This note looks at a key link in the supply chain, procurement, from a B2B perspective. It presents various forms of electronic purchasing and the types of goods they can be used for.

After analyzing the problems described in case A, case B presents various possible solutions.

The case describes the situation of one of the leading companies in the luxury goods market. The company's executive vice-president is planning some changes in the supply chain to enhance the speed of response.

The case describes an innovative approach to online DVD rental pioneered by Netflix in a sector hampered by short life-cycle products (movies). The industry has a supply chain that is prone to misaligned incentives between echelons, resulting in product shortages and poor customer satisfaction. Amango hopes to import this business concept pioneered by Netflix to Germany. To be able to do so, the company must copy Netflix's operating system and ma...

Note prepared as an aid to instructors in the classroom use of case P-1068-E The Amango Project: Taking Online DVD Rental to Germany.

The case describes the operations of Aldi, a privately owned German company. With sales of estimated €40 billion in 2005, Aldi is the largest hard discounter world-wide and one of the top 15 retailers today. The case gives a detailed description of Aldi's historical development, with a clear focus on in-store and supply chain operations.

After the end of the Iraq war of 2003, the US-led administration in Iraq decided to introduce a new currency into the country. This was for several reasons: a) to use a currency without the head of Saddam Hussein on the notes, b) to give stability to the economy and c) to have more than just one domination of bill in circulation (up until then, the only bill in use was 250 dinars (20 US cents) and there were no coins). The design of the new money...

Borgers Group, a fifth generation owner-managed family business producing textile-based sound-proofing solutions for the European automotive industry, has established production facilities all over Europe, including three factories in the Czech Republic. The company has a track record of quality and innovation and is a supplier to all automotive companies in Europe, including Audi, BMW, Bentley and Mercedes. While Borgers' largest production faci...

This case tracks Henkel's initiative in reducing its net working capital (NWC). The case can be used in a both a finance and a supply chain management class to illustrate net working capital and the link between the strategic/financial notions of NWC and operative efficiency of the supply chain.

In 2003, Famosa, one of the top ten toy manufacturers in the world, underwent a restructuring process that entailed moving most of its production to China. This restructuring process forced the production manager to rethink the company's entire production strategy and face some fundamental challenges. On the one hand, production in China lowered costs but lengthened delivery times, which reduced flexibility in adapting production to demand. In a...