The Story of Stuff

Thirdly, option is to strategically adjust the prices of their products because consumers are often very price sensitive. By doing so the company can either create more value that defines the quality and quantity of the product.

First and most important, consider Costco’s value-driven attitude. As a company, they pledge not to markup brand-name goods more than 14% and private-label goods more than 15% (Greenhouse, 2005). This kind of commitment drives a customer-centered environment to deliver outstanding service and products across each warehouse. Initially, one may be tempted to call their pricing philosophy cost-plus - that is, taking the cost of acquiring goods from manufacturers before applying

No matter the company, the production of goods in any shape or form is bound to have both costs and benefits to its consumers, its workers and the environment. The widely used phrase ‘commodity chain’ describes process by which firms gathers resources, transforms them into goods (commodities) and, in the final step of the process, and distributes them to consumers (Sparke, 2013). In our age of technology and the ever reigning presence of the internet, commodity chains are becoming increasingly more transparent, just as transgressions of large multinational corporations are brought to the public’s attention much more frequently (Sinclair, 2012). To thoroughly explore the logistical side of commodity chains, this paper will be examining the example of Apple, the American multinational corporation headquartered in California, which designs, develops and distributes our Apple electronics - our iPhones, iPads, iPods, MacBooks, iMacs – as well as various online services and computer software (Apple Inc., 2014). When it comes to customer service, Apple is a bold innovator – very much leading the industry and forces others to catch up. To Apple’s credit, they have also set an incredibly high standard in their innovative energy-efficient electronic products (in fact, the most

Wal-Mart has one of the saddest benefit plans for employee’s that has created bad business practices at Wal-Mart Corporations. “Wal-Mart is one of our largest corporation and private employer in the U.S. employing over 1.3million workers, sets a national standard for wages and labor practices” (West 2005). Wal-Mart offers a low premium to employees for family coverage. A low premium may seem reasonable and affordable however, the employees have a high annual deductible. The annual deductibles are so high that most employees find themselves having to pay thousands of dollars before Wal-Mart insurance decides to be active in paying excepting providers. At Wal-Mart employment and the benefit policies has been red flagged for the Government officials to review.

Health insurance is provided by Medicaid and Medicare to elderly and disabled people and poor children. People working for large companies receive health insurance through their employer. Unfortunately, people working for small businesses, those self-employed, and the working poor are left without options to purchase health insurance at an affordable cost. This creates a divide between the haves and have-nots in terms of health care. Those who have health insurance will access the care they need, but those who do not have insurance will go without. This may include primary care interventions such as immunizations and regular health screenings. Rising health care costs have a direct effect on the number of uninsured individuals and, therefore, a direct effect the number of individuals that can access care.

The month after Wal-Mart announced its support of a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's $1 trillion plan to extend health-care coverage to nearly all Americans, the action was going into a dispute (http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=71&did=1784367831&SrchMode=3&sid=1&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1289253857&clientId=5220&aid=2, 11/2/10). The new expensive health insurance put pressure on Wal-Mart’s profit gains and to compensate, Wal-Mart reduced labour costs: "The most liberal proposal to have companies help pay for the health-care overhaul, currently under consideration in the House, would require all but the

And the customer are sensitive to the price since those products are using only few times and need to be change all the time.

However, health insurance is important especially in the USA, because medical treatment cost a lot of money without insurance. In addition Wal-Mart employees have issue with health insurance that Wal-Mart provided to them. Donna Payton said" I can’t afford to put my children on the Wal-Mart insurance, because it is too expensive"(19:14). Most of the companies around the world provide a full family or individual health insurance. On the other hand Wal-Mart $85 from employee’s salary. Also according to Edith Arana she could not afford a health insurance to her child because of the high cost of it and low salary that she gets. It impossible for employees to have a health insurance because of their low wages, and that’s a

An average full-time store assistant makes less then 20,000 a year and has inadequate health care. Singer and Mason pointed out,” Walmart’s impact on wages and benefits was most clearly shown in 2002 when it announced plans to open 40 Super centers in California over the next 3 years”. (523) This cause three of the largest grocery chains to force wages and benefits down. Walmart’s way of cutting prics through cutting their own employee wages and benefits is causing a domino effect on competitive companies. It is unfair for the employers who have been working for many years to have to take a pay cut all of a sudden just because a Walmart is opening nearby. It makes you wonder if this could be Walmarts big plan to make Americans poor so they will have to shop at their stores.

In spite of considerable savings for consumers, many take issues with Walmart’s low prices – for several reasons. One such reason is that Walmart costs American jobs. This is one of the classic disputes against big business: larger companies such as Walmart enjoy economies of scale and, due to higher volume, are able to provide goods at a much lower cost than small businesses. Because of Walmart’s diverse range of products, they could be considered competition to small clothing shops, bakeries, and locally owned restaurants, to mention just a few. Reporter Chris Osterndorf asserted that “[t]he presence of Walmart actually does little to bolster the economy of local communities in the long-run…”. Some, like Osterndorf, believe that competition from big business has negative implications on local

Society today relies primarily on carbon-based fuels, whether it be coal, natural gas, oil, or gasoline. Consumption of these fuels is anticipated to grow in the future. Research is being conducted to remove or decrease carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and cars. As we saw in the video “The Story of Stuff” the toxic gases emitted from the incinerators is an enormous environmental and social problem.

Costs play an important role in setting international prices. Travelers abroad are often surprised to find that goods that are relatively inexpensive at home may carry outrageously higher price tags in other countries. Besides, such price escalation may result from differences in selling strategies or market conditions. In most instances, however, it is simply a result of the higher costs of selling in foreign markets such as the additional costs of modifying and packaging the product, higher shipping and insurance costs, import tariffs and taxes, costs associated with exchange rate fluctuations and higher channel and physical distribution costs. Futhermore, Milo also adopted Promotional Pricing strategy. Selling products is challenging when shelves are lined with similar-quality products, and customers are bombarded with advertising messages. Promotional pricing helps differentiate Milo’s product with its competitor and leverage a potential customer's attention long enough to purchase the Milo products. Promotional pricing involves lowering the price of a product, distributing coupons or offering specials, such as buy-one-get-one-free offers. For example, Milo offer promotional pricing for its product in weekly catalogue to create excitement and a sense of

During the summer break, I visited my family who lives in Colombia, South America. While I was there, I was lucky enough to witness the vast biodiversity that Colombia has. However, I was later informed that a highway was being built in order to connect Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador so goods can be transported much easier. This highway is threatening the animal and plant life of Colombia. After reading The Story of Stuff, I had more knowledge of problems similar to this and knew it was perfect to talk about this issue for the project. As Leonard says The highway is being built through the foothills of the Andes that pass through Colombia, specifically near two national parks. This caused deforestation to become more common in the area which

The solution to the faulty global supply chain, presented by Timothy Smith’s Climate Change: Corporate Sustainability in the Supply Chain, lies within including environmental sustainability into; transnational policy regimes, technological development, and consumptive behavior of society. The legitimacy, authority, and effectiveness of environmental sustainability must come from transnational policy regimes. Supply chains are global from start to finish. As such, the problems associated within the supply chain stem across many different political boundaries and jurisdictions. Only a transnational policy regime, whether it be an existing organization like the United Nations or a new entity, can effectively fulfill the burden of fixing the global supply chain. Over seventy percent of all emissions come from the supply chain (Suh). Environmental sustainability is something many groups are working towards—like the Carbon Disclosure Project-- but, because environmental sustainability lacks legitimacy, authority or effectiveness, these ventures aren’t treated like corporate projects, but rather, pet projects. Likewise, Timothy Smith’s Climate Change: Corporate Sustainability in the Supply Chain, takes into account the expensive nature of enforcement, “Conducting audits is expensive, but the risks

Not long after he'd spoken, Jeremiah silently wished that he could take the words back, or least the piety, behind them. It had seemed a good idea at the time, and appropriate for such an obviously god-fearing women such as Ms Vanderholme, however, unfortunately he'd only too late realised that might just encourage her to return it in kind. And, she surely did, with an incredible amount of vigour that had him clenching his fists behind his back, arms placed there in what he hoped would seem a posture of respect, rather than an attempt to restrain himself from a sudden overwhelming desire to throttle her. Overbearing was the word, and the only thing that stopped him from making his excuses right there and then, was a quick flick of his eyes