Logistics Assignment

Logistics Research Newsletter Assignment

 

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (the Bangladesh Accord) was signed on May 15th 2013 following the collapse of the Rana Plaza clothing factory, which was the world’s largest industrial accident and resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people and more than 2,000 injuries. The Accord has essentially transformed global logistics while strengthening Bangladesh’s exports of Ready Made Garments (RMG) into Canada.

 

The Bangladesh Accord allows fashion brands to be directly involved in managing the supply chain for the production of the brand-named garments. Private logistics agreements were not common before the Accord. The government should protect factory workers, but in Bangladesh the government is run by businessmen and factory owners and they have kept minimum wages low while not actively enforcing occupational health and safety regulations.

 

Each student will be assigned a company or brand that is a signatory to the Bangladesh Accord. Students will receive the name of the company/brand by email when Assignment #3 (Transportation and Storage) is submitted. Please note that the brands are being assigned randomly from over 200 different companies/brands that signed the original Bangladesh Accord and the 2018 extension of the Accord.]

 

For this Assignment, each student must write a newsletter from the perspective of the fictional position of Vice-President of Logistics for the company/brand that has been assigned to you. You are required to write a Newsletter directed to company employees and to key customers and suppliers of the assigned brand. This Assignment is due Sunday, APRIL 7, 2019 (10 pm).

 

Your Newsletter should cover each of the three (3) categories or issues described below.

 

1. Introduce the selected company and brand(s) where you work as the Vice-President of Logistics. This section should be comprised of about 3 – 4 paragraphs (300-400 words) and include an overview of the company/brand, its legal name, and its products as well as and description of the companies supply chain(s) and the likely reasons why the assigned company/brand decided to sign the Bangladesh Accord.

 

2. The next section of your Newsletter should explain the purpose and basic rules and policies established in the 2018 Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord . Feel free to express an opinion in this section as to whether you think the Accord is good or bad for the brand and/or the fashion industry. This section should also be around 300-400 words.

 

3. In the third and final section of your Newsletter students are required to describe at least TWO LOGISTICS CONCEPTS (one from chapter 11, one from chapter 12, textbook pages 203-246) as the concepts apply to the company/brand assigned to you plus a description of the mode of transportation that you believe the company/brand most often uses to deliver its products manufactured in Bangladesh to its stores or distribution centers in Europe and North America. This section should be 500-700 words.

 

Please feel free to include embedded images in your newsletter to improve the attractiveness of the Newsletter (i.e. extra marks).

 

Your Newsletter MUST be at least 1,000 words (about 3-4 pages using 1.5 spacing, 12 font) in order to obtain a passing grade.

 

You MUST work on this Newsletter by yourself and please use your own words throughout. Reference sources and citations (if any) may be placed as endnotes.

 

 

Scoring Guide

 

Please note that this Research Assignment is worth 20% of your grade and will be graded out of 100 marks as follows:

 

	Criteria	Percentage
1.	Newsletter contains creative and attractive format with interesting and informative descriptions	4 % 20 marks
2.	Present a concise and realistic overview of the brand/company and explain to the reader why the brand/company agreed to be a signatory to the Accord (this should be section 1 intro of your Newsletter)	4 % 20 marks
3.	Present your research and opinion in respect of the Bangladesh Accord (use citations for all information).	5 % 20 marks
4.	Explain the logistics (packaging, materials handling, international logistics and transportation) for your company/brand’s outsourcing of RMG production to Bangladesh	5 % 30 marks
5.	Newsletter is written with correct grammar, punctuation and spelling throughout and has a fun and informative tone	2 % 10 marks