...better than others in an industry. Using RBV as a framework this essay aims to examine how ZARA generates sustainable competitive advantage. (Opening is good, you have been able to introduce theory that would be discussed the essay). “A fast fashion system combines quick response production capabilities with enhanced product design capabilities to both design latest products that capture the latest consumer trends and exploit minimal production lead times to match supply with uncertain demand” (Cachon and Swinney, 2011). Fast fashion is widely gaining recognition as being a key enabler for success for modern fashion retailers (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, 2006). Fashion retailers such as ZARA, H&M and Benetton have adopted this strategy in order to enhance its business system and gain competitive advantage. ZARA was established in 1975 and is the flagship of Inditex (Industria de Disen˜o Textil) of Spain. In a relatively short span of time, ZARA became the largest and most internationalized of Inditex’s chains. At the end of 2001, it was operating in 507...
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...Patil, Yash Robert Tanner 5/11/2014 BIP: Final Paper Time to do the Laundry At 9am on the 24th of April, a textile manufacturing building in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed due to oversight from supervisors. 1129 people were killed and an additional 2515 were injured as a result. Many of the higher floors didn’t have permits to be legally constructed[1]. The workers were making 52 dollars a month in wages and lived below the poverty line. The clothes manufactured here would be exported and sold in stores like Walmart. Situations like these exist around the world, but only get recognized when disaster occurs. Businesses are some of the biggest entities in the world. Some companies are even bigger than nations; 50 of the largest economies in the world are run by multinational companies; like General Electrics and British Petroleum which are bigger than UAE and Vietnam respectively[2]. The United States Government does provide 21 billion dollars in non-military aid to foreign countries, but this is nothing compared to the impact businesses can have. The textile industry in America alone generates 248 billion dollars in revenue and employs 75 million people globally. Businesses have the capability to empower workers and improve their mission while creating shared value[3]. What is shared value? CSV or Creating Shared Value is the process of aligning economic interests with societal interests to create value for stakeholders and shareholders. Corporations have taken on CSR or...
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...Case 1: Zara, H&M, Benetton Supply Chain Strategies | Executive Summary The performance of many organizations is highly dependent on utilizing the correct supply chain model. This report focuses on the analysis of the supply chains of three clothing companies: Zara, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), and Benetton. The analysis was focused on three aspects. First, the supply chain models of the three retailers were compared and contrasted and there was an evaluation whether each of the retailers has the right supply chains for the type of products they offer. Second, the analysis highlighted how the supply chain architecture of the three companies impacts the management of inventory, information, and capacity. Finally, the analysis also included some research on how the supply chain strategies of these retailers have changed in recent times and its impacts on their relative competitive advantage. Based on the analysis, several recommendations around strategic and process improvement were provided for Zara, H&M, and Benetton. The recommendations are further supported by an implementation plan as well as an overall assessment of the risks that the retailers face. Sources of analysis include the two Harvard Business Review Articles “What is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product” and “Rapid-Fire Fulfillment”. The analysis also utilized several research reports from DataMonitor. Analysis Zara, H&M, and Benetton are all clothing retailers that focus on fashion...
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...Collana Working Paper n. 1/2009 ENTREPRENEURIAL COUNTERINTUITIVE STRATEGIES FOR OPERATIONS AND GLOBAL SUPPLY CHIAN MANAGEMENT. A STUDY OF THE BENETTON GROUP by Daniele M. Ghezzi Entrepreneurial counterintuitivestrategies for Operations and Global Supply Chain Management. A study of the Benetton Group by Daniele M. Ghezzi CONTENTS 1 – Introduction 2 – Benetton’s operations strategy 2.1 Review of the literature 2.2 Focus on the Benetton case 3 – Benetton’s position in the supply network and a critical review of its supply chain strategy 3.1 Review of the literature 3.2 Focus on the Benetton case 4 – Conclusions References Anneexes Annex 1: Benetton Group organizational structure Annex 2: Forein production poles Annex 3: Benetton Group financial highlights Annex 4: Benetton’s Revenues brealdown Annex 5: Images of Benetton’s sorting system and distribution center 3 3 3 4 9 9 10 13 14 16 16 16 17 18 19 Il testo di questo working paper è coperto dai diritti d’autore e non può essere riprodotto, in alcuna forma, senza l’autorizzazione scritta dell’autore. In caso di citazione in altri lavori, si prega di indicarlo in bibliografia nel seguente formato: Daniele M. Ghezzi, Entrepreneurial counterintuitive strategies for Operations and Global Supply Chain Management . A study of the Benetton Group, Collana Working Paper del Centro di Ricerca per lo Sviluppo Imprenditoriale dell’Università Cattolica, n. 1/2009. Il CERSI (Centro di Ricerca per lo Sviluppo Imprenditoriale)...
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...RESEARCH CASE STUDY FROM BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY, MARKETING OPERATIONS ZARA, H&M, BENETTON CASE STUDY: Supplying fast fashion High-street Design Labels Notable here is that all three companies do the majority of their own design. In fact, Benetton and Zara do virtually all of their own design in-house, while H&M is using ‘guest designers’, but mainly to exploit the reputation of these designers. It is worth noting that for all the stages in the supply chain, it is design that these companies are the most reluctant to outsource. This is because that in an industry concerned with fashion, an aesthetic value, the design stage is the operation that contributes the most to the market image of the company. Of the main process objectives for the design part of the supply chain, speed is very important, as is quality (in terms of fitness for purpose). Similarly, where distinctive seasons are still used (more so at Benetton, less so at Zara) dependability, that is having designs finished in time for the clothes to be put through the supply chain and reach the stores in time for the season, is also relatively important. Flexibility is also an issue. It is important to draw the distinction between flexibility and agility. The concept of agility (being flexible, fast and responsive) may be a better way of thinking about fast fashion. The issue of cost is also important here. It is not about the cost of the finished garment (this is important but part of quality as ‘fit...
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...Títol: Benetton and Zara information systems:a comparative analysis Volum:I de I Alumne: Chiara Pirone Director/Ponent:Jose M.Cabré Garcia Departament:Organización de Empresas Data: 28 Junio 2010 DADES DEL PROJECTE Títol del Projecte:Benetton and Zara information systems:a comparative analysis Nom de l'estudiant:Chiara Pirone Titulació:Ingenieria superior Informatica Crèdits: 37.5 Director/Ponent:Jose M.Cabré Garcia Departament:Organización de Empresas MEMBRES DEL TRIBUNAL President:Ferran Sabate Carriga Toma de decisiones y gestión de proyectos empresariales(PDGPE) Vocal:Francesc Tiñena Salvañà Compresion de datos e imagen (CDI) Secretari:Jose M. Cabré Garcia Empresa y entorno economico(EEE) QUALIFICACIÓ Qualificació numèrica: Qualificació descriptiva: Data: INDEX CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2: VERTICAL INTEGRATION 2.1. VERTICAL INTEGRATION 2.2: THE THREE A’S OF A SUPPLY CHAIN EXCELLENCE 2.2.1: AGILITY 2.2.2: ADAPTABILITY 2.2.3: ALIGNMENT 2.3: PORTER’S ANALYSIS 2.4: EXAMPLES: WAL-MART AND DELL CHAPTER 3: THE SYSTEM LOCK-IN 3.1 THE DELTA MODEL 3.2: THE SYSTEM LOCK-IN 3.3: EXAMPLE: FORD MOTOR CO 3.3.1: FORD MOTOR CO LOCK-IN CHAPTER 4 : ZARA 4.1 ZARA’S HISTORY 4.2 BUSINESS MODEL 4.2.1: PORTER’S ANALYSIS ON ZARA 4.2.2 PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE CURVE 7 9 9 13 15 16 17 19 30 36 36 39 41 42 45 45 47 47 49 1 4.2.3: KEY FACTORS OF SUCCESS 4.2.4: STRATEGIC DRAWBACKS 4.2.5: LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN 4.2.6: STRATEGY 4.2.7: OPPORTUNITIES 4.3 THE MATHEMATICAL...
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...Títol : Zara and Benetton: Comparison of two business models Volum: I de I Alumne:Amalia Paola Palladino Director/Ponent:Jose M. Cabré Garcia Departament:Organización de Empresas (OE) Data: 28 Junio 2010 Data:28 June 2010 DADES DEL PROJECTE Títol del Projecte: Zara and Benetton : Comparison of two business models Nom de l'estudiant:Amalia Paola Palladino Titulació:Ingenieria Superior Infomatica Crèdits:37,5 Director/Ponent: Jose M. Cabré Garcia Departament:Organizazión de empresas (OE) MEMBRES DEL TRIBUNAL President:Ferran Sabate Garriga,Toma de decisiones y gestión de proyectos empresariales(PDGPE) Vocal:Francesc Tiñena Salvañà, Compresion de datos e imagen (CDI) Secretari:Jose M. Cabré Garcia, Empresa y Entorno Economico (EEE) QUALIFICACIÓ Qualificació numèrica: Qualificació descriptiva: Data: AKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank Spanish professor Jose Cabré Garcia and Italian professor Massimo Visconti, my supervisors during the dissertation, for their helpfulness. Their academic and personal help was precious throughout this difficult task; Next, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who generously spent time to enable me to complete successfully my dissertation with the best possible result: My family, who has supported me amazingly all these years, both financially and psychologically. Their love and support kept me going in difficult times. My boyfriend Tomasz for his patience and moral support during my hard...
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...Spain, the owner of Zara and five other apparel retailing chains, continued a trajectory of rapid, profitable growth by posting net income of € 340 million on € revenues of € 3,250 million in its fiscal year 2001 (ending January 31, 2002). Inditex had had a heavily € oversubscribed Initial Public Offering in May 2001. Over the next 12 months, its stock price increased by nearly 50%—despite bearish stock market conditions—to push its market valuation to € 13.4 € billion. The high stock price made Inditex’s founder, Amancio Ortega, who had begun to work in the apparel trade as an errand boy half a century earlier, Spain’s richest man. However, it also implied a significant growth challenge. Based on one set of calculations, for example, 76% of the equity value implicit in Inditex’s stock price was based on expectations of future growth—higher than an estimated 69% for Wal-Mart or, for that matter, other high-performing retailers.1 The next section of this case briefly describes the structure of the global apparel chain, from producers to final customers. The section that follows profiles three of Inditex’s leading international competitors in apparel retailing: The Gap (U.S.), Hennes & Mauritz (Sweden), and Benetton (Italy). The rest of the case focuses on Inditex, particularly the business system and international expansion of the Zara chain that dominated its results. The Global Apparel Chain The global apparel chain had been characterized as a prototypical example of a buyer-driven...
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...Spain, the owner of Zara and five other apparel retailing chains, continued a trajectory of rapid, profitable growth by posting net income of € 340 million on € revenues of € 3,250 million in its fiscal year 2001 (ending January 31, 2002). Inditex had had a heavily € oversubscribed Initial Public Offering in May 2001. Over the next 12 months, its stock price increased by nearly 50%—despite bearish stock market conditions—to push its market valuation to € 13.4 € billion. The high stock price made Inditex’s founder, Amancio Ortega, who had begun to work in the apparel trade as an errand boy half a century earlier, Spain’s richest man. However, it also implied a significant growth challenge. Based on one set of calculations, for example, 76% of the equity value implicit in Inditex’s stock price was based on expectations of future growth—higher than an estimated 69% for Wal-Mart or, for that matter, other high-performing retailers.1 The next section of this case briefly describes the structure of the global apparel chain, from producers to final customers. The section that follows profiles three of Inditex’s leading international competitors in apparel retailing: The Gap (U.S.), Hennes & Mauritz (Sweden), and Benetton (Italy). The rest of the case focuses on Inditex, particularly the business system and international expansion of the Zara chain that dominated its results. The Global Apparel Chain The global apparel chain had been characterized as a prototypical example of a buyer-driven...
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...cornucopia of goods that is available in a hypermarket or a department store sometimes means that we forget how the products were supplied. We expect our lettuces to be fresh, the new Playstation to be available on launch day and our clothes to be in good condition and ready to wear. With the introduction of e-commerce we have come to demand complete availability and home delivery at times of our choosing. Consumer beliefs and needs have altered. Our willingness to wait to be satisfied or served has reduced and we expect instant product availability and gratification. It should be obvious from this that the supply or logistics system that gets products from production through retailing to consumption has also needed to be transformed. Physical distribution and materials management have been replaced by logistics management and a subsequent concern for the whole supply chain (Figure 1.1). This logistics transformation derives from cost and service requirements as well as consumer and retailer change (see Fernie, 1990; Fernie and Sparks, 1998). Elements of logistics are remarkably expensive, if not controlled effectively. Holding stock or inventory in warehouses just in case it is needed is a highly costly activity. The stock itself is expensive and might not sell or could become obsolete. Warehouses and distribution centres generally are expensive to build, operate and maintain. Vehicles to transport goods between warehouses and shops are expensive, in terms 2 ❚ Logistics...
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...Fashion 1. + 2. Zara’s business and operating model is focused on speed and the need for fast fashion, I think a word that would classify it is mass customisation. It is targeted at young fashion and price conscious urban dwellers and is built on a vertically integrated system focussed on demand and supply. Zara is constantly updating its design and production base to deliver exactly what the client wants based on their buying habits and the latest trends. They have limited outsourcing and produce almost everything all in house. Zara is very close to its customers and provides them exactly with what they want, making Zara sell a trend value proposition at affordable prices. They can achieve this because of their integrated verticle supply chain; production time of a new product (estimated at under 5 weeks) and re-production and delivery of an existing product (estimated at under 2 weeks). Following this brief introduction it would be best to compare Inditex’s financial results with H&M as they are competing in very much the same markets and although their products and value chains are different their target consumer has the most overlap. Also GAP and to a lesser extent Benetton do not follow the fashion precisely but predict and produce in advance in bulk. Inditex despite being present in 39 countries, compared to H&Ms 14, and having over 50% more stores than H&M, they still manage to have considerably lower operating expenses. Their operating expense is only 30%...
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...CASE STUDY Zara The case describes how Zara, operating out of the Galician port of La Coruña in north-west Spain has managed to become a benchmark for speed and flexibility in the garment industry. The case offers an illustration of a fast-response global supply, production and retail network. In 2003 Zara was the only retailer that could deliver garments to its stores worldwide (507 in 33 countries) in just fifteen days after they were designed. It could do that because of its unique systems for product design, order administration, production, distribution and retailing. The unconventional approach that Zara often deploys in these areas provides interesting opportunities for discussion and learning. Kasra Ferdows, Georgetown University, USA ferdowsk@georgetown.edu Michael Lewis, University of Warwick, UK michael.lewis@warwick.ac.uk Jose A.D. Machuca, University of Sevilla, Spain. jmachuca@cica.es The unabridged Zara case was the winner of the 2003 Indiana University Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER)-sponsored Production and Operations Management Society(POMS) International Case Competition. Isabelle Borges, one of the product market specialists in the women’s wear department at the Zara headquarters, sensed that they were on to something. The new khaki skirt had sold out in the La Coruña store after only a few hours on the shelves and the store manager had just told her that she could have easily sold more. A small batch of...
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...Spain, the owner of Zara and five other apparel retailing chains, continued a trajectory of rapid, profitable growth by posting net income of € 340 million on € revenues of € 3,250 million in its fiscal year 2001 (ending January 31, 2002). Inditex had had a heavily € oversubscribed Initial Public Offering in May 2001. Over the next 12 months, its stock price increased by nearly 50%—despite bearish stock market conditions—to push its market valuation to € 13.4 € billion. The high stock price made Inditex’s founder, Amancio Ortega, who had begun to work in the apparel trade as an errand boy half a century earlier, Spain’s richest man. However, it also implied a significant growth challenge. Based on one set of calculations, for example, 76% of the equity value implicit in Inditex’s stock price was based on expectations of future growth—higher than an estimated 69% for Wal-Mart or, for that matter, other high-performing retailers.1 The next section of this case briefly describes the structure of the global apparel chain, from producers to final customers. The section that follows profiles three of Inditex’s leading international competitors in apparel retailing: The Gap (U.S.), Hennes & Mauritz (Sweden), and Benetton (Italy). The rest of the case focuses on Inditex, particularly the business system and international expansion of the Zara chain that dominated its results. The Global Apparel Chain The global apparel chain had been characterized as a prototypical example of a buyer-driven...
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...H&M had become the global leader in the ‘fast-fashion’ segment with a distinctive business approach that challenged most competitors. The business model, commonly referred to as ‘cheap-and-chic’, emphasised high fashion at prices significantly below those of competitors, with the fundamental principle being ‘Fashion and quality at the best price’. ,H&M已经成为全球领先的“快速时尚”段与独特的业务方法,大多数竞争对手的挑战。商业模式,通常被称为“cheap-and-chic”,强调高级时装的价格明显低于竞争对手,基本原则是“时尚以最好的价格和质量”。 ‘In 2010 we stepped up our investments in order to strengthen the brand further and secure future expansion.’ “在2010年,我们加强了我们的投资是为了进一步加强品牌和安全的未来扩张。” However, Zara, the prime retail brand of Spain’s Inditex, opened 120 new outlets in China during that same year and later during the year Inditex overtook H&M to become the world’s biggest fashion retailer by market capitalisation. For the first time H&M was seriously challenged by Zara’s rapid expansion, not least because of its fast growth in emerging markets. The increased competition and the fact that margins had started to erode due to increased cotton prices and rising production costs in Asia put the H&M high-fashion/low-price formula and aggressive expansion under scrutiny. Investors had come to trust H&M’s model that relied on a set of unique resources and capabilities, but Zara’s success questioned the sustainability of the formula. 然而,Zara,西班牙的Inditex的主要零售品牌,在中国开设了120家新店在今年晚些时候在同年和Inditex取代H&M成为世界上市值最大的时装零售商。H&M首次被Zara的快速扩张严重挑战,不仅是因为其在新兴市场的快速增长。竞争加剧...
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...ZARA’S OPERATIONS STATEGY, A CRITIQUE OF A BUSINESS CASE. 1.Excecutive summary. Operations management is in regard to all operations within the organization responsible for creating goods and services that organizations pass to their customers. This function is at the heart of all organizations, giving the means of achieving their aims and reason for their existence. These activities include: managing purchases, inventory control, quality control, storage and logistics. A great deal of focus in operations is on efficiency and effectiveness of such a process. An example of successful operations strategy in the retail industry is the strategy employed by Zara which is discussed in this critique. Zara started as a single shop in La Coruna and then rapidly spread its wings to 68 countries; opening a store each day - one of the fastest global expansions the world has ever seen. Throughout the entire system of Zara’s business; designing, sourcing, manufacturing, distribution process and retailing come out a number of success factors: short cycle time, small batches per product, extensive variety of product every season and heavy investment in information and technology. This elements feature in every aspect of the business. 2. Introduction. Zara is the flagship brand of the Spanish fashion retail giant, Inditex, (Industrias de Deseno Texti S. A.) Founded in 1975 ; this super- heated performers in soft retail fashion market in recent years; is engaged in textile design, manufacturing...
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