Trade and Media Publications

The army is made up of distributors’ employees, fulfillment center personnel, logistics planners, pallet manufacturing crews, procurement professionals, transportation brokers, truck drivers, truck stop attendants, warehouse workers, wholesalers, and countless other specialists.

Bigger, well-capitalized companies have the financial strength to withstand the rapidly developing downturn, but most other companies are in tougher situations and survival for many will come into question. However, it is not too early for companies to think about how to position themselves for a successful, speedy recovery.

As scientists race to develop a cure for the coronavirus, businesses are trying to assess the impact of the outbreak on their own enterprises. Just as scientists are confronting an unknown enemy, corporate executives are largely working blind because the coronavirus could cause supply-chain disruptions that are unlike anything we have seen in the past 70 years.

At least the hotel chain (Intercontinental Hotels) is responding to consumers’ professed increasing support for green products and services, right?

Some studies find that more than 80% of consumers say they will make personal sacrifices to address social and environmental issues. However, when actually buying goods, consumer support for environmental products largely evaporates.

Quarterly July-September 2019 Issue pages 30-33

As the world economy started gathering momentum in 2017 and 2018, the volume of sea-borne trade began trending upward, albeit from a low, following the anemic recovery of the previous decade.

While prospects for the industry are positive in the next few years, trade protectionism and the possibility of trade wars are still concerning.

“Is the bike-lane fever breaking?” None seemed to address the argument. It is unconscionable to restrict the movement of hundreds of thousands of car users in the name of making life more convenient for a few hundred bicyclists.

There are only two ways for the world to avoid what most scientists refer to as disastrous global warming. One way is to stop economic growth, which would be immoral, while the other would require us to deploy our greatest natural resource.

Warren Buffett said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” It has been more than two decades now since a 1996 issue of Life magazine depicted a Pakistani boy sewing a Nike soccer ball, reportedly for six cents per hour. After the story, the company lost more than half its market capitalisation in just one year – it took Nike six years of demonstrated social responsibility to recuperate.

More companies are banning straws to burnish their environmental credentials. MIT’s Yossi Sheffi writes the impact of such measures is just a drop in the ocean.