Project IN System Analysis: Alain B. Fortes Bs-It Ii
Project IN System Analysis: Alain B. Fortes Bs-It Ii
Project IN System Analysis: Alain B. Fortes Bs-It Ii
IN
SYSTEM
ANALYSIS
SUBMITTED BY:
ALAIN B. FORTES
BS-IT II
RETAILING COMPANY
AMAZON
PROFILE:
HISTORY:
In 1994 Jeff Bezos, a former Wall Street hedge fund executive, incorporated
Amazon.com, choosing the name primarily because it began with the first letter of
the alphabet and because of its association with the vast South American river. On
the basis of research he had conducted, Bezos concluded that books would be the
most logical product initially to sell online. Amazon.com was not the first
company to do so; Computer Literacy, a Silicon Valley bookstore, began selling
books from its inventory to its technically astute customers in 1991. However, the
promise of Amazon.com was to deliver any book to any reader anywhere.
The Amazon.com business strategy was often met with skepticism. Financial
journalists and analysts disparaged the company by referring to it as
Amazon.bomb. Doubters claimed Amazon.com ultimately would lose in the
marketplace to established bookselling chains, such as Borders and Barnes &
Noble, once they had launched competing e-commerce sites. The lack of company
profits until the final quarter of 2001 seemed to justify its critics.
The company expanded rapidly in other areas. Its Associates program, where other
Web sites could offer merchandise for sale and Amazon.com would fill the order
and pay a commission, grew from one such site in 1996 to more than 350,000 by
1999. Following Bezos’s initial strategy, the company quickly began selling more
than books. Music and video sales started in 1998. That same year it began
international operations with the acquisition of online booksellers in the United
Kingdom and Germany. By 1999 the company was also selling consumer
electronics, video games, software, home-improvement items, toys and games, and
much more.
Although offering more types of goods broadened its appeal, it was Amazon.com’s
service that gained it customer loyalty and ultimate profitability. Its personalization
tools recommended other products to buy on the basis of both a customer’s
purchasing history and data from buyers of the same items. Its publishing of
customer reviews of products fostered a “community of consumers” who helped
each other find everything from the right book to the best blender.
CULTURE:
Amazon not only believes in putting customers first but also in ownership from its
team.
Getting a job at Amazon may not be easy (especially since the company prides
itself on its high hiring bar).
While tech companies such as Google Inc. are known for the perks it gives
employees, Amazon operates differently. The company believes that frugality
breeds resourcefulness and self-sufficiency.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART:
FEEDBACK
Delivery of the items is shipped fast and on time. The servers are very patient with
their customers if they have complaints or problems with their shipping. The items
were good and truly expected from the actual photos from the website. Shopping in
this site is very easy, the items are worth every penny and absolutely affordable.
FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS COMPANY (FMCG)
UNILEVER
PROFILE:
Unilever owns more than 400 brands including 11 "billion-dollar brands", which
each achieve annual sales in excess of €1 billion.
Revenue (£m and currency as quoted)
39,823 (2009)
Number of employees
163,000
Origin of ownership
UK/Netherlands
Geographical presence
Key contact
Santiago Gowland
Water
Waste
• Waste intensity has reduced by 68% per tonnes of production between 1995 and
2008, despite a 4.3% increase in the last year (7.56 kg/tonnes in 2007 to 7.89
kg/tonne).
• The company says this increase was due to:
- Legislative changes
- Under-capacity in effluent treatment
- Planned disposal of accumulated and inherited hazardous waste
• Changing packaging design is one of the ways in which the company wants to
use to reduce waste impacts.
• The PVC policy commits to replacing PVC in all packaging by the end of 2010,
where there are viable alternatives.
Resources
• Agricultural and forestry crops make up around half by volume of raw materials
used by Unilever.
• Unilever buys approximately 12% of the world's black tea, 6% of the world's
tomatoes and 3% of its palm oil.
• Unilever established guidelines for good agricultural practice based on 11
indicators including water, energy, pesticide use and animal welfare. Growers and
third-party suppliers are encouraged to comply.
• Most of the world's oil palm is grown in South-East Asia where the clearance and
burning of forests contributes to global warming.
• Following a public challenge by Greenpeace, Unilever has agreed to draw all
their palm oil from certified sustainable sources by 2015.
• Unilever have also agreed to support a moratorium on further deforestation in
South-East Asia.
• At the end of 2009 around 80% of Lipton Yellow Label and PG tips tea sold in
Western Europe came from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
• Unilever also uses paper and board, plastic, glass, aluminium, steel and mixed
material laminates (for sachets and pouches) in its manufacturing processes.
HISTORY:
In the 1890s, William Hesketh Lever, founder of Lever Brothers, wrote down his
ideas for Sunlight Soap – his revolutionary new product that helped popularise
cleanliness and hygiene in Victorian England.
It was “to make cleanliness commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster
health and contribute to personal attractiveness, that life may be more enjoyable
and rewarding for the people who use our products”.
That sense of purpose and mission has always been part of Unilever’s culture. In
the 21st century, we’re still helping people to look good, feel good and get more
out of life – and our purpose as a business is ‘making sustainable living
commonplace’.
CULTURE:
FEEDBACK
Typical day at Unilever Philippines is directly communicating with the truck
owners, drivers, helpers and internal stakeholders.
In this job, there is a new learning every day. Talking to the front-liners (drivers)
and hear them out will always make you learn something. You can build a project
that would solve their concern and be beneficial to the company.
Every job has its own endeavors. Challenge in Unilever Phils. is the long working
hours. As part of the Logistics leadership team, i have to take calls and answer
queries even in weekend and with my family. and even after office hours.
The most enjoyable part of the job is you learn everyday from the challenges of
operations. You are easily building your confidence and decision making skills,
molding me to be better every day.
Pros
Tool of trade (Car), Rice subsidy, Communication Allownce, Well compensated
Cons
Long hours, I need to answer inquiries even weekend and after office hours
PROFILE:
Nestlé's products include baby food, medical food, bottled water, breakfast cereals,
coffee and tea, confectionery, dairy products, ice cream, frozen food, pet foods,
and snacks. Twenty-nine of Nestlé's brands have annual sales of over CHF1 billion
(about US$1.1 billion), including Nespresso, Nescafé, Kit Kat, Smarties, Nesquik,
Stouffer's, Vittel, and Maggi. Nestlé has 447 factories, operates in 194 countries,
and employs around 339,000 people. It is one of the main shareholders of L'Oreal,
the world's largest cosmetics company
HISTORY:
Nestlé was formed in 1905 by the merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company,
established in 1866 by brothers George and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée
Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé (born Heinrich Nestle). The
company grew significantly during the First World War and again following the
Second World War, expanding its offerings beyond its early condensed milk and
infant formula products. The company has made a number of corporate
acquisitions, including Crosse & Blackwell in 1950, Findus in 1963, Libby's in
1971, Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988, and Gerber in 2007.
Nestlé has a primary listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange and is a constituent of the
Swiss Market Index. It has a secondary listing on Euronext.
CULTURE:
Nestle has well-built business culture which is mirrored by the business logo itself.
The logo, "Good Food Good Life" which is all the time affixed to its merchandise
is the major direction for every activity inside the business. Nestle considers that
good food is the chief basis of good health throughout life therefore it always sets
nutrition, health and wellness as the centre of its business. The corporation tries to
additionally expand and stress on these aspects. These three things Nutrition,
Health and Wellness can be seen in all Nestle products and in the business mission
statement additionally. (Ali et al (2009))
Talking regarding the corporation culture which is associated its people formation;
Nestle has the culture of group determined and open gate policy which turn out to
be one of its corporate strong points. The company emphasizes on collectivism and
presentation direction approach to support workforce to work harder (Ali et al,
2009).
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART:
FEEDBACK:
- each day one takes about 50-100 calls per day depending on call volume
-enjoyable atmosphere with outgoing co-workers
-the most difficult part of the job are the limitations that come with it in terms of
who can be communicated/how a situation should be handled according to
company policies
-the most enjoyable part of the job is making a customer's day easier and better
Pros
Decent start pay
Cons
Lack of benefits, pay raises
LUXURY COMPANY
RALPH LAUREN
PROFILE:
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design,
marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in four categories:
apparel, home, accessories and fragrances. For 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation
and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding
number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand
names, which include Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Ralph Lauren Collection,
Double RL, Polo Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children’s, Ralph Lauren
Home, Lauren Ralph Lauren, RLX, American Living, Chaps and Club Monaco,
constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands.
HISTORY:
The Polo/Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) has become one of the best-known
fashion design and licensing houses in the world. Founded by American designer
Ralph Lauren in the late 1960s, the company boomed in the 1980s as Lauren's
designs came to be associated with a sophisticated and distinctly American
attitude. The company's first products were wide ties, but it soon designed and
manufactured an entire line of menswear before entering the more lucrative
women's fashion market as a designer and licenser. By the 1980s, the Polo/Ralph
Lauren name helped sell a wide array of products, including fragrances and
accessories for men and women, clothing for young boys and infants, and a variety
of housewares, shoes, furs, jewelry, leather goods, hats, and eyewear. Menswear
accounted for 42 percent of 2003 sales of $2.44 billion. Womenswear was the next
largest segment (25 percent), followed by fragrances, accessories, children's, and
home. Brands include Polo, Lauren, Chaps, and Club Monaco. The company
licenses nearly 300 manufacturers and 100 retail outlets around the world. RL also
runs 240 of its own stores in the United States.
Ralph Lifshitz was born on October 14, 1939 in the Bronx to a middle class Jewish
family. Somewhere along the way he had his surname legally changed to "Lauren."
His father was an artist and housepainter; his mother was reportedly disappointed
Ralph did not become a rabbi.
The Polo Empire began in the late 1960s, when Lauren, then a clothing salesman,
got sick of selling other people's neckties and decided to design and sell his own.
Lauren had no experience in fashion design, but he had grown up in the New York
fashion world, selling men's gloves, suits, and ties. In 1967, he went to his
employer, Abe Rivetz, with a proposal to design a line of ties, but Rivetz told him,
"The world is not ready for Ralph Lauren." Lauren decided that it was, and he
convinced clothier Beau Brummel to manufacture his Polo line of neckwear. "I
didn't know how to make a tie," Lauren confessed to Vogue in 1982. "I didn't know
fabric, I didn't know measurements. What did I know? That I was a salesman. That
I was honest. And that all I wanted was quality." Lauren's ties were wider and
more colorful than other ties on the market and they soon found a niche, first in
small menswear stores and later in the fashionable Bloomingdale's department
store.
Within a year, Lauren decided to form his company with help from his brother
Jerry and $50,000 in backing from Norman Hilton, a Manhattan clothing
manufacturer. The company, Polo Fashions, Inc. (which changed its name to
Polo/Ralph Lauren Corporation in 1987), expanded the Polo menswear collection
to include shirts, suits, and sportswear, as well as the trademark ties. The company
designed, manufactured, and distributed the Polo collection, which met with the
approval of both the department stores that featured the clothes and the fashion
critics who praised their style. Fashion critic Bernadine Morris was quoted in Time
as saying, "He's acquired a certain reputation for clothes that are, you know, with
it. But not too with it. Not enough to shock the boys at the bank." In 1970, Lauren
received the coveted Coty Award for menswear. In a rare move, Lauren then began
designing clothes for women as well as for men. His first designs--men's dress
shirts cut for women--met with great success in 1971, and soon sales topped $10
million.
The rapid growth of Polo Fashions, Inc. proved hard to manage for the young
entrepreneur, who had succeeded in crafting a brand identity but not in managing
his business. By 1972, according to Time, "Lauren suddenly discovered that his
enterprise was almost bankrupt because of poor financial management and the
costs of headlong expansion." "I almost blew my business," Lauren told Forbes. "I
wasn't shipping on time and had problems delivering." "It was probably ... one of
the darkest moments in my life," he remembered in New York. Scrambling to
survive, Lauren invested $100,000 of his savings in the business and convinced
Peter Strom to leave his job with Norman Hilton and become his partner. The
arrangement gave Lauren 90 percent and Strom 10 percent ownership. Strom
described their duties to the New York Times Magazine: "We divide the work this
way: I do everything Ralph doesn't want to do; and I don't do anything he likes to
do. He designs, he does advertising, public relations; I do the rest." The Lauren
brothers and Strom soon made changes in the structure of the company that set the
stage for more than two decades of unparalleled success.
During its first four years, Polo Fashions, Inc. had controlled each stage in the
clothes making process, from design, to manufacture, to distribution. Their first
step in reorganization was to concentrate on what they did best--design--and leave
the rest to other companies. With this in mind, Polo Fashions, Inc. licensed the
manufacture of Ralph Lauren brand women swear to Stuart Kreisler, an
experienced manufacturer who set out to build the reputation of the Lauren brand
name. Under licensing agreements, the designer got a cut of wholesale revenues--
usually between 5 and 8 percent for Polo, according to Forbes--and shared in
advertising costs. Such agreements would be the basis for Polo's future business.
Moreover, Strom insisted that those retailers who sold the company's clothes make
a commitment to selling the entire line, which meant they had to carry the $350
Polo suit. "That eliminated two-thirds of our accounts," Strom told Vogue. "But
those who stayed with us experienced our commitment to them, and it wasn't long
before we felt their loyalty in return." With business once again secure, the
company was able to turn its attention to crafting a brand image as distinctive as
any in America.
CULTURE:
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
FEEDBACK:
Pros
diverse and friendly environment, good discounts, and good company culture
Cons
management at the time wasn't great in my store
ENERGY COMPANY
SHELL
PROFILE:
Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry,
including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing,
petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It also has renewable energy
activities in the form of biofuels, windand hydrogen. Shell has operations in over
70 countries, produces around 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has
44,000 service stations worldwide. As of 31 December 2014, Shell had total
proved reserves of 13.7 billion barrels (2.18×109 m3) of oil equivalent. Shell Oil
Company, its principal subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest
businesses. Shell holds 50% of Raízen, a joint venture with Cosan, which is the
third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues and a major producer of
ethanol.
Shell was formed in 1907 through the amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum
Company of the Netherlands and the "Shell" Transport and Trading Company of
the United Kingdom. Until its unification in 2005 the firm operated as a dual-listed
company, whereby the British and Dutch companies maintained their legal
existence but operated as a single-unit partnership for business purposes. Shell first
entered the chemicals industry in 1929. In 1970 Shell acquired the mining
company Billiton, which it subsequently sold in 1994 and now forms part of BHP
Billiton. In recent decades gas exploration and production has become an
increasingly important part of Shell's business. Shell acquired BG Group in 2016,
making it the world's largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of
the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of £185 billion at the close of
trading on 30 December 2016, by far the largest of any company listed on the
London Stock Exchange and among the highest of any company in the world. It
has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock
Exchange. As of January 2013, Shell's largest shareholder was Capital Research
Global Investors with 9.85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6.89%.Shell's
logo, known as the "pecten", is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the
world.
HISTORY:
Early beginnings
The market for oil remained confined to lighting and lubricants until, in 1886, the
internal combustion engine and demand for gasoline arrived with Karl Benz and
the first Mercedes. By now the Samuel business had passed to Marcus Samuel
junior and his brother Sam. They exported British machinery, textiles and tools to
newly industrialising Japan and the Far East and on return imported rice, silk,
china and copperware to the Middle East and Europe. In London, they traded in
commodities such as sugar, flour and wheat worldwide.
It was during a trip to Japan that Marcus became interested in the oil exporting
business based in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was part of Russia at that time. The
Rothschilds had invested heavily in the 1880s in rail and tunnels to overcome the
transport difficulties of getting oil from this landlocked base to the Black Sea and
from there to overseas markets. Shipping still posed a problem as the oil was
carried in barrels, which could leak and took up much space in the ship’s hold
CULTURE:
We were one of the first global companies to state and share our beliefs when we
published our General Business Principles in 1976. As part of these principles, we
commit to contribute to sustainable development, balancing short and long-term
interests and integrating economic, environmental and social considerations into
our decision-making.
All Shell employees and contractors, and those at joint ventures we operate, are
expected to understand and continually behave in line with our Business
Principles. We expect suppliers, and joint ventures that we do not operate, to apply
equivalent principles.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART:
FEEDBACK:
Pros
The company is a great place to work, and not always famous for that but usually
employees are very happy and loyal. There is a big support for people's
development, great benefits to move and realocate, most of the places offer great
flexibility, meaning that you can work virtually, part time or sharing a role if
needed and would be totally supported, etc.
Cons
The size of the company causes red-tape to be something usual. Is not as bad as in
other companies, but still you need to talk with 1,000,000 before taking action