Characteristics of efficient, responsive, risk-hedging and agile Assignment

Characteristics of efficient, responsive, risk-hedging and agile supply chains - Assignment Example Risk-Hedging Supply Chain is distinguished by a high supply and low demand uncertainty, cost efficiency and hedging the risk of supplier distractions. It also has a functional product type and competitive on cost and flexibility. This form of the supply chain has a low responsiveness to market demand and uses a relation-based approach toward suppliers. Agile Supply Chain is highly sensitive to the market and able to read and respond to real market demand. Agile supply chains have extensive sharing of information between suppliers and buyers regarding supply and demand and hence, develop a virtual supply chain where physical stocks are adequately replaced with information. No, a company cannot apply both responsive and efficient supply chains. This is because responsive and efficient supply chain strategies have conflicting objectives, for instance, in terms of cost and lead-times. Whereas efficient supply chain has a low-cost strategy and long-term forecast, the responsive supply cha in has high unit cost and short-term forecasts. Yes,  management can apply both agile and risk-hedging supply chains. This is because agility works in environments with high demand and supply risks. Agile approaches unite strengths of responsive and risk-hedging approaches to respond to the uncertain demand of customers while minimizing the risk of supply disruption.

Baby-Boomer Parents And Their Gen Y Children Essay - 1

Baby-Boomer Parents And Their Gen Y Children - Essay Example This problem has not been fully addressed yet because some people are taking for granted how technology negatively affects their families. These generations must find ways to bridge this gap without necessarily contradicting their interests and preferences in life. Without resolving this gap, generation clashes can result in family conflicts and unhappiness. Gen Y children and Baby Boomer parents can use technology as a bridge that can strengthen family ties through using it to develop better learning and communication strategies. Gen Y children use technology to do multitasking, while Baby Boomer parents employ technology to supplement their activities, but most of the latter prefer doing things the traditional way, and this difference in how technology is used can lead to a strong communication gap between them. Gen Y children depend on technology to do several tasks at the same time, which makes them great multitaskers (Cekada, 2012, p.41), while Baby Boomers do not like doing many things altogether (Cekada, 2012, p.43). Baby Boomers clash with their children who prefer finishing tasks their way, while the former want them to do things the way they used to. Because of these differences in how they see their responsibilities, Gen Y children may overlook that their parents do tasks in a different way, thereby making them impatient in dealing with the latter. Gen Y people tend to expect â€Å"immediate responses,† while their parents may want to talk things through, or to demand their own responses in t heir own time and terms (Cekada, 2012, p.42). Instead of achieving clear communication, the result is miscommunication because of conflicting communication expectations. Because of these problems, Gen Y children should not expect their parents to speak and act the way they do and the same goes for the latter, and instead, they should set aside time doing family activities that they can both enjoy to strengthen their ties. If Baby Boomers see cellular phones for calling than data services, for instance, Gen Y children can help them use smartphones, where they can maximize their data services for their communication needs (Kumar & Lim, 2008, p.570).