ANNALS of the ORADEA UNIVERSITY. Fascicle of Management and Technological Engineering, Volume VI (XVI), 2007

STRATEGY AND SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGETHE CASE OF ZARA FASHION CHAIN
Sunhilde CUC, Simona TRIPA University of Oradea, Faculty of Textiles and Leatherworks, e-mail: hectic@rdslink.ro, tripasimona@yahoo.com,
Keywords: Company Strategy, Competitive Advantage, Operational Effectiveness, Strategic Positioning

Abstract. In this case study we want to analyse this phenomenon called Zara, a strategic unit of the Inditex Group, and evaluate the strategies of Zara on the European fashion market. Finally within the clothing market, it shows the competitive advantage gained through modern systems by comparing Zara to its opponents.

1. COMPANY PROFILE Firms strive for sustainable competitive advantage, financial performance that consistently outperforms their industry peers. The world is so dynamic, with new products and new competitors rising seemingly overnight, that truly sustainable advantage might seem like an impossibility. But there are winners and the Zara chain is one of them. The Zara fashion chain, founded in 1975 in Arteixo, a small town in the north of Spain, is perhaps the world's most successful clothing chain. Zara has helped its parent, the Spanish firm Inditex, grow from obscurity in the mid 90s to the world's third largest pure-play fashion retailer after the Swedish H&M and US-based Gap Inc. with financial performance well ahead of these rivals. The Inditex Group is present in 64 markets in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, with upwards of 3,100 stores [8]. In addition to Zara Inditex has another seven commercial formats: Skhuaban, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Zara Home. The Group also includes more than a hundred companies associated with different activities in the business of