...Introduction Fast fashion is no long a strange word for people. Originally, only traditional fashion exists in fashion industry. But then another trend, which researchers called it as “Fast Fashion”, rose up since 1990s. First of all, it’s necessary to know the difference between the traditional fashion and fast fashion. Traditional fashion always has two seasonal collections which are introduced to consumer market. The price of products is relatively higher than fast fashioned products. According to the article “What is Fast Fashion” from Sarah-Jane Rowland, who has written about fashion for 8 years, the definition is “The ephemeral nature of fashion ensures that what is in one minute is passé the next. Fast fashion, capitalizes on this need to keep pace with constantly changing trends by providing high fashion clothing at a low price point.” (What is Fast Fashion) We see that fast fashion introduces lots of new designs to people with a low price in each short period. But, the question is does fast fashion really provide benefits for people? The answer is no. In my research, I am going to analyze why fast fashion actually brings out bad impacts, and those bad impacts are related to money cost, immorality, and damage for natural environment. The reason that I choose the topic is because of its importance. Clothing industry is related to people’s daily life. Via the research, people may recognize what the real value this trend is since everyone has a value position in mind. ...
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...htm JFMM 8,4 ACADEMIC PAPER 362 Fashion change and fashion consumption: the chaotic perspective Ka Ming Law, Zhi-Ming Zhang and Chung-Sun Leung Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Hong Kong Keywords Fashion, Consumers, Young adults, Social change Abstract Previous researches have considered that the impact of fashion change and fashion consumption is linear. Therefore, one reason was found as the ultimate source to explain why a fashion style/ trend was spread to the mass market. However, the existing market is complex and difficult to find out the holistic reason to explain fashion consumption. In this study, the chaotic perspective is taken into account to investigate the relationship between fashion change and fashion consumption. By using the grounded theory method, 33 in-depth interviews were conducted. A chaotic fashion consumption model is developed from the findings to explain how different fashions are consumed and rejected while fashion changes. It is found that the interaction of being fashionable, perceived fashionability and system participation affects the ultimate decision on fashion consumption. It is also found that a pattern can be traced to forecast the degree of fashion consumption even when the fashion change phenomenon is chaotic. Thus, it is similar to the principle of chaos theory that short-term prediction is possible in relation to the degree of fashion acceptance among consumers. Marketing implications...
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...ZARA :IT FOR FAST FASHION CASE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I would highly recommend a company like Zara to adopt new windows/ Linux based operating system. Skyscrapers are not built on weak foundations and in this case, everyday, the company is achieving new heights. Their SCM is fast and flawless, but if the terminal vendor changes it's machine design and makes it incompatible with DOS, the success story will be in doldrums. Even if the IT department buys enough POS terminals, it still means the company is putting a limit on its growth. Will the company not open any more stores when their inventory for POS terminals depletes out? Speed is the essence in today's business and a speedy supply chain is the real strength of ZARA. There is no point in keeping a lame horse in a stable of fast ones. With the new system in place, every location can have a theoretical inventory of all stores. Unsold merchandise from a location can be quick and cost effectively moved to another close location, thus giving better response time to customer demands as well as saving transportation costs. On the cost front, the total cost for upgrading the system is 13.3 Million Euros, and with debt to assets ratio of just 41.57%, upgradation cost can be very easily met. Also the company has fixed assets to current ratio of 123 %, which is way higher than any competitor, and with this high...
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...ZARA :IT FOR FAST FASHION CASE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I would highly recommend a company like Zara to adopt new windows/ Linux based operating system. Skyscrapers are not built on weak foundations and in this case, everyday, the company is achieving new heights. Their SCM is fast and flawless, but if the terminal vendor changes it's machine design and makes it incompatible with DOS, the success story will be in doldrums. Even if the IT department buys enough POS terminals, it still means the company is putting a limit on its growth. Will the company not open any more stores when their inventory for POS terminals depletes out? Speed is the essence in today's business and a speedy supply chain is the real strength of ZARA. There is no point in keeping a lame horse in a stable of fast ones. With the new system in place, every location can have a theoretical inventory of all stores. Unsold merchandise from a location can be quick and cost effectively moved to another close location, thus giving better response time to customer demands as well as saving transportation costs. On the cost front, the total cost for upgrading the system is 13.3 Million Euros, and with debt to assets ratio of just 41.57%, upgradation cost can be very easily met. Also the company has fixed assets to current ratio of 123 %, which is way higher than any competitor, and with this high...
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...1- With which of the international competitors listed in the case is it most interesting to compare Inditex's financial results? Why? What do comparisons indicate about Inditex's relative operating economics? Its relative capital efficiency? Note that while the electronic version of Exhibit 6 automates some of the comparisons, you will probably want to dig further into them. Background: Inditex is an international fashion retailer that designed, manufactured and sold apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children through Zara and other five chains around the world. The six retailing chains were organized as separate business units within an overall structure that also included six business support areas and nine corporate departments or areas of responsibility. They are separate in the sense that each chain is responsible for its own strategy, product design, sourcing, and manufacturing, distribution, and image, personal and financial results. Inditex was based in the northwest of Spain; it also operated about 20 manufacturing and distribution facilities in the region It is most interesting to compare Inditex with its largest competitor-Gap- as Gap have the highest market capitalization of all Inditex competitors, the highest operating revenues and largest no. of store locations worldwide. So when comparing the financial results of Inditex with Gap we find out that: Gap Vs Zara: Gap had achieved stellar growth and profitability in the last ten years; it was...
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...Case Study # 1 FM 212-Section #: Case Studies in Fashion Marketing Spring 2015 Monica Allen 03/16/15 Professor Kohan Case Study: A Step 1: The Growth of Fast fashion has resulted in large amounts of disposable clothing, which is environmentally unsustainable especially with continuation. Step 2: * Fast fashion retailers are a Major part of the current fashion chain. * The world’s supply of women’s clothing is at least 7 times that of men’s. * The price of disposable clothing makes it very tempting to young female consumers as well as easy to dispose of. * Fast fashion makes it easy for the consumer to wear an item once and discard of it to buy a replacement. * The current raise of consumerism in the United States and Europe will result in the exports of used clothing in other countries to increase. * Fast Fashion is being made at a fast speed overseas in large quantities for very cheap. * Disposable clothing is being created quicker than they are being recycled. * The demand of synthetic textiles has doubled, Not only that the process in which the textiles are created is energy-intensive. * Textile waste is filling up landfills in large amounts. * Cotton is the most widely used fabric in the world. Growing cotton requires large amounts of harmful pesticides. * Chemicals used in growing highly demanded natural and synthetic fibers are classified as hazardous by the World Health organization. Step 3: 1.Government has...
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...Zara: IT for Fast Fashion Case Alternatives |ISSUE |PRO |CON |ALTERNATIVE | |POS System – Upgrading |1) Avoid future issue, such as|1) Cost lot of money and time |1) Purchase extra terminal to avoid | | |software can not work with |to do the new system |software and hardware issue for now; | | |hardware; | | | | | |2) Takes time to find out if |2) Analyse/Test new IT system and | | |2) New system can support more|the new IT system and operation|operation system at same time. | | |function, such as check |system can work well as | | | |inventory; |expected. | | | | | | | | |3) Place order more flexible; | | ...
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...Case: “Zara: IT for Fast Fashion” Issue Zara, the flagship chain of Spanish based holding company Inditex, has grown to great prominence in the international retail fashion industry. It has done so by advantage in recognizing and responding to changing fashion. Recognizing and quickly responding to the changes in fashion trends is largely achieved through a collaborative system of store managers and mid-management level commercials. The exponential growth of Zara has been upon the backbone of a reliable but increasingly antiquated IT system that begins to counterproductively threaten the speed by which the majority of the 32,535 employees operate. At the center of the technical issue is the Point of Sale (POS) system commonly used in each of Zara’s stores. Focal Stakeholder Opinion It is an open issue frequently in the mind of Xan Salgado Badas, the head of IT for Inditex. The current POS system exists in each store as a non networked terminal operating upon the outdated Disk Operating System (DOS). Though incredibly stable and familiar to Zara’s employees, it proves to be increasingly lacking in functionality across the current and future needs of the expanding international chain (McAfee, Dessain, Sjoman, 2). The heart of the issue is not a debate over whether to upgrade the operating system and the POS application itself, but rather when and how to facilitate such a large modernization. Salgado’s advisor Bruno Sanchez Ocampo expresses, “We could mess it up in the process...
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...Fast fashion companies coping with internationalization: driving the change or changing the model? The purpose of the research is to investigate the business relationship between fast fashion and the process of firm internationalization. Does the international process drive the change or does the internationalization process change the model? Internationalization is when two or more countries are involved. Fast fashion has been considered original and new within the fashion sector. Firms have tried to follow business strategies aimed at reducing lead times and thereby responding rapidly to market trends in order to gain a competitive advantage. Lead time is time between the initiation and completion of production process. Fast fashion has been a means to access international markets with a focus on competitive advantage, traditional manufacturing, supply and retailing practices in fashion. Two leading fast fashion companies are Zara and H&M. Zara has 70% of total sales in Europe and H&M’s main markets are in Germany, France, UK Sweden, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and Norway. At the minor level, national fast fashion companies are also faced with the challenge of expanding internationally. Tessilform is a small Italian fast fashion firm which this study analyzes ten years of data focusing on the company as they cope with the internationalization process. The main findings of the case suggest that although the strategy is to support the internationalization process...
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...Harvard Business School The Harvard Business School implements a type of lottery-based system for their masters program. The students rank their classes based on priority on what they prefer and then the classes are computer generated. There are two rounds of this computer generated class schedules. The first is nothing more than a practice round which then students are able to reevaluate their priority lists. After the second round the students are stuck with their schedules. One blaring con of this system is that you are not guaranteed the classes you want. Also, students find the process confusing and create scheduling conflicts. However, one pro that I find this creates is that students are able to take classes they might not have been able to before. If a class seems interesting to them, will benefit them in the future, but isn’t required for them to take, this system allows them to possibly get into that class. Kellogg The Northwester Kellogg School of Management takes a different approach than HBS. Their system is a bidding type of system. Students are given 3,000 points to use over three quarters. They bid on courses that they want then sit back and wait to see if they get them. There are two rounds worth of bidding that allows you to fill up your own schedule. A con that there seems to be is that classes are becoming too expensive. Students are bidding high for certain classes, but then only being charged the clearing price. Or in other instances being charged a...
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...Zara is a Spanish brand of clothing store founded by the visionary Amancio Ortega Gaona and Rosalia Mera in Artexio, Galicia. The first Zara store opened in 1975 in La Coruna, a port town near Arteixo in the corner of northern Spain. It is one of the major selling brands of one of the biggest fashion retailer of "INDITEX". Zara is now available in 86 countries with total of 1,763 stores worldwide. Zara designs, manufactures, and sells apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men and children around the world. Offering a high level of fashion at a reasonable price, effectively appealing to the middle to middle-high class customers. Further, Inditex itself is a huge fashion retailer company that owns eight other brands such as Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and lastly Uterque. unfortunetly these other five chains that are operated by Inditex have not matched the growth capabilities or revenue of Zara. Amancio Ortega, the founder of Inditex, was established in the year 1963 has adapted a unique business model, which were innovative and flexible, making Inditex one of the biggest retailers in the world. Among Inditex other, innovations, the company is introducing new methods to enable store managers to order and display merchandise faster and adding cargo routes for shipping goods. Unfortunetly inditex is respnding to difficulte situations shared by other companies that came up with other game changing plans. eventualy competitors...
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...Case Study: Zara, IT for Fast Fashion EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The action recommended is to purchase a new POS system to support integration of all levels of the business from manufacturing to the customer. Because of Zara’s current solid financial position and leader in the marketplace, Zara will withstand the initial interruption of business to allow implementation of new technology due to their current solid financial position and leadership. KPIs are implemented to provide efficiencies within manufacturing, the DCs and sales to enhance the successful unique business model. ISSUE IDENTIFICATION The following are a list of issues/problems that must be addressed: • DOS system is no longer supported by Microsoft • In-house applications created by vendor • Writing applications versus buying applications • Transparency between stores • Order processing time • No formal IT process for setting budget or deciding on specific technology, investments or projects • Store managers scope of responsibility is high versus no discretion for store layout • No performance measures • No forecasting, buy and respond “on the fly” • Not high end fashion • High capital costs for DCs, manufacturing, and factories • Small batch production ENVIRONMENTAL AND ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS 1. DOS system is no longer supported by Microsoft since 2003. Zara chooses to write all their applications in house. This matches the philosophy for...
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...Individual Assignment 1 Zara: Fast Fashion 1. + 2. Zara’s business and operating model is focused on speed and the need for fast fashion, I think a word that would classify it is mass customisation. It is targeted at young fashion and price conscious urban dwellers and is built on a vertically integrated system focussed on demand and supply. Zara is constantly updating its design and production base to deliver exactly what the client wants based on their buying habits and the latest trends. They have limited outsourcing and produce almost everything all in house. Zara is very close to its customers and provides them exactly with what they want, making Zara sell a trend value proposition at affordable prices. They can achieve this because of their integrated verticle supply chain; production time of a new product (estimated at under 5 weeks) and re-production and delivery of an existing product (estimated at under 2 weeks). Following this brief introduction it would be best to compare Inditex’s financial results with H&M as they are competing in very much the same markets and although their products and value chains are different their target consumer has the most overlap. Also GAP and to a lesser extent Benetton do not follow the fashion precisely but predict and produce in advance in bulk. Inditex despite being present in 39 countries, compared to H&Ms 14, and having over 50% more stores than H&M, they still manage to have considerably lower operating expenses...
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...Zara: IT for Fast Fashion Abstract The case describes a discussion Zara Executives are having whether to update or to keep the current IT equipment of its stores. It goes into detail how the company works and that speed and adaptability are its key objectives. Finally the advantages of both options are shown, leaving it to the reader to decide which option is the best. Company Zara, based in La Coruna, Spain, was found in 1963. Since 1958 they are part of Inditex, a Holding Company atop several clothing retail chain. In 2002 they had about €3.9 billion in revenue and a net income of €438 million, with 11% net margin. Zara is the biggest retailer of the holding with 550 of the 1558 stores from the Inditex companys. Moreover it is responsible for 73,3% or Inditex’ revenues, coming 46% from Spain, with Fance as the second-largest market. Zaras woman sector has 60% contribution to its revenues; men and the fast-growing child sector both 20%. Product/System The store employees work with great autonomy and responsibility. They can choose which items they want to order from a given offer, which was chosen by the Product Store Manager. Each department gets new items 2 times a week. Commercials organize that orders and produced items match and decide in case of a mismatch which store gets the items. Zara does all of the production processes in Spain and Northern Portugal, making it possible that the time from design conception until it can be in store is as little as three weeks. Business...
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...Zara: IT for Fast Fashion This case is part of the course Managing in the Information Age (MIA) at Harvard Business School. [pic] Managing in Information Age IT Categories |IT Category |Definition |Example | |Function IT (FIT) |IT that assists execution of discrete function |Simulators | | |or task |Spreadsheets | | | |CAD/CAM software | | | |Statistical software | |Enterprise IT (EIT) |IT that integrates multiple functions by |Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems | | |imposing new work structure |Supply chain management (SCM) systems | | | |Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems | | | |Sourcing/procurement software ...
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