Concept explainers
Suppy chain management
The following is an excerpt from an article discussing supplier relationships with the Big Three North American automakers.
“The Big Three select suppliers on the basis of lowest price and annual price reductions,” said Neil De Koker, president of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association. “They look globally for the lowest parts prices from the lowest cost countries,” De Koker said. “There is little trust and respect. Collaboration is missing” Japanese automakers want long-term supplier relationships. They select suppliers as a person would a mate. The Big Three are quick to beat down prices with methods such as electronic auctions or rebidding work to a competitor. The Japanese are equally tough on price but are committed to maintaining supplier continuity. “They work with you to arrive at a competitive price, and they are willing to pay because they want long-term partnering,” said Carl Code, a vice president at Ernie Green Industries. “They [Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TM)] want suppliers to make enough money to stay in business, grow, and bring them innovation” The Big Three's supply chain model is not much different from the one set by Henry Ford. In 1913, he set up the system of independent supplier firms operating at arm's length on short-term contracts. One consequence of the Big Three's low-price-at-all-costs mentality is that suppliers are reluctant to offer them their cutting-edge technology out of fear the contract will be resourced before the research and development costs are recouped.
Source: Robert Sherefkin and Amy Wilson, “Suppliers Prefer Japanese Business Model," Rubber & Plastics News, March 17, 2003, Vol. 24, No. 11.
- A. Contrast the Japanese supply chain model with that of the Big Three.
- B. Why might a supplier prefer the Japanese model?
- C. What benefits might accrue to the Big Three by adopting the Japanese supply chain practices?
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Financial And Managerial Accounting
- Which of the following is NOT a reason why companies move into international operations? a. To better serve their primary customers. b. To take advantage of lower production costs in regions where labor costs are relatively low. c. To increase their inventory levels. d. Because important raw materials are located abroad. e. To develop new markets for the firm's products.arrow_forward5arrow_forwardInternational outsourcing. Riverside Clippers Corp manufactures garden tools in a factory in Taneytown, Maryland. Recently, the company designed a collection of tools for professional use rather than consumer use. Management needs to make a good decision about whether to produce this line in their existing space in Maryland, where space is available or to accept an offer from a manufacturer in Taiwan. Data concerning the decision are:arrow_forward
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O H&M because its marketshare in Swede is lower than Inditexs marketshare in Spain.arrow_forwardPaterson Company, a U.S.-based company, manufactures and sells electronic components worldwide. Virtually all its manufacturing takes place in the United States. The company has marketing divisions throughout Europe, including France. Debbie Kishimoto, manager of this division, was hired from a competitor 3 years ago. Debbie, recently informed of a price increase in one of the major product lines, requested a meeting with Jeff Phillips, marketing vice president. Their conversation follows. Debbie: Jeff, I simply dont understand why the price of our main product has increased from 5.00 to 5.50 per unit. We negotiated an agreement earlier in the year with our manufacturing division in Philadelphia for a price of 5.00 for the entire year. I called the manager of that division. He said that the original price was still acceptablethat the increase was a directive from headquarters. Thats why I wanted to meet with you. I need some explanations. When I was hired, I was told that pricing decisions were made by the divisions. This directive interferes with this decentralized philosophy and will lower my divisions profits. Given current market conditions, there is no way we can pass on the cost increase. Profits for my division will drop at least 600,000 if this price is maintained. I think a midyear increase of this magnitude is unfair to my division. Jeff: Under normal operating conditions, headquarters would not interfere with divisional decisions. But as a company, we are having some problems. What you just told me is exactly why the price of your product has been increased. We want the profits of all our European marketing divisions to drop. Debbie: What do you mean that you want the profits to drop? That doesnt make any sense. Arent we in business to make money? Jeff: Debbie, what you lack is corporate perspective. We are in business to make money, and thats why we want European profits to decrease. Our U.S. divisions are not doing well this year. Projections show significant losses. At the same time, projections for European operations show good profitability. By increasing the cost of key products transferred to Europeto your division, for examplewe increase revenues and profits in the United States. By decreasing your profits, we avoid paying taxes in France. With losses on other U.S. operations to offset the corresponding increase in domestic profits, we avoid paying taxes in the United States as well. The net effect is a much-needed increase in our cash flow. Besides, you know how hard it is in some of these European countries to transfer out capital. This is a clean way of doing it. Debbie: Im not so sure that its clean. I cant imagine the tax laws permitting this type of scheme. There is another problem, too. You know that the companys bonus plans are tied to a divisions profits. This plan could cost all of the European managers a lot of money. Jeff: Debbie, you have no reason to worry about the effect on your bonusor on our evaluation of your performance. Corporate management has already taken steps to ensure no loss of compensation. The plan is to compute what income would have been if the old price had prevailed and base bonuses on that figure. Ill meet with the other divisional managers and explain the situation to them as well. Debbie: The bonus adjustment seems fair, although I wonder if the reasons for the drop in profits will be remembered in a couple of years when Im being considered for promotion. Anyway, I still have some strong ethical concerns about this. How does this scheme relate to the tax laws? Jeff: We will be in technical compliance with the tax laws. In the United States, Section 482 of the Internal Revenue Code governs this type of transaction. The key to this law, as well as most European laws, is evidence of an arms-length price. Since youre a distributor, we can use the resale price method to determine such a price. Essentially, the arms-length price for the transferred good is backed into by starting with the price at which you sell the product and then adjusting that price for the markup and other legitimate differences, such as tariffs and transportation. Debbie: If I were a French tax auditor, I would wonder why the markup dropped from last year to this year. Are we being good citizens and meeting the fiscal responsibilities imposed on us by each country in which we operate? Jeff: Well, a French tax auditor might wonder about the drop in markup. But, the markup is still within reason, and we can make a good argument for increased costs. In fact, weve already instructed the managers of our manufacturing divisions to legitimately reassign as many costs as they can to the European product lines. So far, they have been very successful. I think our records will support the increase that you are receiving. 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