Exercise 1The most recent statistics by GlobalEdge show that China, the United States, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands are part of the world’s top ten exporters of merchandise. The other countries that complete the list are France, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Russia in that order. The world’s top ten importers of merchandise are the United States, China, Germany, Japan, and France. Others are the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Italy. Some countries such as the US, China, the Netherlands, France, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan appear in both lists. According to Seyoum, (2000, p. 12), the countries’ exports performance could be due to factors such as the presence of an entrepreneurial class, access to transportation, and marketing. Other factors could include favorable exchange rates, and government trade and exchange rate policies might have made the countries appear at the top of the exports list. Their per capita income, favorable prices of imports, exchange rates, availability of foreign exchange, and government trade and exchange rate policies might have made the countries appear at the top of the imports list.
Exercise 2
A search through the Australian supplier directory reveals that the country has many exporters of premium wines. Premium Product Group (Australia), Barwick Wines Pty Ltd, Jane Brook Estate Wines, and Connex United Processors are some of the many wine exporters in the country. The restaurant chain would need to conduct screening process to select the supplier to work with from among the four potential suppliers listed above (Beil, 2009, p. 4). The process starts with reference checks. Here, the restaurant chain would contact previous customers of each of the potential suppliers to determine their delivery performance, adherence to contracts, and their ability to solve any issues arising during the execution of the contract. The restaurant chain would then conduct financial status checks to determine the financial status and viability in the short to medium terms of each of the potential suppliers. The third step in the process involves tests to determine the surge capacity availability, which is the ability of each of the potential suppliers to increase the quantities delivered within short lead times. The buyer will then check each of the possible suppliers for indications of supplier quality that indicate that they have policies, procedures, documentation, and training that ensures a continuous adherence to quality standards. Lastly, the buyer would need to determine the ability of each of the potential suppliers to meet specifications (Beil, 2009, p. 5). For example, the buyer might request for samples from the potential vendors and test them to confirm whether they meet the buyer’s requirements.
- Beil, D. (2009). Supplier Selection (1st ed.). Retrieved from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dbeil/Supplier_Selection_Beil-EORMS.pdf
- Seyoum, B. (2000). Export-Import Theory, Practices, and Procedures. New York: NY. International Business Press.
