QUESTIONS FOR CLASS
DISCUSSION
OMIS 440 Spring 16
Jan 21-test #1.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
“Historic lows: Tumbling oil prices taking
toll on energy jobs, production in
Louisiana” The Advocate (Baton
Rouge), Richard Thompson, Dec 19, 2015.
Topic: The Economic Environment in
Louisiana
NIA (Not in Article): Why is oil so
cheap?
1. What is the price of oil today?
2. What is happening to jobs in the oil
and gas sector?
a. Which jobs?
b. Which states?
c. How many jobs have been lost in
oil?
d. What % of total is this?
e. Chevron layoffs in the gulf region?
f. Shell globally?
3.
How does this impact the rest of
the economies in these states?
a. State government?
b. Local government?
What did Franklin, La do?
4.
Who is Loren Scott? (mentioned
In two of our articles).
a. What did he say?
When oil drops $1 > State Tax
Revenue
“Oil Pain Starts to Spread,” Paul
Davidson, USA Today, Thursday,
January 14, 2015
Topic: The Economic Environment
Nationally
1. What has happened to US GDP
Estimates for 2016 due to oil prices?
2. How is United Airlines impacted?
a. Why?
b. How is KB Homes in Houston
impacted?
3. How many jobs in oil and gas lost
In the past 12 months according to
Continental Resources?
4. When one oil job is lost, what is the
Impact the broader job market?
5. Law firm?
6. Steel sales?
“Global Eyes Are Watching Our Very
Rural Parish: Cheniere close to exporting
LNG from Cameron Parish,” The
Advocate, January 17, 2015.
Topic: Economic Development
Where is Cameron Parish?
1. What is the price of natural gas today?
a. Why is it cheap?
b. Who cares about this?
c. How many years since its been this
cheap?
2. What is LNG?
3. NAI: Why can’t US firms export oil
or gas?
a. What is the issue with export
energy?.....who is against it?
4. Several have permission to export it,
and What are they doing?
5. Who will be the first in the US?
a. Where is their plant?
b. How much did they invest?
c. What did this represent
historically?
6. Where will they export it to?
7. What is the Asian price and what is
the spread?
Thursday, January 21
 ISM Baton Rouge Meeting Tues
6:30 pm At Cayote Blues on
Acadian Thruway.
 Owens Minor….still processing.
 Anyone apply for PoolCorp
Internship?
 What oil today?
 Porche from Houston….
“Wal-Mart Ratchets Up Pressure on
Suppliers to Cut Prices,” Wall Street
Journal,
March 31, 2015.
Topic: Supplier Relations/Supplier
Goodwill
1. NIA: What is Supplier Goodwill?
2. What did Walmart ask its suppliers
To do last march?
a. What specific budgets got cut?
3. What has happened to Walmart’s
market share since the recession?
a. Who has gained share?
4. How would expect vendors to feel
About this?
5. What did Walmart do to get P&G
To lower its prices?....what new
product did the put into stores.
6. What is Walmart famous for in terms
Of negotiating with vendors?
“Wal-Mart's Suppliers Are Finally
Fighting Back,” Bloomberg Business
Week, Sept 10, 2015.
Topic: Supplier Relationships, Supplier
Goodwill
1. What is “supplier goodwill?”
2. What did Wal-mart ask suppliers to do
in March?
3. Did Walmart discuss new policies with
each vendor to announce new terms?
How did Walmart do this?
a. Did this leave any room for
negotiation?
4.
What do the new terms include?
5.
How have 2 large suppliers
responded?
a. Why won’t they mention their
names?
6. What fear might a vendor have of not
Accepting the terms?
7. What % of revenue from companies
Like Kellogg’s come from Walmart?
8. How did the article make you feel about
Walmart?
9. What would you say is the “goodwill
Of suppliers to Walmart?”
“Wal-Mart Retreats as Retail's Woes
Deepen, “Wall Street Journal, Eastern
edition [New York, N.Y] 16 Jan 2016:
A.1.
Topic: Retailing
1.
What is Walmart doing to address
Is profitability issue?
a. How many?
b. Which ones?
c. How many US layoffs?
2.
How was the Holiday season for
US retailers?
a. Online growth?
3.
How many new stores are they
opening this year?
4.
In what areas is Walmart
investing?
5.
Besides the internet, what other
Type of retail outlet has hurt them?
6.
How many store are they closing
Globally?
Tuesday, January 26
FreshDirect Updates Delivery Service --Online grocer aims to help New Yorkers
be 'a hero in the kitchen' Wall Street
Journal, Eastern edition [New York, N.Y]
13 Jan 2016: A.18.
Topic: Competition in the Fresh
Food/Grocery Supply Chain
NIA: Blue Apron (more preparation)
NIA: When did Grocery Store Delivery
start.
1. What does Fresh Direct do?
a. What is their new service (how
has it changed?)
b. What is the price of the fast
service?
2.
How much business did online
Groceries do last year?
a. What are sales projections for
this market for the year 2020?
3. How is competition for this service?
a. What is Amazon Fresh
b. What does Instacart do?
c. How many markets is instacart in?
4. Will this business grow to other cities?
“Apples Suppliers Issue Sales Warnings,”
Dou, Eva. Wall Street Journal, Eastern
edition [New York, N.Y] 15 Jan 2016:
B.1
Topic: Supplier Media Automomy
1. Where is Tawain?
a. What is its history?
b. How developed is it compared to
mainland China?
2. Who is Taiwan Semiconductor?
3. What information did they release
Last week?
a. How much will sales be down?
b. What does this mean for iPhones?
4. Can suppliers release information to
The media which has implications
about the sales of a customer such as
Apple?
5. What happened to Apple’s stock when
The WSJ reported that Apple cut
orders to suppliers?
6. What did Apple CEO Tim Cook say
about business outlook extrapalations
From the supply chain?
7. Can a buyer like Apple prevent a
supplier from making sales predictions
Of Apples products?
Thursday, January 26
“The U.S. Digs Itself Into a Hole on Vital
Minerals,” Murkowski, Lisa. Wall Street
Journal, Eastern edition [New York,
N.Y] 04 Aug 2015: A.11.
Topic: Regulatory Environment
1. Who is the author of this article?
a. Why is it different from an article
written by a journalist?
2. NIA: What is a strategic mineral?
3. What does she say our problem is
With our policies regulatingthese
materials?
4. For 19 0f these, where do they come
From?
a. For another 24, how much is
imported?
5. What does she say about our policies?
6. What is a big problem for mining co.s
With the current (old) regulations?
7. How does that impact investment into
mining?
8. How long does it take in Canada or
Australia?
“GM Invests $500 Million in Lyft, Plans
System for Self-Driving Cars,” By
Douglas Macmillan, Wall Street
Journal (WSJ), Jan. 4, 2016 1:21 p.m.
ET
Topic: Strategic Supply Partners or
Insourcing?
1. What is an autonomous car?
2. What is Uber or Lyft (what is an
On demand ride sharing platform).\
a. How do they work?
b. Who has used them?
c. Where is the US are they?
https://www.u
ber.com/cities
https://www.lyft.com/cities
3. Why are these services competition
For car sales?
4. What is the relationship between:
UBER/Lyft and Automous Cars?
(why is GM interested is the Lyft
software and system).
Tuesday, Feb 2
For Fed Ex and UPS, a Cheaper Route:
The Post Office,” WSJ, Tuesday,
August 5, 2014
Topic: US Postal Service Parcel Shipping/
Public- Private Supply Alliances
NIA: In the 1980’s the postal service was
made quasi-private, like the ports. Where
does money come from to operate?
1. Who is using USPS parcel shipping
more and more?
a. Why?
b. For what kind of shipping?
2. How much of Fed Ex ground?
a. How much UPS Ground?
3. How does the Post Office feel about
This growth in use?
a. Why do they want it?...what has
happened to first class mail?
b. How much has the “select parcel “
business grown for the Post Office?
4. Why/how can the post office do local
Deliveries of parcels cheaper than the
FE and UPS?
5. How does it actually work in terms of
The participants in the delivery system
Or who gets what when, in the
sequence? (for cross country
deliveries)
6. Who is Amazon cutting out?
a. How much does it cost Amazon to
ship USPS?
7. What are the concerns about the
charges of the postal service?
8. How is the Postal Service limited in
Terms of borrowing money to
upgrade?
a. What upgrades do they need to
be like industry?
“Pot Producers Gobble Up Warehouses
in Denver Area,” Whelan, Robbie; Page,
Paul. Wall Street Journal, Eastern
edition [New York, N.Y] 26 Aug 20
Topic: Supply Shortages
http://www.wilsonwarehouse.com/html/ex
plore.htm
1. What is the difference between a
Distribution Center and a warehouse?
2. How do warehouses who rent space
work?
3. What roles does Denver play in the
regions industrial supply chain?
4. What has happened to the availability
And price of space there?
5. How is the cannibus industry using the
warehouse space?
Value Chain Climbing- When A Supplier
Becomes a Competitor, Materials
Handling and Logistics Mgt.,
Topic: International Competition For US
Companies
NIA: Back ground on issue.
1. What is value chain climbing?
2. How does it happen?
3. Who is HTC of Tawain and what did
they achieve?
4. What is a buyers response?
5. What did the authors recommend as
A way of managing this?
Thursday, February 4
Feb 18:
Samantha Kelly, College Recruiter, Pool Corp
SLU MBA
Julianne Fields, Purchasing Mgr., SLU SCM
Grad
“Amazon Seeks to Ease Ties With UPS, “Stevens,
Laura; Bensinger, Greg. Wall Street Journal, Eastern
edition [New York, N.Y] 23 Dec 2015: A.1.
Supplier Relationships/Switching/Make or Buy
1.
Who is UPS’s biggest customer?
a.
How much did Amazon spend last year
with USP?
2.
What is Amazon not liking about UPS’s service?
3.
What have they looked into/ and done?
a.
Air
b. Ground
4.
Among Amazon’s expenses, where does
transportation stand?
a.
Costs change since 2005?
5.
How has USP’s Cost per parcel changed?
6.
What has been the history of their relationship?
7.
What does it mean: “UPS has poached 40 of
Amazon’s managers in the past year”?
” Truckers Haul Home Big Increases in Pay,”
Whelan, Robbie; Baskin, Brian. Wall Street Journal,
Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 14 Oct 2015: B.1.
Topic: Motor Carriers
NIA: What is the “status” of a truck driver
as a profession in our culture?
Why?
1.
What has happened to the demand for
Trucking services in the past 5 years?
2.
For truck drivers?
3. Is there a cyclical pattern to the shortage of
drivers?
4. What has happened to long-haul pay over The
past 2 years?
a.
US Wages at large for past 2 years.
5.
How is this impacting carriers (trucking
companies)?
6.
What are companies doing to address the
Issue?
7.
How many truckers are there in the US?
a. What is the size of the shortage in
in truckers (in numbers) ?
8.
What is meant by a “rolling closet? ”
9.
What is turnover for long-haul trucking?
10. How will/does this situation impact the
Rest of us?
“Jones Act debate aimed at shipping crude oil on
domestic vessels”, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March
1, 2015.
Topic: Protectionism(The Regulatory
Environment)
1.
What is protectionism?
2. Do protectionist laws impact the supply
chain?
3.
What does the Jones Act require?
4.
What is the impact of the Jones Act?
a. How does it impact the cost or a ship?
5.
Who is against it?
6.
Who is for it?
7.
Which powerful Senator is against it?
8.
How does it impact Louisiana?