Time after time, three issues continue to bedevil global flood relief efforts — lack of advance preparation, lack of attention to floods too small to grab the international spotlight, and lack of economic recovery efforts after the waters abate. Here in the Guardian, two business professors offer a practical solution to all three problems using developing nations’ supply chains.
The consumer-goods supply chain typically moves from large Western or indigenous manufacturers to distributors to wholesalers to family-owned shops and finally to micro-retailers selling from carts or by the roadside. The professors suggest that social enterprises can short-circuit the process if before floods occur, they work with local governments to earmark spaces — parks, playgrounds, etc. — for temporary warehouse sites. When disaster strikes, the NGO would set up pop-up warehouses in those locations to channel relief directly from the manufacturers to the myriad micro sites. More goods get where they need to go and micro sellers remain in business, ready to resume normal operations when the flood is over and the NGOs fold up their tents.
Should You Buy That Used Start-Up? (BCG)
Once a private equity firm is ready to cash out of a start-up, it’s been thought, not much more could be done to increase its value before going public. But that’s not what HHL Leipzig management school and BCG found when they looked at 225 start-ups that PE firms bought from one another between 2006 and 2012. While on average the initial PE firm increased a start-up’s value by 20%, the second firm found plenty of room for improvement, increasing the average value another 24%. Both the primary and secondary buyers added value in the same way — increasing EBITDA through operational improvements (an average of 14% in the first round, 13% the next) and growing revenue by increasing compound annual sales (both by 10%).
Heinz Goes Upscale (Dezeen)
Heinz is partnering with designers Bompas & Parr to create a "flavour experience" for its new lines of baked beans. Each of the five new varieties — cheddar cheese, curry, barbecue, fiery chili, and garlic and herbs — gets its own handmade bowl plus a spoon embedded with an MP3 player to provide a "flavour-enhancing" soundtrack as you chew. (Think Punjabi bhangra for the curry, Latin samba for the chili.) The limited edition boxed sets will sell for £57 at Fortum & Mason. As HBR blogger Bill Taylor has noted, there's value in appealing to all five of your customers' senses. But I'll admit I did check the date here to see if this was an April Fool's joke. — Alison Beard
Tech Talk
Ahoy, Hello, and How Digital Devices Change the Rules of Etiquette (Smithsonian)
Here’s Where They Make China’s Cheap Android Smartphones (Technology Review)
Why Don't We Have Food Replacement Pills? (Popular Mechanics)
Ahoy, Hello, and How Digital Devices Change the Rules of Etiquette (Smithsonian)
Here's Where They Make China's Cheap Android Smartphones (Technology Review)
Why Don't We Have Food Replacement Pills? (Popular Mechanics)
via HBR.org http://blogs.hbr.org/morning-advantage/2013/03/morning-advantage-a-supply-cha.html
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