Higher Diploma in Business in Supply Chain Management

 

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CARLOW

 

FACULTY OF LIFELONG LEARNING

 

SUMMER 2019 EXAMINATIONS

 

COURSE CODE:         CW_BKSCM_H

 

COURSE TITLE:    Higher Diploma in Business in Supply Chain Management

 

YEAR:                          5                 

                                   

MODULE:                     Global Logistics SC Management                

                                   

DATE:                            9^th  May 2019

 

TIME:                           9.30am -12.30pm                             

 

DURATION:                  3 Hours   

 

Examiners:

Mr L Banville Dr K O Connor Mr J Kearney Mr A Upadhvay

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

 

1.    Write your Name, Student Number, Course Title, Subject/Module Title and Course Year on your answer book.

2.    Answer FOUR (4) Questions out of six questions.

3.    All Questions carry equal marks

_________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

QUESTION 1

 

The trend is clear: Technology is replacing people in supply chain management and doing a better job. (Harvard Business Review June 2018)

 

Using the above statement from a recent Harvard Business Review article outline the evolving role of technology in supply chain management and the role that supply chain professionals will have in the next decade.

 

                                                                                                                                       TOTAL: 25 MARKS

 

 

 

QUESTION 2

“The heyday of globalisation has been from 1990 to now, although things are changing …..”

The above is the start of a line from a recent article in the Irish Times.

In September 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. Was this the start of the start of globalisation as referred to in the Irish Times article? A recent Economist article has given us a new word “slowbalisation”.

Write an essay with the title “From Globalisation to Slowbalisation – 1989 – 2019”

                                                                                                      TOTAL: 25 MARKS

 

QUESTION 3

 

The performance section of SCOR consists of two types of elements: Performance Attributes and Metrics.

 

(a)               List and explain the performance attributes as outlined by SCOR.    (10 marks)

 

(b)               Using the performance attributes identified give an example of a performance metric associated with each attribute.                                                 (15 marks)

  

     TOTAL: 25 MARKS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 4

 

The “bullwhip effect” is recognised as a common problem in many supply chains and when present can cause specific types of issues for supply chain managers.

 

Using examples to illustrate your explanation discuss how the bullwhip effect manifests itself in supply chains and suggest ways that it can be overcome.

 

    TOTAL: 25 MARKS

 

 

QUESTION 5

 

(a)               Discuss risk as it relates to global supply chain management.           (15 marks)

 

(b)              It has been suggested that very efficient lean supply chains, incorporating just-in-time manufacturing, can be more vulnerable to disruption than traditional supply chains.  Discuss.                                                         (10 marks)

 

                                                                                           TOTAL: 25 MARKS

 

 

QUESTION 6

 

(a)             Outline the benefits and pitfalls of outsourcing logistics.                   (10 marks)    

 

(b)            Distinguish between a 3PL and a 4PL logistics service provider.       (5 marks)

 

(c)             Discuss whether the logistics market will be dominated by a small number of   global logistics companies in the future, or not, and the impact of this on global supply chains.                                                                                      (10 marks)

 

                                                                                                      TOTAL: 25 MARKS

 

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Financial Tools and the Legal Environment

 

 

 

Week 2 Financial Ratios & Breakeven Analysis

 

§ Describe how financial ratios are used to monitor a venture’s performance

 

§ Apply ratios in different ratio categories and explain how they are calculated and used by an entrepreneur, by lenders and creditors or equity investors

§ Describe limitations when using financial ratios

 

§ Analyse breakeven sales

Financial Ratios

§ show the relationship between two or more financial variables.

§ help simply comparisons of a venture’s performance with itself and other firms over time.

Why do entrepreneurs need to understand financial ratios?

§ It allows the entrepreneur to assess the soundness of a company’s activities as well as identify important trends.

§ Many banks provide business loans on the condition that the company maintains certain minimum ratios, such as debt/equity.

§ Venture capitalists, may use ratio attainment as “milestones” for determining whether and when they will invest more capital.

4

 

Trend Analysis

§  Examination of a venture’s performance over time

§  Example: a comparison of net profit margin across a 3-year or 5-year period. Is the business’s internal performance better today than 3-years or 5-years or ago? Why?

Cross-sectional Analysis

§  Comparison of a venture’s performance against another firm at the same point in time

§  Assessment of the company’s operations, financial condition, and activities against comparable companies.

Industry Comparable Analysis

§  Comparison of a venture’s performance against the average performance in the same industry              5

 

 

Liquidity Ratio

 

Current ratio:

 

$1,190/$2,100 = 0.57

 

Quick ratio (Acid-test ratio):

 

$(1,190 – 600)/$2,100 = 0.28

 

Excluding only inventory from current assets when calculating quick ratio

•          This approach puts an emphasis on analysing whether a company’s current assets are highly dependent on inventory,

i.e. quick ratio is much lower than the current ratio.

•          Some current assets, e.g. prepayments and advances to suppliers that cannot be used to cover current liabilities should also be excluded. Nevertheless, a company may merge prepayments with accrued income, e.g. Sainsbury’s, but another may not, e.g. M&S. To avoid inconsistency in a cross-sectional analysis, we focus on analysing whether current assets depend on inventory by excluding only inventory from current assets in the quick ratio.

6

	A modification to D/E ratio into LTD to equity       •          An approach that helps analysts to focus on important risks, i.e. LTD. •         The ratio is used as a measure to gauge how a company finances its operations through debt versus equity. For small businesses, LTD is a key source of financing operations. Using LTD provides a measure that focuses on this key financing source, e.g. would Bruce rely on accounts payable, wage payable to finance its operations?
	Debt/equity Ratio
	Long-term debt (LTD) to equity $9,000/$5,590 = 1.61 or 161%

 

§ Some of the most important assets (knowledge, experience, creativity, and

existing business relationships) are not recorded.

§ Industry comparisons can be misleading for several reasons.

o       A smaller, rapidly growing venture might benefit from comparing to other young ventures in the same or a related industry, rather than industry averages representative of mature firms.

o       Ratios are calculated the same way for the venture and its comparable firms.

o       Seasonal factors can distort ratio comparisons. It is important to make comparisons at the same point in time and with the same fiscal year.

 

o       Avoid looking at only on or two ratios – view a full set of ratios                                                            20

Breakeven Point

Successful entrepreneurs know how many units of their products or hours of service they have to sell or provide, respectively, before they can take any real cash out of the company.

!"#$% $#&$'($(

)*+(( ,-*."'

= 0+1-2 3*$-4$5$' (-2$(

0+1-2 3*$-4$5$' (-2$(

6'"1 &*"7$

 

= 86,3$* +9 6'"1( 1+ ($22

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

Fixed expenses

Fixed expenses or cots are expected to remain constant over a range of revenues for a specific time period, such as a year.

 

§  General and administrative expenses, including predetermined compensation in the form of base salaries.

§  Marketing expenditures to acquire customers, e.g. a business plan may require advertising costs to be fixed, i.e. a business contractual commitment over a year.

§  Rental payments

§  Insurance premiums

 

 

 

22

Variable expenses

Variable expenses or cots are expected to change in proportion to production output or use of services.

§  Cost of goods sold (COGS), i.e. direct labour costs and cost of raw materials

§  Sales commissions

 

!"#$% $#&$'($(

:+'1*"361"+' ,-*."' *-1"+

= 0+1-2 3*$-4$5$' (-2$(

 

 

:+'1*"361"+' ;-*."' = <-2$(  − >-*"-32$ $#&$'($(

 

:+'1*"361"+' ;-*."' *-1"+ = <-2$(  − >-*"-32$ $#&$'($( = <-2$(  − :?)< =  )*+(( @*+9"1 = )*+(( ;-*."'

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

<-2$(

<-2$(

<-2$(

 

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