当代物流学答案第一章.docx

当代物流学答案第一章.docx

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当代物流学答案第一章

CHAPTER1:

LOGISTICSANDTHESUPPLYCHAIN

1.Diditsurpriseyouthatlogisticscanbesuchanimportantcomponentinacountry’seconomicsystem?

Whyorwhynot?

Theanswertothisquestionlikelydependsonastudent’spriorexposuretologistics.A“typical”studentinanundergraduatebasiclogisticscourselikelyhashadlimitedexposuretoandknowledgeaboutlogisticsandthuswouldlikelybeunawareastologistics’impactonacountry’seconomicsystem.Assuch,she/hemightbepleasantlysurprisedtolearnthatlogisticsoftenaccountsforatleast10%ofacountry’sGDPandalsoisimportantforeconomicgrowthanddevelopment.

2.Distinguishbetweenpossession,form,time,andplaceutility.

Possessionutilityreferstothevalueorusefulnessthatcomesfromacustomerbeingabletotakepossessionofaproductandcanbeinfluencedbytherelevantpaymentterms.Formutilityreferstoaproduct’sbeinginaformthat

（1）canbeusedbythecustomerand

（2）isofvaluetothecustomer.Timeutilityreferstohavingproductsavailablewhentheyareneededbycustomerswhileplaceutilityreferstohavingproductsavailablewheretheyareneededbycustomers.

3.Howdoeslogisticscontributetotimeandplaceutility?

Logisticscontributestotimeutilitybyrecognizingthatdifferentproductshavedifferentsensitivitiestotime.Forexample,athree-daylatedeliveryofbananaslikelyhasmoreseriousconsequencesthanathree-daylatedeliveryofaboxofpencils.Asforplaceutility,logisticsfacilitatesproductsbeingmovedfrompointsoflesservaluetopointsofgreatervalue.

4.Howcanaparticularlogisticssystembeeffectivebutnotefficient?

Effectivenesscanbethoughtofas“howwellacompanydoeswhattheysaythey’regoingtodo;”efficiencyfocusesonhowwell（orpoorly）companyresourcesareusedtoachievewhatacompanypromisestheycando.Thereareamultitudeofexamplesthatwouldillustrateaneffective,butnotefficient,logisticssystem.Forexample,somecompaniesroutinelyusepremiumand/orexpeditedtransportation—whichincreasetransportationcosts—tomeetcustomerdeliveryrequirements.Assuch,thecompanycouldbeconsideredeffective（meetingdeliverydeadlines）butperhapsnotefficient（increasedtransportationcosts）.

5.Explainthesignificanceofthefactthatthepurposeoflogisticsistomeetcustomerrequirements.

Onereasonforthissignificanceisthatmeetingcustomerrequirementsmeansthatcompaniesmustknow—ratherthanassume—customerneedsandwants.Thisknowledgeisfacilitatedbycommunicationbetweencompaniesandtheircustomers.Eventodaysomecompaniesarehesitanttocommunicatewithcustomers.Inaddition,meetingcustomerrequirementsmeansthata“onesizefitsall”approachtologisticswillresultinsomecustomersbeingoverservedandothersbeingunderserved.Asaresult,companiesshouldconsidera“tailoredlogistics”approach,wheregroupsofcustomerswithsimilarlogisticalneedsandwantsareprovidedwiththeappropriatelogisticalservices.

6.Explainhowanunderstandingoflogisticsmanagementcouldberelevanttoyourfavoritecharitableorganization.

Thereareanynumberofexamplesthatcanbeused.ConsidertheAsiantsunamioflate2004.Inarelativelyshorttime,avarietyofhumanitarianorganizations,withthehelpofprivatesectorcompanies,wereabletogetreliefsuppliesaswellasfoodandmedicineintotheregionanddistributethemtotheaffectedpopulation.

7.Discussthreereasonsforwhylogisticshasbecomemoreimportantsince1980.

Onereasonfortheincreasedimportanceoflogisticsinvolvesareductionineconomicregulation.Thisallowedindividualcarriersflexibilityintermsofpricingandserviceandprovidedthemwithanopportunitytobreakawayfroma“onesizefitsall”approach.Second,changesinconsumerbehavior,suchasanincreasingnumberofmarketsegments,necessitateflexibleratherthanrigidlogisticssystems.Third,technologicaladvanceshaveallowedlogisticianstomakefaster,moreinformed,andmoreaccuratedecisions.Thechapteralsodiscussesthegrowingpowerofretailersandglobalizationoftradeasreasonsfortheincreasedimportanceoflogistics.

8.Whichreasonfortheincreasedimportanceoflogisticsdoyoubelieveismostimportant?

Why?

Thereisnosingleanswerhere.Studentscanoffercompellingsupportforanyoneofthefivereasons—areductionineconomicregulation;changesinconsumerbehavior;technologicaladvances;growingpowerofretailers;globalizationoftrade—presentedinthechapter.Forexample,areductionineconomicregulationhasallowedcarrierstoofferdifferentpricing-serviceoptionstodifferentcustomers,whichisimportantbecausedifferentcustomersaretryingtoachievedifferentobjectiveswiththeirlogisticalsystems.

9.Whataresomepracticalimplicationsoftheideathatonelogisticssystemdoesnotfitallcompanies?

Theideathatonelogisticssystemdoesnotfitallcompaniesisderivedfromthefactthatlogisticalgoalsandobjectivesshouldbecompatiblewiththeoverallgoalsandobjectivesofaparticularcompany.Onebasicimplicationisthatdifferentcompaniesshouldhavedifferentlogisticalstrategiesandtactics—andthesestrategiesandtacticsshouldreflectacompany’sgoalsandobjectives.Assuch,acompanyfocusingoncostcontainmentshouldhavedifferentlogisticsstrategiesandtacticsthanacompanyfocusingonsuperiorcustomerservice.Forinstance,acompanyconcernedwithcostcontainmentmightpurchaseanextremelylargequantityinordertoreceivecostsavings.Thisdecisionimpactswarehousingandtransportationinthesensethatthecompanywilllikelyneedagreatdealofstoragespaceandwilllikelyutilizevolume-orientedtransportationproviders.Additionalimplicationscanbeoffered.

10.Distinguishbetweeninboundlogistics,materialsmanagement,andphysicaldistribution.

Inboundlogisticsreferstothemovementandstorageofmaterialsintoafirm;materialsmanagementreferstothemovementandstorageofmaterialsandcomponentswithinafirm;physicaldistributionreferstothestorageoffinishedproductandmovementtothecustomer.

11.Whatisthesystemsapproachtoproblemsolving?

Howisthisconceptapplicabletologisticsmanagement?

Thesystemsapproachtoproblemsolvingsuggeststhatacompany’sobjectivescanberealizedbyrecognizingthemutualinterdependenceofthemajorfunctionalareassuchasmarketing,production,finance,andlogistics.Assuch,decisionsmadebyonefunctionalareacanhaveimportantimplicationsfortheotherfunctionalareas.Withrespecttologistics,thesystemsapproachsuggeststhatoneshouldrecognizethemutualinterdependenceofthevariousactivitiesthatconstitutethelogisticsfunction.Thus,atransportationdecisionmayimpactinventory,warehousing,andpackaging,amongothers.

12.Explainwhatismeantbythetotalcostapproachtologistics.

Thetotalcostapproachtologisticsisbuiltonthepremisethatallrelevantactivitiesinmovingandstoringproductsshouldbeconsideredasawhole（i.e.,theirtotalcost）andnotindividually.Useofthetotalcostapproachrequiresanunderstandingofcosttradeoffs.Inotherwords,changestoonelogisticsactivitycausesomecoststoincreaseandotherstodecrease.Thekeytothetotalcostapproachisthatallrelevantcostitemsareconsideredsimultaneouslywhenmakingadecision.Theobjectiveistofindtheapproachwiththelowesttotalcostthatsupportstheorganization’scustomerservicerequirements.

13.Definewhatismeantbyacosttrade-off.Doyoubelievethatthisconceptisworkable?

Whyorwhynot?

Acosttrade-offacknowledgesthatchangingpatternsoractivitiesofdistributionwillresultinsomecostsincreasingandothercostsdecreasing.Theneteffect,however,shouldbeanoverallcostdecreaseforprovidingagivenlevelofcustomerservice.

Theremainderofthequestionasksthestudentforher/hisopinionabouttheworkabilityofthisconcept.Althoughnearlyanyanswerisacceptable,thosestudentswhobelievethatcosttrade-offsareunworkablemighthavedifficultywithmanyoftheconceptspresentedthroughoutthetext.

14.Whatareseveralareasinwhichfinanceandlogisticsmightinterface?

Thefinancedepartmentisofteninchargeofcapitalbudgetingdecisionsthatwouldaffectlogistics,suchasmaterialshandlingandpackagingequipment.Anotherpotentialareaoffinance/logisticsinterfaceiswithrespecttoinventory.Keyissuesincludeinventoryvaluation,inventoryfloat,andthefactthatfinancetendstoviewinventoryfromadollarperspectivewhilelogisticstendstobemoreconcernedwiththenumberofunitsofinventory.

15.Brieflydiscusseachofthefourbasicaspectsofthemarketingmixandhoweachinterfaceswiththelogisticsfunction.Inyouropinion,whichcomponentofthemarketingmixrepresentsthemostimportantinterfacewithlogistics?

Why?

Thefourbasicaspectsofthemarketingmixareplace,price,product,andpromotion.Withrespecttoplace,akeyconcernistoprovideacertainproductattherighttime,intherightquantities,andinanundamagedcondition.Akeycomponentofthepricingdecisioninvolvestransportationcostfactors.Althoughmarketerstendtopreferdeliveredpricingsystems,suchsystemscreatelogisticalchallengesinthesensethatthesellerbecomesresponsibleforproductdistribution.Productdecisionshavebeencomplicatedinrecentyearsbyamarkedincreaseinproductofferings.Althoughtheseincreasedofferingsallowforgreatercustomerchoice,theycreatelogisticalchallengesintermsofidentification,storage,andt