Case Study of Zara : Application of Business Intelligence in Retail Industry

ZARA is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer based in Arteixo, Galicia.  Founded in 24 May ,1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera, the brand is renowned for it’s ability to deliver new clothes to stores quickly and in small batches. Zara needs just two weeks to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared to the six-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year. Zara was described by Louis Vuitton Fashion Director Daniel Piette as “possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world.  The company produces about 450 million items a year for its 1,770 stores in 86 countries. The Zara has made of use of Information Systems (IS) and to advance in many areas. This has resulted in huge success for the company. This included application of Business intelligence (BI) involves technologies, practices for collection, integration and applications to analyze and Continue reading

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

At the work place the ability to exercise clear and sound judgement in situations that the jobs role presents solely depends on the emotional intelligence employees possess. It encompasses the ability to manage their own impulses, cope with change, effectively communicate with others, and solve problems and being able to make use of humor to defuse a tense situation. Such employees have the ability to empathize with others, are optimistic in the face of down turns and are effective in resolving customer complaints. Therefore emotional intelligence plays a vital role in separating top performers from weak ones at the work place. At the work place certain emotional quotient competencies correlate with each other to make it a successful place, such competencies include; 1. Social Competencies Social competencies describe a person’s ability to handle relationships. Inherent in the person is the awareness of the feelings and concerns of others. The social Continue reading

Different Types of Stress

Stress has often been misunderstood to be negative, with few people acknowledging the importance and usefulness of positive stress. In our everyday lives, stress is everywhere and definitely unavoidable; hence our emphasis should be on differentiating between what is good stress, and what is bad. This will help us to learn to cope with negative stress, and harness the power of positive stress to help us achieve more. Read: What is Stress? There are 4 main categories of stress, namely eustress, distress, hyper stress and hypo stress. Negative stress can cause many physical and psychological problems, whilst positive stress can be very helpful for us. Here’s how we differentiate between them. Eustress: This is a positive form of stress, which prepares your mind and body for the imminent challenges that it has perceived. Eustress is a natural physical reaction by your body which increases blood flow to your muscles, resulting Continue reading

Flat Tax System

An alternative to the global tax system or comprehensive taxation system is the so called flat tax system. Herewith a flat proportional taxation for all net income types, capital, labor and other income is installed. This taxation system does not consider the taxpayers ability to pay taxes but sets a flat level for all income types. Some east European countries (Russia and Slovakia) have installed this taxation system. Russia replaced its progressive taxation system with a single flat tax rate of 13%. Under a pure flat tax without deductions, companies could simply, every period, make a single payment to the government covering the flat tax liabilities of their employees and the taxes owed on their business income. For example, suppose that in a given year, XYZ Company earns a profit of 3 million, pays 2 million in salaries, and spends an added 1 million on other expenses the IRS deems Continue reading

Case Study: McDonalds Marketing Strategies

McDonald’s is the world’s largest fast-food restaurant chain. It has more than 30,000 restaurants in over 100 countries. Over one billion more customers were served in 2007 than in 2006. Although net income was down by $1.1 billion in 2007, McDonald’s sales were up 6.8%, and revenue was a record high of $23 billion. “The unique business relationship among the company, its franchisees and suppliers (collectively referred to as the System) has been key to McDonald’s success over the years. The business model enables McDonald’s to play an integral role in the communities we serve and consistently deliver relevant restaurant experiences to customers.” McDonald’s overall strategic plan is called Plan to Win. Their focus is not so much on being the biggest fast-food restaurant chain, rather it is more focused on being the best fast-food restaurant chain. McDonald’s “strategic alignment behind this plan has created better McDonald’s experiences through the Continue reading

Multinational Corporations and Technology Transfers

In this world many things can be shared, transformed and utilized which helps to the development of civilization, but knowledge is the rarest of rare wealth that cannot be stolen and it remains intact with a person until it is expressed. Once it is expressed, there is no guarantee how it is used and manipulated. To control this unauthorized use of technology several laws like patent laws, copyright laws etc. were drafted all around the world. Knowledge is recognized as one of the capable resources for dynamic global business environment. Technology transfer is not an easy issue it has potential to influence the political and financial relations of countries also. Multinational companies are having a rare opportunity to transfer the new technology to the developing countries. In recent times the link between the technology transfer and foreign direct investment through multinational companies became central plank of the issue in all Continue reading