Bose Corporation: the Jit Ii Program (a) Ethic and Sustainability Issues

Ethics and Sustainability Issues

The production process is extremely important, Bose speakers had to have absolutely no defects, not even a tiny spec of dirt. Bose maintains unusually high standards for the quality on the speakers and other products. Producing plastics to meet Bose quality standards required considerable experience and skill (Isaacson 7). This was critical for customer satisfaction so Bose Corporation can maintain success with so many competitors. Speakers were one of the most competitive segments of the audio business, with dozens of manufacturers in the United States, Europe, and the Far East producing a diverse array of designs and technologies (Isaacson 2). As companies became more and more competitive and the pressures from Japanese continuous improvement culture, other firms were forced to find innovative ways to cuts costs and compete. Which is why the motto of Bose Corporation is “Better Sound through Research” to provide high quality systems and is also the main reason why Bose continues in this very competitive environment. Even the best sound systems with poor quality would not produce high-quality sound, making customers unhappy with the product and forcing them to find other manufacturers with better products.

Bose Corporations policy is simple, better sound, better quality, better business. For Bose to achieve this goal they need to either weigh their options to continue their collaboration with their suppliers or start with their own in-house production of all the products. In-house production would give them an advantage of complete control on quality of the product. So the question is, does Bose need to continue with the JIT II approach, which has been in effect in the company the past three years? Or should Bose become vertically integrated, to ensure that production lines are well supplied and that all components are in-house and the best that they can be manufactured? The JIT II approach would give the competitive edge within...