Hello I posted 4 discussion board I want one replay for each discussion board with references and
intext and paragraphical citations
Discussion board question
After watching the video, Outsourcing and Procurement, create your own thread discussing at least
three concepts presented in or that you learned from the video.
Discussion board-1
Hello,
After watching the video on outsourcing and procurement I have learned the
following concepts which are represented which include the customer importance, supplier
capability and the clock speed of the component or product.
1.
Customer Importance
One of the major goals and objectives in a business industry is to ensure that customer
satisfactory is met. The goods and services that are supplied to customers must meet the
needs of the customer in order to retain the customers and also acquire new ones. Therefore
before a business decides on what to outsource or procure they will have to consider how
important a component is to the target customers or the customers they already have. It is the
importance of the component that will give the business a go ahead on either to source and
procure or to forgo another. The impact of the component being outsourced will depend on its
impact to a customer such that it does not work to push the customers away. The business
will go for the components that draw their customers closer. As well the choice of the
customer works to control the business industry on what they can go for and what to let go.
2.
Supplier capability
Any business will want to know the capability of a supplier to supply the products they need
from them before they issue any purchase order to them. As well before the business
enterprise decides on a product they will have to consider how many supplies in the market
are capable of supply that particular product. In that case, if the suppliers are available it will
depend on the supplier’s price on the product and the supply timeframe for the business to
choose whom to procure from.
3.
Clock speed of the Product
How long a component takes in the market before its technology change is much important to
a business to consider during their outsourcing. The business compares the components
technology change and then decides on what product to procure. As well the business can
consider this factor in order to determine the quantity of the product to procure (Liu, & Song,
2014).
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVq0HX_fiaA&feature=youtu.be
Liu, L. & Song, H. (2014, June). Service Outsourcing and Procurement in Service Supply
Chain:Perspective of Service Buyers. In WHICEB (p. 9).
Thanks®ards
DISCUSSION BOARD-2
Hello Everyone,
Factors to consider when outsourcing
The process of outsourcing should be made after a systematic consideration, this is
because of different factors an organization should consider before outsourcing. The first one
is commodity importance to customers. The management should determine if the product will
have any effect on the customers’ experience. A good outsourcing agency should be in a
position to bring change and the necessary experience to the customers unlike before. It
should bring better service delivery capacity to the organization. If the outsourcing process is
to affect the customer, it should affect them in a positive aspect. The company should also
look for capable suppliers who have the capacity to provide the business with the necessary
platform. This will set the necessary architecture which will provide better services to the
customers thus maintaining the competitive advantage of the business (Oshri, Kotlarsky, &
Willcocks, 2015).
Outsourcing works better for functional products because the market tends to be more
predictable. In Kraljic’s Supply Matrix, the organizational supply chain on the profit impact
and the supply risk involved. The volume purchased should be in range with the expected
profits to be made. The cost of manufacturing should also match the products quality for the
growth of the business. For the supply of products, different factors should be considered
including the suppliers in the market, availability of the products, competitors, and the
substitutions opportunities in the market. With the product impact being low and supply risk
is low, the management should not spend a lot of funds in procurement. If the profit impact is
low and the supply risk is high, the management should find a way of ensuring there is
consistency in the market (Liew, 2014).
When the company has items and products were the supply risk and impact on the
profit are high, the management should focus one long-term partnership with the suppliers.
This helps in bringing an enhanced experience to customers.
From the Kraljic’s supply matrix the top right quadrant the price is usually the large
portion of the system cost. It is caused by a single supplier and the perfect thing for the
organization to do is to focus on the long-term partnership with the suppliers thus maximizing
the effect on the profit. For the bottom right quadrant, the items usually have a high impact
on the profits. This is caused by many suppliers who lower the supply risk for the business.
With small savings on the profits, it usually has a lot of impact on the bottom line in the
business. The best thing for the business is to focus on reducing the cost so that it can
enhance the competition between the suppliers. This supply matrix focuses on the supply side
of the organization. It provides a better platform for a business to follow in enhancing its
supply capacity in the market (Liew, 2014).
References
Liew, J. G. L. (2014). Classify me!: A Kraljic Portfolio Matrix Exercise (Bachelor's thesis,
University of Twente).
Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., & Willcocks, L. P. (2015). The Handbook of Global Outsourcing and
Offshoring 3rd edition. Springer.
Thanks
DISCUSSION BOARD-3
Procurement and outsourcing strategies
Outsourcing strategies are being employed by several businesses in today’s business
world. With the inception of several procurement policies, organizations have constantly
struggled to maintain the rapport they have with their suppliers. Outsourcing is mostly done
by organizations that have the intention of concentrating on the core functions and objectives
of the business. This prompts them to seek other non-core services of the organization to
professionals so that these services can be provided in the most convenient means as possible
(Hoque, Kirkpatrick, Lonsdale, & De Ruyter, 2011).
Several organizations around the globe have been going for outsourcing in the past. In
fact, outsourcing can be thought of as being a cost saving function. This is because the
organization saves significant amount of time which they would have used in handling other
functions that are deemed as non-core. Functions such as provision of catering services as
well as cleaning services can be outsourced by the organization. They can opt to contract
third party professionals with the expertise in handling of such related tasks and functions
(Hoque et al., 2011). This is particularly so because some of the services will be effectively
and efficiently provided and as such the organization shall remain concentrating on the major
core businesses.
Questions to ask yourself before outsourcing
When outsourcing, one should ask themselves the risks that are involved in the
process of outsourcing. Additionally, there is need to ascertain the value addition in the
process of outsourcing. Outsourcing should create value to an organization. Value can be
defined as the satisfaction on the part of the customer. Innovativeness also need to be
considered when making an outsourcing decision (Burnett, 2009).
The benefits of outsourcing
Outsourcing has several advantages which involves transferring the risk of managing
a particular process to the suppliers. Economies of scale is also another advantage that comes
with outsourcing. Various outsourcing strategies implemented by the organization is always
meant at ensuring that the organization obtains the economies of scale associated with a
particular purchase. Capital investments are also reduced by the organization when they
decide to undertake an outsourcing initiative (Burnett, 2009).
Risks in outsourcing
There exist some risks that are associated with outsourcing. For example, there could be lack
of concentration by the organization on the demands of the customer and instead they would
opt to focus more on the supplies that have been delivered by the suppliers (Burnett, 2009).
DISCUSSION BOARD-4
Hi all,
While it was one of the first concepts talked about in the video, I found it very
interesting that Cisco and Apple outsource so heavily for their products. With Cisco
drawing resources from many regions and Apple outsourcing 70% of their parts for
their devices, I wonder if a higher defect rate is brought about by the lowered
production costs. A second point that I saw in the video is that suppliers take on a
large amount of the capital investment from outsourcing and in order to mitigate this
they shift the price of the outsourcing onto the customers. While I am not a fan of the
price being shifted to consumers while the outsourcing makes the final product
inferior, it may be hard to identify how much of the price consumers pay for a good or
service is because of the outsourcing cost. Lastly, I thought the effect that the market
state has on how good of an investment outsourcing stands to be is also an
interesting concept. In a good market, it is smart for companies to make long term
outsourcing deals due to the continued and potentially increasing sales brought
about by the bullish market. On the contrary, companies are wary of long term deals
during a bearish market due to the financial uncertainty.
Thanks again,
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