Responsibility And Environmental Management â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Responsibility And Environmental Management? Answer: Introduction Supply chain and logistics management are very important process in the life of an organization. In this process, the organizations manage its products and services and it consists of the flow and storage of raw materials from Work-in-process (WIP) to final goods or products. Supply chain management is processed to enhance the customer value and achieve the goals and objectives of organization. The activities of supply chain include every process form product development, sourcing, production and manufacturing of products, logistics and management of information system, which are needed to convey these related actions. Apart from its benefits, the company may face various issues related to its supply chain and logistics management process. The organization, which is taken onto consideration here, is Alibaba.com, which is working as an e-commerce retailer all over the world. According to Bryan, 2015, Alibaba.com is an e-commerce organization that is founded in China (Bryan, 2015). The company was established in the year 1999. The organization facilitates the transactions between two nations. It provides different types of services, like; business to business, business to consumer and consumer to consumer through its website. Apart from these services, it offers some additional services, like; cloud computing services, online payment services and search engine for shopping online. As a well-established e-commerce retailer, Alibaba group is adopting an effective supply chain and logistics management process, which assists it in delivering the products and services to the respective customers. This report includes different aspects related to the supply chain and logistics in retail industry. It describes its internal and external perspectives in context of Alibaba.com. Furthermore, it includes three stages, which can create value for the organization. Currently, Alibaba.com is facing the issues related to supply chain management. The company lacks the effective supply chain in its business operations. It lacks in supply chain and logistics, so it is not able to compete with its biggest competitor, i.e. Amazon.com. Operations and Performance Measurement In an effective supply chain system, it is essential to manage the related operations and measure its performance by implementing different phases or elements of supply chain. Alibaba.com includes various elements or stages in its supply chain system to analyze the performance and find out the related issues. These are the factors, which drives the performance of supply chain process. These five phases are stated below; Transportation Transportation is the process, in which inventory moves from one place to another place in the process of supply chain and logistics. At Alibaba, the products move between different stages of supply chain, like; manufacturer to distributor, distributor to wholesaler, wholesaler to retailer and then retailer to final customer. Transportation plays an important role in enhancing performance of supply chain. If Alibaba uses efficient and faster transportation process, it can gain more responsiveness from the customers. It may have a large impact on inventory. At this step, Alibaba makes the decisions regarding location, distribution channels and network, modes and routes (Basnet, 2013). It can be measured by considering the customer satisfaction towards order delivery. Inventory Inventory is one of the most important phases of supply chain at Alibaba. It plays an important role in driving the performance of supply chain. An effective management at organization enhances the availability of products and decreases the costs. With internationalization and growth in the product variance to fulfill the demands of global customers, demand volatility for Alibaba.com has enhanced, so it is very difficult to create demand and manage the inventory. It is a big challenge for Alibaba.com in todays competitive business environment. Alibaba is implementing the safety inventory in its supply chain. The organizations in retail industry require routine and real time forecast to perform the operations at market. The firm can implement advanced analytics to these areas to correctly forecast the demand and to monitor the supply and replacement terms and policies and manage inventory flow of products (Brandenburg, Govindan, Sarkis and Seuring, 2014). As Alibaba.com is a customer focused web-based organization, so it is important to plan the inventory flow of goods and services. It allows the firm to influence data source and enhance the performance of suppliers and effective quality controls. The organization can measure the performance of inventory by looking at the availability of products. Facilities The organization is increasing the customer responsiveness by enhancing the facilities and capacity by making them flexible. At this stage of supply chain, Alibaba makes the decisions regarding the location of facilities and look at different factors, like; costs and quality of staff, impact of legal and political factors and infrastructure. At this stage, Alibaba can measure the performance and operations by looking at the capacity of facility to work on its functions. If the facilities are of excessive capacity, then it is costly and approachable and facility with little capacity will be less approachable and more effective and efficient (Christopher, 2016). Information At Alibaba, information is a significant driver, which can be utilized to enhance the responsiveness and decrease the costs by enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of supply chain practices. As an e-commerce retailer, the organization is implementing various technologies, like; internet, electronic data interchange etc. (Forslund, 2015). Financial measures can be used by the organization to measure the performance of supply chain in this context. Sourcing Sourcing includes the business processes and activities, which are used by the organization to buy products and services. At Alibaba, sourcing plays an important role because it is an e-commerce retailer. The company is engaged in outsourcing the products from third party manufacturers. It increases total surplus that is shared across the supply chain process. This element can be measured by considering the quality of services, lead time, reliability, on-time delivery etc. (Hill Fredendail, 2016). Integration Considerations Supply chain integration is the process, how each and every person in organization and its partners work in coordination to attain the business objectives through sharing the information and integrated business process. Supply chain process at Alibaba.com includes both internal and external integrations. There are various examples of both integrations, which are stated below; Internal Integration Internal integration includes a process of interaction between internal departments and collaboration, which drives all the departments together in the organization. Alibaba.com is using internal integration to attain great customer satisfaction. It is characterized by the system visibility in the company from purchase to distribution. Alibaba has more focus on interaction and collaboration between significant functional divisions, like; marketing, sales, logistics, production, procurement etc. The organization has to be considered to process the high level of integration, when the information systems utilized by different divisions are connected with each other with all the departments (Jacobs and Chase, 2013). It enables the organization to access the correct and real-time information from other functional areas. There are some effective and useful sources of communication across the departments. The company has established links between departments in terms of business processes a nd activities and strong relationships that assist collaboration and communication across these functions. The major examples of internal integration are like; different departments of the organization, like; distribution, sales and production. The performance of company is improving by integrating these functions. External Integration External integration includes the process of integrating external factors of an organization (Kamarulzaman, 2016). There may be two instances of external integration at Alibaba.com, i.e. supplier integration and customer integration, which are stated below; Supplier Integration Supplier integration includes the interaction between a company and its suppliers to ensure the efficient flow of materials. At Alibaba, it is on the high level, as the company has linked the information systems with its suppliers. Both of the parties have access on real time and accurate information. It has established effective modes of communication between all the parties. In addition, Nassar (2011) stated that the company has the links between the parties in terms of business processes and effective customer and supplier relationships that assist collaboration and communication. It has positive impact on quality and innovation of products (Nassar, 2011). Customer Integration Customer integration includes the collaboration and communication between customers and organization. At Alibaba, the major objective of customer integration is to improve the demand planning and reflectiveness in supply chain and logistics process. Without sharing the information, there may be chances of inefficiency in the customer services. The company always makes the efforts to manage its relations with customers, which enhances its business processes and operations (Wittstruck Teuteberg, 2012). To attain the high level of this integration, it is important to alter the product orientation to customer orientation. It needs very close collaboration and interaction between customers and suppliers. Value Generation Supply chain value is known as supply chain surplus that is linked with the profitability of supply chain. According to the Pearl (2017), this is the difference between product sales and costs in supply chain process. If the company needs stabilized cash flow, then it requires growth in positive cash flow from its customers. To generate the value from supply chain and logistics process, Alibaba needs to make the effective decision on managing these flows (Pearl, 2017). Management of all the flows, like; information, material, cash and return and designing of supply chain process are important components for successful supply chain and logistics management. The company has to make decisions by emphasizing on the value creation, profitability and supply chain surplus. The value stream map shows the value creation stages at Alibaba.com. Value Streaming Map This process can be divided into three stages, which are described below; Information flow Information flow includes the information regarding an order, like; invoices, purchase order, product description, quotation, change or return requests, complaints and feedback from customers on suppliers performance. One of the major parts of Alibabas supply chain is flow of its information. The process of information inflow begins when it provides products, prices and other information to customers. When the customers receive the products from Alibaba.com, they transfer the funds to stores account. After that, the people at website coordinate with their manufacturers and supplier partners and communicate the information regarding the point of sales and replacement of goods. This organization is operating the business with the goal to minimize the stock-out rate. At Alibaba, other flows of information occur between warehouses and distributors, warehouses and producers and suppliers. The company is implementing an advanced technology for effective flow of information (Stadtler, 2015) . An effective information flow generates the value for organizational supply chain. Material Flow Material flow in supply chain consists of flow of products from producer to end consumers. In this context, Silva, (2005) stated that it can be possible by establishing different warehouses among different suppliers, partners, dealers and distributors of the company (Silva, 2005). There are millions of products, which flow through the supply chain of Alibaba every year. This organization is using various strategies for managing material flow and creating the value for organization. It always emphasized on the need to decrease the costs and sell the products on best prices. Return Flow According to Savrul, Incekara Sener (2014), return flow is least effective stage for generating the value for customers. It does not generate that much revenues and profits for the producers. Alibaba.com is adopting reverse logistics process for handling return flow (Savrul, Incekara Sener, 2014). When a customer rejects a product, then that product returns to the stores of Alibaba. A report indicates that company is actively engaged in the eco-friendly processes. It is using the processes like; reusing and recycling. In addition, it is engaged in corporate social responsibility and sustainability activities. It creates the value for supply chain at Alibaba. Thus, these are the three stages at Alibaba, which are generating values at organization. the company should focus on enhancing these flows. Conclusion Thus, the report includes various supply chain aspects of Alibaba.com. It is an e-commerce retailer all over the world. The company is facing some issues related to supply chain and logistics. However, the organization is adopting and implementing effective practices of supply chain, like; quality management, cash flow management, inventory management, partnership with suppliers and manufacturers. These are the aspects, which are assisting the organization in managing its operations and performance of processes. Furthermore, Alibaba is going through some stages to create the value of supply chain. Thus, it can be concluded that company is effectively implementing and managing its supply chain and logistics management. References Bryan, B. (2015). Alibaba just proved it's more than just some Chinese company. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/Alibaba-just-proved-its-more-than-just-some-Chinese-company/articleshow/49791045.cms Basnet, C. (2013) "The measurement of internal supply chain integration",Management Research Review, Vol. 36 Issue: 2, pp.153-172. Brandenburg, M., Govindan, K., Sarkis, J. and Seuring, S. (2014). Quantitative models for sustainable supply chain management: Developments and directions, European Journal of Operational Research,233(2), pp.299-312. Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics supply chain management, Pearson Forslund, H. (2015) "Performance management process integration in retail supply chains. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 43 Issue: 7, pp.652-670. Hill, E. Fredendail, L.D. (2016). Basics of Supply Chain Management, CRC Press. Jacobs, R. and Chase, R. (2013). Operations and supply chain management, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Kamarulzaman, N.H. (2016). Strategic Value Creation in a Supply Chain. IGI Global Publishers. Nassar, S. H. (2011). Supply chain visibility and sustainable competitive advantage: An integrated model. University of Bath, United Kingdom. Pearl, H. (2017). Alibaba Group Expands Presence in Australia, New Zealand, Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alibaba-australia-idUSKBN15J091. Stadtler, H. (2015). Supply chain management: An overview. InSupply chain management and advanced planning(pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Savrul, M., Incekara, A. Sener, S. (2014). The Potential of E-commerce for SMEs in a Globalizing Business Environment. Journal of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Silva, A. (2005).The Ten Commandments of Quality Management: Best Practices to Develop New Leaders And Create a Quality Environment.USA: iUniverse. Wittstruck, D., Teuteberg, F. (2012). Understanding the success factors of sustainable supply chain management: Empirical evidence from the electrics and electronics industry. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(3), 14115 Responsibility And Environmental Management –Myassignmenthelp.Com Question: Discuss About The Management Responsibility And Environmental? Answer: Introduction Sustainable engineering refers to the designing and processing of the energy and resources which does not compromise the natural environment. Mining is a multifaceted industry with complex chains and processes. Extraction of minerals can become more environmentally sustainable and the impacts can be reduced by applying the latest tools and technologies. The aim of this report is to determine sustainable engineering practices for extraction of minerals and materials (Viveros 2016). Historically, the mining industry is the oldest industry that has a major influence on the social and economic forces. The use of mineral resources has been for making tools and weapons. In the recent times, the government policies have changed and the extractive industry need to ensure that mineral extraction is done with appropriate environmental standards (Shen, Muduli and Barve 2015). In the future of mining operations, technology is likely to play a significant role. Innovation using technology shall help in building a long-term sustainable future in the mining industry. The global context of mining involves a good understanding of the overall scale of international mining industry, in terms of size and profitability. The field of mining depends on the size of target deposit of minerals like iron ore, bauxite, gold and others (Soni and Wolkersdorfer 2016). Objective The mining and minerals industry is advancing towards sustainability but encounters certain issues in the current scenario. Mineral extraction has multiple phases that are associated with different environmental impact (Schoenberger 2016). In the exploratory phase, there are surveys, field studies and other exploratory excavations. If this phase identifies huge deposits of mineral ore, development phase is begun. The mining site needs preparation and clearing which can have significant environmental impacts (de Burgh-Woodman and Torrisi 2017). Figure 1: Average Cumulative Energy Cost of Bioproducts Source: (Whiting, Carmona and Sousa 2017) The objective of this report is to determine sustainable engineering solutions that can minimize the impact from site preparation and cleaning. Further, after preparing the areas, the extraction process is begun. Open-pit mining may be conducted in which heavy machinery is used for removing vegetation, forests and trees from the surface. In case of underground mining, there are less environmental risks. Further, extraction of minerals involves disposal of overburden and waste rock. The high quantity of waste can contain certain toxic substances as seen in Baotou Coal Mine in China. The black sludge as presented in the below figure makes the lake toxic (News.Com.Au 2015). Figure 2: Toxic Lake Formation from Black Sludge of Baotou Coal Mine in China Source: (News.Com.Au 2015) This paper shall help in carefully assessing the mining project and help adapt to sustainable engineering practices. Further, ore extraction creates environmental impacts such as dust from haul roads, emissions and soil depletion. The mining process also involves disposal phase in which adequate quantity of tailings is generated. This report shall help in assessing the ways to dispose tailing to prevent the release of toxic compounds into the environment (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). Figure 3: Cumulative of Inspected and Addressed Mineral Processing Facilities Source: (Epa.gov 2017) With the increase in population, the consumption of minerals and metals have significantly increased. The people have significantly increased the usage of metals, furniture, ornaments and others that require significant mining and mineral extraction activities. To satisfy the needs of the current population and social trends, mining activities have to be at the peak to satisfy current needs. This paper shall aim to devise alternative modes of waste management and disposal at mining sites in the extraction process so that the needs of the future generation do not have to be compromised (Squelch, Stothard and Laurence 2015). Sustainability Factors The three factors that influence sustainability in the mining industry are: social, economic and environmental factors. These three factors are also the three pillars of corporate social responsibility that ensures sustainability in any industry (Erkayao?lu and Demirel 2016). Environmental Factors As opined by Ogan et al. (2016), there is a need for effective framework for sustainability in the mining industry. In this research study by Ogan et al. (2016), an effective framework was developed to control the impact from granite mining and utilisation. Granites are formed under earth due to high temperature and pressure. Granite is extracted or mined from quarries in Nigeria. The extraction process involves either from open pit or open cut quarries for design and construction process. There is high demand for granite in the country as it is in its developing stage. It is argued that such extraction in the region is causing the destruction and removal of flora and fauna, endangering plant and animal species, high political impact on humans and others. Therefore, to ensure sustainability and address long-term goals, an effective framework shall be necessary to control the impact and manage waste products. The location of quarry plays a significant role as the impact of waste gener ated from pre-extraction and extraction process impacts granite quarrying. It is suggested to prepare an environmental impact analysis (EIA), pre-feasibility study and social impact analysis that shall be useful for the quarry managers (Lei, Pan and Lin 2016). Figure 4: Effective Framework Source: Ogan et al. (2016) Economic Factors The most obvious benefit from mining activities is economic wealth. The mineral extraction and mining industry has created additional jobs across a range of occupations such as mechanical engineering, geologists, truck drivers and tradesmen. Potential training in the indigenous communities can be created that shall increase skilled labour count. It is suggested that the materials that are economic in the mining activities may be wastage if there is unplanned interruption in the extraction activities (Marnika, Christodoulou and Xenidis 2015). About 75% of the mining activities close prematurely if there is an un-extracted resource left behind, or due to drop in commodity prices (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). Such reasons can lead to wastage of resources and become sterilised. It is argued that one of the reasons of solid waste deposits is non-utilisation of resources than depletion (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). Social Factors The large scale impact of mining and mineral extraction can cause human displacement and resettlement. The people living in the mining areas can lose access to clean water as mining projects impact water quality. Public health can be affected due to the discharge of hazardous substances in the environment. Mining and mineral extraction activities affect the cultural and aesthetic resources. One of the significant factors in social sustainability is time. For technological innovation, time is important. Time allows economic extraction of minerals and metals (Anawar 2015). An example of Broken Hill mining area is considered that allowed zinc extraction after technological advances. Similarly, adequate time must be devoted to enhance social sustainability. It is suggested that social impact analysis is a versatile tool that shall enable decision makers to make informed decisions. Social impact assessment, in practice, should be more closely linked to the extended international perspecti ve and principles (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). The community members expect to be employed. Ghana experiences youth unemployment issues in its gold mining areas due to inadequate skills, unwillingness to work and lack of capital. It is recommended that training can be provided to the people as it shall help addressing long-term social sustainability (Essah and Andrews 2016). Holistic Approach to Sustainable Engineering in Mining A hierarchy has been developed that shall help in addressing the future issues related to mining activities. The hierarchy is based on the pyramid reduce, reuse, recycle (3Rs) for reflecting its specificity. The main issue related to mining activities is disposal of waste. The below table shows the global metal flows in mining. Figure 5: Global Metal Flows Source: (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017) Reduce and Prevent The first in hierarchy is reduce, that may be source reduction, waste prevention or avoidance. The most desirable option for sustainable engineering shall be preventing waste, not just for mining, but other categories also. However, it is difficult to achieve this goal where waste can be reduced. It is argued that in the context of resource scarcity it is also about minimising the loss of ores valuable components, the target metals, and minimising the dissemination of contaminants from waste to the surrounding environment. Waste can be prevented by avoiding high grading where a significant part of materials may be left behind. Pre-concentration methods can also help in reducing amount of barren material and enhancing mineral extraction. Also, by-product recovery technique can be used that combines multiple technologies for recovering main minerals and its by-products (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). Figure 6: Waste Management Hierarchy Source: (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017) Reprocess The second priority in the hierarchy is to reprocess. It is argued that waste reprocessing provides same advantages that are observed in waste prevention. It is further added that waste reprocessing may encourage an organization to reprocess its own or another organizations waste. The phytomining technology can be used to enhance the mining sustainability. However, the biggest disadvantage is that the large scale plants and sites tend to be more costly than extracting the minerals and metals. The argument is further supported by some scavenger companies who put forward their technical expertise through magnetation. The process of separating waste through magnet is cost effective but it may not separate the waste completely stuck on the metals. In some gold mines such as Mount Morgan, Australia, unwanted copper-cyanide complexes may form during the mineral processing stage, causing an over-consumption of cyanide and decreased recovery rates for gold and silver (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). Figure 7: Waste Management Activities Source: (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017) Downcycle The third in the hierarchy is downcycling in which the bulk of waste materials can be used for a low purpose such as generating low value. However, it can be proven beneficial by using highly reactive material. The method is advantageous as it lessens the environmental impact by putting waste to reuse. However, it may discouraged if the process proves to be uneconomic. It is further added that backfilling may be used as another way of downcycling. Another method suggested is backfilling which may not make the waste disappear. The cemented paste backfill can be used as a mix of water, tailings and binder. Another technique is carbon storage which can be a potential option for carbon dioxide emissions mitigation (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). Dispose Responsibly The last in the hierarchy is dispose responsibly. The mining waste must be safely disposed if the other alternatives of waste material management have been considered. The techniques such as stockpiling may be considered which a necessary step is prior to waste reprocessing. It may be beneficial as the anticipation for future use can be made. Techniques that may be suitable for permanent disposal do not necessarily represent good stockpiling alternatives. For example, waste treatment and disposal methods that aim at isolating, diluting, encapsulating or neutralising reactive material (e.g. covering methods, co-disposal or surface treatment of minerals) might make the material less accessible and future reprocessing more costly and less efficient (Lbre, Corder and Golev 2017). Summary Conclusively, this report helps in determining sustainable engineering practices for extraction of minerals and materials. mining industry is the oldest industry that has a major influence on the social and economic forces. The high quantity of waste can contain certain toxic substances as seen in Baotou Coal Mine in China. It is argued that extraction in the region is causing the destruction and removal of flora and fauna, endangering plant and animal species, high political impact on humans and others. It is argued that one of the reasons of solid waste deposits is non-utilisation of resources than depletion. It is suggested that social impact analysis is a versatile tool that shall enable decision makers to make informed decisions. Waste can be prevented by avoiding high grading where a significant part of materials may be left behind. It is further added that waste reprocessing may encourage an organization to reprocess its own or another organizations waste. References Anawar, H.M., 2015. Sustainable rehabilitation of mining waste and acid mine drainage using geochemistry, mine type, mineralogy, texture, ore extraction and climate knowledge.Journal of environmental management,158, pp.111-121. de Burgh-Woodman, H., Bressan, A. and Torrisi, A., 2017. An Evaluation of the State of the CSR Field in Australia: Perspectives from the Banking and Mining Sectors. InComparative Perspectives on Global Corporate Social Responsibility(pp. 138-164). IGI Global. Erkayao?lu, M. and Demirel, N., 2016. 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