Zara Case Essay Example

Zara Case Essay Example Zara Case Essay Zara Case Essay Q1a. Should the company upgrade the POS terminals to a modern operating system? It might not be in the retailer’s best interest to perform such upgrade, as the new system will replace three of the existing legacy systems in terms of ordering and fulfillment. The IS department will perceive such upgrade as a radical move and is expected to show high resistance in response to it. Even though Zara has a decentralized decision making process, the retailer’s IS department exercises absolute autonomy on the IT infrastructure and design. The fact that â€Å"only one person had left the department† in the past 10 years further confirms that the retailer is suffering from cognitive and action inertia, and thus creating a huge barrier for such upgrade. Nevertheless, Zara should still perform such upgrade in the long run. Q1b. Should the company build in-store networks? Yes, it will remove some redundancies in daily operations. For instance, employees no longer have to collect data physically from each POS terminal in order to obtain daily sales totals. In-store network will also enable store managers to have a more comprehensive understanding of sales activities on both a consolidated level and section (Men, Women, or Children) level. Q1c. Should the company give employees the ability to look up inventory balances for items in their own stores? Yes, this will result in a more efficient and systematic stock auditing and ordering process. In specific, it will not only provide store managers with updated inventory balances, it also helps them when reviewing the latest offer from La Coruna and preparing â€Å"the order† in the face of the narrow 24-hour order window. On the other hand, the store product managers can now retrieve more reliable and updated sales figures from each store. This enables the managers to be more effective when making store-to-store transfers. The commercials responsible for matching aggregate supply with demand from each store will demonstrate higher quality of decision making, especially when allocating inventory amongst stores in times of shortage of an SKU. Last but not least, the improved inventory figures will result in a better production schedule and planning that reflect the constantly changing customer demand for different SKUs. Q1d. Should the company give employees the ability to look up inventory balances for items in other stores? If employees have the ability to look up inventory balances of their own stores, granting employee access to inventory balances for items in other stores is icing on the cake. The is because store managers can have better inventory control, and will be in a better position respond quickly to unexpected surge of demand for a particular item. In the event that commercials at La Coruna didn’t deliver the full amount of a specific item that the store ordered, the store manager can immediately seek for â€Å"help† from stores that have extra inventory and thus capturing sales that might otherwise be lost. Q2. What is the Zara â€Å"business model†? How is it different from the business model of other large clothing retailers? What weaknesses, if any, do you see within this business model? Is it scalable? What information does Zara need to operate its business model? Zara â€Å"business model† The Zara business model is to link customer demand to manufacturing and link manufacturing to distribution. Terefore, Zara needs to respond very quickly to the demand of target customers, who are young, fashion conscious city dwellers with fast changing tastes. Differences between Zara and other large clothing retailers The business model is different from other large clothing retailers in the followings: -Zara does not rely on advertising and marketing to drive their business. It only spent 0. 3% of its revenue in marketing, as compared to 3% to 4% in other large clothing retailers. -The lifespan of the clothes is short. On average, 75% of its merchandise are sold within 3 to 4 weeks. -The decision making in Zara is decentralized. The employees in Zara are empowered to decide what garments to be put in the stores. The â€Å"commercials† at La Coruna have great discretion in deciding what clothes would be designed and produced, unlike other companies which use a small elite team for design and production. Weaknesses within Zara Business Model -Since Zara has a short lead time for delivering products, it keeps no buffer stock and most, if not all, logistics arrangements were centralized at the head office in La Coruna. This makes Zara very vulnerable to accidental incidents. -As the store managers are empowered to decide what products to be put in the store, their business sense are crucial. However, since the store managers are not expertise in this area, they may not be able to pick hot items and certain sales opportunities may be lost. Information needed to operate in this business model -To operate this business model, the store managers should have the access to accurate and updated sales and inventory data for them to decide what to order and what not to order. In addition, they should know the availability of the products they would like to order eg. by having access to the inventory level of other stores. -With the tight order deadline with La Coruna, the store managers need on-time inventory balance to plan for the re-order point and optimal order quantity. Q3. What current or potential weaknesses do you see in Zara’s IT infrastructure and IT strategy? IT infrastructure -Critical core services are relying on out-dated O/S (Operating System) and Hardware Technology, where failure of the services could heavily impact normal operations. As the Zara in-house POS system is implemented on an O/S which the vendor has dropped support, no official fix will be prepared once system or software bugs are identified which might lead to unstable system behavior or security leakage. -Running critical services on out-dated O/S will also limit the compatibility and extensibility with the improving software and hardware. This will prevent Zara from sustaining business growth by further improving scalability of services using enhanced hardware architecture or enhanced networking capabilities with other IT software/inventory systems. Moreover, as IT hardware is improving in a rapid pace, legacy hardware components might not be available in the market for Zaras purchase. Zara might face difficulties in purchasing commercial license for O/S that vendor has dropped support. -Unconnected terminals between headquarters and POSs might implied out-sync or inconsistent information sharing in time-critical information such as inventory. Bottl eneck in information sharing or slow responsiveness from customers query are fatal to real time sales, especially Zara is focusing on Fast Fashion Business and place Inventory Management as their competitive advantage. IT strategy -Zara fails to identify how IT can further improve and achieve the companys competitive advantage. For example, while Zaras success based heavily on competitive Inventory Management, the company fails to further improve it by enhancing communications of instant inventory data delivery to front line sales. -Zara fails to recognize the dependency on IT to achieve competitive advantage and it does not perform continuous improvement (or innovation). This will make Zara moving from Strategic Mode to Factory Mode especially when other companies are catching up Zara with similar strategy. Zara does not have dedicated planning, decision making or leading role for IT operations and strategic planning. While the General management core could share these responsibilities, they cannot concentrate their focus on IT incident management (upon system failure) and they do not have up-to-date knowledge and technical exposure for strategic planning, expansion and upgrade decision. For insta nce, Global CIO (Chief Information Officer) and/or Chief Operations Officer) should be employed for Global directions/planning and local CIO/COO (per region) should be assigned for local incident management and business process improvement. Zara does not have solid planning on ever greening of IT services. Ever greening of IT services will ensure the Company placing their IT assets on compatible and up-to-date O/S and hardware where vendor support or human expertise can be located promptly and efficiently for resolution against service failure or consultancy on service improvement. There is no regular strategic alignment with Company’s goal. Regular strategic alignment can help adjusting Zaras IT direction. -There is no constant operational improvement. Constant operational improvement is important for the optimization of IT work flow. It can reduce unnecessary IT overhead and improve service responsiveness. Also, Zara should reshuffle hardware resources after constant review of system usage. This will improve hardware utilization, which in turn improves Zaras ROA (Return on Assets). -There is no strategy to enhance extensibility which is the key to information sharing success. Great flexibility and readiness to interface with different data sources will improve Zara’s ability to perform data analysis or forecasting and to achieve fast responsiveness to fashion change or new source of marketing statistics.

A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations

A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations A Short Quiz About Partial Quotations By Mark Nichol Formatting quotations can be tricky, especially when the words between the quotation marks do not constitute a complete sentence. How would you revise these clumsily formatted partial quotations? For each example, compare your corrections to mine in the paragraphs following each one. 1. â€Å"These days, says Smith, ‘The market does the valuation work for you.’† To clarify the context, the writer has provided the quotation with an introductory phrase the person quoted did not actually utter; therefore, it is not inserted within the quotation marks. And because although â€Å"The market does the valuation work for you† is a full sentence the potential quotation is â€Å"These days, the market does the valuation work for you,† the original quote is treated as a partial quotation and therefore does not begin with an initial-capped word: â€Å"These days, says Smith, ‘the market does the valuation work for you.’† Also, the attribution tag (â€Å"says Smith†) could be relocated to follow the quotation, but the sentence’s rhythm is better as is. 2. â€Å"But he conceded that, ‘with the world like it is, the situation looks a little different now.’† If you do choose to make a partial quote immediately follow a contextual paraphrase, note that unlike as in the case of a simple attribution tag, when the paraphrased part of the sentence and the quotation portion are linked by that, they are not separated by a comma: â€Å"But he conceded that ‘with the world like it is, the situation looks a little different now.’† However, if you convert the initial phrase to an attribution tag, do insert a comma after it: â€Å"But, he conceded, ‘with the world like it is, the situation looks a little different now.’† 3. â€Å"If you own a business ‘dependent on an abundant, reliable water source,’ he said, you probably aren’t thinking about building a plant in Las Vegas.† In journalistic writing, quoted material gives the article a sense of accessibility you feel like you are there listening to the source and of veracity. But some people are more quotable than others, and some reporters are better at recording their source’s utterances better than others. Often, in the rush to capture a speaker’s comments, the reporter manages just a phrase here and there and presents them as partial quotes. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Here, as is frequently true, the exact words are inconsequential because the statement is mundane; there’s no personality or pithiness in the prose. In that case, it’s usually better just to treat the information as a paraphrase a rewording of the quotation even if it includes words or phrases (or the entire sentence fragment) actually uttered by the source: â€Å"If you own a business dependent on an abundant, reliable water source, he said, you probably aren’t thinking about building a plant in Las Vegas.† 4. â€Å"Smith kept his cool, but he was clearly upset that the plan was meant to ‘discredit the committee’s work and undermine its conclusions before those conclusions are even reached.’† This partial quotation could be converted to a paraphrase, but because the issue is sensitive and the speaker is critical in his choice of words, most reporters would retain the markers indicating that these are the source’s exact words. However, although it is strongly implicit in this sentence that Roberts is the source of the partial quotation, that’s not good enough. Even if a contextual phrase preceding a partial quotation refers to the speaker, insert an attribution tag: â€Å"Smith kept his cool, but he was clearly upset that the plan was meant to, as he put it, ‘discredit the committee’s work and undermine its conclusions before those conclusions are even reached.’† 5. â€Å"He championed an $11 billion water bond ensuring ‘a reliable water supply for future generations, as well as restoring ecologically sensitive areas.’† This quotation is less stable than the previous one because it’s even less clear here that the person identified as the subject uttered the partial quotation. Make the connection clear: â€Å"He championed an $11 billion water bond ensuring, he said, ‘a reliable water supply for future generations, as well as restoring ecologically sensitive areas.’† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?How to Punctuate with â€Å"However†20 Criminal Terms You Should Know

Team work and organisational success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Team work and organisational success - Essay Example The teamwork in any organization depends upon the organizational process requirements and organizational structure as well. The team can be classified into the major groups of self-managing teams, quality circles, virtual teams and cross-functional teams among others. There can be teams formed of specialized professionals within an organization according to a specified task. However, it is quite essential that all the team members in a team should have a common goal.With regards to teamwork, certain aspects should be considered as vital by an organization. The members of the organization should attend meetings to make team goals and to discuss the problems associated with the targeted objectives. The personal goals of the team members should be achieved with the virtues of teamwork. Conflict should be avoided in teamwork. Notably, it is also essential for a team to work efficiently in terms that every individual member of the team should play a contributory role to assist the organiz ational growth or attainment of the determined objectives. Team formation takes time and there are certain stages that a team should pass through such as ‘forming’, ‘storming’, ‘norming’, ‘performing’ and ‘dissolving'.Biogenic Plc is an organization which is engaged in producing crop protection products. The total workforce of the organization is 15,000 employees and is scattered in over 80 countries. Biogenic recruits able and motivated employees to form a strong team.... With regards to team work, certain aspects should be considered as vital by an organisation. The members of the organisation should attend meetings to make team goals and to discuss the problems associated with the targeted objectives. The personal goals of the team members should be achieved with the virtues of teamwork. Conflict should be avoided in teamwork. Notably, it is also essential for a team to work efficiently in terms that every individual member in the team should play a contributory role to assist the organisational growth or attainment of the determined objectives (Gibson & et. al., 1980). Team formation takes time and there are certain stages that a team should pass through such as ‘forming’, ‘storming’, ‘norming’, ‘performing’ and ‘dissolving’ that can be well observed from the diagram represented below (Gibson & et. al., 1980). Figure: Stages in the Formation of Team Biogenia Plc is an organisation whi ch is engaged with producing crop protection products. The total workforce of the organisation is 15,000 employees and is scattered in over 80 countries. Biogenia recruits able and motivated employees to form a strong team. For the purpose of in-house training, the organisation often forms a team of the members which covers both technical as well as personal development issues of the employees. There is a team which handles community work as well. For international assignments, teams are formed for the specific tasks, for example, for the development of a new herbicide a team was formed in South Africa. The team members formed for the international assignment are from different backgrounds. The qualification of the members includes PhD in

Ethanol Alcohol Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethanol Alcohol - Research Paper Example It is not thus converted for supply to the tissues or cells. Only about 20% of the alcohol is directly absorbed into blood via walls of the stomach while the rest directly goes to the bloodstream by way of the small intestine (Dunlap). A very low dose of ethanol alcohol is just as powerful to affect the brain’s memory and make the processing of new information complicated for the hippocampus. â€Å"Somebody who drinks too much, the next day doesnt remember what happened during that time, but yet at the same time has the ability, unfortunately in certain cases, to drive home after drinking a lot† (Gislason 86). Ethanol affects the energy metabolism of carbohydrates which causes the glycogen level inside the muscles and the liver to recess. Ethanol causes loss of structural tissue because it is catabolic in nature. This effect causes an individual to lose more weight than what he/she may gain from the in-take of calories. This is one of the most fundamental effects sought by the consumers of ethanol alcohol. The fat rather moves over to the trunk and belly leaving the individual with a weaker and skinnier appearance. As a result of the accumulation of estrogen inside the body, men may experience an enlargement of breasts. The degeneration of body destroys their personality and turns a macho man into an irritated person. Consumption of ethanol alcohol can also cause many diseases to occur. Up to 80 percent of alcoholics, however, have a deficiency in thiamine (15), and some of these people will go on to develop serious brain disorders such as Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) (16). WKS is a disease that consists of two separate syndromes, a short–lived and severe condition called Wernicke’s encephalopathy and a long–lasting and debilitating condition known as Korsakoff’s psychosis. (NIAAA). Occasionally ethanol alcohol may be employed for

Comparing Act One Scene One and Act Two Scene One of Educating Rita :: Educating Rita Social Classes Essays

Comparing Act One Scene One and Act Two Scene One of Educating Rita In willy Russell's play "educating Rita" the first scenes of each acts are very different from each other. In act two scene one there is almost a complete reverse in characters attitude, status and behaviour from the first scene of act one. This is because in act one, Rita really admires Frank and wishes she could be just like him because of his vast knowledge. However in act two Frank admires the change in Rita but at the same time he is also upset because he has lost the Rita he used to know and he thinks that Rita no longer needs him because she knows 'what wine to buy and what clothes to wear' but Rita doesn't realise that there's more to education than just this! ACT ONE FRANK From the first scene of act one the first character we begin to learn about is Frank. Frank is middle aged, uses standard English and is well spoken. He appears to be a stereotypical middle class academic but he has hidden qualities. Frank likes to drink; "Yes I suppose I did take it on to pay for the drink." He constantly refers to the drink and drinks throughout the play which suggests that Frank is an alcoholic. He drinks to help him step delicately through the pressures of his life- Not only is he teaching a course he doesn't want to teach, He's got a girlfriend who is constantly getting him. As well as drinking, Frank also smokes which makes him quite a weak character because in scene one, Rita offers him a cigarette and he has one even though he has supposed to have given up; "I made a promise not to smoke." Throughout the play Frank's frustration is shown by his sarcastic humour ; "I like my lamb done to the point of abuse... You could incinerate ratatouille and it still wouldn't burn!" Like this, Frank's attitude towards most things is negative ;" I'm actually an appalling teacher." Like the alcohol, Franks negativity is brought on by his life. Frank gets no enjoyment from teaching, he'd much rather be with his friends at his local pub. But besides Frank's negativity, Frank doesn't patronise Rita ;" What would you like to know... Everything? That's rather a lot... where would you like to start?" He listens and empathises. ACT ONE RITA In the first act, Rita comes across as a stereotypical working class Liverpudlian woman! She is twenty six, working class, speaks with a scouse dialect and lives in a council house with her husband Denny.

Ice Cream Time Essay

Thesis: This Breyers Blasts advertisement is effective towards families who eat ice cream together, the advertisement has a very eye catching image, encourages families too try the blasts ice cream, and emphasizes that eating Breyers Blasts will bring families closer together. I. The Breyers Blasts advertisement has a very eye catching image that engages the reader to look further into it. A. The reader’s eyes are drawn straight to the scoop of ice cream exploding with Cookies. B. The advertisement shows that Breyers has many different flavors of ice cream. II. The Breyers Blasts advertisement effectively encourages families to try the Breyers Blasts ice cream. A. The text points out that it is exploding with your family’s favorite cookies and candies. B. As soon as the reader looks at the advertisement they know who makes the ice cream. III. The context of the Breyers Blasts advertisement is effective by having the ability to emphasize that eating Breyers Blasts this will bring the readers family closer together. A. Tells the reader that this is a family ice cream and everyone in the family can have their own flavor. B. Southern living is a magazine that would be read by someone most likely in a family, and this is the best ice cream for a family to share time with each other. Jimmy O’Grady Mrs. Jensen English 101-014 30 November 2012 Ice Cream Time Every family needs time to just sit have time with each other. If someone reading Southern Living magazine and saw the advertisement that Breyers ice cream about their new Breyers Blasts ice cream. This Breyers Blasts advertisement is effective towards families who eat ice cream together, the advertisement has a very eye catching image, encourages families too try the blasts ice cream, and emphasizes that eating Breyers Blasts will bring families closer together. The Breyers Blasts advertisement has a very eye catching image that engages the reader to look further into it. At first glance the reader is drawn to the very large scoop of ice cream exploding with Oreo cookies. In the exploding scoop of ice cream there is about as much cookie exploding, as there is ice cream. That image is showing the viewer that they are really going to get a serious blast of cookie or candy in the ice cream. Elizabeth Roman writer of Scoopful of Ice Cream: Breyers Blasts! Oreo Cookies and Cream Chocolate review said, â€Å"The true delights in this treat are the giant chunks of Oreo cookies that are found in every bite. † Mrs. Roman is agreeing with the point that there is almost more cookie than ice cream. The solid blue background that makes the white ice cream standout, and really jump off the page. With the cookies exploding out of the scoop of ice cream there is many different sizes of the cookies. The advertisement shows that Breyers has many different flavors of ice cream. At the very bottom of the advertisement Breyers has placed pictures of all the different flavors so the reader knows that it is just not Oreo blasts. The Breyers Blasts advertisement effectively encourages families to try the Breyers Blasts ice cream. The only text that is on this advertisement is a sentence stating that the ice cream is, â€Å"Exploding with your family’s favorite cookies and candies. † This sentence is explaining what makes this ice cream different. Without this sentence in this advertisement the viewer would have to work harder to figure out what is really going on in the image. At first glance of the advertisement if the viewer did not know what they were looking at the sentence lets the viewer know that it is ice cream with cookies and candies in it. As soon as the reader looks at the advertisement they see who makes the ice cream. Breyers does a great job of putting their logo somewhere that the view will have to see by just scanning the advertisement. The sentence and logo have a good font size, whereas are not overly big but stand out just enough to attract the viewer’s attention. The context of the Breyers Blasts advertisement is effective by having the ability to emphasize that eating Breyers Blasts this will bring the readers family closer together. This advertisement not only tells the family that everyone can have their flavor of choice, but in a way it is saying it will bring your family together. On Breyers website it says, â€Å"Now that your favorite cookie and candy brands are blasted into every yummy scoop, it’s easy to bring your family together! † That is what Breyers made this ice cream for, to bring families together. The Breyers Blasts advertisement was published in Southern Living magazine. Southern Living magazine was published to project the culture of the south, according to the magazines Website about us section. The majority of the people reading this magazine are who are married with children. When the readers come across this advertisement saying that Breyers Blasts can bring their family closer, they think about buying it. All Breyers needs to do is put the thought of their product into the readers head, so the next trip to the grocery store they end up buying it. The Breyers Blasts visual is very effective. The advertisement has every aspect that an effective visual needs. Breyers understands that their advertisements need to connect with the reader emotionally in a positive manner to be effective. Breyers has the just the right amount of composition, text, and context to have an effective visual. Breyers does just that, by connecting eating Breyers Blasts and connecting a family. Breyers Blasts visual encourages families to eat it, says that the ice cream will bring families closer together, and the image makes the reader want to continue to read about there product. Works Cited Roman, Elizabeth. â€Å"Massachusetts. † Masslive. com. The Republican, 26 July 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

How Can A Staff Nco Anticipate The Outcome Of Current...

SLC Essay SSG Ryan Adams SLC Class 173-17 How can a staff NCO anticipate the outcome of current operations to develop concepts for follow-on-missions? Through experience both personal and through the call center to use the lessoned learned to help with planning. Many missions and events have happened in much of the same way as any mission that will be prepared for and prepped for in the future good resource. By using historical data and the experience of seasoned Soldiers an outcome can be anticipated. By saving the data of current missions some of the parts of that mission can be useful in planning for future operations. As a Staff NCO, what key essential characteristics are necessary along with leader attributes and core competencies? Some of the leader characteristics are as follows: Leader of character- army values, empathy, warrior ethos Leader with presence- mil bearing, physically fit, composed, confident and resilient Leader with intellectual capacity- mental agility, sound judgement, innovation, interpersonal tact and domain knowledge These essential characteristics allow a leader to provide well rounded mentorship to their subordinates providing them with sound leadership that will prepare them to accomplish the mission. The core leader competencies emphasize the roles, functions, and activities of what leaders do. The following discussions and figures provide additional detail on component categories and actions that help conveyShow MoreRelatedMilitary Decision Making Process And It Essay2225 Words   |  9 PagesMilitary Decision Making Process and It Is Used In Staff Operations In today’s Army the role of the non-commissioned officer (NCO) is ever changing. They are known as the backbone of the Army and play a crucial role in today’s battlefield. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the roles that a Staff NCO plays in an organization and how they ensure our combat effectiveness no matter what situation they are put in. To be combat effective, Soldiers need to carry out the orders that areRead MoreDecision Making And Planning Of The Military Essay2011 Words   |  9 PagesProcedures (TLPs) are tools that leaders can use to effectively plan and organize a mission or event. It is important to have an understanding of these steps and how to apply them. In addition, there are characteristics associated with successful leaders that aid in the processes. This paper is an overview of the MDMP and TLPs. It will also cover essential leadership attributes and competencies and the roles and responsibilities of the Commander’s staff in executing the MDMP. The paper will concludeRead MoreThe Military Decision Making Process Essay2496 Words   |  10 Pagesbetter understand and explore different ways to apply this concepts. As Non-commissioned Officers we serve as advisors to our Commanders and leaders. It is imperative that we are involved and able to assist in the planning process of our uni t’s operations. We need to have a complete understanding of the seven steps in the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) and the eight steps in the Troop Leading Procedures (TLP). Using the MDMP enable leaders to see the complete picture and minimizes theRead MoreSSD2 Module 2 Notes Essay23331 Words   |  94 Pagesï » ¿MODULE 02 NOTES History of the NCO Evolution of the NCO Insignia Overview The NCO insignia evolved through the years from a variety of shapes, styles, and colors to the chevrons worn today. Sometimes changes in uniform style and colors dictated changes in the style and color of the chevrons. The history of the insignia is complex and often confusing. In some cases, no official records survived to document the use of certain insignia. Many times, the vagueness of official records resulted in conflictingRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pagesto competitor analysis 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 Learning objectives Introduction Against whom are we competing? Identifying and evaluating competitors’ strengths and weaknesses Evaluating competitive relationships and analysing how organizations compete Identifying competitors’ objectives Identifying competitors’ likely response profiles Competitor analysis and the development of strategy The competitive intelligence system The development of a com petitive stance: the potential