Channels of Distribution

Channels of Distribution is a topic often performed poorly by Higher Business Management candidates.

 

Here is what the channels look like:

 

 

In the next post I will discuss the costs and benefits of each channel.

 

Higher Business Management Revision.

Tesco to offer free electric car charging points

 

There is also a follow up to this with an article about electric cars that could be charged within 10 minutes:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43285885

 

Brexit - External Factors in Action

As PESTEC External Factors go this is the biggest issue facing UK businesses since the Second World War. Is that hyperbole? Brexit is the ideal External Factor example as it touches on almost every factor of PESTEC. It is obviously a Political Factor as it has been decided by a referendum and now implemented by the Government. But there are Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Competitive impacts on British firms.

 

After the result of the vote in 2016 the Pound crashed against the Dollar. What will happen if the Prime Minister’s proposed deal is voted down at the House of Commons?

 

 

 

Kellogg's to highlight nutritional content in UK

What will be the impact of this (if any) to Kellogg’s?

 

 

Quality Circles

 

A group of 6–12 people who meet to identify quality problems, consider solutions and recommend suitable outcomes to management.

 

Members are drawn from the factory floor but include engineers, quality inspectors and salesmen to offer different viewpoints. (Managers may or may not be included.)

 

Why use quality circles?

•      No-one knows production problems better than the workers.

•      Workers appreciate the chance to display their knowledge and skill.

 

The Future

I wonder how true or close to reality this old post from 2012 is?

 

“As I have said before it seemed that when the internet and the mobile phones came out, the world got smaller. It was a quantum leap in the way we live our lives and how we communicate with each other, not just everyday but across continents. Social Media like Facebook and Twitter mean that friends I have in far flung places such as Hong Kong and Australia are not out of sight. I probably communicate with some of them far more frequently than ones in my home city!

But I have a feeling that this next decade is going to be quite memorable in terms of innovation. We are on the cusp of a revolution both in terms of communication, manufacturing and transport.

So I’ve tried to tie together some of the interesting articles, ideas and products I have seen over the last year or so into tidy headings.

Manufacturing

3D Printers http://mrmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/3D%20Printers

Communication

Project Glass http://mrmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Google%20Project%20Glass

Google Now http://mrmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Google%20Now

Transport

3D Coach http://mrmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/3D%20Express%20Coach

Driverless Cars http://mrmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Driverless%20Cars

High Speed Rail http://mrmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/High%20Speed%20Rail

Skylon http://mrmcgowan.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Skylon”

Vertical Integration at Ford Rouge - Higher Business Management

Vertical Integration in action at the Ford Rouge plant in Detroit, Michigan. Good illustrative example for Higher Business Management and the Operations topic.

Henry Ford was famous for his control freak behaviour. For true backward vertical integration look up Fordlandia in Brazil.

 

 

 

Just in Time Delivery - Higher Business Management

Just in time delivery in action at the Ford Rouge plant in Detroit, Michigan. Good illustrative example for Higher Business Management and the Operations topic.

 

Ford Rouge Eco Garden

The Ford Rouge plant in Detroit, Michigan. The image below is of an eco-friendly roof garden to offset the pollution caused by the factory.

 

 

Our Black Friday Obsession

I never realised that Black Friday has been a thing since 2010. I thought it was more recent. The article below looks at the UK’s obsession  with the monster sales event.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46260739

 

5 a side firm in trouble

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45682490

 

PowerLeague to close 13 pitches as it goes into administration.

UK Family Food Shop

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45559594

 

An interesting article on how cheap our food is and the impact Aldi and Lidl have had on supermarket industry.

 

African aims for a Free Trade Zone

Great news from the continent of Africa. The 1.2 billion people who live there (with the exception of Nigeria who have withdrawn at the last moment) plan to create a Free Trade Zone similar to the EU Single Market. The economic impact and benefits to the diverse and varying countries could signal a shift towards raising the standard of living.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43458294

 

Future Transport

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/could-these-gyroscopic-vehicles-be-the-public-transport-of-the-future/

 

Remember the straddling bus from China? Well this may be the next generation of traffic congestion solving transport… and these designs are equally as innovative and impressive, but also perhaps more realistic.

 

Minimum Wage

Wagamama and TGI Friday’s are to be fined after it was found they do not pay their employees the National Minimum Wage:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43332875

 

Think of the implications and consequences for this… bad PR may affect sales.

 

Lego have made too many bricks!

Lego profits down for the first time in 13 years due to having an excess amount of stock.

 

Basically they have overproduced too many Lego bricks and have had to reduce their prices to clear their stock.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43298897

Amazon are watching!

Amazon have been granted two patents for wearable tech to be able to help check and guide workers using wristbands. However many people are viewing this an Orwellian surveillance scheme.

 

https://www.truthdig.com/videos/new-amazon-system-track-workers-raises-surveillance-concerns-video/

 

Frederick Winslow Taylor would no doubt approve!

Ryanair to close Glasgow Airport base

Not good news for Glasgow Airport.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-43209126

 

300 jobs expected to go. 11 flights being moved to Edinburgh from Glasgow. Troubling times. Brexit and high Air Passenger Duty to blame. Mind you, last time I checked, Edinburgh was still in Scotland too.

KFC

Remarkable situation at KFC. Surprised they didn’t have assurances in place from their new supplier. McDonald’s et al must be making a few extra sales due to this.

Flying Cars are here to stay?

The Kitty Hawk Flying Car:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-39607947

 

Plastic waste used to build roads

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39693091

Aerotropolis

 

 

The circular runway idea made me think of an idea that has been going around for a while:

 

Aerotropolis.

 

This is the cool idea that a city should be laid out and planned around its airport. I suppose it is great for new cities that will be built in the Middle East or in the Great Plains of the United States, but the big question is what happens when the city grows and the airport becomes too small for the sprawling metropolis out with its boundaries?

 

Circular Runways?

Perhaps not as crazy an idea as it sounds:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39284294

 

 

Netflix Profits

Netflix risky change of model from merely owning content to creating original programming has paid off:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38672837

 

New Silk Route

China to London by Train:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-38659170

 

So it is at last happening… even if just for freight. But I do think the time will come we will be able to travel all the way from London to Beijing by High Speed Rail.

 

CBI warn over Brexit

CBI demand ‘barrier free’ trade with the EU, post-Brexit:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/38386548

 

 

Tesco v Unilever: A consequence of Brexit that might hit home?

Tesco and Unilever lock horns over Brexit:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37639518

 

Arnold Palmer and the Marketing of Golf

The story of Arnold Palmer and his college friend Mark McCormack and how it changed golf:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37472934

 

Monsanto to be bought by Bayer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37361556

 

German chemical firm Bayer are to buy US crop maker Monsanto for $66 billion.

Taxi of the Future

I have been saying this will happen!

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37106570