Windowsshopping at Zara Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Windowsshopping at Zara - Case Study Example Zara is building on a vertically integrated demand and supply chain, while most other textile chains rely on outsourcing and cheap labour. Zara controls most of the steps on the supply-chain; it designs, produces, and distributes itself. (Rose 2001). Zara needs just two weeks to develop a new product get it to stores, compared with a nine-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year. If a new design is not sold within a week, it is withdrawn from the shop and a new design is pursued. None of the designs stays on the shop for more than four weeks which encourages the shop's fans to make repeat visits. The business model for the company is based on offering the latest style in a high quality product at a good price. With a creative team of more than 200 professionals, Zara's design process is closely to the public. Zara pays special attention to the design of it stores, its shop windows and interior dcor, and locates them in the best sites of major shopping districts Zara's first outlet in Spain, the store was selling well designed clothes in a modern environment at a price anybody could afford. The in-store displays were kept minimal and the showroom was light and airy, with clean lines and white walls that act as a blank canvas for ad campaigns. Zara's window aimed at attracting the potential customers who will become the ultimate purchaser of the product. To induce them, the displays were made realistic in an expensive method to attract the onlookers. The consumers are made to repeat visits to look at the products displayed before they buy them, as few customers are impulsive buyers. As the customers have wide range of choice products with variable prices they prefer to go around the store to decide the purchase depending upon their budget. Window display and strategic positioning refers to performing different activities than the rivals or the same activities in a different way. While the display model used by Zara itself is often very easy to replicate, technology is essential to creating and enabling novel approaches to business that are defensibly different than rivals and which can be quite difficult for others to copy. Zara stores offer a compelling blend of fashion, quality and price offered in attractive stores in prime locations on premier commercial streets and in upscale shopping centers. The in-house design and production capabilities enable them to offer fresh designs at Zara stores twice a week throughout the year. In the early 1990's, Zara began formulating new type of design and distribution model. By that time it had opened up stores in countries like Europe and U.S.A. (Kotler 2008) Life like models dressed up in various costumes designed by leading fashion designers were kept in the window display. Zara's most unusual strategy was its policy of zero advertising; the company preferred to invest a percentage of revenues in opening new stores instead. The strategy has changed lately with yearly sales advertisements, together with targeted advertisements in papers. The latest technologies with innovations were used to lure the customer in the showrooms. (Barthes 1972). Figure 14 This picture shows the window display of the showroom in Oxford Street, London. It was taken in October 2009. The window display contains models wearing trendy clothes created by the leading fashion d

Organisation Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organisation Development - Essay Example Organizational Development helps us to analyze the optimum level of performance of an organization and to know where the organization is where it wants to be and how can it go there. The techniques of Organizational Development consist of methods drawn from behavioral science, which aim at developing resources, a skill within the organization to face the problems, anticipate issues and to plan and to deal with them. The various elements of Organizational Development can be classified into the following two groups: For an individual to make personal changes on the job, an organizational climate should exist to support these changes. Otherwise, training the individual will have little or on impact on the organization. Developing the system to support the desired individual change is a basic part of the organizational development. Developing- the system involves building more effective interpersonal relationship among members of the working group. For example, the team may become more efficient, responsive, flexible and creative from the point of view of the organization. ... Developing- the system involves building more effective interpersonal relationship among members of the working group. For example, the team may become more efficient, responsive, flexible and creative from the point of view of the organization. The concept of team building lies in the art of organizational development but organization effectiveness requires more than effective teams. Organizational Development is not a programme or a project rather it is a continuing process. This process may involve certain projects, planning and implementation of a changed specific programme such as seminars, conferences, appraisal, interviews with an object to develop better procedures and supporting climate for dealing with organization problems. Technological change in industries are well planned and implemented with considerable care but organization change that is modifying some part of organization structure or implementing a new process of work is often not deliberately planned but haphazard activity. Planning, implementing and evaluating these organization changes are part of Organizational Development. Concept of Organizational Development Organizational Development believes that organizational members can learn to describe its culture and can be helped to plan what it should be like and in assisting the organization to change from what it is to-what it should be. The essential characteristic of Organizational Development is the involvement of the people in the organization to carry out various activities. These activities are designed to meet the organizational objective with and around the inter-action of groups within the organization. Organizational development feels that it pays to confront, it lays emphasis on trust and openness, it