Global Sourcing Benefits and Challenges for H&M

Westminster Company is a giant Global manufacturer of health products whose brand has been recognized by the world. As the company they have three different operations which produce and distribute different product lines. Their main strategy on which they are working and which is a major success for them is decentralized management. Now they are re-evaluating their traditional supply chain strategy because the company is getting too much pressure from their large domestic’s customers and global customers. Now the company has to study on

VF also uses a “package sourcing” model in production where a single supplier is responsible for the entire garment, from raw material procurement to packaging and shipping finished goods to the market. “Package sourcing” has the benefit of low cost, as companies can choose between various suppliers all over the globe based on economic factors, such as labor and transportation costs, and trade quota or tariff considerations to get the cheapest price for finished goods. It also allows VF

* Procurement: As it is the second Europe’s cloth retailer company, for the production H&M uses a lot of material and workers so its mains recourses are material, labour and energy. That is why small changes in prices can affect the company’s profit a lot, and the fact that it does not own any manufactories causes some problems in controlling the production’s prices. However, not owning the factories can be an advantage in some cases. Indeed, if a problem appears, H&M can easily change its suppliers. Moreover, due to its huge size, H&M can easily manipulate with its suppliers to have the best quality at the lowest production’s price.

Conditions have changed. Global trade has rapidly increased in both volume and value, reaching nowadays more than $4 trillion in 1997 (Daniels J.D., Radebaugh, 1998, pg. 529). Competition is fierce from all corners of the world. Failure at the global level can backfire and may consume existing brands and business relationships. At the same time, global opportunities have emerged that offer possibilities for growth, profit, and an improvement in worldwide standards of living.

According to our textbook, global sourcing is the practice of purchasing goods and services from the around the world wherever it is least costly (Pg 82). A strategic alliance is a partnership between two entities in which they both share their

In today’s business world, production cost was an increasing concern for companies working to stay competitive in the global marketplace. The top management must search for a global solution to drive down costs and reduce difficult activities associate with inventory management and production management. Global sourcing aimed to exploit global efficiencies in the delivery of services and goods across geopolitical boundaries, including low cost skilled labor, low cost raw materials, tax benefits, and price breaks. Whelan Pharmaceutical was the best example to illustrate how the company chose the best manufacturing site for global sourcing from different perspectives.

International sell and purchase has provided tremendous growth for countries. There are advantages and disadvantages to sourcing overseas. Some of the common advantages to out sourcing overseas are low manufacturing cost and expertise of products (importcrashcourse.com). The disadvantages are language barriers, shipping time, as well as quality of products in some cases. Americans have found comfort in everyday life regarding products that were made in other countries. If Americans were to suddenly not be able to purchase products overseas they may find themselves at a lost for living a typical lifestyle.

If our company can earn sufficient fund, it is proposed to increase production in Asia-Pacific (AP) region. It is because the production cost in AP is lower than in North America (NA).

Based on the case study Seagate Technology: Real time response to demand, the article discuss key points in regards to Seagate’s evolution of their supply chain to increase visibility and improve service. Seagate changes the role to a real time demand from a change in planned forecast, of which, allowed low risks. This allowed visibility of Holy Grail, which was also ideal for the supply chain evolution. In parallel, this applied to certain types of regulatory and legal requirements that of which Seagate faced in their global operations and supply chain management. This involves implications of foreign corruption act, in which Seagate ensures compliance with

The process of globalization has numerous significant effects on countries, organizations, and individuals. These effects can be observed in the quality of products, in their prices, but also in their availability. Because of globalization, numerous companies prefer to expand their business on international level. Some of them outsource some of their processes and activities to cheaper destinations that allow them to reduce their investments.

This can be seen from Fig 3 that the export and import during 2005 and 2006 have significantly increased and it is foreseen that the future global trend would be increasing. Also, in order to lower the production costs, lots of international companies will transfer part of work in some countries with lower labor and material costs. This kind of out-sourcing activity enhances the global cooperation as well.

The shifts in the jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss’s global strategy could vividly demonstrate how global sourcing strategy works and affect its supply chain. At first, the company was created in the USA. As it developed and became a global company, they began to employ workers all over the world. However, in face of fierce competition, Levi Strauss started to shift its operation to lower-cost countries in the late 1980s. By the year 2003, Levi Strauss closed the last four plants in North American and ‘has become an entirely offshore producer’ (Dicken 2011 p.318). The German fashion company Hugo Boss also provides similar example. In face of high production cost, namely high labor cost in domestic market, more and more fashion retailers choose to outsource their production. Moreover, some fast

We are all aware about the importance of supply, manufacturing and operations chain for any business. It becomes even more important if we are crossing the borders and entering international marketplaces as we are

Global companies source their raw materials and outsource manufacturing of their products to many countries to take advantage of lower costs or high quality production, and/or lower costs of

Global interdependence never really crossed my mind when thinking about company’s and what they must go through. As I acquired knowledge about globalized companies in other classes, I never dove this deep into it like this class. Overall, this class has taught me a great deal about all aspects of a company from the management standpoint to the logistics that go into getting products to where they need to go. Global interdependence is a huge topic in every company and is a topic that must be perfectly in sync with the company’s beliefs to be successful overseas. Global interdependence includes changes, interconnectedness, and diversity.