Business Logistics: Tempo Ltd

Introduction

Business is one thing that requires proper management. This means that all the aspects supporting a business should be taken care of well. Business logistics is one thing that should be considered whenever coming up with business strategy (Waters, 1989). This is because it determines the availability of goods or services and the level of cost involved. Business logistics should be handled in a way which ensures that the most efficient way of availing products to customers is achieved.
a. Thesis statement

Telim should not let anyone else complete the transaction because he knows that if he does not sell to the North Koreans, someone else will.
b. Purpose of paper

The purpose of this paper is to show the challenges involved in making important business transactions go through. This paper also tries to show the importance of strategic thinking in the process of carrying out business transactions. The issue of moral compromise so that a business entity may get new business will also be shown in this paper. This paper will also aim at showing the role of business logistics in business transactions. This will be done by giving an insight into the dilemma that business people are faced with in choosing from several available logistical options.
c. Overview of paper

Business logistics for many businesses has been faced with several challenges. These challenges are related to the effort of balancing the cost and benefit associated with specific transactions. Legalities involved in business, especially on the international arena also make business people struggle more. The relationships between various countries in the world also determine the logistical options certain transactions have to adopt. These among others will be looked at by the application of the Tempo Limited case. The costs involved in the various available logistical options will be looked at. Additionally, the moral standing of the transaction will be well analyzed.

Tempo Limited’s Logistical costs as per the available options

The efforts by Telim to ensure that the Romanian and Syrian connections yield fruits have been met with the challenge of cost. The costs are associated with transportation, bribes, packaging, guest entertainment as well as documentation. This calls for proper planning so as to ensure that the most reasonable cost is born by Telim’s business.

Total costs associated with the Romanian option and the Syrian option

Costs associated with Romanian Option
USD	TL
Wonsan to Constanta	42000	6,581,400,000
Redoing Documents in Romania	16,000,000,000
Constanta into turkey	15000	2,350,500,000
Handling fees at Liman	979,375,000,000
Suez Canal Charges	3100	6,581,400,000
1,010,888,300,000
Costs associated with Syrian Option
Wonsan to Latakia	33000	5,171,100,000
Latakia into turkey	12000	1,880,400,000
Suez Canal Charges	3100	6,581,400,000
Handling fees at Liman	979,375,000,000
Rusvets of Junior officers at border	78350000000
1,071,357,900,000

Telim should recommend the Romanian option. This is because in terms of cost, it is lower. The Romanian option is less than the Syrian Option by 60,469,600,000TL. This means that Tempo Limited will be able to save this amount of money by just going for the Romanian option of logistic. Even though the Syrian option takes shorter period, 60,469,600,000TL is good enough for the company to wait for the lumber to get into turkey through the Romanian option which will take 43 days.

Supply Chain and bribes

If bribes are included in the supply chain, the process of transacting the business will be made easier. This is because the people involved will be more willing to get involved in the transaction. Secondly, if bribes are included, some costs such as those concerned with handling and Suez Canal charges may be reduced. This means that the authorities involved in passing the charges may accept lower amount and allow the lumber to go through their points. It is important to note that if Telim goes on with the transaction, the western countries will always be ahead when it comes to moral standing. According to Neubauer (2011), whenever there are morally upright transactions, countries tend to grow more economically. This is the reason why the western countries have been able to progress in terms of the transactions that they carry out.

Moral values and standardization

In the case of Tempo Limited, there is only one option where moral values would be brought into the situation. This would be through refusing to carry on with the transaction. This is because all the tree options do not pass the moral test. The first option fails because it is illegal to import lumber into Turkey from North Korea. The second option fails the moral value option since it involves falsification of documents in Romania. The third option fails the moral value threshold since it involves giving Rusvets to lower ranking officers at the Turkish gates. Unethical actions should be discouraged in business logistics (Andrews, 1989).

Additionally, when the moral values are recognized by abandoning the transaction, the developing countries will be able to get more respect from the western countries. This means that more business opportunities will be created for the benefit of the developing countries. It is important to note that the fact that the developing countries are adopting morally upright actions is not an indicator of boot licking. This can be explained as doing what is reasonably proper for a company and country to do. This is because being moral is the standard requirement.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Business logistics should be focused on by all business people. This is because it is a very important factor in ensuring that the operations of a business entity go on without interruptions. It is also important to go for the best option since it counts in the cost incurred. Different logistical options have varied costs. The costs vary as a result of the various factors which are involved in each of the logistical options (Pienaar & Vogt, 2009). The duration of logistical choice should also be considered. This is because it determines extend to which the market is served with an organizations products. It is important to note that it is not reasonable to delay products to save on logistics while the amount which would have been gained by having the goods in the market on time is bigger. Wood and Murphy (2011) observe that it is worth noting that there are legal implications of each logistical move in the world. This is because the policies and procedures of each country in the world vary. A business person should ensure that he or she understands the trade regulations between various countries. This would assist in knowing where and when to carry out certain business transactions.

All business people should also try to embrace morally conscious actions in logistics. This is because morally upright practices help in building the profile of an organization. This is also a good thing in the process of opening more opportunities for a business entity thus fostering growth and profitability.

References

Wood, D.F. & Murphy, P.R., Jr. (2011). Contemporary logistics (10th ed.)NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall. ISBN: 9780136110774

Pienaar, W. & Vogt, J. (2009). Business Logistics Management, Oxford University Press.

Neubauer, R. (2011). Business Models in the Area of Logistics: In Search of Hidden Champions, their business Principles and common industry misconceptions, Springer.

Andrews, R. (1989). Ethics in Practice: Managing the Moral Corporation. Harvard Business Press.

Waters, D. (1989) Global Logistics and Distribution Planning: Strategies for Management. Kogan Page.