Supply chain management is basically the controlling and planning of a business’s product distribution, raw material purchases and product selling. This means that it deals with the management of the raw material supply, product production, distribution and transportation of the finished product to the customers (Mangan et al, 2016). The management of these sector of a business apparently needs skilled and experienced managers for it to be successful. This is so because it is one of the most fundamental department r section of any business that has already succeeded in its objective and goals as well as its market.
Jordano Foods is a business dealing with food production and distribution which means that it can be categorized under the food industry. It originated from the partnership of two brothers in 1950 who had same experience in the industry but had different skills and expertise. However, the two brothers (Luigi and Mario Jordano) basically saw an opportunity of starting the business from scratch. They had realized the gap between demand and supply of some foods and decided to bridge it by starting the business. The business was initially located in Lewistown Pennsylvania but grew and developed with time and spread to other towns located in Pennsylvania. Jordano Foods has developed to the level of increasing its number of small wholesale distributors to large and developed distributors. A business that does such a move is one that is expanding fast and its products becoming popular and famous among the consumers.
Currently, the business is being managed by just the two brothers; Luigi acting as the president or CEO of the business and Mario acting as the board of director chairman. A successful business must have a strong, skilled and experienced management team to help it work towards its goals and objectives. This is certainly the case for Jordano Foods business and management team which has been improving as years go by since it was started. Apparently this is one of the reasons as to why the business has been doing so well over the recent years. In addition to that, the business has built a number of production plants in various towns of Pennsylvania over the recent years. This has increased the business’s production rate, improved its productivity and helped it grow and develop itself in so many other areas like sales increase, employee determination and focus among others.
In addition to that, the business has been improving its structure for the better to enable it run its operations the best way possible. Apparently, it has decided to implement a position for logistics to help run the business operations that are related to product supply chain process. The logistics vice president Tracie Shannon has apparently realized that the department has some issues that need to be reviewed and sorted out for the business to succeed in its market. Therefore, Tracie must help in not only developing the logistics department but also some other business departments that are related to supply chain logistics.
Jordano Foods are the producing company and the SAB is the distributor. Jordano has been growing and developing itself for a number of years but still has not expanded beyond Pennsylvania State. On the other hand, SAB is ready to increase its market share and market segment to a higher rate. This was after SAB was offered the deal by a different organization which seemed to be much better than what Jordano are currently offering. Therefore, this gives Jordano no other option but to change. Grow and develop with its distributor. Practically, if the SAB’s market share grows, it means Jordano’s market share increases as well and hence better sales and higher profits. Therefore, despite the fact that the relationship seems to be a dependent one, both organizations are obviously going to benefit from the strategy. Therefore, my position with the two businesses is that they can work together towards the same goal and objective which will later benefit both.
Business logistics is the management of the supply chain and procurement of finished products, work in progress, raw materials and product storage with an aim of reaching the demand and supply levels at the lowest cost possible (Monczka et al, 2015). Basically, it is the management of the business operations between a products or service’s point of origin to the last point in order to satisfy consumer needs and business objectives and goals. This means that logistics deals with operations like raw material purchasing and transportation, product distribution, product packaging and storage, warehouse building and management, inventory management, information flow and sharing to name just but a few operations (Christopher et al, 2014). As for the case study, Jordano Foods business has recently come up with the logistics position which is being managed by a president who is Tracie Shannon. Since the department is responsible for distribution of products, then for the sake of working with SAB it has to be developed and changed for the better. To be specific it is basically for the sake of increasing its market share and segmentation through SAB who are its distributors. Therefore, in that case, the following areas must be reviewed and developed:
This is the department that deals with all the production processes for a business’s product. This is the department that is responsible for product quality and raw material usage and most importantly technology usage. Therefore, the manufacturing department of every business must be equipped with modern and improved technology, skilled and experienced workers and effective and efficient information systems among other things (Pagell et al, 2014). This will enable the product or service production to be effective and be able to satisfy the consumer wants as well as the business objectives.
In the case of the Jordano Foods business, the two top managers (Luigi and Marie) are people who have been running this department. It is clear that the two managers have exquisite experience and skills in the food production sector or industry. This simply means that they will have two exclusive responsibilities and organizational duties; to manage the whole organization and the manufacturing department. The two managers will be dividing their attention between the two departments which can easily cause problems and disagreements between themselves and the employees as well. Therefore, they have to give the responsibility to another qualified manager who can put all the attention, energy, skill and expertise in the manufacturing department to help the business grow and develop even at a higher rate (Barkemeyer et al, 2014). The manager should be ready improve the production volumes, quality, appearance, packaging and use the inputs effectively with an aim of increasing the products’ (food) market share and segment.
This is a business section that is in charge of advertising and marketing the product to the consumers with an aim of selling the products to them. Marketing is one of the most fundamental departments of an organization simply because it deals with consumers and the products which are basically some of the main aspects of a business. Therefore, this means that it should be managed by an experienced and skilled employee or manager. For the case of Jordano Foods, Luigi and Marie have been managing the marketing department part from managing the whole business. This still means that they need to divide their attention and skills they have for the sake of running the two departments. This may cause errors and failures in one of the departments which may affect the whole organization in general. Therefore, for the sake of working with SAB, Jordano must be able to hire a qualified marketing manager who can run the operations effectively and with one purpose. The manager should be ready and able to develop new ideas on how to increase the market share and segment just as the SAB’s are trying to do. This will help both of them to work together towards the same goal.
Since the business was started, it has been using the family and personally developed recipes for the food preparation. Also, it has been producing the same kinds of foods till today i.e. pasta sauce, dry and fresh pasta, meat balls and other Italian related foods only. The employees or the management has not yet come up with new improved or more professional recipes to use in the preparation of their foods. This hinders the chances of the business increasing its market share and segment because of producing the same kind of foods with no improvements. Therefore, the business should work on improving its recipe and adding new foods to its menu. By doing this, it is likely going to increase the number of consumers visiting the restaurant, increase demand and also will entice new customers into trying new recipes and foods (Goldsby et al, 2016). In addition to that, they should also offer other types of foods apart from Italian foods only; e.g. American and Chinese foods to attract different customers. By doing this, the business will certainly be able to increase its market share and segment because of the many various services and foods they will be offering therefore increasing the chances of working with SAB.
This relates to the transportation and supply of a product from the business to the consumer or distributor. Every business should ensure that its distribution channels are effective and efficient. They should therefore be able to reach the customers without interference of their quality or amounts as well as the price. The information says that Jordano Foods have been dealing with distributors located in Pennsylvania only. This shows a limit to who and where the business does its business. Since the business has grown and developed at a high rate it should consider expanding its operations even in other states. This includes also building production plants in those states to enhance production of the foods. By establishing itself in other states, it will be able to attract more and new customers from other parts of the country which leads to market share and segment increase. This certainly help them move at the same pace as the SAB its distributor.
This comparison will be based on what Campbell Soup Company does for it to be successful and what Jordano foods doesn’t do. Therefore, some of the reasons as to why Campbell is successful are:
The company has been aiming at becoming global since the beginning of its operations while Jordano’s operations were limited to Pennsylvania State only.
Campbell has a larger market share and segment than that of Jordano Foods because of their numerous number of location and functional production plants.
Campbell also offers not only one type of foods but various i.e Chinese, Italian, American, Indian to name a few while Jordano Foods offers just the Italian related food and sauce.
Campbell Company has various services at their disposal which includes: beverage offers, take outs, ready to eat foods and freshly made foods among others while Jordano Foods offers just the freshly prepared foods.
Tastykake is a business that became unsuccessful in the year 2011 and was bought by Flowers Foods Company that runs it to date. The business originally dealt with baked snacks before it collapsed. Reason behind its collapse is that it did not evaluate and analyze its profit margin and savings before it invested in the state-of-the-art bakery in Philadelphia. The building of this facility sucked up all the funds and stock and before they knew, there was no stock to sell. This being the challenge for Tastykake, Jordano Foods has always kept its inventory and product stock as high as possible and therefore no shortages that have ever occur so far. In addition to that, Jordano has already hired an employee to deal with the logistics in relation to such challenges which means that such a problem is under control.
A business’s competitive advantage refers to a state whereby it is in a better position than its competitors. For instance, a business can have lower prices for its prices, a larger market share and segment than its competitors, better quality products, higher product positioning among other differences (Naudé, 2013). There are different ways in which a business can gain competitive advantage in a market. However, Jordano’s competitive advantage lies in the fact that it has been producing same kind of foods with high quality and best recipes. This means that the business has a large number of customers who have stuck with the foods as their preferences. Also, it means that it has a larger market share and segment in its original town than other business because it has stuck with exactly the same recipe and food preparation methods.
The competitive advantage of Jordano is not a suitable strategy to be followed by other business. This is certainly not the best methods because when a business sticks with the same food type and preparation method, there is a likely wood of some customers loosing taste and getting bored of exactly the same food. This may lead to loss of customers to some other new restaurants that may have come up with better and improved recipes and types of foods. This is because consumers will always look out for what is best for their satisfaction (Leiras et al, 2014). Therefore, when new business join the market, then there is a probability of consumers trying out new producers. Therefore, a business can be taken out of market because of using such a method to get its competitive advantage.
I would recommend Jordano Foods to do the following:
It should consider expanding its business operations to other towns and states of the country. This will help it increase its sales, consumer share, market share and segment. Additionally, it will help it wrap up the deal with SAB and grow and develop together.
Also, it should strategize its operations towards gaining a better competitive advantage against its competitors. This may include, focusing on its target population, product and market differentiation and focus, product and market development, finding ways to reduce its production costs to be able to lower its prices to name a few changes.
The business should also hire more managers to run the marketing and manufacturing departments so that Luigi and Marie can be able to focus their concentration to the whole business effectively.
4. Conclusion
Every business needs to grow and develop for it to stay in market. However, this is entirely determined by the management techniques of the management team. This means that it has to improve its management techniques and strategies as well. Therefore, it is important for every business to hire qualified, experienced and skilled managers to help it run its operations especially supply chain activities. As for the case of Jordano, the business can only be more successful if it follows some of the stated recommendations.
5. References
Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Mangan, J., Lalwani, C. and Lalwani, C.L., 2016. Global logistics and supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Stadtler, H., 2015. Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Monczka, R.M., Handfield, R.B., Giunipero, L.C. and Patterson, J.L., 2015. Purchasing and supply chain management. Cengage Learning.
Leiras, A., de Brito Jr, I., Queiroz Peres, E., Rejane Bertazzo, T. and Tsugunobu Yoshida Yoshizaki, H., 2014. Literature review of humanitarian logistics research: trends and challenges. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 4(1), pp.95-130.
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