have not been implementing RFID as Metro would like i. e. Misplaced, low quality tags are a major issue -Metro’s IT subsidiary has aided in improving fit across the 6 independent sale divisions -There is a lack of fit between employees’ training and the mission of management to implement the RFID -Lack of alignment existent within Metro’s leadership as to whether or not RFID should be applied company-wide as the solvent for Metro’s supply chain issues -Hard Conclusions: Metro should develop an even more strategic relationship with its suppliers so that they are cognizant of how to implement RFID and that they maintain a certain level of quality; Metro should also train its employees on how to apply RFID within their tasks; Metro’s highest management should continue to utilize RFID but should also seek to improve its supply chain in the areas suggested by opponents of RFID RFID Facts -RFID contains at least two parts oIntegrated circuit- storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio frequency and other specialized functions oAntenna- receiving and transmitting the signal Used in enterprise supply chain management to improve the efficiency of inventory tracking and management -Limited growth and adoption in enterprise supply chain markets due to advanced technology needed to implement it Metro’s Competitive Strategy -Metro is a leader in supply chain innovation through the use of the RFID system. Metro does not want to sacrifice quality over costs for RFID which: oReduces shrink because of great accuracy in inventory location oImproves on-shelf availability and reduces substitute purchases oReduces out-of-stocks by reducing poor store execution oImproves productivity and labor efficiencies by eliminating manual entries and barcode scanning -Strengths (Metro) oMore economies of scale oGlobal recognition and success Moving in a positive direction with innovative technologies.

Aim Of Molecular Gastronomy Media Essay

Aim Of Molecular Gastronomy Media Essay The art of cooking is as old as humanity and cooking is such an important part of our world which obviously needs scientific attention. Although science has contributed to food safety, hygiene and nutritional aspects, little has been done towards innovation and invention of new dishes. The ancient Greek words, gastro means stomach and nomos means law, collectively termed as gastronomy, which in contemporary hospitality industry means food and culture. It generally refers to the study of relationship between food and culture with interdisciplinary approaches. This literature attempts to explain molecular gastronomy, its origin and evolution, along with its relevance and contributions to the contemporary hospitality industry. Cooking and gastronomy Even though molecular gastronomy has attracted media attention for quite a while, still there is confusion about the true meaning of the term. To explain this, cooking and gastronomy has to be distinguished first. Cooking is the preparation of raw food into edible, whereas gastronomy is the knowledge of whatever concerns man’s nourishment. Gastronomy is about chemical and physical transformation behind the preparation of any food, for example, the reason behind egg white puffs up when whipped or mayonnaise becomes firm. (This, 2006). According to HerveThis, the science of food is not new but dates back to second century BC, when preparation of meat stock-the aqueous solution obtained by thermal processing of animal tissues in water-has been of great interest. Since then, scientists have been interested in food and cooking which gave way to molecular gastronomy. If culinary history is scrutinised, it will be clear that, initially food experts studied the culinary science to steer clear of blind assumptions and unscientific ways of cooking. But today, the science of food has reached its extreme in the form of molecular gastronomy, which chemically examines the food and cooking in its molecular level to give a new face for cooking and change the total concept of commercial cooking in near future. Molecular gastronomy The scientific discipline dedicated to culinary industry and to gastronomical phenomena in general has been called ‘molecular gastronomy’ the late Nicholas Kurti and HerveThis (This, 2005). Molecular gastronomy can also be defined as a field that attempts to improve the culinary techniques through understanding the composition and chemical transformations occurring in food during the process of cooking (Ankeny, Year Unknown). Gastronomy or molecular gastronomy is the science just like any other science in the world, which studies the cause and effect of anything that happens during cooking including the structural difference in same cooking ingredients of different quality, which have an effect on the final product. If we can answer the question, we can correct a mistake, use this knowledge to improve the cooking process or even invent new dishes or ways to prepare food. For example, if we know that when an egg is cooked, water evaporates, the proteins denature and polymerize to enclose water, we can even use substitute methods to cook it, like adding alcohol to it, which denature the egg proteins and gives the same result. Molecular gastronomy also deals with the study of human senses and perception of taste, aroma, texture and temperature, in short, the sensory science known as chemesthesis (berham et. al, 2010). It studies the perception of senses in molecular level in order to understand how different dishes are perceived as awful, average, good or delicious, when they are made of similar ingredients. Although chemesthesis of human beings are the same, people of different genre appreciates different types of food. For example westerner’s cooking style is entirely different from Asians, and while Asians appreciate spicy food, most westerners do not.

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Microeconomics - Essay Example This is especially true in the high-end home market where inventory is rising sharply and is beginning to experience falling prices. The resiliency of the real estate market and its reluctance to react to intuitive supply and demand pressures is a result of the seller's option to hold their property. The inelastic nature of the market is largely due to two factors. Typically long lead times for real estate inventory to affect prices and the ability of the seller to exercise discretion both contribute to the seemingly strange market condition. In the article, Bob Walters, chief economist for Quicken Loans, says, "People will hold their house on the market longer, rather than accept a lower price". This seller discretion indicates we may see further slowing of sales before prices begin to slip. However, warning signs of increased weakening are on the horizon. A Deerfield, IL. agent said that homes in the $1 million dollar range are beginning to feel the stagnation. He states that houses in this range have as much as a four year inventory and in some cases have seen a 50% drop in prices in the last few months. The increase in supply in this range has finally caught up with the number of sellers who need to find a buyer.

Scientific journal (Nuclear Medicine) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Scientific journal (Nuclear Medicine) - Essay Example he application of the methods may facilitate the noninvasive imaging of therapeutic tumor responses to specific drug treatments to provide a reliable index of their potential efficacy and as a monitor of mechanisms of action in the selective destruction of tumor cells. The research article discusses the potential for the expanded use of quantitative PET molecular imaging to assess the efficacy of novel targeted therapeutics in the treatment of cancer. The use of radiolabelled biomarkers serves as a molecular tag which can be traced using PET imaging tools to delineate the molecular interactions between a targeted drug and the tumor cells destined for destruction. The implementation of the molecular tools allows researches to determine whether the drug effectively interacts with its selected target and the concentration of drug that actually reaches the tumor site following drug administration. Non-specific interactions of the drug with non-tumor tissue may also be assed using this methodology. The authors reviewed the results of several clinical trials of this methodology used to assess the efficacy of several important new classes of targeted chemotherapeutics, including protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors (PTKIs) and epidermal growth factor recep tor (EGFR) ligands. In the latter case, several drugs approved for cancer treatment by the US FDA, including lapatinib, gefitinib ,and erlotinib, were assessed using this nuclear medicine application. Each of these drugs has produced equivocal results in patients with lung cancer and other tumors that overexpress the EGFR. Several research trials involving labeled chemotherapeutics were cited and data presented indicated that in some cases, reliable data were produced by this nuclear medicine molecular assessment approach. The authors have presented a compelling theoretical argument to support the use of PET imaging technology in the molecular assessment of therapeutic responses to targeted cancer drugs. This

Competition, Monopoly, and Oligopoly & Monopolistic Competitive Market Term Paper

Competition, Monopoly, and Oligopoly & Monopolistic Competitive Market Structure - Term Paper Example The research explained briefly on the perfect competitive market structure and revealed some features of this market structure. It described the way firms maximize profits with the help of diagrams, the researcher revealed the way they maximize profit at the equilibrium point in both short and long run. Lastly, the conclusion summed up the discussion, and the researcher provided some significant areas for further research study. The market is structured depending on varied factors and variation that determine the market structure of a particular firm in an economy. Competition is one of the factors or conditions that determines the structure of a firm. The economists assume that there are many buyers and sellers in the marketplace; hence, they compete favorably for the available products in the market. Therefore, competition in the market contributes to changes of prices for commodities; thus creating a shift in demand and supply curve. Furthermore, there are substitute products in t he marketplace; thus, when one product increases the prices, consumers chose the alternative of consuming substitute products. The buyers and sellers have the ability to influence prices for commodities, and this contributes to increased competition in the market. ... The buyers and sellers may exchange property rights and everyone in the market interacts voluntarily in order to achieve self-interest. The buyers and sellers interact; thus, they signal much information about the product through product prices. Successful sellers reduce prices in order to influence buyers and out-compete their competitor (Mankiw 2011, 36). The sellers can maximize profits in case the price exceeds the products costs. Monopoly A monopoly refers to a market structure whereby only a single producer or buyer for a commodity exists. The monopoly firms are the price makers because they are single sellers in the market. Monopoly is a single business firm and it is characterized by varied features including market restrictions because of high costs and production of homogenous products. The government has powers to control or restrict entries into the market by creating barriers. The barrier to market entry may result because the firm may have exclusive rights of accessing the natural resources. For instance, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company is a monopolistic firm because the government takes control over the resources. The same case applies to Saudi Arabia oil industry because the Saudi government is the sole control of the natural oil reserves. The market also have a patent right that impede other competitors from entering into the market. The monopoly firm is classified into numerous features including perfect monopoly whereby the single seller does not have substitute products. Therefore, there is no perfect competition, but such firms are extremely rare. Another one is imperfect monopoly whereby the single seller does not have close substitute products meaning that the

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dikens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dikens - Essay Example The Past Ghost talked about Scrooge’s boyhood, love life as well as important events in his life which shaped his current negativist personality. For instance, it was told the Scrooge was lonely in his childhood with a dysfunctional family. He was abandoned to study at a boarding school where he eventually developed his antisocial tendencies. Here, we are given a reason why Scrooge could not offer any empathy because in his early developmental years, he had none. He was left to himself, with no affectionate encounters with his parents or his siblings. We highlight the young Ebenezer’s experiences of past Christmases because, it turned out, most unfortunate events happened during this time explaining for Scrooge almost neurotic hatred for the holiday. The story went to describe how Scrooge became obsessed with work and money that eventually drove Belle, his fiancà ©e to leave him. Apparently, business is the only avenue where Scrooge could excel and, perhaps, in his opinion, be appreciated, that is why he became a workaholic. The visit from the three ghosts has given Scrooge a new perspective. Presently, he was his old self – greedy, selfish, bitter and miserly with a particular disgust against Christmas. The ghosts have also shown how his nephew and his poor family, who merely lives on his pittance, were currently happy despite the fact that there was a lame son. When his future was shown to him along with the suggestion that he is being given an opportunity to change, Scrooge finally came around. There was the realization that upon his death, many people will celebrate due to the consequences of his actions. The past experiences seemed to be the major reason why Scrooge could not find it on his own to see how his character has degenerated almost beyond redemption. One of the distinct characteristics that mark Scrooge is his tendency to stifle his past. There seems to be a lot of pain in it for him, not only in what he

Contemporary Issues in Business (Individual Report) Essay - 1

Contemporary Issues in Business (Individual Report) - Essay Example Greenhouse emissions are currently projected to increase significantly within the next few decades which will cause an increase in global temperatures and subsequently put to great risk the human society and natural environment worldwide (Pedersen and Nordic Council of Ministers 2000). The temperature on the surface of the earth is largely determined by the balance between the energy that is constantly re-radiated to space from the earth mostly in the form of infra-red radiation and the energy that comes from the sun which is seen to be in the form of visible radiation (sunlight). When the sunlight passes through the earth’s atmosphere, it has relatively very little warming effect but when it finally manages to come into contact with the earth’s surface, it warms it and the earth in turn warms the atmosphere by both convection and via emission of infra-red radiation which are absorbed by the greenhouse gases (R.I.C. Publications 2007). The greenhouse gases eventually return some of the infra-red radiation back to the earth’s surface which ends up further warming the earth’s surface. An analogy of this chain of events is often made with reference to greenhouses which generally allow sunshine to pass through their clear plastic or glass which in turns stop the heat that is inside the green house from escaping into the atmosphere and hence the use of the term â€Å"greenhouse effect† (R.I.C. Publications 2007). Fossil fuels are formed when the bodies of living organisms die and remain compressed and heated over extremely long periods of time to form natural gases, oil and coal. When burned, fossil fuels are seen to produce significant amounts of energy a factor which causes them to be considered as an extremely valuable energy source. However, the burning of these fossil fuels produces the emission of carbon dioxide, resulting in the introduction into the carbon cycle of carbon that would have otherwise still remained trapped