Introduction
In this case study report, I am going to discuss the corporate profile of Agility Logistics, under which I will discuss the line of business that they are currently operation in, the employees that they are employing and the global identity of the company. I will also discuss the company from a historical perspective and their mission, goals and corporate strategies. The company has a few notable management issues which will again be discussed in this report. Subsequently, I will discuss the three discussion questions that are related to my case application. Lastly, I will develop a conclusion on in which I will state whether I would consider working for the company, in any case, why?
Company Information
The name of the company is discussion is called Agility Logistics. They are currently operating in the industries of emerging markets by bringing productivity in the supply chains of some of the world’s most challenging environments. They also offer really good personal service while being highly globalized by having their roots in the countries with emerging economies. Currently, Agility logistics have 22,000 employees working for them in over 550 offices in around 100 countries. The company was established in Kuwait in 1979 and by the year 2004 the company became one of the largest logistics provided in the Middle East. The company carried out the aggressive merger strategy from 2004 to 2008, by acquiring many global brands – some of the brands dating back to the 1800s. All the acquired firms now came under the umbrella of the seamless global network of agility by the year 2006 (About Us, 2011).
The vision of Agility Logistics is to be a new type of logistic leader meeting the challenges of global trade. They are hoping to achieve this vision by undergoing the vision of facilitating trade through innovate supply chain solutions, while maintaining their values of integrity, personal ownership, teamwork and excellence (About Us, 2011).
Significant Events
In November 2011, the company won the fourth consecutive award at Lloyd’s list Asia awards which chose the company with the best academic and industry leadership across the Asia Pacific region. The company also won the award of Global HR excellence for integrity and excellence in the customer service
Mission Statement
“To facilitate trade through innovative supply chain solutions” (About Us, 2011)
Evaluation of Mission
The mission statement of Agility logistics has not really evolved a lot since it has not increased the products and services its offer since the day it first started operation. The company was creative in choosing its goals and providing it services and it achieved its goals quite easily so there were no new mission for the company since increased the products and services. So the ASR is very creative even in reaching its goals
Notable Management Issues
In the year 2003, agility logistics was granted the Defense Logistics Agency’s “Prime Vendor” contract which underlined Agility to supply food and non-food products to the United States military services in Iraq. The revenues of the company exceeded USD 8.5 billion dollars. Later on, in the late 2009, a United States grand jury accused the Agility Logistics for overcharging the Defense Logistics Agency, USD 60 million on the PV contract over a 41 month period between the year 2004 and 2007. Consequently, this gave birth to a lawsuit in which the Defense Logistics Agency suspended Agility Logistics; although, it should be noted that they did not ban the company from the United States government contracts. This may signal the fact that the company might not be as humanitarian or ethical as much as they seem to state so on their websites and marketing campaigns. Overcharging a customer with an eight million figure seems very wrong to me – morally. However, Agility Logistics might have a justification for this; nevertheless, I could not find any sort of defense from the company nor did I discover excessive material on these management issues (Agility Logistics Co., 2011).
Discussion Questions
I believe that Agility logistics’ approach towards the Corporate Social Responsibility is not really justifiable since they seem to be using extreme means for achieving the reward and corporate status. Using the money of the investors to fund charity does not seem reasonable to me. The only reason investors invest money in a company is to earn profits from dividends over a period of time. Moreover, if the investors desired their money to be spent on humanitarian efforts then they would have stated so explicitly. On the contrary, if the investors were so keen on having their money spent that way, then they would have given their money directly to charity instead of giving charity by investing their money in a company.
The webpage starts of by stating the “Agility launches 2011 corporate social responsibility report” (2011) which is a report that highlights efforts in Environment and Sustainability, Community, Humanitarian, and Emergency Logistics, Employees and Business Ethics. What catches my attention the most is the highlights of the benefits that the company has done for the environment, the community involvement, and so on. However, what seems more surprising for me is the fact that they seem to be blowing their own horn. Personally, if I was an outstanding student then I would rather my institution praise me instead of posting my achievements on my social media website!
Agility logistics code of ethics and conducts does not ask for any gift, gratuity, or other personal benefit or favor. Moreover, the company also prohibits the employees from accepting gifts of monetary. This is a very fair practice, since it falls under the debatable topic of ethics; when bribery or similar solicitation takes place then it eradicates fair competition in the market and therefore is detrimental for the society as a whole. Bribery has many negative aspects and no positive aspects were ever noted (Code of Ethics, 2011).
Conclusion
In a nutshell, I would definitely consider working for such a company since the company has great vision, mission and values in place. Firstly, since they seem to be very responsible socially, I believe that they would provide great opportunity for me to grow career-wise; moreover, it seems to me that the company would greatly assist me in climbing up the corporate ladder due to the reason of social responsibility. Furthermore, since the company is multinational, this would greatly increase my prospects in this globalized world. Nevertheless, the company did have a couple notable management issues, but I doubt that there exists any multinational company that has never faced a lawsuit. Logistics, is doing great in the light of humanity, and has upright codes of ethics and morals, and that is why I believe that the company is doing great in terms of management.
About Us. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from Agility Logistics: http://www.agilitylogistics.com/EN/Pages/Landing.aspx#aboutus-tab
Agility launches 2011 corporate social responsibility report. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from Agility Logistics: http://www.agilitylogistics.com/PressReleases/Pages/CorporateSocialResponsibilityReport2011.aspx?source=micrositerelease
Agility Logistics Co. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from NREC: http://www.nrec.com.kw/En_Agility.cms
Code of Ethics. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from Agility Logistics : http://stage.agilitylogistics.com/codeEthics.shtml
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