Business proposal(reserch) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business proposal(reserch) - Essay Example (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007) A&F clothing are manufactured in different countries all over the world including El Salvador, Indonesia, Peru and Thailand among others. (Pascal, n.d.) By subcontracting the production of clothing in Asia and other third world countries, the company is able to save more money at the expense of low-paid labours. The difference between the high selling price and the cost of clothing per unit makes the high profitability of the company. Considering that the brand name A&F sells on its own, the company saves a lot of money from the need to invest on expensive external advertising. A&F products are delivered straight to the consumers via branded retail stores, catalogs, and on-line networks. (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2007) As of June 2007, the company operates 355 A&F stores, 182 Abercrombie stores, 409 Hollister Co. stores, and 17 RUEHL stores selling young adult clothing all over the United States. Six of these stores are located in Canada. (PR Newswire, 2007) A&F has recently opened stores in Savile Row, London and expanded its store outlets in North America in Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada. (Earnest, 1999) For kids clothing, the company has opened a total of 175 stores to serve customers between ages seven to 14 years old. In June 2007, as part of A&F global expansion, the company announced its plan to expand its retail store throughout Europe particularly in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden. An Australian retailer Harvey Norman opens a store in Ireland. (Callanan, 2005) In line with store expansion, A&F invests on Oracle system to enhance the efficiency of its supply chain network across more than 950 stores. (Friedlos, 2007) A&F outsource the manufacturing of its products offshore by entering into a contract with MAGIC. (Sourcing at MAGIC, 2007) Through MAGIC, A&F place the order by bulk in order to maximize the

The Oil Supply Dependence Of The Automobile Industry Research Paper

The Oil Supply Dependence Of The Automobile Industry - Research Paper Example The paper tells that considering the rising oil prices worldwide, there were recent attempts to pave the way to alternative sources of energy so as to gradually reduce the demand for oil. In 2010, Li, Xiaogu, Clark, Christopher, et. al. conducted a survey of the peoples’ likelihood that they will prefer flexible-fuel or hybrid automobile given the choice when they purchase one. The result showed positive response to less dependence on oil for automobiles. Statistics show a declining dependence on foreign petroleum since 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in mid-2011. Nonetheless, what has been the actual situation pertaining to a dependence on automotive oil? There was an increase in the use of domestically produced biodiesel, ethanol, and natural gas. However, by the mere fact that crude oil from domestic production realized increase in demand, dependence on oil as source of energy remains high. Imported oil declined. As can be seen from Figure A, c onsumption of oil also declined in 2010. But there will be a growing demand for liquid fuels including oil in the coming years as shown in Figure B. For automobiles, the trend in demand for Motor Gasoline also shows a projected increase in demand. See Figure C. Even as the production volume of crude oil will be increased in the USA, the prices of oil will also increase in the coming years. This can be clearly seen in Figure D. Apparently, the people are feeling the financial impact of the seemingly endless price increases of oil in the world market as well as in the local market. There is a domino effect on even the prices of basic goods whenever oil price increases are announced. Oil price increases eventually jack up the prices of goods and services since sources of energy like gasoline, motor oil, and liquefied petroleum gas are part of the cost of production and operating expenses like transportation or travelling expenses. It reduces the value of family income because each doll ar will have a lower value in the sense that the same amount of money can only buy less and less as the prices of oil increase to push up the prices of prime commodities. Thus, people have been adjusting to these trends by finding ways and means to reduce dependence on oil. Many have resorted to alternative energy sources. 2. Analysis of the Problem The world has limited supply of oil while there has been increasing demand for oil. Tverberg, Gail E. wrote that oil supply of our world had stopped increasing since 2005 (Abstract). As a matter of fact, his report mentioned (3): â€Å"We show in this section that world oil supply constriction started about 2004 based on price trends, and that restriction affected primarily OECD countries†. It will take about 20 years to mitigate the decline in oil supply by producing alternative sources and by replacing vehicles capable of utilizing alternative sources (4). It was estimated that wind and solar energy sources can only contribute a n insignificant capacity for the production of energy compared to the total energy supplied by oil-based power generators. â€Å"Growth of emerging economies† (1) certainly led to an oil shortage given such a fact about no more rise in the production of oil supply. To confirm this phenomenon as of a very recent date, January 3, 2012, Brad Plumer of the Washington Post reported the prediction of Goldman Sach’s Investment Bank pertaining to oil production in the world, which says that demand will hit the production capacity of oil by the year 2013. China and India have reached 2.5 billion population. Their demand for oil in order to achieve economic growth was reported to be rising as a result of these two countries’ fast developments. In contrast, oil supply production