Operative level purchasing in pharmaceutical wholesale trade

Tämän tutkintotyön tavoitteena on selvittää operatiivista ostotoimintaa, joka sisältää oikea-aikaisen tilausrytmin ja tasapainoisen tilausmäärän määrityksen sekä saapuvan tavaravirran mukauttamisen myyntiin tai kulutukseen kokonaisuutena. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan myös varastojen merkitystä ja ostotoiminnan kannalta keskeisimpiä tehokkaaseen varastonohjaukseen liittyviä tunnuslukuja. Tutkimus sisältää lääkkeiden toimitusketjun kuvauksen, koska se poikkeaa merkittävästi muista toimialoista. Tämä tutkintotyö on syntetisoiva kirjallisuustutkimus. Tutkintotyön empiirisessä osassa analysoidaan aluksi case-yrityksen vaihto-omaisuusvaraston ohjausta ostotoiminnan näkökulmasta ABC analyysiin pohjautuen. Tämän jälkeen ostotoimintaa analysoidaan tarkemmin tiettyjen toimittajien osalta. Lopuksi laaditaan optimaalinen tilausrytmi ja tilausmäärät sekä ostobudjetti yhden toimittajan tuotteille. ABC analyysia voidaan hyödyntää työkaluna määriteltäessä miten erilaisten tuotteiden materiaalivirtoja tulisi ostotoiminnan kannalta ohjata. Analyysi perustuu resurssien keskittämiseen sinne missä tuotto on suurin.

Budgeting, budgetary control and management information in the highways departments

The need for an adequate information system for the Highways Departments in the United Kingdom has been recognised by the report of a committee presented to the Minister of Transport in 1970, (The Marshall Report). This research aims to present a comprehensive information system on a sound theoretical basis which should enable the different levels of management to execute their work adequately. The suggested system presented in this research covers the different functions of the Highways Department, and presents a suggested solution for problems which may occur during the planning and controlling of work in the different locations of the Highways Department. The information system consists of:- 1. A coding system covering the cost units, cost centres and cost elements. 2. Cost accounting records for the cost units and cost centres. 3. A budgeting and budgetary control system covering, the different planning methods and procedures which are required for preparing the capital expenditure budget, the improvement and maintenance operation flexible budgets and programme of work, the plant budget, the administration budget, and the purchasing budget. 4. A reporting system which ensures that the different levels of management are receiving relevant and timely information. 5. The flow of documents which covers the relationship between the prime documents, the cost accounting records, budgets, reports and their relation to the different sections and offices within the department. A comprehensive cost units, cost centres, and cost elements codes together with a number of examples demonstrating the results of the survey, and examples of the application and procedures of the suggested information system have been illustrated separately as appendices. The emphasis is on the information required for internal control by management personnel within the County Council.

Australian import managers' purchasing decision behaviour: An empirical study

Reports a pilot study of the relative importance of import decision variables as rated by Australian managers. A systematic sample qi 104 Australian managers representing different companies participated in the study. Australian importers rated product quality as the most important variable when importing products from overseas followed by long-term suppliers' dependability, product style/feature, price, and timely delivery. Australian managers who import consumer products find the domestic import duties and tariffs to be more important than did those who import industrial products. Larger volume importers regard the product brand name reputation to be more important than did those who import smaller volumes.

Demand elasticities for food products in Brazil: a two-stage budgeting system

The object of this article is to estimate demand elasticities for a basket of staple food important for providing the caloric needs of Brazilian households. These elasticities are useful in the measurement of the impact of structural reforms on poverty. A two-stage demand system was constructed, based on data from Household Expenditure Surveys (POF) produced by IBGE (The Brazilian Bureau of Statistics) in 1987/88 and 1995/96. We have used panel data to estimate the model, and have calculated income, own-price, and cross-price elasticities for eight groups of goods and services and, in the second stage, for 11 sub groups of staple food products. We estimated those elasticities for the whole sample of consumers and for two income groups.

Investigating the gap between citizens` sustainability attitudes and food purchasing behaviour: empirical evidence from Brazilian pork consumers

Consumers worldwide are increasingly concerned with sustainable production and consumption. Recently, a comprehensive study ranked 17 countries in regard to their environmentally friendly behaviour among consumers. Brazil was one of the top countries in the list. Yet, several studies highlight significant differences between consumers` intentions to consume ethically, and their actual purchase behaviour: the so-called `Attitude-Behaviour Gap`. In developing countries, few studies have been conducted on this issue. The objective of this study is therefore to investigate the gap between citizens` sustainability-related attitudes and food purchasing behaviour using empirical data from Brazil. To this end, Brazilian citizens` attitudes towards pig production systems were mapped through conjoint analysis and their coexistence with relevant pork product-related purchasing behaviour of consumers was investigated through cluster analysis. The conjoint experiment was carried Out with empirical data collected from 475 respondents surveyed in the South and Center-West regions of Brazil. The results of the conjoint analysis were used for a subsequent cluster analysis in order to identify clusters of Brazilian citizens with diversified attitudes towards pig production systems, using socio-demographics, attitudes towards sustainability-related themes that are expected to influence the way they evaluate pig production systems, and consumption frequency of various pork products as clusters` background information. Three clusters were identified as `indifferent`, `environmental conscious` and `sustainability-oriented` citizens. Although attitudes towards environment and nature had indeed an influence on citizens` specific attitudes towards pig farming at the cluster level, the relationship between `citizenship` and consumption behaviour was found to be weak. This finding is similar to previous research conducted with European consumers: what people (in their role of citizens) think about pig production systems does not appear to significantly influence their pork consumption choices. Improvements in the integrated management of this chain would better meet consumers` sustainability-related expectations towards pig production systems.

Investment prioritization based on broadscale spatial budgeting to meet downstream targets for suspended sediment loads

On the basis of a spatially distributed sediment budget across a large basin, costs of achieving certain sediment reduction targets in rivers were estimated. A range of investment prioritization scenarios were tested to identify the most cost-effective strategy to control suspended sediment loads. The scenarios were based on successively introducing more information from the sediment budget. The relationship between spatial heterogeneity of contributing sediment sources on cost effectiveness of prioritization was investigated. Cost effectiveness was shown to increase with sequential introduction of sediment budget terms. The solution which most decreased cost was achieved by including spatial information linking sediment sources to the downstream target location. This solution produced cost curves similar to those derived using a genetic algorithm formulation. Appropriate investment prioritization can offer large cost savings because the magnitude of the costs can vary by several times depending on what type of erosion source or sediment delivery mechanism is targeted. Target settings which only consider the erosion source rates can potentially result in spending more money than random management intervention for achieving downstream targets. Coherent spatial patterns of contributing sediment emerge from the budget model and its many inputs. The heterogeneity in these patterns can be summarized in a succinct form. This summary was shown to be consistent with the cost difference between local and regional prioritization for three of four test catchments. To explain the effect for the fourth catchment, the detail of the individual sediment sources needed to be taken into account.

Improving the public management career: report for the ministry of planning, budgeting e management, federal government of Brazil

This report sets out the findings and recommendations of a review of the Public Management Career (EPPGG) undertaken between 5 and 9 January 2009. The purpose of the review was to clarify EPPGG???s role, functions and profile, and to develop proposals for improving its effectiveness and management, taking account of the context within which such improvements would have to be implemented. Specific objectives were to examine a number of human resources management (HRM) aspects of the career in the light of international practice, including recruitment; initial education; professional development; performance evaluation; deployment; mobility and networking.

Budgeting and resource allocation in universities: a public choice approach

The calls for colleges and universities to improve their productivity are coming thick and fast in Brazil. Many studies are suggesting evaluation systems and external criteria to control the quality of teaching and research in universities. Since universities and colleges are not profit-oriented organizations (considering only the legitimate and serious research and teaching organizations, of course), the traditional microeconomics and administrative variables used to measure efficiency do not have any direct function. An alternative would be to create an "as if" market control system to evaluate performance in universities and colleges. Internal budget and resources allocation mechanism can be used as incentive instruments to improve quality and productivity. It will be the main issue of this article.

Beyond budgeting: inovação ou resgate de antigos conceitos do orçamento empresarial?

O estudo tem por objetivo analisar a abordagem conhecida pela expressão "beyond budgeting", que faz o questionamento do que é denominado abordagem "tradicional" do orçamento empresarial, e avaliar se ela constitui uma inovação. A estratégia do desenvolvimento do trabalho é orientada por uma pesquisa bibliográfica, a partir da qual a análise se desenvolve. Esta trata as questões levantadas por críticos e confronta os clássicos do tema no sentido de tentar identificar possíveis inovações e novos problemas que possam derivar da nova abordagem. Em termos gerais, sugere-se que se trata de um novo ciclo que tenta recuperar os aspectos qualitativos clássicos do orçamento, que, uma vez cumpridos, não precisariam de um novo rótulo para serem administrativamente efetivos. Adicionalmente, afirma-se que a abordagem, além de não resolver alguns problemas que a ausência do orçamento pode acarretar, cria outros que não existiriam sem a referida proposta.

STOCK EXCHANGE LISTING INDUCES SOPHISTICATION OF CAPITAL BUDGETING

This article compares capital budgeting techniques employed in listed and unlisted companies in Brazil. We surveyed the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of 398 listed companies and 300 large unlisted companies, and based on 91 respondents, the results suggest that the CFOs of listed companies tend to use less simplistic methods more often, for example: NPV and CAPM, and that CFOs of unlisted companies are less likely to estimate the cost of equity, despite being large companies. These findings indicate that stock exchange listing may require greater sophistication of the capital budgeting process.

Importance of decision-making in a purchasing context – DPS Case Study

This work project has the objective of exploring the importance of making good decisions on supplier selection, so that the purchasing department can contribute to the success of a company. For that it is presented a short bibliography review of the latest insights that were found relevant, on the subjects of purchasing, technology, outsourcing, supplier selection and decision-making techniques. For a better understating on how to deal with a decision-making situation, a case study is also presented: Digital Printing Solutions (DPS) is a Portuguese company that provides complete and integrated printing solutions and has been planning to contract a software supplier. DPS has no formal supplier-selection model and it has to choose between 2 suppliers. The case study was solved using the M-MACBETH software. I have found that complex decisions-making situations can be easily overcome by using the M-MACBETH decision model. Moreover, the usage of a model, instead of decision that follows no formal procedure, provides the decision maker with insights that can be useful to negotiate with the supplier.

Attitudes and behaviors of Croation consumers towards wine purchasing

This paper focuses on the importance of consumers’ habits, preferences and needs in the Croatian wine market to have a better understanding of consumer purchase and consumption behavior. Survey was conducted on Croatian consumers to identify purchasing variables and explain consumer attitudes and behaviors. Along with the online survey, results were also provided using additional journals and research examples. Both measures offered a better understanding of the issues mentioned. Additionally, both may be used in order to implement effective marketing strategies. The results are essential for the preservation of Croatian wine and purchase growth, but also consumption. Moreover, they offer foundations on which to improve Croatian wine offering.

The effect of energy and traffic light labeling on parents purchasing decisions of cereals for their children

Objective: Nutritional labeling systems are considered a tool to fight obesity since they aim to contribute for more informed food choices as well as assist consumers to make healthier nutrition options and in this manner, contribute to a decrease in the obesity rate. This study intends to analyze the effect of different types of labeling systems on parents’ purchasing decisions for their children on a specific product: breakfast cereals. More precisely, how labels affect parents’ perception of healthiness regarding cereals and if the nutritional information has an effect on intended purchases for their children. Participants and methods: We conducted a study with 135 Portuguese parents of children aged 4 to12 years. Parents answered a questionnaire with one of three hypothetical cereals menus. Menus only differed in their nutritional labeling technique: no labels (control group), reference intake labels or traffic light labels. In addition, we conducted 20 face-to-face interviews to a different group of parents in order to perform a recall task. Findings: This paper provides no evidence to suggest that energy labeling or traffic light labeling systems alone were successful in helping parents making healthy purchases of cereals for their children. Therefore, there is the need to promote supplementary policies to encourage the consumption of healthier food and help fight obesity.