RETAIL CONTRACTING AND GROWER PRICES

Contracting directly between produce shippers and retailers is growing in importance. Retailers seek to obtain reliable supplies, while reducing their reliance on recurring market transactions. Producers seek stable prices and market access. These private transactions diminish spot market liquidity and enhance noncompetitive buying opportunities, raising concerns over the resulting impact on grower prices, whether under contract or not, and the future produce market structure. Primary data are used to test hypotheses on contract participation. Simulations on grower prices reveal that contract prices are generally lower, but less variable, than market prices, suggesting a form of risk sharing.Marketing,

Supplier Selection and Development: The Relationship between Small Manufacturing Enterprises and Mass Merchandisers

This study examines the results of a program intended to act as a selection tool for mass merchandisers and a development tool for small manufacturers. The evaluation program assessed the management practices and products of potential suppliers. Based on past experience, buyers for mass merchandisers consider small manufacturing enterprises a poor risk as potential suppliers of retail goods. As part of the evaluation process, firms were asked 34 closed-end questions regarding their management practices, and each product was evaluated on 41 specific qualities necessary for the mass merchandising market. Of the 1,690 firms that participated in this project, about 5 percent had their products accepted by a national mass merchandiser. A review of the evaluation data reveals that firms needed high performance in both areas of evaluation to be successful in the marketplace, not just a strong firm or a marketable product. However, each of these areas separately had a statistically significant effect on the success of the product in gaining a retail buyer’s attention

Significance of Marketing Activities in Garments Industry: A Study on Bangladesh

This study aims to investigate the importance and effect of marketing activities in the garments industry of Bangladesh. The researchers have used a structured questionnaire to collect data from seventy garments companies of Dhaka city. Descriptive statistics, one sample t test and regression analysis have been subsequently used to analyze the data. The analysis shows that product planning, pricing, promotion, distribution, market research and marketing planning related activities are important for the garments business. The regression analysis shows that importance given to pricing and importance given to promotion have significant positive relationship with the overall performance of the garments business. Keywords: RMG, Marketing, Importance, Bangladesh

Frito-Lay - Supply Chain Impact Analysis

The snack food company Frito-Lay relies on Route Sales Representatives (RSRs) to stock and maintain shelves of snack foods in every store. Frito-Lay currently does not have a system which can accurately predict cannibalization, or the effects of a store opening or closing on other stores of the same chain in the area. The goal is to sort through 1900 stores in a given metropolitan area to see the effects of cannibalization. In order to tackle the problem, a Microsoft Access program was created to filter stores based on location or whether the store was open for the full three-year duration or not. The analysis of an opening or closing store is divided between the long-term and short-term effects. An examination of the long-term effects begins by focusing on eliminating seasonal and yearly trends. Seasonal trends are deemed to be insignificant due to the lack of a dominant oscillation within the year. Next, yearly trends are eliminated by performing an individual regression analysis between the introduced store and a nearby store and tracking the sales changes on control charts. A scatterplot is created using the distance between the neighboring store and the introduced store versus the sales changes. A trend line is fitted to the data, but little correlation can be seen. The long-term effects are inconclusive because the model does not incorporate different factors that could affect sales numbers. The short-term effects were analyzed using a combination of control charts, percentage changes, and sales averages before and after the store’s introduction. The most statistically significant interactions were same-store cannibalization for mass merchandisers and supermarkets. This supports the already-standing practices by Frito-Lay

Fashion forecasting and selection process of womenswear retailers: the co-production of fashion by producers and consumers

Looking at the working practices of designers, buyers and merchandisers this thesis attempts to explore the dynamics that govern high street womenswear retailers. By concentrating on the retailing rather than manufacturing of womenswear the thesis takes into account that the balance of power between clothing manufacturers and retailers has shifted - today the creative, i.e. design, capital within the fashion industry is in the hands of the retailers who dominate and direct fashion at the high street level.Broadly following production of culture and symbolic interactionist approaches to the culture industries, the thesis opens with an exploration of collective activity as an important dimension of the production of cultural artefacts. Attention is drawn to production of culture proponents' models of selection processes in culture industries, where cultural artefacts enter a set of gatekeeping or filtering stages that determine their acceptance or rejection. However, while these selection models provide significant insights into some of the dynamics that govern the production of culture, the non-conflictual, unidirectional portrayal of selection processes and the exclusion of consumption-related issues not only leaves important areas of investigation untouched, but distorts the actual working practices of culture industry practitioners. The aim of this thesis, therefore, is to open up the 'black box' of fashion production and provide an alternative model of selection processes through an empirical investigation of how fashion forecasting and garment selection are executed. Based on data from semi-structured interviews with designers, buyers and merchandisers it is suggested that selection processes in high street womenswear retailers can be divided into two distinct levels - forecasting and garment selection. Each level is characterised by (a) the occupational group that dominates it and (b) by a specific interplay between teamwork and conflict. It is proposed that the construction of a shared customer image among key players in the industry acts as an ordering principle which not only helps practitioners overcome differences in occupational outlooks, but which also directs their efforts towards the creation of garments that they feel will gratify their customers' taste. Practitioners' perceived customer image, therefore, plays a significant role in fashion industry forecasting and selection processes, because it influences the fashion production cycle at all levels.In addition, the thesis draws attention to variations in retailers' organisational set-up and shows how they influence the balance of power between key players and the competitive strategies companies adopt to survive in the market. These observations are grounded in a discussion of the transformation of Western economies from Fordism to post-Fordism, while also drawing on arguments regarding the co-existence and differential development of diverse fashion systems within the UK clothing industry since the mid-nineteenth century

A Study in Social Organization: Change, Uncertainty and the Cultivation of Customers in Service Stations

A large proportion of the people of the United States depend upon the automobile for the greater share of their transportation. Many of their activities are structured so that they must depend upon the flexibility which auto‐mobile transportation provides. Commuting five to forty or more miles to work is common. Shopping seems to be done at scattered locations and frequent intervals in urban areas. Over the past half century the automobile has created great changes in dating and courtship patterns. There have developed drive-in theaters, fast-food restaurants, and motels as a consequence of the automobile. Many of the activities of contemporary Americans are linked to the automobile either directly as with travel or indirectly as with commuting by automobile to work. In this respect, the automobile may be seen as a central symbol in American life similar to the place held by maize in the Mayan villages studied by Redfield (1955: 22-3). Most Americans are unable to conceive of life without automobiles. The functioning of the automobile itself is a mystery, a source of anxiety, and the subject of various rituals for many motorists. Although, for increasing numbers of motorists, self-service gas stations, automobile dealers\u27 shops, or service facilities of large chain retail stores are sources for satisfaction of automotive needs, many still obtain gasoline and minor repair and service work at dealer-operated service stations. Not only do motorists spend large amounts of money each year on their automotive needs, they also spend time at service stations obtaining gasoline and meeting appointments to have their automobiles serviced and repaired. Furthermore, many people earn their living either by working in service stations or supplying service stations themselves with goods and services. Service stations are an important part of modern American culture; they affect the lives of many people. Many of the customers I observed and talked with seemed to have a limited understanding of the service station setting. This was especially true of younger people. One of the practical implications of this study, then, is that it may help automobile drivers and owners to select a service station and deal with the participants of that station in such a way as to better have their motoring needs met

An analysis of current supply chain best practices in the retail industry with case studies of Wal-Mart and Amazon.com

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-188).In support of the Supply Chain 2020 Project at MIT, this thesis identifies current best practices in retail industry supply chains, with a specific focus on mass merchandising and Internet retailing. Using a survey of current literature for context and industry expert interviews, this thesis assesses the current state of the retail industry and analyzes case studies of Wal-Mart and Amazon.com to illustrate retail supply chain best practices. Topics covered in each case study include supply chain strategy and business strategy linkage, operating models, supply chain design, replenishment and distribution processes, and ongoing supply chain improvement initiatives. Wal-Mart and Amazon.com are found to have very different supply chains in terms of structure and processes, based on their different operating models. However, there are many supply chain themes that are common among the two companies. Both case study companies have supply chain strategies, designs, and processes that clearly support their business strategies. Additionally, these companies tailor processes to fit specific product and demand profiles, collaborate extensively with supply chain partners, invest significantly in information technology, focus on operational efficiency, and leverage scale to facilitate competitive advantage through supply chain management. Based on the common and unique aspects of Wal- Mart and Amazon.com's supply chains, we provide recommendations for the potential transferability of Wal-Mart and Amazon.com practices within the retail industry and to other industries.by Colby Ronald Chiles and Marguarette Thi Dau.M.Eng.in Logistic

The Apparel Industry and Codes of Conduct: A Solution to the International Child Labor Program?

[Excerpt] In 1993, the United States Congress provided for the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) to establish a special unit to research the use of child labor worldwide and publish reports on child labor issues. This report is the third volume in ILAB’s international child labor series. ILAB’s two previous reports documented the use of child labor in the production of U.S. imports, as well as situations of forced and bonded child labor. The present report focuses on the use of child labor in the production of apparel for the U.S. market, and reviews the extent to which U.S. apparel importers have established and are implementing codes of conduct or other business guidelines prohibiting the use of child labor in the production of the clothing they sell. A development of the last few years, corporate codes of conduct and other business guidelines prohibiting the use of child labor are becoming more common, as consumers as well as religious, labor and human rights groups are increasingly calling on companies to take responsibility for the conditions under which the goods ll are being manufactured. The term “code of conduct” is used generically in this report to refer to various types of corporate documents establishing policies and standards on child labor and other working conditions. These instruments take different forms — codes of conduct, statements of company policy in the form of letters to suppliers, provisions in purchase orders or letters of credit, and/or compliance certificates. Chapter II provides an overview of the U.S. apparel industry, U.S. apparel imports, major U.S. retailers and manufacturers of apparel and their codes of con- duct. An analysis follows of how apparel companies implement the child labor protections of their codes — using transparency, monitoring, and enforcement as benchmarks. This analysis is drawn from information provided to ILAB by the companies themselves. Chapter III uses information gathered by Department of Labor officials in six countries that export garments to the U.S. market to describe how the codes of conduct are being implemented abroad. Chapter IV contains conclusions on codes of conduct gathered from the review of company policies prohibiting child labor as well as the country visits. The remainder of this introduction will place the discussion of codes of conduct in the broader context of child labor throughout the world. It will give some background on existing international child labor standards and current estimates of child workers. It also will provide some observations on recent child labor trends in the garment industry, and explain why codes of conduct have come to be seen by some as a partial response to the international child labor problem

The Apparel Industry and Codes of Conduct: A Solution to the International Child Labor Problem?

This report is the third volume in ILAB’s international child labor series. It focuses on the use of child labor in the production of apparel for the U.S. market, and reviews the extent to which U.S. apparel importers have established and are implementing codes of conduct or other business guidelines prohibiting the use of child labor in the production of the clothing they sell. The report was mandated by the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, P.L. 104-134