Report on Critical Thinking & Scope of The Modern Company (Zara)

Introduction of Critical Thinking & Scope of The Modern Company (Zara)

This case study is related to the scope of the modern company. In that case, Zara company is selected that is one of the best in the field of the fashion clothing industry. There are some questions that are related to the supply chain of this company and how this company is improved by applying different technological means for meeting the demand of their customers. There are some questions that are related to the strategy of this company and how they are using vertical integration for carrying out their tasks. The last question is dealing with the sustainable competitive advantage of this company and how they are enhancing their management system for the future.

Question 1

There are several activities in which fashion clothing is involved, related to the value chain. It can be noted that the fashion industry is improving day by day due to the demand of the customer. But the positive point is that this industry is completely focusing on the quality of their products. On the basis of the quality, they are smoothly expanding their business to a high level. From all of these activities, the first one is related to procurement. As it can be seen that the main source of the clothing industry is the quality of the fabrics (GRANT, 2018).

This industry is improving, and on a daily basis and trends are changing, this is the reason why this industry is moving in an extremely fast way and finding new means of earning. The main aim of this industry is to lower the supplier cost of the fabrics that will have a great impact on the manufacturing cost of the clothes. There are some fashion clothing companies that are purchasing different raw materials from the regional offices in different parts of the world (GRANT, 2018).

The next activity is that the fashion clothing company is working on increasing technology in their products. Many companies are introducing high tech automation system in their operations. Through this, they are able to complete the demand of the customers in an effective way. In the past, it was extremely difficult to transfer the information from one end to another due to this the company facing a lot of difficulties in transferring their data. There is a need to change the system and make it more perfect to use for the company.

There is much company  that is working on improving the IT department that will help them to maintain the customer gap and also analyze what they have to do for the future. There are some companies that are using a different kind of software application for finding the main demand of their customers and also wanted to analyze the market trends in the best possible way (García-Álvarez, 2015).

The next value chain activity the fashion clothing industry is using is an improvement in human resource management. The companies are working on solving their issues related to this department in the best possible way. The main operations of the HR department play an important role in the organization. This is the reason why the companies are involved in giving proper training and enhance their minor skills properly. The companies wanted to improve the development of their products, and it can be possible only when their HR department is showing positive results (Cawsey, Deszca, & Ingols, 2016).

There are some activities that are undertaken by the leading brands in the fashion industry. These activities are technology advancement, the infrastructure of the firm and the HR department of the organization. The leading brands are improving these activities by working on them in a proper way (Oberholzer-Gee & Yao., 2010).  

There are some leading brands that give proper time and skills for enhancing the infrastructure of their firms. For that purpose, they prefer ideal decision making and apply their business concepts in perfect order. The leading brands are implementing the communication and information technology that will help them to transfer the information in a perfect way.

Another activity the leading brands are involved in is related to the advancement in technology. These brands are involved in applying technology in their operations to make it faster and also enhance quality. Through the help of these new technological software applications, the company is able to measure its quality and productivity in a proper way (He, 2012).

There are many companies that are using outsourcing manufacturing because it contains a lot of benefits. These benefits include less labor cost, comprehensive fuel innovation, easy to complete the demand, and also the efficiency of their products is increased.

The best advantage is that there will be extremely labor cost due to outsource manufacturing of the clothes. The company is able to complete the demand by giving quite labor costs because they give huge orders to them and also able to make a perfect partnership with them. These organizations used this method to achieve real savings for the company.

The next advantage is that the company is able to learn new innovative ways to complete the mass demand. The company does not have such ideas that are used by these outsource manufactures. But by these outsourcing manufactures, the companies are able to learn the new innovative way to complete the demand of the customers.  

The company thought that outsourcing is one of the best mean for supporting the increased demand for its clothing products. The company may face a surge in their orders that are extremely difficult to handle by the companies. For that case, these companies outsourced their products and met the increased demand in an essential way (Mo, 2015).

Question 2

This company is using very versatile strategies for enhancing their main functions in a perfect way. Their strategy also involves adapting couture designs from all over the world. Then after this, they make some changes in these designs and convert them according to their demand. The next strategy is used during the manufacturing of its products. This company is using advanced technologies for the manufacturing of clothing items (He, 2012).

Their next strategy is related to the distribution of their products. This company is using many efficient ways of distributing its products all over the stores on time just after they appear on the ramp. The store managers and sales managers of this company are involved in finding different means for meeting the demand of their customers.

It can be seen that the Zara Company is focusing on the development of their product. If the development process is enhanced, then it will be extremely easy for the company to stand in the market for a long period of time. Another next advantage is that the company is completing the demand of their customers by their technological means (Qrunfleh & Tarafdar, 2014).

The role of vertical integration is extremely high because this company is also designing and manufacturing their products at the same time. Their operation is contrasting to the high volume fast fashion industries. Such companies are involved in outsourcing the manufacturing of their clothes. Through the help of this strategy, these companies are able to complete the new product introduction cycle (Cawsey, Deszca, & Ingols, 2016).

Question 3

It can be seen that Zara’s competitive advantage is extremely sustainable. The reason is that this company is using many means to complete the demand of the customers. This company is also completing with some huge fashion clothing brands in the world. There are some aspects that are totally different from their competitors.

The best competitive advantage to this company is related to the technology they are using for the designing, manufacturing, and disturbing of their products all of the market to their customers. This company is using advanced technologies to meet the demand of its customers (García-Álvarez, 2015).

There is still need some changes in their management system. Through this, the company is able to increase their productivity. The company has to make some changes to its human resource management system. Through this, the company is able to complete the customer’s demand in a more efficient way. This company may face huge issues in the future as the competition will be increased. But this competition can be overcome easily if this company analyze the market trends after the end of the month and work on making new effective strategies. This may help this company to gain more profit and a huge competitive advantage for the future (Mo, 2015).

Conclusion

Summing up all the discussion from above, it is concluded that Zara Company is focusing on the new technologies for the design, manufacturing, and distributing their products. In this case, there is a comprehensive discussion of the strategies used by this company. Their strategy also involves adapting couture designs from all over the world. Then after this, they make some changes in these designs and convert them according to their demand.

            The store managers and sales managers of this company are involved in finding different means for meeting the demand of their customers. It can be seen that the Zara Company is focusing on the development of their product. If the development process is enhanced, then it will be extremely easy for the company to stand in the market for a long period of time. This company may face huge issues in the future as the competition will be increased.

References of Critical Thinking & Scope of The Modern Company

Cawsey, T. F., Deszca, G., & Ingols, C. (2016). Organizational Change An Action-Oriented Toolkit. SAGE Publications.

García-Álvarez, M. T. (2015). Analysis of the effects of ICTs in knowledge management and innovation: The case of Zara Group. Computers in Human Behavior .

GRANT, R. M. (2018). CONTEMPORARY STRATEGY ANALYSIS. Wiley & Sons, Inc. .

He, N. (2012). How to Maintain Sustainable Competitive Advantages-----Case Study on the Evolution of Organizational Strategic Management. International journal of business administration .

Mo, Z. (2015). Internationalization process of fast fashion retailers: evidence of H&M and Zara. International Journal of Business and Management .

Oberholzer-Gee, F., & Yao., D. A. (2010). Antitrust-What role for strategic management expertise. BUL Rev.

Qrunfleh, S., & Tarafdar, M. (2014). Supply chain information systems strategy: Impacts on supply chain performance and firm performance. International Journal of Production Economics 147, 340-350.