Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 12

Strategic management - Essay Example The report starts by giving an initial overview of the company, followed by the reports objectives. The major objectives of the report were to analyze the company’s operation and the strategies followed by the company, an industry analysis of the company followed by a macro-economic environment analysis. The company has been performing exceptionally well since its inception and lately it surpassed the revenue figure of its major competitors GAP. The primary purpose of this Management Report is to provide an analysis of the strategic situation of Zara, the clothing retailer. This report further examines the manner in which the organization operates and also provides a good picture of its potential for growth and development. Zara is a renowned brand and flagship chain store of Inditex Group. It has gradually gained major popularity since its first store was opened in Spain. â€Å"The company is known for needing just two weeks to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared with a six-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year. Zara has resisted the industry-wide trend towards transferring fast fashion production to low-cost countries†. (Zara, Bloomberg.com) The objective of this report is to examine the business operation of Zara over the last few years and to collect enough evidence supporting the Case Study â€Å"Zara – A Cut Apart From Competition†. The case Study has put forward the manner in which the company has operated in recent years and the fact that it took many long years for Zara to cross the leading America brand GAP and become the global leader in the fashion and clothing industry. Such an analysis is done by examining a few things; Zara has operated with an aggressive policy towards the business. It has proven many theories wrong, theories related to economies of scale, supply chain, etc. The company’s operation can be

Control Mechanisms Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Control Mechanisms Paper - Essay Example According to Long et al (n.d.): "Managers within bureaucratic control systems use primarily rules and regulations, hierarchical lines of authority, and job specifications to direct subordinates in their tasks". Certain premises of the decisions on these matters are to be supplied in advance in the form of general rules or standards, and compliance with these standards is to be enforced by centralized units. All decisions for which standards have been prescribed are cleared with or reviewed by the appropriate centralized unit to assure compliance. One way of meeting control problems of this kind is to assign to specialized administrative units in their particular area of specialization. A central office enforces the rules relating to the hiring, pay, promotion, and dismissal of personnel throughout the entire organization. The College School System determines special rules and standards in order to create a unified system of education and maintain high level of service delivery (Medei ros, Barbosa, n.d.). Also, the College School System uses some elements of clan and market mechanisms which help it to survive. Following Long et al (n.d): "Managers within clan control systems place relatively greater emphasis on the development and actualization of common values, traditions, and beliefs". The College School System follows educational values and traditions which have a great impact on its decision-making and performance. These traditions involve equal treatment of all students and high level of education, programs and activities based on human-centered approach and Christian morality. In some cases, The College School System can be seen in terms of market control mechanism when: 'managers make decisions based on price considerations" (Long et al n.d.). Many private schools are driven by this control mechanism which helps them to maintain high level of education and services. The main advantage of bureaucratic control mechanism is structure of control procedure. Control is exercised through the executive hierarchy itself. The main limitation (negative consequences) of clan and market control mechanisms is that the executive hierarchy itself does not know and cannot be expected to know enough about all the many areas of an organization's activities to make sure that all these activities are being conducted according to the expressed wishes of those higher up in the organization, the chief executive, the legislature, or the public. The chain of accountability is maintained by assigning different parts of the review process to centralized units whose personnel then become specialists in securing high standards in their respective fields. The effectiveness of clan mechanism can be explained by the fact that "the traditions and norms that clan system managers use to affect subordinate behaviors are best applied before tasks are commenced" (Long et al, n.d.). T he effectiveness of market control is explained by output control targets which allows the organization evaluate the work when it completes. The bureaucratic control mechanism determines the structure of four functions of management based on hierarchical relations. All functions and decision-making are closely connected with each other following strict rules and procedures. An important element is the mechanism employed to see that the policies laid down by the body and the top executives are carried out by the