Chapter 15 Zara Product Innovator Process Innovator Explain Why

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Lussier, Management Fundamentals, 7e

Answers to Case Questions

Chapter 15: Operations, Quality, and

Productivity

Zara

1. What category does Zara fall under from an operations flexibility perspective?

2. Explain how just-in–time (JIT) inventory to affects Zara’s pricing strategy.

By delivering the exact amount of inventory needed every two weeks, the risk of holding onto to

3. Explain how utilizing both its in-house facilities and external manufacturers maximizes the

efficiency of Zara’s supply chain. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each form of

manufacturing?

Since fast-fashion merchandise requires a quick turnaround to get items on shelves, utilizing the in-

house manufacturing provides the benefit of production speed. The disadvantage is the significantly

4. What other companies utilize Zara’s business model? How much control do these companies have

over their supply chain?

5. Which of Porter’s three competitive strategies does Zara utilize? Explain why.

Lussier, Management Fundamentals, 7e

Differentiator. Through process innovation, Zara has forgone the traditional retail business model. The

6. Is Zara a product innovator or a process innovator? Explain why.

Zara is a process innovator. Their ability to take a trend and capitalize on it by bringing it to market in 2

7. Discuss the need for a team approach to supply chain management at Zara.

In order to convert ideas to products on shelves, team work is critical for Zara’s SCM. In-house designers

8. Apply the four stages of the systems process and describe how Zara controls each stage of the

process.

The input stage is a key stage for Zara. Ideas are turned into design that will then be moved to into the