• Posted on October 16, 2023
• Libin

Assignment Sample on M451 Supply Chain Management

Problem 1: A case study of Johnson and Johnson

1.1. Introduction and Historical overview of the company

Johnson and Johnson provide baby oil in the US market and makes “no more tears” shampoo for the babies. The company is a leading brand in the US market where they offers also health care solutions for the customers. The company provides cancer treatments to customers (Barbara Brody, 2020). Johnson and Johnson came into the market as a small company. After 1886, Robert Wood Johnson established a new big company with his brothers James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson. The big company would work on sterilizing procedures and medical bandages, to develop a more successful type of post-operative sterilization than Lister’s carbolic acid spraying method. As per the view of Askari et al. (2020), in 1887, the Johnson brothers formalized their business and name after Johnson & Johnson. After 1988 the company released two essential products in the market to compete with the other companies in the market.

Figure 1: Development of expenditure

(Source: Barbara Brody, 2020)

Johnson & Johnson’s first-aid box immediately proved popular with both industrial employees and ordinary customers. As per the view of James et al. (2019), the company produces the best quality of products for babies and pregnant women. This is frequently referred to as the company’s “legacy baby” business in the US market. The company accomplished this product by producing two products: baby powder and baby shampoo which is still available today. Moreover, it offers maternity kits, which were developed to ensure delivery more hygienic, and healthier. After that, the company has built its reputation in the market by offering the best quality sanitation products and health care products for babies. The business was responsible for the first affordable, widely available hygienic menstruation tampons for women, the first surplus dental floss, and a higher quality of first oil, powder, and shampoo for babies and infants, among other things. It developed antiseptic, low-cost surgical sutures, and sterilized plaster for healing wounds after therapy. Ortho-Gynol, America’s first prescription contraceptive, was introduced by Johnson & Johnson in 1931.

1.2. Global network planning and logistics

The global network can help the business to plan and get a good outcome from the market to build a leading brand. Johnson and Johnson, the global network has helped effectively to build the market power and capture a higher customer base from the market. Therefore, it has shown that the business has built its network through advanced technology and intelligent supply chain through the business networks (Wbresearch.com, 2021). Digital technology can increase the company’s infrastructure in the supply chain and improve the brand value in the market. The customer also gains advantages with the help of digitalization in the supply chain in the management. The business has developed the supply chain with a core of data where customer experience is a major concern of a business. The business has better information technology capabilities to send the data to the market.

Figure 2: Supply chain management

(Source: Tsymbal et al. 2019)

Applications are sent out to the value of supply chain collect and index large amounts of data depending on pre-determined specifications. Therefore, it can be stated that making an intelligent supply chain that is used in automation and data can increase the financial performance of the business and customers can maximize their utility by purchasing products from the market. As per the view of Tsymbal et al. (2019), through the global networks and effective supply chain management in the business, the company has gained a competitive advantage from the market and competes with the other companies. Therefore, it can be stated that the business can increase their customer base from the market and get a higher range of profit from the market through the global networks. The effective supply chain is beneficial for the company to generate profit from the market so that they can compete within the sector in a market.

1.3. Inventory management

The business adopted advanced inventory management in the business to grow as a leading company in the market. Advanced inventory management enables more effective inventory and businesses can purchase and order in the market. Advanced technology in inventory may be set up to the normalized orders and purchasing quantity in the business. As per the view of Samakayanusorn (2021), it can reduce the number of times and the business can get a higher range of profit through selling the inventory in the market. The systems of the inventory are easy to use in the business and it can customize the software where the business can freely access it. It can achieve users’ needs and aims in the market to capture the customer’s attention in the market (Jnjmedicaldevices.com, 2021). Advanced inventory management is compatible with the healthcare system in the business. It can communicate with the security in the business where employees are safe.

Figure 3: Inventory management

(Source: Samakayanusorn, 2021)

The advanced inventory management for Johnson and Johnson provides electronic inventory management where the management offers a real-time viability health care system. The barcode technology has been implemented in this business where its inventory through virtual stages to get a piece of better information from the market. The cabinets are essential for this business where the business can solve the problem of advanced inventory management in the business (Jnjmedicaldevices.com, 2021). It can reduce misplacement and solve the storage solution effectively for the business (Baker et al. 2020). The barcode scanning is accurate for inventory management and efficient for the business. Therefore, it can be stated that advanced technology can reduce the associated cost for the business to generate income from the market. This business also has been faced such a lower rate of costs by implementing eSIMS software in the business.

1.4. Use of advanced technology

Information technology can shape the workplace in certain ways in the business to solve the marker crises. It has shown that the third industrial revolution that brought digitalization into the market changes a person’s career paths in the market. The innovative power is a major fact that changes a business strategy by implementing new technologies into the business to reduce costs. As per the view of Lin et al. (2020), the business can generate higher profit from the market. The distribution of management work and operational activities can be done by implementing new technology. The business can maximize its profits from the market by reducing costs in the business. This business focuses on digital technology in the business to cope with the market crises in the pandemic period. The business has the capability to earn more profit during the pandemic by implementing advanced technology in the supply chain and inventory management.

Johnson and Johnson adopted advanced technology during the pandemic period where they have faced a higher range of profit. Advanced inventory management brings a higher profit through selling inventory with the help of software that is beneficial for the business to generate income from the market. As per the view of Simamora (2019), advanced technology can bring a higher profit margin into the business where a business can adopt innovation policy and other aspects in the business. It can help to reduce costs and save time to generate income from the market mechanisms. Johnson and Johnson have been adopted such technology and brought the innovative approach into the business to get a better working environment in the business. The employees and other staff can also be beneficial for this advanced technology where they can share and freely communicate with the leaders.

1.5. Pricing strategy and customer service

Johnson and Johnson is a leading brand in the US market where the company offers an affordable price in the economy. The customer is also benefited from purchasing this product as it offers a high-quality commodity in the market. As per the view of Bahadir et al. (2020), the business follows a better pricing strategy in the market and keeps the customer price index with a higher range. The business also follows psychological pricing tools and techniques to maintain the price range in the market. Therefore, in this case, the customer is benefited by ordering its goods and services and the business generated a higher profit from the market base. The business offers a high quality of products with a better packaging system. Furthermore, the company has been appointed a better team for the pricing strategy in the business to set up a price in an affordable range.

The team of Johnsons and Johnson considers the target segments, demand, and supply in the business. As per the view of Sudari et al. (2019), with the strong distribution of the network, there is no shortage of production of the business. It is extensively available in the market because of the strong network and the business has a major reputation in the market. Digitalization and advanced technology can increase the customer base experience in the market and increase the net profit margin. The business creates awareness through advertising and the business has a good targeting strategy in the market. The marketing strategy is effective for this business where the business has generated a higher range of profit and gross profit margin from the market.

1.6. Ethical and environmental policy

Johnson and Johnson offer a broad range of environmental and economic policies that is important for its stakeholders. The business adopted environmental health and safety management that represents protecting the environmental issues in the workplace. Therefore, this policy refers to the responsible citizen must focus on the environmental issues and other aspects in the business to recover the pandemic situation (Jnj.com, 2021). The business has built awareness in the market where they calm the people who are panicking about this pandemic situation. The environmental policy in this business requires having a clear and effective process. The business is beneficial with this policy as the working culture is proper in the business and the environment after the pandemic period everyone is concerned about health and hygiene. Therefore, the business has been decided to apply a policy for getting a better environment like Environmental and health and safety in the business.

Corporations have a vital role in business and society as well. The function of corporations can affect people and their activities. Therefore, in protecting people and communities the government has played a different kind of role to lease a rule and regulation to protect the society (Jnj.com, 2021). The business has bound to obey those rules and regulations in business to capture the market power quickly. The policies can be different from region to region where the business should obey the rule and follows it to apply in the workplace. There is a fundamental duty for society to get a better environment so that the employees can share and create in the business to contribute effectively. The laws and rules are important factors for the business to follow where the customer can also obey those rules to purchase from the market.

1.7. Conclusion and recommendation

It has been concluded that Johnson and Johnson is a leading brand where it provides high-quality products to the customer with the help of advanced technology. Furthermore, through the global networks, the company has been implemented digitalization in the management to secure their time to invest in the market and other aspects. Pricing strategy and marketing strategy have been covered in this study to understand the business strategy of the company.

Recommendation

It has been concluded that the company should range their price in a lower range so that every region can buy their product. Furthermore, the company should protect the employees during this pandemic as they are a major part of the business. The business can also set up a vaccination centre for those who cannot afford the process. Therefore, the company can build its reputation and image towards the customer to build a market value in the US market. It has been concluded that a better inventory management and operation management the company has successfully built a market value in the global market. However, there are certain facts that the company needs to improve to generate income from the market in the upcoming period.

 

Problem 2: Collaborative game theory

a) Characteristic functions

The collaborative game theory lies in a competitive situation with different costs. The characteristics of all the functions are determined in this study. As per the view of Balza et al. (2017), the characteristics of function in the game theory can be determined by pairs of two values of (N, v). However, N is the number of players and v is the characteristics function that measures the payoff matrix. In this case, the University of Portsmouth leases telephone lines and charges a certain amount of money for every call per hour. As per the case study, the cost of calls per hour is 30, and determines the other university’s costs of all calls.

Three universities make certain calls per hour and determine the costs. The school of mathematics and physics makes (150+ (30*a)) calls per hour. The school of civil engineering makes 120+ (30*b) per hour and rest of the universities make (90+30*c) per hour. However, ‘a’ is 5, ‘b’ is 7 and ‘c’ is 3 of the student ID that is given.

Therefore, the number of universities is 3 as a number of players in this game theory and the characteristics of functions are: –

Player 1: 150+ (30*5) = 150+150 = 300

Player 2: 120+ (30*7) = 120+210 = 330

Player 3: 90+ (30*3) = 90+90 = 180

The characteristics of function can be determined below:

v= {∅, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2}, {2,3}, {1,3}, {1,2,3}}

v= {{1} = 300, {2} = 330, {3} = 180, {1.2} = 330, {2,3} = 330, {1,3} = 300, {1,2,3} = 330}

b) Empty core

The core of a game theory can be empty and has a set of payoff matrices in that theory. In this case, three universities make different phone calls per hour and are represented as the number of players. As per the view of Alvarez et al. (2019), the empty core can be finite or infinite that is based on the players and matrices. In this case, there is the unique point of an empty core that can be derived as (n+1/2) that refers to (3+1/2) = 2 which is a unique value of the empty core. Therefore, it can be stated that the empty core has a unique value. There is a unique value of the core in this game theory to get the major benefit at the end of the play. In this case, there are no infinity points in this game by making phone calls.

c) The Shapley value

The Shapley value is the process of a game theory that can be calculated fairly and check the distribution whether it gains or losses for the players. As per the view of Jia et al. (2019), the game theory involves two or more players during the strategy and gets a better measurement of payoff matrices in the theory. The Shapley value can be determined with the summation of the average of three players’ costs in this case. The three players have the costs of phone calls which are 300, 330, and 180.

Therefore, the Shapley value can be derived by (300/3, 330/3, 180/3) in collaborative game theory. The values of Shapley are (100, 110, 60) which is lower than (500, 250, 250) in a practice. Therefore, it can be stated that the payoff matrices are not stable as it distributed unequally and universities do not gain from making phone calls with the number of costs. As per the view of Kumar et al. (2020), the players make no profit out of this game as it is lower than the stability condition of Shapley value in the game theory. A smaller set cannot be achieved the goals and objectives of the players. In this case, there is a small set of the universities that have been measured in the above which is not a satisfactory measurement of Shapley value.

d) Stability

The coalition of three players is not stable as it has a smaller set to achieve the goals and objectives in the game theory. As per the view of Ancona et al. (2019), a smaller set cannot gain the advantages from the game theory as in this case the university can face a higher range of costs by making phone calls per hour. Therefore, it can be stated that instability in game theory can be the loss of playing games with fair distributions. In this case, there is no fairly distributed outcome in the three universities to have a better payoff matrix in making phone calls. As per the view of Nazari et al. (2019), the smaller, the value, the lower, the payoff matrix that the player is able to get from a game theory. Therefore, it has been shown that the three universities are going to face a loss by making phone calls and paying the higher amount of costs at the end. Therefore, in this game, the loss of universities can be faced during the play.

e) Recommendation

Shapley value is an average marginal contribution cost for the players to gain advantages from the market. In this case, the players have not achieved advantages by making calls. Therefore, it can be stated that the universities have been lost in this game theory. As a result, the universities should make calls for the first five lines with higher costs and get a higher set at the end of the game. Therefore, it can be concluded that the three universities should raise their phone call per hour and get the first five lines for making calls to get the broader range of costs in the play. A higher set can be achieved the player’s goals and aims in the market. Therefore, for stability in Shapley value, the player should increase the amount of cost to make a phone call per hour and get the higher range of set at the end. Based on the consideration of the above recommendations it can be expected that the University of Portsmouth will be able to understand the situation and will be able to make effective decisions.

 

 

Reference

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Ancona, M., Oztireli, C. and Gross, M., 2019, May. Explaining deep neural networks with a polynomial time algorithm for shapley value approximation. In International Conference on Machine Learning (pp. 272-281). PMLR.

Askari-Sayah, M., Pourabbas, A. and Sahami, A., 2020. Johnson pseudo-contractibility and pseudo-amenability of θ-lau product. Kragujevac Journal of Mathematics, 44(4), pp.593-601.

Bahadir, S., Cem; BHARADWAj, Sundar G.; and SRIVASTAVA, Rajendra K. 2020, Marketing mix and brand sales in global markets: Examining the contingent role of country-market characteristics.(2015). Journal of International Business Studies, 46(5), pp.596-619.

Baker, S.R., Johnson, S.G. and Kueng, L., 2020. Financial Returns to Household Inventory Management (No. w27740). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Balza-Franco, V., Paternina-Arboleda, C.D., Cantillo, V., Macea, L.F. and Ramírez-Ríos, D.G., 2017. A collaborative supply chain model for non-for-profit networks based on cooperative game theory. International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 26(4), pp.475-496.

James, M.M.A., Kee, D.M.H., Xian, T.H., Han, K.C., Ching, K.K. and Alshammari, M.S., 2019. Johnson & Johnson’s product safety issues and ways the company can address those issues. Asia Pacific Journal of Management and Education (APJME), 2(3), pp.7-18.

Jia, R., Dao, D., Wang, B., Hubis, F.A., Hynes, N., Gürel, N.M., Li, B., Zhang, C., Song, D. and Spanos, C.J., 2019, April. Towards efficient data valuation based on the shapley value. In The 22nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics (pp. 1167-1176). PMLR.

Kumar, I.E., Venkatasubramanian, S., Scheidegger, C. and Friedler, S., 2020, November. Problems with Shapley-value-based explanations as feature importance measures. In International Conference on Machine Learning (pp. 5491-5500). PMLR.

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Nazari, M.H., Hosseinian, S.H. and Azad-Farsani, E., 2019. Shapley value-based techno-economic framework for harmonic and loss mitigation. IEEE access, 7, pp.119576-119592.

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Websites

Barbara Brody, 2020, Technologies and other aspects in Johnson and Johnson. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/innovation/johnson-johnson-supply-chain-technology-during-coronavirus [Accessed on – 23.12.2021]

Jnj.com, 2021, policies in Johnson and Johnson. Available at: https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/policies-and-positions [Accessed on -23.12.2021]

Jnjmedicaldevices.com, 2021, Inventory management of Johnson and Johnson. Available at: https://www.jnjmedicaldevices.com/sites/default/files/user_uploaded_assets/pdf_assets/2019-06/DSEM-INS-0814-0010%281%29%20-%20JJ%20eSIMS%20Leaflet%20SCREEN%20RES.pdf[Accessed on -23.12.2021]

Wbresearch.com, 2021, Supply chain management of Johnson and Johnson. Available at: https://supplychainnext.wbresearch.com/blog/johnson-johnson-intelligent-supply-chain [Accessed on – 23.12.2021]