New Re-engineered Process

We have increased the number of operations in our re-engineered process in order to reduce the number of delays. We have also increased the amount of ICT used in the whole process to make everything easy.

Re-Engineered process

Existing Process of Google

TESCO

1-What benefits does Tesco’s information exchange offer to the retailer and its suppliers?         

          Tesco has started of using TIE(Tesco Information Exchange)since 1997.It it massive help to control and influence in combine Tesco retailing knowledge with the product knowledge of suppliers. In addition TIE aim the supplier to have enough time to react about orders.(Chaffey, D (2002), E business and e commerce management, Financial time).

2-What differences have the use of TIE added over the original EDI system?

         Electronic Data Interchange(EDI) is a way of life for Tesco and about  200 of their suppliers, enabling rapid and up-to-the-minute stock data to be transmitted across their supply chain. It started operating from 1980s and sent messages to 350 suppliers about details of actual store demand and weekly sales forecasts.As a result, Tesco have increased their stock turn to 36 times per annum, reduced lead times to less than three days. management by suppliers.(Croom, S.  (1999)  The Supply Chain Revolution, NEXUS, Autumn), but it needed to improve because Tesco did not know the correct value of sales or they did not receive any feedback . The TIE helps to good understanding of two way collaboration in supply chain. .(Chaffey, D (2002), E business and e commerce management, Financial time). 

3-Discuss reasons why only two of Tesco's suppliers have fundamentally altered the way they work as a result of TIE. 

         Many suppliers prefer sticking to their traditional ways of retailing and refuse change. Also, If the exclusivity of the products is not owned by Tesco then using TIE will make it difficult for the suppliers to deal with other retailers, which have not adopted TIE. In some cases, TIE does not require great changes to the retailing system.

The Beer Game

Our comment (s)

We had to choose between quick delivery and keeping cost to a minimum. At first, we had to wait for the order to come and this took us more time to deliver and we ended up having to order small quantities every time. 

Then, we started to order more products which concluded in costs going up. Having more products meant inventory cost has to increase.

The real problem here was " time consumption". The ordering/delivering process took long. Maybe we could use ICT to receive orders quickly and frequently via internet and a program which receive orders and sends the manufacturing orders accordingly. This way we can order quickly and we won’t have to keep anything in our inventory. This will keep the cost to a minimum.

Also intelligent forecasting tools can be employed to help make intelligent guesses as to how much of the products should be manufactured at a time thereby limiting the quantity of items in inventory to a minimum thus lowering costs.

The Excel Sheet Results

 

Goldcorp Inc: Social Responsability Part II

Goldcorp Inc understands the importance of the surrounding of its projects, which is the way they tend to do a long-term commitment to maintain a viable business, increase value for their shareholders, improve employment and develop opportunities for their host communities, and minimize their environmental impacts. 

Some of Goldcorp Inc's commitments are stated below:

– a commitment to the protection of life, health and the environment for present and future generations;

– respect for the needs and cultures of the local communities;

 – open communication with employees, stakeholders and governments concerning their plans, programs and performance;

 – cooperation with government agencies, local communities, educational institutions and suppliers to achieve safe handling and disposal of all the materials, resources and products; and 

– application of the best technologies to continuously improve the safe and efficient use of resources, processes and materials.

“Goldcorp is committed to conducting our business responsibly, which means respecting the safety and health of our employees, protecting the environment, respecting the human rights of our employees and the residents of the communities in which we operate and contributing to the sustainable development of those communities. Our commitment to these efforts is outlined in our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy and Human Rights policy.”

Goldcorp Inc tries to build strong, open and transparent relationships with the communities. It provided School Drug Awareness Programs in late November 2007 which was sponsored by the Peñasquito project, in Mexico for 12 communities, and also helped in delivering Educational assistance to Carrizalillo.

-Do these commitments mean that Goldcorp Inc. is actually ready to stop a project just because it might harm the people living around the mine? How about the shareholder whom most of the time don’t really care about anything but what they will gain from the project? 

In 2010 at TORONTO, shareholders of Goldcorp Inc. got a glimpse into the lives of Central Americans whose land has been exploited by the company for gold. Shareholders learned about the devastating effects Goldcorp’s operations have had on communities in Central America. The presenters told of an increase in health problems, cracked houses, widespread social conflict and the criminalization of protest in their towns and villages.

A shareholder resolution was brought forward by Kathryn Anderson of the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence (BTS) Network, which called on Goldcorp to adopt a corporate policy on free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) by September 1, 2010. The Goldcorp operations influenced by Anderson’s proposed policy would impact not only Indigenous communities, but all communities dependent for survival on natural resources. Shareholders representing 90 per cent of Goldcorp’s shares voted against Anderson's proposed resolution.

Although Goldcorp claims it participates in consultations with populations affected by its mines, company representatives refuse to articulate a detailed consultation process or put one into company policy. Furthermore, nowhere does Goldcorp claim to respect the rights of communities to say no to mining, which is a keystone of Anderson’s resolution.

When it ignored the results of community-organized consultations in 2005 in Sipakapa, a region bordering the Marlin Mine—where 11 out of 13 communities unanimously opposed the mine’s presence—the local government was pressured to address the issue. The municipality of San Miguel has since organized its own upcoming consultation. Goldcorp General Counsel VP David Deisley said the company is not legally required to respect the results of such a consultation.

All four Central American activists who flew to Canada to speak to Goldcorp’s shareholders were adamant that voluntary standards for Canadian companies do not protect against human rights abuses. Although they were all in support of Bill C-300, they continue to push for free, prior and informed consent to be a focal point of Canadian legislation.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2535--goldcorp-drilled-by-shareholders-for-mining-projects-in-central-america

http://www.goldcorp.com/_resources/Goldcorps_Response_to_Marlin_Mine_HRA_report_final_06_29_10.pdf

http://www.goldcorp.com/corporate_responsibility/

Economic Factor

Economic Effect of Goldcorp's Mining Activities

[Goldcorp can set up a project to help smaller mining companies who can’t afford sophisticated technologies and strategies. This may not be totally applicable to the proposed project from last week but it does make sense introducing something like this. Most, if not all of Goldcorp’s CSR goes to the communities in which it operates.]

Economic buoyancy fluctuates and this is attributed / associated with booms and slumps. Almost all businesses benefit from booms and quite a lot are also affected by the downturn too (slumps). Gold will definitely depreciate during a slump, as will other minerals.
Other changes that affect businesses include interest rate, wage rates and inflation rates (increase in prices against decrease in wages or increase in prices against decrease in wages). If the economic conditions are favourable, then businesses will thrive better because there will be more money to toss around. Lower interest rate means more disposable income to spend on Gold.

Developing countries often see the mineral resources they are endowed with as liberation out of poverty. “According to some, mineral wealth is part of a nation’s natural capital and the more capital a nation possesses the richer it becomes (Davis and Tilton, 2003).”
“Although mineral exports may make up a significant share of a country’s exports, mineral development does not always boost a country’s economic growth and may, in some cases, contribute to increased poverty (Sideri and Johns, 1990; Auty, 1990; Ross, 2001a; Gelb et al., 1988). The reasons for the lack of economic growth in oil- and mineral dependent states are not entirely conclusive (Ross, 1999). However, low levels of employment in the sector, use of mostly imported technology, high market volatility of minerals, competition with agricultural sectors, and institutional corruption and mismanagement may be contributing factors (Sideri and Johns, 1990; Gelb et al., 1988; Auty, 1990). 

In addition, lack of full cost accounting can result in overestimating the benefits if subsidies offered to the mining sector are not taken into account. For example, a study of the economic contributions of mining in Canada found that in 2000-2001 Canadian taxpayers subsidized the industry by C$13,095 per job created (Winfield et al., 2002).
Even when mineral development results in national economic growth, the benefits are
not always equitably shared, and local communities closest to the source of mineral development can suffer the most".
Mining often times provides jobs in communities in which these mines are located but the jobs are short timed and limited. Economies/communities that base their sustenance solely on the revenue generated by these mines are very vulnerable as this income cannot be guaranteed, for example if the mine shuts down. 

Goldcorp is particularly involved in ensuring that the communities in which it operates are helped through economic contributions thus improving the economic status of such communities. It does this by “improving their social and economic circumstances through economic contributions, community involvement, community consultation, support and development of school programs and special events“. Goldcorp strives to ensure that these communities are actively involved in these initiatives in order to make them self reliant and less dependent on their mines for their future and sustenance. 

Examples of their initiatives and engagements include: Recycling Workshops in Pedra Branca (Brazil), Delivery of Educational Assistance to Carrizalillo, Fundación Sierra Madre, Guatemala (with the goal of facilitating locally based development which will help provide sustainable economic development), and the Stope School which was established in 2005 in Northern Ontario to train underground miners.

References

"PEST Analysis". Available from http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--pest-analysis--166.php
[Accessed: 31st October 2010]

"Environmental and Social Impacts of Mining". Available from http://pdf.wri.org/mining_background_literature_review.pdf
[Accessed: 31st October 2010]

Goldcorp website. Available from http://www.goldcorp.com/corporate_responsibility/
[Accessed: 31st October 2010]

Social Impacts of Mining:

Mining can disrupt the lives of the people living near the mining site due to disruptions to ecosystems and local communities. Some resources like water and elictricity for instance have to be shared between the mining project and other industrial agriculture and forestry. This can easily create conflicts as an example: the civil war erupted in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, largely due to unresolved community grievances against the Panguna copper mine.

    In June 2002, the Peruvian community of Tambogrande rejected mining due to concerns regarding the displacement of half of its residents and fear of the impacts of mining on the community’s traditional livelihood. This project of displacing the residents may results on them having Food insecurity, loss of access to common resources and public services, Social Breakdown and Marginalization. Mining provides job opportunities, those communities which depends on these jobs to sustain their economies are vulnerable to negative social impacts, as these jobs are limited in number and duration which might creates conflicts.

     In Africa, rebels were controlling diamond mines to buy weapons and finance the civil war. Angola’s UNITA rebels derived approximately $3.7 billion in diamond sales between 1989 and 2000 to pay for continued resistance to the Angolan government—more than they received from anti-communist governments during the cold war. An estimated 500,000 Angolans died during this time period.

   Also, mining tends to raise wage levels, leading to displacement of some community residents and existing businesses, and elevated expectations. Mining also trigger indirect negative social impacts, such as alcoholism, prostitution, and sexually transmitted diseases.

Technological innovation and technology assessment

Innovation, application of new ideas from the creativity.

Today, innovation is the most important factors of economic growth . One of the great challenge in management is assess which new technological innovation is useful for organisation and and can be used .Some times need to think about cost of new technology.
hype cycle:
 hype cycle is a graphic representation of the maturity, adoption and social application of specific technologies 

five phases

A hype cycle in Gartner's interpretation comprises five phases:

1. "Technology Trigger" — The first phase of a hype cycle is the "technology trigger" or breakthrough, product launch or other event that generates significant press and interest.
2. "Peak of Inflated Expectations" — In the next phase, a frenzy of publicity typically generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. There may be some successful applications of a technology, but there are typically more failures.
3. "Trough of Disillusionment" — Technologies enter the "trough of disillusionment" because they fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable. Consequently, the press usually abandons the topic and the technology.
4. "Slope of Enlightenment" — Although the press may have stopped covering the technology, some businesses continue through the "slope of enlightenment" and experiment to understand the benefits and practical application of the technology.
5. "Plateau of Productivity" — A technology reaches the "plateau of productivity" as the benefits of it become widely demonstrated and accepted. The technology become increasingly stable and evolves in second and third generations. The final height of the plateau varies according to whether the technology is broadly applicable or benefits only a niche market.

E- Government

E -Government or digital Government is term of using information technology for moving information between people,organisations,markets and other government.


BENEFIT:
1-Reduce the cost
2-Easy access to most current information
3-Save the time
4-Save the energy


FOUR MODELS OF E- Government:
1-Government to Citizen (G2C)
2-Government to Business (G2B)
3-Government to Government (G2G)
3-Government to Employees (G2E)


Some governments encourage the society to use business to develop the business . 
E-government allows citizens to interact with computers to achieve objectives at any time and any location, and eliminates the necessity for physical travel to government agents sitting behind desks and windows. Improved accounting and record keeping can be noted through computerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed, equalling quicker processing time. 

Smart Com and Smart Tag to help provide more Security

 Smart Com










      

Smart Tag

So, how much will it Cost the Goldcorp Inc to have a safe mining project using technology?

We have thought of two improvements that the organisation could use: Smart tag to locate personnel and resources within the mine and Smart Com which ensures communications with the resources.

Goldcorp Inc can improve safety by using Smart Tag to:         

• Locate personnel in an emergency situation.
• Prevent accident between vehicles in the mine.
• Monitor restricted areas.
• Monitor time spent underground.
• It also improves production and reduces electrical costs.

Goldcorp Inc can improve safety by using Smart Com to:

• Provide two-way communication underground which means constant contact with miners throughout the mine.
• Ethernet over Smart Com enables safety systems such as gas sensor, seismic and resource tracking systems to be installed quickly and easily.
• Smart Com IS is certified to IS so it can be installed even in the most explosive areas of a coal mine.
•  Improve Production: problem can be tackled quickly.

• Smart Com also supports CCTV video for applications where IP video is not suitable. (all this for less than $1000).

Risks involved in mining and how IT can be used to help reduce them

Any type of mining releases Carbon Dioxide and Methane gas, both of which are greenhouse gases which add to global warming and climate change. In gold mining Cyanide is also discharged and small concentrations of this can be harmful to people and wildlife. Other risks in mining involve collapsing of the mine. For example, as we all know of the recent incident of the Chile miners being trapped nearly 700m below the Earth's surface. This was quite a dangerous incident caused by a mine that collapsed and the miners were lucky to come out alive. In some cases, the workers aren't as lucky. Just days after the Chile miners were rescued, four miners in Ecuador were trapped 150m underground, out of which 2 were found dead and the other two are still missing.
I think IT can help reduce the risk of future incidents. This can be done by having better communication systems with the miners underground so their position can be regularly monitored. They could also install sensors in the mine which could indicate if a mine was getting too weak and if that was the case, they could take extra precautions or in the worse case, change the mine location.

Jawad

Goldcorp Inc Assignment 2.

The summary of ideas: 

Mission: Expand beyond the American continent.

Vision: Become the largest mining company worldwide.

List of projects:

• Researching mining projects in other countries.
• Look into mining for other material.
• Be pro-green and Studying the effect mining has on the environment surrounding the project locations. Have an institute which makes sure the projects don’t harm the environment (the ozone layer) or the workers.
• Help finance projects in poor countries and in return for a fixed percentage of the material accumulated depending on the project.

Next meeting will take place in the BIS lab Wednesday at 12.
Things to be discussed: Formulate one key project to use ICT and add value to the organisation.( ideally with costings, structure, timing and relationship to mission, vision and at least two elements of SLEPT).

Goldcorp Inc

In 1989, Rob McEwen inherited through a takeover Goldcorp Inc., and became the CEO of the 50 year old gold mine which at the time was a small Ontario company. 

      McEwen, while trying to shakeup the company and boost its income, launched the Goldcorp Challenge on internet. He posted his company's exploration data online in exchange for ideas/solutions to its dilemma (inability to find more gold deposits) and in return offered a reward of $575,000! The response to the post was astonishing, receiving thousands of proposals from the whole world. 

Having a background in finance made McEwen more open and adaptable to new ideas and change. He was like an outsider to the company as he did not have any background in mining but he transformed Goldcorp into one of the most successful companies by taking such an outrageous move of sharing the company’s private data. 

This daring and risky adventure makes it fit into the 2 e-commerce paradigms; the Buy side and the Sell side.

• As a Buy side e-commerce company, Goldcorp posed as a buy side/buyer (of knowledge/ideas) from potential suppliers (individuals, companies, research institutes, etc). From the map/diagram, the main source of interaction between the sources (suppliers) and the company (buyer) was through the Company's website. 
• As a Sell side e-commerce company, Goldcorp (a Supplier) sells the mined gold to a wide array of customers ranging from Wholesalers, Banks, Private Giant Companies, Retailers,...to Customers, Jewellers, etc (ustomer's customer).                                  

                      The Buy-side Sell-side e-commerce map for Goldcorp Inc.

Today, Goldcorp Inc. is North America's fastest growing senior Gold producer. This major success has opened more project avenues for the company to work on, namely:

• On March 31, 2006, the company bought Eleonore gold project in Quebec from Virginia Gold Mines Ltd., and in August, same year Glamis Gold Ltd was also bought over for $8.6 billion USD and became one of the largest gold companies in the world.
• In 2008, Goldcorp was named one of the BC’s Top employers.
• In 2009, one of the Goldcorp’s mines called “Marlin mine” became the first in Central America to be fully certified under the International Cyanide Management Code for the Manufacture, Transport and Use of Cyanide in the Production of Gold.
• In February 2010, Goldcorp finished it's business deal with New Gold Inc. to buy over 70% interest in the El Morro project in North-Central Chile.
• And recently, in September 2010 Goldcorp stated its intention of buying The Andean Resources Ltd (project of finding metal resources) which is located in Southern Argentinian.

    The growth of Goldcorp Inc. reserves over the last 5years




The E-business models adopted by the company would be the following:

• Business-to-Consumer.
• Business-to-Business.

Desired Strategy

References:

'Everything I needed to know about business..I learned from a Canadian. Chapter “Moving an Elephant with a Mouse Changing the Unchangeable". Featuring the wisdom of Rob McEwen'. Available from

http://books.google.co.uk/booksid=p13ErcZh2HUC&pg=PT173&dq=Rob+Mcewen+The+CEO+of+Goldcorp+Inc&hl=en&ei=RB-6TIL8LoOhOt-owKQN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Rob%20Mcewen%20The%20CEO%20of%20Goldcorp%20Inc&f=false

[Accessed 17th October 2010]

Wikipedia: 'Goldcorp'. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldcorp#History [Accessed 18th October 2010]

'Goldcorp Financials'. Available from http://www.goldcorp.com/_resources/financials/MDA_FS_Final_Combined_2010_03.pdf [Accessed on 13th October 2010]

'Goldcrop Fact Sheet'. Available from http://www.goldcorp.com/_resources/GC_FactSheet_Web.pdf [Accessed on 13th October 2010]