Established in 1975, Zara is one of the most successful retailers of today’s world. Their clear focus and vision has made them to tap the power of the fashion. Operating in 62 different countries it has nearly around 2500 stores all over the world. Zara under the flagship of Inditex, (a holding company located in Northwest Spain) is a fashion imitator, it comprehends what its customer’s desire and then designs and manufactures according to their expectations. Zara’s business working model is quite diverse from the other retailers; this makes them set out in the market. It has promoted the message of high fashion at a lesser cost across all countries through its unique and different selling techniques. The Sustainability of Continue reading
Business Strategies
Linkage Between Business Models and Innovation
The question of what a business model is often remains relatively vague. The main reason for this is because business people have an intuitive understanding of business models. This is normal, since the business model is about how an organization makes money, which is a manager’s job after all. However, there is often a lack of a more precise and shared understanding of what a business model is. Yet, such a common understanding is required if we want to have high quality discussions of one’s business model and make important business model decisions. Alexander Osterwalder has come up with the 9 building blocks approach to describe business models. This approach has the characteristics of any other type of model (e.g. Continue reading
Downsizing – A Corporate Restructuring Strategy
Downsizing or layoff is a widespread strategic decision and change practice since 1970’s and during the economic downturn in the year 2016 it became a more common phenomenon. Changing patterns in reasons cited for job loss support this impression of the rising importance of restructurings. Differences in factors such as the state of the economy and the signal sent by job loss could make the process of downsizing and the effects of job loss differ between restructurings of healthy organizations and downsizing due to financial distress. Downsizing Approaches There are many kind of approaches in downsizing. The reasons for the firm to undertake such approaches also varies. They include restructuring, closing or selling of a business unit, cost reduction, cost Continue reading
Case Study: Acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors
In 2008 Tata Motors, an Indian automaker wanted to expand its product portfolio and diversify its market base. It acquired the two iconic British brands Jaguar and Land Rover from the American automaker Ford Motor Corporation. This acquisition gave the company access to premium cars, a chance to add two iconic luxury brands to its stable and a global footprint. It gave struggling Ford a chance to rid itself of two loss-making vehicle units. The deal was transformational. It catapulted Tata Motors from a commercial vehicle and small-car manufacturer to a global player with marquee brands in its portfolio. The scale of the acquisition also was large relative to the size of Tata Motors. The purchase especially that of Jaguar, Continue reading
Case Study: Disney’s Diversification Strategy
The story of Disney is that of a company founded in 1923 by the Disney brothers, Walt and Roy. In the beginning, the company was referred to as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio and later incorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions made its mark for many years in the animation industry before venturing into television and live-action film production. Something else also happened before Walt had the breakthrough with Mickey Mouse. Before Mickey, there was Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit. But because he didn’t own the copyright, Walt lost the rights to Oswald, a bitter lesson that was to shape his company positively in the future. That experience thought him very early the value of intellectual property Continue reading
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of McDonalds
McDonald’s is an American fast food restaurant chain with its global headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. It has over 36,000 restaurants found in 120 countries all over the world, serving 68 million customers each day. It was founded as a barbeque restaurant in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald. In the year 1955, a businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent and bought the company from the McDonald brothers. McDonald’s Corporation, incorporated in the year 1964, operates and franchises McDonald’s restaurants. A McDonalds restaurant is operated by a franchisee, an affiliate, or the McDonalds corporation itself. McDonalds primary products include burgers, french-fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, wrap and desserts. The company has also introduced different menus like salads, Continue reading