In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement, operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished products and delivered to their end customers. A more narrow definition of supply chain management is the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronising supply with demand and measuring performance globally". This can include the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, finished goods, and end to end order fulfilment from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Interconnected, interrelated or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.
In economics, inflation is a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy. This is usually measured using a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduction in the purchasing power of money. The opposite of CPI inflation is deflation, a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. The common measure of inflation is the inflation rate, the annualized percentage change in a general price index. As prices faced by households do not all increase at the same rate, the consumer price index (CPI) is often used for this purpose.
Institute for Supply Management (ISM) is the world's oldest and largest supply management association. Founded in 1915, the U.S.-based not-for-profit educational association serves professionals and organizations with interest in supply management, providing education, training, qualifications, publications, information, and research.
The Non-Manufacturing ISM Report on Business is a purchasing survey of the United States service economy, published by the Institute for Supply Management since June 1998. Its results are a popular economic indicator and forecaster. The survey is currently written by Anthony Nieves, C.P.M., CFPM, the Senior Vice President of Supply Management for Hilton Hotels Corporation.
In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables developed in reaction to the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the previous laissez-faire approach to economic management became unworkable. Fiscal policy is based on the theories of the British economist John Maynard Keynes, whose Keynesian economics theorised that government changes in the levels of taxation and government spending influence aggregate demand and the level of economic activity. Fiscal and monetary policy are the key strategies used by a country's government and central bank to advance its economic objectives. The combination of these policies enables these authorities to target inflation and to increase employment. In modern economies, inflation is conventionally considered "healthy" in the range of 2%–3%. Additionally, it is designed to try to keep GDP growth at 2%–3% and the unemployment rate near the natural unemployment rate of 4%–5%. This implies that fiscal policy is used to stabilise the economy over the course of the business cycle.
Alpha is a measure of the active return on an investment, the performance of that investment compared with a suitable market index. An alpha of 1% means the investment's return on investment over a selected period of time was 1% better than the market during that same period; a negative alpha means the investment underperformed the market.
Demand management is a planning methodology used to forecast, plan for and manage the demand for products and services. This can be at macro-levels as in economics and at micro-levels within individual organizations. For example, at macro-levels, a government may influence interest rates to regulate financial demand. At the micro-level, a cellular service provider may provide free night and weekend use to reduce demand during peak hours.
Consumer confidence is an economic indicator that measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation. If the consumer has confidence in the immediate and near future economy and his/her personal finance, then the consumer will spend more than save.
Purchasing managers' indexes (PMI) are economic indicators derived from monthly surveys of private sector companies.
Philip Poh is a professor that developed the Singapore Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in 1998. After a successful pilot survey, the Singapore PMI was launched in January 1999 and the index has become a barometer of the Singapore manufacturing economy. In 2002, government officials in China sought the advice of Professor Poh to develop the China PMI. Since then, the China PMI has also become an indicator of the global manufacturing economy.
Operational responsiveness is a quality of a business process or supporting IT solution, which indicates its ability to respond to changing conditions and customer interactions as they occur.
The term Lehman Wave refers to an economy-wide fluctuation in production and economic activity, with a wavelength of between 12 and 18 months, driven by a sudden major disruption of the economic system. The Lehman Wave is a damped, wave-like fluctuation around equilibrium. The amplitude of the Lehman Wave is larger for a business that is further away from its end market than for a business that is closer to its end market, which difference is caused by cumulative de-stocking of the intermediate supply chain. This term Lehman Wave has first been used by Dutch researchers in 2009 who gave that name to the economic wave that started in September 2008. They argue that the latter was caused by global de-stocking after the financial panic following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008. The Lehman Wave can have strong effects on the sales volume and therefore on the profitability of companies that are located upstream in the supply chain.
Reactive destocking in supply chain management is a reduction of the inventory when expected demand goes down. When a company is only doing reactive destocking, the desired inventory to sales ratio, remains unchanged. Reactive destocking in general is done by operational managers of the logistical activities, without additional instructions. The inventory can include finished products, raw materials and/or goods in process.
A fixed-price contract is a type of contract for the supply of goods or services, such that the agreed payment amount will not subsequently be adjusted to reflect the resources used, costs incurred or time expended by the contractor. This contract type may be contrasted with a cost-plus contract, which is intended to cover the costs incurred by the contractor plus an additional amount for profit, and with time-and-materials contracts and labor-hour contracts. Fixed-price contracts are one of the main options available when contracting for supplies to governments.
An economic calendar is used by investors to monitor market-moving events, such as economic indicators and monetary policy decisions. Market-moving events, which are typically announced or released in a report, have a high probability of impacting the financial markets.
The 2015-2016 Chinese stock market turbulence began with the popping of a stock market bubble on 12 June 2015 and ended in early February 2016. A third of the value of A-shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange was lost within one month of the event. Major aftershocks occurred around 27 July and 24 August's "Black Monday". By 8–9 July 2015, the Shanghai stock market had fallen 30 percent over three weeks as 1,400 companies, or more than half listed, filed for a trading halt in an attempt to prevent further losses. Values of Chinese stock markets continued to drop despite efforts by the government to reduce the fall. After three stable weeks the Shanghai index fell again by 8.48 percent on 24 August, marking the largest fall since 2007.
The ISM Report On Business (ROB), also known as the ISM Report, is the collective name for two monthly reports, the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business and the Services ISM Report On Business(formerly Non-Manufacturing), published by Institute for Supply Management. The ROB is based on a national survey of purchasing managers tracking changes in the manufacturing and services sectors. It is considered to be one of the most reliable economic barometers of the U.S. economy and gives an important early look at the health of the nation's economy. In addition to being market moving, the ROB makes an important contribution to the American statistical system and to economic policy. It also has one of the shortest reporting lags of any macroeconomic series.
The Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM) is a not-for-profit, independent professional organisation founded in 1972 with the aim to enhance managerial effectiveness of professionals in purchasing, logistics, materials and supply chain management. The mission of SIPMM is to lead professional competence in purchasing, materials, logistics, and supply chain management.
