Report On Zara’s Strategic Management

Question

Task:
Write a report on the chosen Zara’s strategic management changes that it wants to incorporate, to find answers to certain questions set up in the main assignment task given below:

The assignment will have the following important components/steps:

1. Analyse the current vision, mission, objectives and existing strategy of the organization
2. Conduct a detailed environmental analysis using the tools in the modules and identify the environmental challenges and possible opportunities
3. Identify an important environmental challenge and discuss the possible impact of it on the organization and its stakeholders
4. Create a strategy using tools learned to overcome this challenge and discuss how you would implement it in your organization.

Discuss the various challenges you would face in the implementation and discuss how you would improve innovation as well as make effective use of change management principles.

Answer

Introduction
Introduction to the Company
Zara was founded in the year 1974 under the parent brand Inditex, in Spain. The founder Amancio Ortega is also known as the father of Fast Fashion industry. Zara is the leading and one of the fastest growing international fashion companies. The company has over 3000+ stores and operates across 96 countries(BOF, 2020). Zara is seen as a pioneer in fast fashion industry owing to its highly responsive supply chain model. The company has a brand value of over USD 14.7 Billion and its CEO is Pablo Isla. The company in the year 2019 earned revenue of USD 21.9 Billion(Forbes, 2020). Spain is Zara’s biggest market with over 547 stores, which is followed by China, France, Russia, Italy and US. The company was ranked 41 in the survey of world’s top global brands in the year 2020 and employees over 152, 854(Success Story, 2020). Zara’s product offering includes clothes, accessories, kids wear and other fashion items for both men and women. The company ever since its inception is known for its unique ability to understand fast fashion and replace all of its inventory in a period of every 14 days. Zara is a pioneer in fast fashion and affordable retail clothing with its customers at the heart of the organization (Inditex, 2020).

Vision- Work towards the sustainable development of the society and the environment.

Mission- The mission statement of the Fast Fashion leader is to provide its customers with what they want and to provide it faster than anybody else(Inditex, 2020).

Strategic Objectives
Zara’s strategic objectives can be seen as its sustainability goals, which it recently announced and can be seen as:

• Elimination of Chemical Hazards from its supply chain ecosystem.
• Proper and effective disposal of all of its apparels by collecting them from stores.
• Training for the designers on the concepts and usage of circular economy in its business model(Holgate, 2019)
• Usage of cellulosic fibre in the garments, which are 100% sustainable.
• Zero single use plastic packaging of its products.
• Zero waste from Zara facilities to be send to landfill
• Use of 80% of renewable energy at its stores(Holgate, 2019).

Current Business Scenario
The current situation in the light of the pandemic COVID-19 is difficult for every business and industry, especially the manufacturing, retail, hospitality and tourism .The only sector which has been resilient to its pandemic has been e-commerce, the fact of which is the jump in the e-commerce sales of the e-commerce behemoth Amazon. The owners of the fast fashion retail brand are planning to close as many as 1200 stores and trying to boost its online sales. The closures of the store is to be seen mostly in Asia and Europe and over 107 stores of Zara to be closed in UK as well. However, the company has maintained its stance on the employment, and says that everyone working with Zara will have their jobs safe. The sales of the parent brand has taken a hit by 44%, owing to lockdown and consumers taking engaging in discretionary measures.

However, the shining light here has been the online sales which saw a rise of 95% as compared to 2019, April(The Guardian, 2020).

The pandemic has pushed a number of businesses to revaluate their business strategy and to focus on digital transformation of the business. Going by the same philosophy, even Zara is taking measures to boost its online sales by introducing technologies such as Artificial intelligence, Virtual and Augmented reality and giving the customers a unique personalized experience, which no brand has ever done. The company is facing stiff challenge from its rivals such as H&M, Uniqlo, Fast Retailing and Boohoo in the UK. Under the company new strategy, it is expected to increase its online sales by more than 22% by the end of FY 2022, as compared to its online sales of 14% in the FY 2019(Martin Roll, 2020). Furthermore, the large stores of Zara will be used as distribution hubs for the purpose of online sales. Amancio Ortega has already made provision to invest over €1 Billion on its online offering and another €1.7 Billion towards stores in order to integrate them better with website, ensure faster deliveries and provide a seamless user experience to its customers(Saraswat, 2018). Hence the current business scenario of the company can be summarized as:

• Reduction in offline sales due to the Pandemic which has resulted in shutting of over 450 stores of Zara(The Guardian, 2020)
• Impetus towards the online sales with integration of AI, Machine learning, VR & AR Technology(The Gaurdian, 2020).
• Relying on its efficient supply chain model to stay competitive
• Strong competition from H&M, Fast Retailing, Uniqlo & Boohoo.
• Focus on sustainable business operation and sustainable business practices leveraging use of cellulose fibre which is 100% sustainable, use of renewable sources of energy and thereby reducing its impact on the environment.

SWOT Analysis of Zara
SWOT analysis is one of the most fundamental strategic framework which is used for the assessment of both the internal and external environment of the business. The objective here is to understand the strength unique to the organization and leverage the opportunity.

Figure 1: Framework of SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Market leader in the fat fashion brand.
• Global presence with over 3000+ stores across 96 countries.
• A highly recognized brand name with strong brand equity.
• Zara has a vertical supply chain business model, which strengthens its supply chain ecosystem(Martin Roll, 2020).
• Unique and trendy design which are designed by developing a strong consumer insight.
• The company is leveraging technology such as Beacon Devices, AR, ML & VT to increase the user experience and also for contextual targeting.
• Increase in online sales.
• Exceptional customer service and experience.
• Strong design and marketing team which provides customer insights enabling creation of apparels that pick up fast(Bloomberg, 2020).
• Extremely efficient supply chain which ensure the entire inventory in the store to be replenished in 14 days.
• Affordable clothing’s
• Investment in circular economy to reduce its impact on the environment.

Weakness

• Zara has limited marketing and advertising capabilities, which limits its revenues as compared to its competitors(Orihuela, 2020).
• High competition for Zara due to large number of brands and high customer bargaining power and high threat of substitutes.
• Zara focusses on one size fits all model, which limits its revenue capabilities.
• Low presence in growing markets such as India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand(DDC Group, 2020).

Opportunities

• Zara has the unique opportunity to leverage AI and improve its customer experience. Investment in Virtual reality and augmented reality technology to provide customized shopping experience for the customers(McKinsey & Company, 2020).
• Use of Beacon devices for contextual targeting and understanding the shopper behaviour in the stores.
• Increase in online sales is an indication that company focusses some of its energy in building a unique online experience for its customers.
• Investing in marketing activities on social media and increase its engagement with the users, and focus on customer loyalty(Saraswat, 2018).
• Number of markets are yet to be explored by Zara.
• Expand into different segments using diversification strategy, the way it did with Kids and home décor items.

Threats

• Strong competition from players like H&M, Fast Retail and others.
• Issues with no design patent, makes it easier for any small retailer to copy the brand’s design(Riano, 2019).
• Increasing cost in raw material due to sustainable outsourcing activities.
• Economic downturn is a big threat to Zara, as there are report of over 400+ stores to be shut across the globe(The Guardian, 2020).
• Inability to build a strong reach due to average marketing and engagement strategy.

Miles & Snow Typologies

Figure 2: Diagrammatic framework of Miles & Snow Typologies

(Source: Cassol et al., 2019)

The ideas presented in the model mentioned above are extremely helpful in ensuring that all the actions the organizations take are working towards the same desired result. In other words if the company’s strategy is not aligned with its goals, then the action of the company will be futile. Let us understand how each of these four unique strategies work, and which strategy is being used by Zara.

Zara can be seen as the company which is following the analyser strategy, below are the reasons in support for the strategy:

• Diversification strategy but in limited and well performing markets.
• Internationalization strategy after careful evaluation of the environmental factors.
• Innovation in its store and online stores using AI & VR.
• Strong supply chain ecosystem owing to which the company is able to replenish its entire inventory in 14 days(Bloomberg, 2020)

Thus, Zara can be seen as an organization which uses innovation at its core, however keenly analyses all the internal and external environmental factors before taking a step. This is what makes it the leader in the fast fashion industry.

Porter 5 Forces
Porter 5 forces is another framework which is used to determine the attractiveness and profitability of the industry and is seen as an external analysis tools, at the industry level.

Figure 3: Strategic Framework of Porter 5 Forces

(Source: Mon, 2020)

The Porter 5 forces scenario can be concluded by making an argument that except the high competition and rivalry in the existing firms, Zara does not has a major threat at the industry level.

Environmental Analysis and Need for Change
PESTLE Analysis
PESTLE analysis is an external environmental analysis framework which assesses the business environment on the basis of 5 forces. These forces helps to determine what steps the company could take in order to be resilient in the dynamics of business caused by several forces.

Figure 3: Diagrammatic Representation of PESTLE analysis

Political Factors
The readers already know that Zara is a Spanish brand which was born of the EU and has established operations all across the globe. Due to global lockdown of the economy, the business has suffered, which is already covered in the current scenario section. Zara has a perfectly established trade agreement which lets Zara import raw materials and export the finished product. It is the same framework, which aides Zara in exporting merchandize all across the world. The EU is UK’s biggest export market, however the situation will change after December 31st 2020, when the Brexit deal will come into place. This will adversely impact Zara as its exports to UK will become expensive and would also result in delays due to checking on the borders. The financial regulators are also keeping a close eye on any kind of mishap in form of financial violations. India and China are emerging as profitable markets for Zara, and the company does not face any threat from these countries. The disruption due to COVID-19 had impacted the supply chain of Zara considerably as well. However, the impact still looks like it would not do much damage the market leader in fast fashion retail(Bloomberg, 2020).

Economic Factors
It has been seen that due to COVID-19, the global economy has shrunk by 3%, with economies like UK dropping to over 20%, Australia by over 13%, US by 11% and India also in the range of 20-24%(The Guardian, 2020). This massive drops in the economy due to COVID-19 has had an impact on almost all the businesses, only the online stores are doing well. Moreover, due to lesser jobs, customers are cutting on their discretionary spending to further save money, again having an impact on the company’s revenue. However, Zara sees this as a kneejerk reaction due to pandemic, and has successfully created a strategy by investing a billion pound in increasing the capability of its online store. The company by taking a right response mechanism has done away with some of the threat it is facing due to economic factors(Whysall, 2020).

Socio-Cultural Factors
Customers spending time at their homes due to COVID-19 has given them time to think of the sustainable ways of living which also includes the sustainable clothing. There have been a large number of protest against the fast fashion industry which are the second largest contributor to the CO2 emissions to the environment. However, the customers are still inclined towards buying, however with caution, and this is evident from the fact that online sales of Zara and other e-tailer have surged. The taste and preference of customers keeps on evolving and now they want to be associated with the brand, which has sustainable raw material in their apparel. Zara has acted over this and is now use 100% sustainable cellulose fibre as raw material. Furthermore, the design team is further understanding the customer insight in order to keep them engaged with the offerings of Zara(Dempsey-Brench & Volta, 2018).

Technology Factors
Zara operates in an industry which is rapidly transforming, may it be personalized shopping experience online, use of digital assistants and avatar, use of AI, ML & AR to let the consumers try out the product without even wearing them is the future of technology. Zara is moving rapidly in this direction and has been using technology at its advantage to provide a unique and memorable experience to its customers. The company has also been seen using beacon devices at its stores to help customers navigate through the stores for the product they are looking for, whilst collecting useful customer insights on their purchase behaviour and shopping style. Thus, it can be said that Zara by adopting to newer technologies has by large minimized the impact of technological factors on its business(Silva et al., 2017).

Legal Factors
Zara in the past have been under the criticism of legal regulators for copying the designs of Adidas and Balenciaga. Zara has a brand however practices ethics and sustainability in its business. There is a need of the hour in the fast fashion industry to enforce the copyright issues as the designs are being copied by small retailers, which is bad for brands like Zara, H&M and others who spends millions of dollars in R&D in coming up with the final product. Along the same line, there is a need to provide transparency in the supply chain of these fast fashion brands, and they are under the scanner of legal bodies. The Brexit will also come up with various regulation that Zara will have to abide by. The company has also been criticised for poor conditions of its workers especially in countries like Vietnam & Bangladesh(Iversen et al., 2020).

Environmental Factors
The good news here is that in the FY 2020, the CO2 emissions have dropped by 6.5% as compared to the FY 2019, due to the increased efforts of organization, government and other stakeholders. However, there is a still more to reduce before environmental sustainability is achieved. Textile industry is the second largest contributor to CO2 emission, which makes Zara and other brand under the scanner of environmentalist and other regulators. Zara however, in his sustainability goals, pledged to reduce its impact on the environment by limiting the use of non-renewable sources of energy and focussing on renewable, sending literally zero waste to its landfill, using the concepts of circular economy in its business model and also by using sustainable sources of raw material in manufacturing. Hence, Zara seems to be on the right path to sustainability and is really considering its impact on the environment and taking action to reduce it further(Holgate, 2020).

From the PESTLE analysis it can be concluded that Zara has taken a strong response mechanism to the various threat which are directly under its control. Especially in the environmental, legal and technological factors.

Environmental Uncertainty Model
The model here is used to determine the level of uncertainty due to complexity in the business environment. When the changing business environment becomes more complex the events become more and more unpredictable, resources become scares, customer gets reduced and there is a lot of uncertainty on the business due to rise in uncertainty associated with the business.

Factors in the Environmental Uncertainty model includes:

• Dynamism-Stable to Unstable
• Financial Resources- Abundance to Scarcity
• Complexity-Simple to Complex

From the table it is clear that Zara forms in the ecosystem of High to moderate & Low to moderate uncertainty owing to its raw material, changing trends of customers, sustainability clothing trends and more so(McKinsey & Company, 2020). However, the company has made up strategies to curtail these uncertainties in its business model.

Strategic Identification & Implementation
In this section, strategy formulation tools are applied to design a business strategy for Zara and discuss its success factors. Furthermore, a plan to implement the strategy is also applied and how the principles of change management can help Zara to successfully carry out the change. Lastly, it is also identified on how the company can improve innovation and readiness to change.

Strategy to Overcome Challenges
Ansoff Matrix
The Ansoff Matrix is a strategic framework or a tool which is used in the strategy stage of the company to identify the overarching strategy the business should use and then inform on the tactics to be used in the marketing activity. A figure below of the framework shows four strategies in terms of market development, market penetration, product development and diversification (Loredana, 2017). Let us understand, which of the strategies does Zara uses and how it can be further improved to increase the resilience of the business model.

Figure 4: Strategic Framework of Ansoff Matrix

(Source: Loredana, 2017)

Porter 5 forces has already been used in the section above, on the basis of analysis of the Ansoff Matrix and Porter 5 forces, the following change is required and the ways to do so.

• The company has to adopt a cost leadership, differentiation and a diversification business strategy.
• Increase the engagement with its customers, as Zara does not have a strong marketing presence.
• Improve innovation by adding incremental or radical innovation at various stages of its business cycle and process.

In order to achieve this, the following has to be done by Zara:

• Leverage its vertical business model and acquire more intermediaries in the process to further reduce its dependency on the suppliers, as well as to reduce the price of the products while increasing the delivery cycle for its products(Aftab et al., 2018)..
• Company already has high quality products as an affordable pricing, but what the company is missing is the face of the brand to increase the penetration of the brand. Thus, the company can use influencer marketing strategies to further tap into newer audience segments as well as to increase its engagement score(VIardot & Nyulund, 2017).
• As compared to brands such as Nike, H&M and other fast Fashion, Zara has a limited presence. Hence, it must accelerate its efforts on social media and engage with its audience and build a loyal customer base.
• Conduct a value stream mapping and remove the unnecessary steps which delays the shipment from reaching the end customers and can also saves costs. The company can do so by further adding innovation in its business process using the Tidd and Bessant’s 4P model of innovation and leverage incremental and radical innovation at various stages of its process(Berbiche, Hiyal & El Alami, 2020).

Implementation of the Strategy
In order to implement and execute the strategy, the company must and should take the following steps:

• Establish clear cut goals and strategic objectives for a period of 12 months.
• Creating business policies and systems to bring an improvement in the existing system for the period of 12 months.
• Use system design thinking approach and look at all the all the individual components constituting the system and use CATWO and Rich Picture to further analyse the problem before implementing the solutions.
• Structural changes are also required to be done in the functional department of the organization and innovation & R&D to be given special importance.
• Creating High performance work practices in the team’s leveraging information, reward, knowledge and power.
• Minimize resistance towards the change by communicating with the stakeholders and appointing a change agent.
• Develop an effective human resource management system and conduct a 360 degree performance evaluation of all of its workforce.
• Focus on the GLOCAL strategy which is go global and act local as a part of its internationalization strategy.
• Using digital transformation to increase the visibility in its supply chain ecosystem.
• Accelerate the efforts of sustainability by launching a new clothing line made from 100% sustainable materials.
• Improvement in the waste apparels collection mechanism from its stores across the globe.
• Tie up with suppliers to work on the circular economy model, and to ensure lesser material is send to the landfill.

In order to implement the strategy, Lewin’s model of change in suggested to Zara, which has to be implemented in the following way:

Figure 5: Lewin’s model of Change

((Source: Hussain et al., 2018).

Unfreeze- The Company here has to realize the need for the change, it has already been established in the earlier section and then move forward with replacing the old behaviour and attitude with the new behavioural systems. In the same step, the company has to appoint change leadership and change management to carry out the change in the next process.

Change

• Here the company has to implement the change while giving training to the employees on the proposed changes so as to conduct their work effectively and with efficiency. Also, resistance has to be management by the leadership by addressing the employees in an environment of open communication, conveying the need for change and the rationale for it including the benefits for all.

Refreeze

• Any change management process is lacklustre in appeal until and unless it is reviewed periodically, feedback is recorded and accordingly the changes are further made in the system. Here, the dire need is to empower the employees so that they can come out in the open and give constructive feedback to the change management team or the leadership(Hussain et al., 2018).

Leadership Values to Manage Strategic Change
Leadership is both a science and art of motivating, influencing, empowering and leading the employees and the organization on the path of success, which is the fulfilment of the organizational goals. Now there has been a never ending debate on the style of leadership which is best suited for organisation performance, nor has it been ever concluded which is the best style of leadership. Because, a lot of leadership approach depends on the kind of employees there are in the organization, especially, due to individual differences in personalities, every organization and its employees are significantly different from each other. Thus, there lies the need to understand which style is most suited in a particular situation, like in this case is strategic change management(Seidel et al., 2019).

Transformational style of leadership is the one where the leaders seek to transform the business or groups that they lead by inspiring the employees. The leadership is all about identifying improvement to improve the business systems and inspire and empower people to participate in the change management discussion and decisions. In all due consideration, transformational leadership is best suited when an organization is looking forward to change(Boehm et al., 2016). The reasons below, why transformational style of leadership is best in this situation are:

• Clear Expression of the vision
• Inspiration through communication
• Intellectual stimulation
• Supportive leadership
• Personal recognition

Transactional leadership on the other hand is a leadership style which is based on reward and punishment. Employees who are performing good and fulfilling the objectives of the organizations are rewarded, while the others are either fired or put into a performance improvement plan. This type of leadership style is driven by fear which is not good for the overall health of the business organization. Hence, in this case the management is seen to be mostly involved when there is a major problem in the organization, they seldom do not participate in the change management programs(Turner & Baker, 2018).

Servant leader leadership style is another leadership style which is good and favours the employees. The leadership is more concerned about the needs and concerns of the employees and takes decision by comprehending their needs. The only drawback here is the extreme reliance of employees over the leadership, which sometimes makes them incompetent to the extent that they do not use their cognitive abilities to solve the problem(Khan, 2017).

Blake & Mountain Managerial grid describes leadership into the four roles which are country club manager, team leader, middle of the road style, impoverished style and perish style. Out of these 4, the Team leader style is the best in the case here due to its balancing act, and the manager or the leaders give equal importance to the task and also the needs of the employees(Woods, 2019).

To a very large extent the style of leadership helps to determine the fact of the organization. For example, in an organization where the employees are perceived as they are lazy, transactional style of leadership is of good use, as they fear losing their jobs. Transformational style of leadership is preferred in the organization, where the leadership and management is growing in accordance to the change in the business environment and guiding the team through a well-crafted leadership change program. It is with the shared vision of the leadership, the objectives of the organizations are achieved in an effective manner(Vogel & Werkmeister, 2020). The best example of this style of leadership is Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. Both these visionary leaders has revolutionized the e-commerce and consumer electronics industry by adapting to the change, as and when they occur and creating a risk management strategy to tackle the same. Hence, with all due consideration it is the transformational style of leadership which is best suited in this particular case of Zara. The leader has to ensure that he carries out a change process by clearly defining the objectives and rationale for the change, appointing a change management team, empower and involve the employees by including them in decision making, communicate with stakeholders and manage resistance and lastly carry out the guided change. It is the concentrated focus of the transformational leader on the organization and the importance of change, which makes it the most apt leadership style in organization where change is in their organizational fabric.

According to Dulewicz & Higgs, leadership styles can be broadly grouped into three categories, which are:

Lastly, it can be once again concluded that leadership style is instrumental to the success of the business organization, and one must adopt the leadership style which is most beneficial to achieve the goals of the organization by understanding the organizational climate. Moreover, the efforts should be on creating a culture of communication, innovation as these leads to enhanced productivity and boosts the confidence of the employees. Furthermore, skill gap analysis must be conducted, in accordance to which the employees should be up skill to tackle the VUCA environment. Thus, in case of Zara, the transformational leadership has to carry out the change in a guided process by engaging and involving all the stakeholders important to the business such as its employees, suppliers and other intermediaries in the process, while still have a strong focus on the needs of the customers.

Recommendations

• Have a strong and dedicated approach towards cost leadership and diversification strategy- Using the Ansoff Matrix, it is seen that Zara has limited diversification, which is one of its business limitation. Hence by having a cost leadership approach and diversification will have Zara to remain undeterred of the impact of the external environment as well as of its competition.
• Accelerate the marketing efforts and focus on customer loyalty- Zara has a limited social media presence, despite having a strong focus on the online sales. The company has to ensure that it apt fully uses the platform to increase its engagement with the users as well as to increase its positive share of voice on social media. Furthermore, in order to make its online model a real success, the company will have to integrate social media and other digital media channels effectively in its online marketing strategy.
• Triple Bottom Line Model-It has already been mentioned that Textile industry is the second biggest contributor to CO2 emission, which is bad for the environment. Hence, it is recommended that Zara uses the Triple Bottom line model, which implies that it should care for its people and profit the way it does for the profits. This will help the company to drive a positive brand equity, get new customers and at the same time create a sustainable business model using materials which are sustainable in tis clothing line(Bloomberg, 2020).

All of the proposed recommendation and changes can be conducted out using the transformational style of leadership which is strongly recommended here. The leader must and should understand the need of the change, collide the same with his shared vision and belief and implement the change in order to drive sustainability in the organization.

Conclusion
The strategic issues identified here are environmental factors that has adverse impact on the business, kneejerk due to COVID-19, increased competition in the industry and the dire need to focus on cost leadership, innovation and diversification in Zara’s business model. The way to achieve the above mentioned objectives is to create a strong team which understands these issues, establish strategic goals to be achieved in a period of 12 months and using transformational leadership carry out the changes in the phased manner. The current times are challenging for every business and industry, especially the ones involved in consumer retail, however with a strong approach and creation of strategies and goals the organization can pass this tough times. The focus should be on further understanding and assessing the external environment before implementation of the strategies proposed. Lastly the assignment can be concluded by further saying that Zara is not much disturbed due to COVID-19, as its online sales have been a big help. However, the impact is still visible. However, the company by keeping an approach of diversification, innovation and cost leadership can overcome all the challenges and become much more resilient to any further impact in the business environment. Lastly, Zara to have a strong focus on the marketing activities as it certainly lacks in that area big time in comparison to its competitors.

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