Every business can be described in terms of flows ± both of materials and of information. Materials flow into the company, between activities within it, and in the form of finished goods and services from the company to its customers. Simultaneously, there are flows of information in the reverse direction that provide valuable data for the system: feedback from the marketplace in the for…
Electronic marketplaces have promised many benefits to participants, and hence have aroused considerable interest in the business community. However, the failure of some marketplaces and the success of others have led business managers to question which marketplaces will be successful in the future, and even whether the entire idea is viable. This question is particularly pressing for those con…
An effective return policy is used as an important competitive weapon in the marketplace to substantially influence product sales. However, return policy is also seen as a problem for all parties in the supply chain due to the headache in processing returned merchandise. While retailers are efficient in selling, they do not usually have the expertise in handling the reverse flow. The purpose of…
Indonesia is an archipelago that has the territorial waters of two-thirds of the total area. As one of the largest State-owned Enterprise in the field of port services in Indonesia, IPC has very varied customers. However, until now the IPC have not mapped the customer yet, whereas vital relationship with the customer to be able to retain current customers and att…