Publix Super Market and the Effect of Hurricanes Research Paper

Publix Super Market and the Effect of Hurricanes - Research Paper Example Hurricanes result to enormous damages and devastation within the local communities. These natural disasters tend to deter and disrupt supply chains of major products due to the damages inflicted on infrastructure such as roads, rails, and communication channels. Consequently, businesses (especially those that operate a Just-in-Time manufacturing methodology) incur significant supply shortages that run for long durations, resulting to losses due to lost revenues. Other losses emanate from damage on goods and insurance claims that may run into hundreds of million of dollars. One such business that experienced huge losses in the 2004-2005 hurricanes in Miami, Florida is Publix Supermarket and its chain of stores. This paper seeks to examine the effects of external events to a business, drawing from the impacts of hurricanes on Publix supermarket, especially the disruption of its supply chain, damages to goods, and insurance claims (Publix AMC). Publix Supermarket Inc is an employee-owne d chain stores operating primarily in the United States. The company has grown rapidly since its establishment to dominate the retail industry in Florida and the US at large, operating 1086 retail stores, 8 centers for grocery distribution, and nine brand-manufacturing facilities. The product portfolio of the company is majorly grocery, foods and beverages, and other finished products, groceries and food products being dominant. With the headquarters in Florida, the retail giant has over 757 stores, with a grocery distribution center in Miami (Publix AMC). The company has a solid establishment in the Florida region, but the fact that the area is prone to hurricanes and tornadoes downplays its development. Due to the delicate nature of its products portfolio, Publix operates a primarily Just-in-Time manufacturing method. This production methodology emphasizes on problem solving and waste reduction for continuous improvement, thus improving organizational performance. The fundamental principles include having adequate inventory only, improving quality, reducing setup time and queue length, and reducing costs. This production method has quality and cost benefits, but the most significant challenge is supply chain disruptions. Supply chain disruptions occur because of failure of one element of the supply chain and the subsequent failure in the rest of the chain. There are two categories of supply chain risks: disruption or operation. Operational risks refer to uncertainties such as uncertainty in costs, customer demand, and supply. Disruption risks are associated with economic crises or manmade and natural disasters. This paper focuses on the disruption risks in the supply chain of Publix Supermarket Inc. In Miami, the most significant disasters are hurricanes. About eight years ago, the region experienced three catastrophic hurricanes in barely two month, with hurricane Charley in August 13 2004, hurricane Ivan in September 2004, and hurricane Jeanne in September 2004. The impacts of the events were enormous to the people and business in that community. Among the most affected was Publix Super Markets, recording well over $60 million in product losses alone (SEC 17). According to the organization’s Form 10-K submission for the fiscal year 2006 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the 2004-2005 hurricanes had significant financial

Approaches to the Management of Diversity Research Paper - 1

Approaches to the Management of Diversity - Research Paper Example Many authors agree with this definition saying that diversity should be seen to apply to everyone in the organization in order to produce its intended effect. As long as there are distinctions within a group, diversity will always exist (Li, Cho and Curry 17). Another definition considered inclusive and constitutive defines diversity as â€Å"the collective amount of differences among members of a social unit.† (Harrison and sin 196) From all these definitions it is evident that diversity goes beyond the issues of race and gender to address other issues such as differences in talents and abilities, age, social status, economic status etc. of people at the workplace or in any functional group (Harrison and sin 196). There are four dimensions to understanding diversity. Some researchers from the CAN Corporation studied the impact of diversity on Air Force mission performance. they looked at four dimensions to diversity: (1) Demographic diversity: these include personal characteristics such as age, race/ethnicity, religion, and gender; (2) Cognitive diversity: these will include personality types, such as extrovert/introvert and Type A/Type B, thinking styles, such as quick, decisive thinking versus slow, methodical thinking etc.; (3) structural diversity: organizational background characteristics including service, work function and component; and (4) Global diversity: and this include national affiliations (Riche and Amanda Kraus 5-10). Diversity management has been defined as â€Å"the as the craft or process of making quality decisions in the midst of differences, similarities, tensions, complexities, etc. the distinction between diversity and diversity management is important. If you do not properly manage diversity, you can lose representation.† (Lim, Cho and Curry 20) Another author considers diversity as a â€Å"liability† until and unless processes are put in place to manage the negative dynamic and to release diversities