Fashion

Michael Kors started his career in fashion at the ripe age of nineteen as he designed and merchandised a collection for the prominent Lothar’s boutique in New York City. His captivating fashion showcase was revered by the press, leading Kors to set up a fashion business of his own. The Michael Kors label was developed in 1981 in which his first women’s collection of chic luxurious American Sports apparel was presented at Bergdorf Goodman in Saks Fifth Avenue. Since then, he has been actively launching new stylish ensembles that cater to classic American taste (Michael Kors Website).

Aside from a trendy clothing line, Michael Kors offered other fashion statement pieces that would further expand his business. In 2001, he launched fashionable accessories under his collection label such as women’s handbags, shoes, belts, eyewear and signature fragrance for both men and women. The following year, the Michael Kors brand became a household name after a successful season collection in 2002 which featured a full-scale men’s collection (Michael Kors Website). Throughout the years, Michael Kors has developed three individual fashion lines within the company.

The Michael Kors Collection Wear is a high-end selection that is targeted for a more mature consumer and consists mostly of eveningwear and couture. Meanwhile, MICHAEL Michael Kors is referred to as the ‘lifestyle’ collection which has more of a casual look geared toward younger consumers of either sexes. Lastly, KORS Michael Kors consists only of women’s shoes. All in all, Micheal Kors is a thriving, New York based Fashion Company that continues to grow and expand internationally (Michael Kors Website). Social Networking and the Web

People are social creatures. It’s human nature to connect with other human beings within one’s immediate environment. Humans are created to depend on each other, creating families, groups and communities that make up each nation. The capacity of individuals to bind together in groups is one of the greatest assets of businesses to date. The concept of Social networking has been around for centuries, way even before technology had made interactivity and connectivity much easier with the Internet or earlier models for mass communication.

Generally, a social network comprises of three or more parties communicating and sharing information. This taps in the resources found within communities such as school settings, church meetings, congregations, clubs or organizations and other sources of socially constructed relationships (Weaver & Morrison, 2008). At the onset of the Internet age, more than 1 billion people are interacting via the World Wide Web which supports the passing on of information and resources unbounded through the inner workings of a computer.

The benefits of electronic media have led to the strengthening of social networks around the globe that was unattainable prior to the use of the Internet. Web-based applications have created a culture-wide phenomenon that shaped the way social networking has evolved through the Internet. The current Web model is very much different than it were a decade ago when the e-mail interface was being introduced to the public.

The top down to bottom-up approach of most companies to it consumers has now shifted into an individualistic method wherein individual consumers can now be able to participate in creating and sharing in the proliferation of content to the public (Weaver & Morrison, 2008). While it was initially thought that the Internet was supposed to be a limitless storage of information, social networks has slowly turned it into a tool for connecting people. The advent of Social-networking websites has assisted the movement of mass gathering and sharing of information that is rooted on social interaction (Weaver & Morrison, 2008).

Every person Is fashion conscious. Fashion Is very popular among the school boys and girls, They do It in a competitive spirit to look smart. up-to-date and attractive. Students like actors and actresses. Some of them see a film to copy the latest fashion. It is mostly the college students who look upon fashion as the very stuff of their conscience. Being fashionable Is the only real passport to high society and popularity In the college. Students put on expensive and fascinating clothes of the latest cut, color and design. The students spend a lot ot money on clothes and other things In ife for sake of variety.

They do not realize that they are wasting their precious time and energy in this effort. In addition, they waste the hard-earned money of their parents. Students have become crazy after fashion. But this is all being done at the cost of their studies. They are wasting the precious time of their life. Sometimes, poor parents are burdened with fashion bills. 853 Words Free Sample Essay on Fashion Thus, every one should try to have some leisure and make the best use of it by taking to some good hobby or the other. Great caution should be exercised; in choosing a hobby.

We should choose a hobby which recoups our energy and provides relaxation and recreation. Young people all over the world are becoming more and more fashion conscious. Young students, whether boys or girls, are crazy about it they want to look smart and beautiful by wearing dresses of the latest designs. In order to boost the sales of their dresses, leading cloth mills and dress”making firms engage reputed fashion designers and beautiful models. Fashion parades and shows are held In big five star hotels to exhibit the latest dresses.

Fashion Is no longer the monopoly of women. Even men have great fancy for It. In fact, the latest unl-sex dresses Ilke shirts and Jeans can be worn both by the girls and the boys. Today, the biggest centers of the latest fashions in the world are Paris, London, Hollywood and New York. In India, Mumbai. Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, Shimla etc. have become centers of high fashion. Students generally try to copy fashions from films. Fashion has permeated all spheres of our life. It is followed not only in clothes but also in hair-styles, shoes, etiquette or manners.

Some people are content to wear fashionable clothes. Others go In for fashionable hair-styles. ull others adopt the latest trend In their speech and manner. All these people want to look impressive and attract the attention ot others. They want to look different in the eyes of others. Fashion is neither stable nor eternal. It is ever-changing. The change in fashion takes place so fast that people sometimes find it very difficult to catch up with it Students in India also have become quite fashion conscious.

In a college campus, one can see both girls and boys wearing all types of clothes. Girls wear whatever their favorite heroines wear. Boys try to emulate their favorite heroes. Fashion knows no frontiers. It travels across countries very fast. when students In India see latest foreign films from Hollywood, they adopt the latest fashions from these films. They even imitate the way of life, speech, manners, actions, clothes, hair-styles of their favorite foreign actors and actresses. Some students spend a lot of money and devote considerable time on their make-up.

They neglect their studies Their books gather dust These students hardly realist that by neglecting their studies, they are ruining their own career. ‘ Of2 students oTten seem to surer Trom a mlstaKen notlon tnat Tasnlon means wearing lothes and other costly items like Jewellery, etc. The fact is that sometimes expensive clothes and heavy make-up may prove counterproductive. It may even have a negative effect on one’s personality. Some people look smarter in simple clothes than in expensive clothes.

As the old saying goes, beauty needs no ornaments. In fact simplicity is the best fashion, If students pursue fashion at the cost of their education, they will be left behind in their studies. This will spoil their prospects of a bright future. If they want to be successful in life, their motto should not be fashion but ‘simple living and high thinking. Unfortunately, college boys and girls have started regarding even smoking as a fashion. One can see a number of boys and girls sitting in college restaurants and enjoying a smoke.

Those who have costly brands of cigarette packets and imported cigarette lighters feel proud. Some students go to the extent of taking intoxicating drugs like ‘heroin’, LSD, Hashish, Marijuana, etc. Drinking is also considered as a symbol of modern society and high fashion. These habits adversely affect the health of students. A conscious effort should be made both by the teachers and parents to dissuade their children from falling prey to these anti- ocial habits in the name of fashion.

No doubt fashion spreads like wild fire especially when fashion critics hail any new design as ultra modern. Slowly a fashion percolates first to the middle- class families and then to the poor strata of society. Once it becomes common, it loses its novelty. Fashion conscious boys and girls then look out for something else which is new and exclusive. But “fashion” should not be given wide meaning so as to include everything which is being followed in western countries. Due respect should be paid to one’s native countrys way of living also.

Whether the influence of western culture is a boon or a curse to the Indian youth, is a controversial topic. No culture is good or bad. After all, every culture is an educative refinement, a product of an era. It is the understanding of a culture and methods of pursuing it that can make it good or bad in the eyes of other people. Thus, it cannot be concluded that every western influence is harmful. Indian youth, instead of following the west blindly, should try to grasp the very essence of western culture and help it in enriching his own. Only then can true development take place.

Fashion has been invading people’s style of living tremendously. Every company needs to divide the promotion budget among the major tools to create the promotion mix. Companies can pursue a push or a pull promotional strategy, or a combination of the two. The best blend of promotion tools depends on the type of product/market. Forever 21 follows the push strategy. The company practices a variety of promotional methods. For increasing sales, one of the most noticeable promotional strategies that Forever 21 goes after is providing “free shipping” from time to time and sometimes also applying a limitation on the minmum order amount.

Charging lesser/discounted prices is also another attractive way that Forever 21 uses to promote itself. Forever 21 has also turned its attention towards celebrity ads bringing BoA, a Korean pop star into its promotional campaigns, such as including her pictures on their website. This promotional strategy associates the Forever 21 brand with celebrity clothing and thus creates a lot of hype, maximum appeal and excitement among the younger generation.  This is just one example; Jillian from The Bachelorette also wore a Forever 21 dress, available for sale in stores.

By virtue of its fashion know-how and its expertise in anticipating trends, Forever 21 has achieved popularity among consumers which has enabled the company to grow at a formidable rate; despite overcrowding in the clothing market and slow consumer spending. Forever 21 has a keen understanding of its target market which is the low price, high fashion sector. To promote the company and its clothing, Forever 21 uses video advertisements, print advertisements and the concept of e-marketing.

This promotional strategy will tend to reach consumers from different places around the globe. Forever 21 also offers mail in offers and coupons to consumers. Moreover, since the trend in the marketplace today is the usage of e-marketing, Forever 21 provides a website that any client can access. This method of promotion has become helpful in transforming the value-chain from manufacturers to retailers to consumers, creating a new retail distribution channel.

E-marketing is one of the powerful tools that Forever 21 uses today. The main objective of utilising an e-marketing strategy is to keep in touch with different Internet users, spread everywhere. The true strength and benefit of e-marketing is acceleration of the business portfolio and Forever 21 does this well. The company also promotes its apparel and accessories on the giant social networking tool, Facebook with a personal note saying “satisfying your craving for fashion”.

Forever 21 also holds interactive quizes on its Facebook page and awards the winner(s) with particular goodies. This is an attractive way of promoting its products besides television advertisements, pamflets, magazines and kiosks in different shopping malls. Conclusion Forever 21 has been offering great value at affordable prices to its consumers around the globe; and with its extensive and effective promotional strategies on the Internet and through other advertisement media, the company can experience high returns on its products.

References

1. Forever 21 – Wikipedia. (n. d. ). Retrieved July 28, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Forever_21
2. Pfaff, K. (n. d. ). Shopping Centers Today Online. Retrieved July 29, 2009, from SCT: http://www. icsc. org/srch/sct/sct0302/page35. php
3. Promotion – BoA on Forever 21. (2009, March 13). Retrieved 29 July, 2009, from http://seoulfull. wordpress. com/2009/03/13/promotion-boa-on-forever-21-se7en-on-myspace/

NIKE Inc. is renowned as a worldwide importer of Japanese shoes and has proved It t to be the largest dealer In footwear and apparel. The estimation for the likeness of the NIKE products can be sketched from the overview that Nike products are sold on almost 20,000 retail accounts in USA only and about in 110 different countries. Apart from the athletic footwear, the company also sells Nike and Bauer brand sporty tools brand by Cole Haan and Informal footwear and the Sports etc. The company Is directly involved in the designing, development and marketing of its products while manufacturers are located in overseas.

The company has a strategy to made consistent Innovation in design of its products and heavy promotion in order to excel growth all over the world.   Nike products were introduced by Philip H.Knight in 1962, who with an idea to eliminate the monopoly of German products on American market, started to import its products to USA on small scale. Along with the Introduction of large range of products (Blue Ribbon sports shoes, Boston Shoes, soccer shoes) to satisfy customers demand, the firm ultimately shaped into Nike, Inc. By the end of the decade, the company has opened many retail stores within the region but the main problem faced by Knight was the lack of capital that has been financed by Japanese trading company “Nissho Iwai Corporation”.

The availablllty of external financing enables Knight to arrange the manufacturing of Its roducts overseas with the help of independent contractors. In order to import its products overseas, the company has introduced its brand name “Nike” in the whole world. The Company has tried to introduce new line of products in athletic shoes range but the growth of the company truly begun to take-off with the Introduction of jogging shoes that were sold in united States in late 1970s. Nike’s revenues turned to be tripled within two years in 1976 and then became doubled in Just one year in 1977.

To satisfy demand, the company opened new manufacture outlet, in Taiwan and Korea. An acceleration of sales was expanded with the Introduction of NIKE products In Asian and South American markets In 1977. By 1982, In the company’s line of products, more than 200 different kinds of footwear has been introduced by 1 org sports, the Air Ace, the newest models of innovative shoe designs that had pressed Nike’s earnings to annually increment of almost 100 percent. In addition, 200 different types of clothing have been introduced by the company.

Nike Mission Statement

The Mission statement of Nike introduced the concept bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete. ” The main aim of the Nike Inc. is to facilitate the athlete all over the world regarding the comfort of the shoe and make everyone to feel like an athlete if he has potential to use Nike products. Secondly, they want to bridge the gap between the provisions of goods overseas for this they started importing their products in order to boost growth and break down the monopoly of German products that have captured the United States market at that time. Today, Nike always tries to find new and innovative style to make a competitive athletic goods and innovative ethods to get a feedback directly from their consumers.

Business Idea in Conservative Country

A conservative country may be defined as “a place where the resources are scarce but people still believe to achieve most through hard work and dedication”. In the pursue of introducing the products of “NIKE” in any conservative country, we have decided to use Pakistani women as sample filed because now a days Pakistan is economically conservative and women are specially restricted to wear dresses that represent their Islamic ideology.

Per capital Income of average person is declining nd conditions are getting even more worse still people in Pakistan believe that the conditions can be overcome. Low per capital Income is the basic for the savings and if people have savings they can enjoy the facilities of luxuries like NIKE products. Similarly, women prefer their family needs than their own needs and they do not want to spend money on such kind of unnecessary items. To excel the demand of the products, Strategies are hard to define in a country like Pakistan where resources are scarce but we have made an attempt to focus the attention of people.

Executive Summary

For this, we have made first the executive summary of the person who will initiate a Company like environment as Sale center of NIKE products. The executive slogan is that “behind great Company, there are strong leaders” At Nike, environment is mutual, matrix organization where team members are allowed to report in two areas i. e. geography and global function. Nike brand include footwear, apparel and equipment product engines. The core customer’s categories include sports things, basketball, football (soccer), men’s training, running, sportswear, and women’s training; the business is being conducted in three main ities.

 The recent survey conducted by us revealed that there was a tremendous growth and demand for the Nike products in Pakistan but females are specially deprived of sing the same products as they are not too much involved in sports. Thus the promoter of the Idea takes an initiative along with other members to set up the business plan for execution of NIKE products for women in Pakistan. Later they Explored various aspects as whether to conduct plan and develop a web site or use other effective tools with some other unique ideas.

Market Survey

As per the survey, Lahore and Islamabad has one of the highest demands for Nike products, since the willingness of the people for getting quality/branded products at heap rates and within the geographical distribution is high. Also women in these areas are now stepping forward shoulder to shoulders with men to achieve the same success in every field as the man can.

Thus, we analyzed the business scenario & prepared a SWOT analysis.

Strengths

Nike is the top most and highly competitive organization in the sports world. Phil Knight often quoted that ‘Business is war without bullets. ‘ The major strength of the business is that Nike has no factories still it is the largest importer of athlete products because it ahs managed manufacturer overseas.

Due to this ability the demand of the customers can easily be met within the country at low cost. Nike is not bound to spend its cash in premises and manufacturing workers. This makes a very tilt organization. Nike makes it strong with the help of research and development apart from assets. The Nike outlet in Pakistan will increase its revenues also the people will be introduced with different range of products. NIKE is a global brand, that make it’s the top most sports brand in the World. Its famous ‘Swoosh’ is recognizable all over the world and even it is tattooed on the ankle.

Therefore, the customers who never compromise on quality can be good target market for the NIKE products. NIKE products are especially comfortable for women as these can fulfilled the needs according to their ideology therefore, they can excel the use of the products in country.

Weaknesses

One of the major weaknesses is that the organization must have a multiple line of the footwear promote. It means that all other products revenues could not offset if footwear market erodes. If the business will erode in parent Country that will affect the business in other countries as well.

Opportunities: Nike can create many opportunities regarding its Product development. As the brand is protected by owners who do not considered Nike as a fashion brand. However, the demand of the consumers depends upon their willingness to buy Nike products apart from their likeness for NIKE products. If some argue that youth consider Nike a fashion brand, this could be an opportunity for NIKE products, There is also opportunity to innovate products such as sports clothing, sports cycling and jewellery.

There is an opportunity of international business development. As Nike hare strong brand recognition, many international markets that have such kind of income which can be spend on high price sports commodities can manage to enter the range of Nike brand. Threats: As Nike is exposed to international trade, it can buy and sell in different currencies which are the major threats of revenues fluctuations due to different currencies involved. Such an exposure means that Nike could be manufacturing its product at loss as well as at selling.

This is an important point that every big brand has to face just because to maintain its reputation in the market in the global world. “As the Model used by Phil Knight in his Stamford Business School days” is now commonly used there is major threat that the edge of competitive advantage will be lost. Competitors of the Nike can take away Nike’s share from the market by introducing substitute products.

Regional Review

Pakistan is a highly riches resources country in agriculture and industrial point of view as well. It exports almost 60% of of its products on international standard the total population of the country is almost 18 crore and women are almost 45% of the total population. People their love to play support because Pakistani weather is very amous in the world. Nowadays women are much aware readings the importance of sports and games and they are more conscious about their fatnesses and health. However, there are some cultural and religious restrictions in the country but women are trying to participate in gyms activities in the ladies gyms as well.

Now we will analysis the ratio of the women fitness trend in the major’s cities of Pakistan like Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Multan etc. There is more participation in women fitness’s enters. It has been increase from 2004 to 2009 up to 22% in Pakistan. Now a days Pakistani women are working in the offices whether part timer or as a full timer so they are more concerned about their fitness and almost 45% of the members of the gyms are women aged 18 to 45 years.

The women fitness activities have been increased in the last 3 years and there is more chances to increment so if the Nike product is launch in Pakistan than the total estimated market share might be 6% to The target market (Pakistani women) selected is available in various ranges (age size), which are as follows. From 18- 20 years From 20-25 years From 25-30 years From 35-40 years And the above-mentioned ranges sizes are available mostly in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad because these areas are labor intensive.

Most of the labor is Cheap Technical know-how: There in no need to hire technical staff as the products at display centers will only require selling strategies and financial matters. However, the sale experience must be required or there should be proper training sessions for the sale person who will stand in the retail stores and the person should know all the products as trained by the company. Availability of funds: After collecting the necessary funds, we would commence our business. We can borrow from bank as well. We can borrow from bank as well.

Abstract

Armani Company increasingly demands systems that are having ability to share data between separate entities and can function uninterrupted 24 hours, seven days of the week – in all regions around the world. With the increased focus on cost-cutting and the quality of being efficient, Armani Company needs to integrate a network of communications, transportation, and distribution across its operations to lessen useless products and duplication. Information technology is the only efficient tool the company has to control and bring together its operations and processes around the world. IT can play an essential role in facilitating international expansion by Armani Company. This paper examines innovative information technologies incorporated by other companies to enhance productivity and profitability that help maintain competitive advantage in today’s dynamic environment. The focus of the paper is to evaluate information technology that will more effectively provide goods and services for the ultimate consumer.

Purpose of the Report

A factor affecting IT requirements for Armani Company is the increasingly global nature of the company. Giorgio Armani is increasingly outsourcing production to countries in Eastern Europe and the Far East. Therefore, a challenge is to build organizational processes to take the full advantage of a highly distributed – and often complex – supply chain. Armani Company needs information technology that can manage inter-company processes and large-scale information flows. The technology solutions to support the complex models should be increasingly web-based. Web interface functions and E-commerce applications will allow the company to maintain centralized control of its demand for goods and services, while giving required information to entities all over the world. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a powerful customer-driven approach, mediated by a set of information technologies. CRM focuses on creating two-way exchanges with customers so that companies have an intimate knowledge to meet customer specifications. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) offers CRM that is used by “over 150 fashion customers, including the well-known international brands” (CSC website). CRM software is specifically engineered for fashion and retail companies and has become the industry high level of quality. With value chain management, CRM and business intelligence functions, this web-based solution will help Armani Company contain costs, meet customer expectations, plan their strategies all over the world and gain tighter control of the entire production and distribution process. The purpose of this report is to evaluate integrated technology infrastructure for Armani Company on which to run the entire business.

Background of the Company

The Giorgio Armani Company owned and run by the founder fashion designer Giorgio Armani has earned the fashion industry through its exclusive design and personality based trends. Armani Company is one of the most highly valued fashion companies in the world. Today, the extent of the production reached global proportions never before known. The company ventured different product lines, in different segments, and ever different markets all over the world (Twitchell 312). More importantly, Armani started selling all products online as a part of expanding strategy.

Discussion of Current Business Issues

Following a period of rapid development in the nineties, in which the Giorgio Armani Company acquired new brands and boutiques, the current issues are strictly focused on value chain control and improving internal effectiveness of the company. The challenge is to plan and carry out with maximum efficiency internal processes to gain control of production. If the company has greater control over the final sale to the buyer, it can have better understanding of what it needs to produce. In addition, it can build customer loyalty through the goods it produces to its outlets. As a result, the company has more chances to build its brand in the customer’s imagination.

The global trends require Armani Company to use IT that will allow build tighter links between distribution information about what the customer is buying and the activities further down the supply chain. Such information technology– CRM software – will help Armani Company better foresee consumer demand and provide production to meet that demand. This is increasingly important in a fast-moving fashion industry that has begun to organize four or five collections every year. The problem for Armani Company is that it often needs to buy material before it knows what quantities of products it needs to produce. CRM strategy provides forecasting and planning tools allowing the company to maximize the efficiency of buying and production.

Research Findings on the Topic

Innovative technology solutions delivered by CRM are increasingly being utilized by companies throughout the United States and in many parts of the world. Mcginn (2002) explains that “IT budgets that include expenditures on software, hardware, maintenance, IT labor, training, and consulting, are now ordinary thing in larger corporations” (104). The companies invest in this information technology to improve the flow of information regarding the difference between the total revenues of a company and its total purchases from other industries with the goal of meeting the demands of consumers by producing goods or services in the most efficient way capable of existing. This can be accomplished by developing internal systems to produce the good or service, subcontract to another company those procedures that may provide more efficient techniques.

CRM is widely utilized by companies to facilitate procurement, buying, and selling. CRM initiatives include global information exchanges that assist the progress of communication between locations around the world. Improvement of internal processes of a company facilitates an ultra-flexible market environment. CRM software provides the supporting systems to these new flexible environments. Diesel has implemented CRM mechanism to provide goods and services to a variety of customers in a timely, flexible fashion.  “Such companies need solutions that can manage intercompany processes and information flows,” explains Calabrese, solution delivery manager for fashion at CSC Italy. “For example, the production house in China might deliver its goods to a distribution house in Australia that is responsible for distribution to outlets in the entire Asia-Pacific region. The technology solutions that support this model are increasingly Web-based, because they allow companies to maintain centralized control of their distribution, while allowing systems access to entities all over the world” (CSC website).

When describing CRM software, one must keep in mind not only the production and supply-chain side of operations but the segmentation of buyer groups as well. Actually, many refer to the mechanism as a “pull-to-order” system, the driving force of which focuses on consumer “demand pull” (Currie 215). In general, CRM implements both a business to business and a business to customer character as it processes customer orders via Web-related software and streamlines this demand pull to a number of component suppliers who ship component parts to be assembled in the factories to be delivered to the customer.

CRM technology has been the model that many companies cite and aspire to implement (Brynjolfsson and Urban 201). CRM has worked closely with its suppliers through the use of a data exchange system. This has resulted in a maximum efficiency of the production process because providers can determine more precisely what CRM needs on a daily basis to fill orders. Because of this Web-based supply chain management mechanism, CRM provides companies with opportunity to streamline their supply, production, marketing, services, and distribution activities.

The data (Mcginn 2002) clearly shows the growth of Internet activities across industry sectors. What this means is an increasing transformation of companies and industry structures. The evolution of Internet activities has increasingly transformed companies from “brick and mortar to click and mortar” (Brynjolfsson and Urban 18). CRM strategies will enable Armani Company to streamline its supply, production, marketing, services, and distribution activities in this new flexible environment. The next section presents recommendations for the executive management team that will allow it dynamically control production and supply chain.

Recommendations for the Executive Management Team

The challenge for Armani Company is to face up to the increasingly global nature of the fashion industry. Whether it is providing goods to new markets, such as China, or subcontracting production to the Far East, it is obvious that global dynamics will be increasingly influencing the industry’s future. Therefore, the Executive Management Team should exploit efficiency and cost-cutting opportunities offered by information technology. It is recommended to migrate to a web-based model, based on open architectures. CRM innovative technology developments will help the company reduce logistical costs and make supply chain management tighter.

Effectively using the Web Armani Company will optimize planning processes. CRM has developed portals as easy-to-use gateways to ERP applications and data for professionals supporting E-business operations. Operational CRM processes customer data for a variety of purposes: managing campaigns, enterprise marketing automation, sales force automation. From this perspective, CRM systems can handle high-volume Web transactions and ensure that orders are fulfilled. The direct contact with its customers facilitates feedback that helps CRM react instantly to shifting demand.

Armani Company can use CRM to achieve new efficiencies in demand forecasting and planning and supply planning. In fact, CRM can help Armani Company reap very large cost savings. CRM is a decision solution that can be applied to the company, to private marketplaces where one company is dealing with its suppliers, and to public marketplaces where many companies and suppliers come together to exchange goods and services. Revenue increases come from customer service improvements and increased production throughput in capacity-limited facilities. Cost decreases result from more efficient use of production resources, reduction of overtime work, and decreased expediting costs, such as premium freight (Mcginn 68). Investment decrease comes from minimizing raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods inventories, and from postponing capital expenditures by planning and scheduling bottleneck resources better (Tansey 150-60).

To assist management in obtaining a better understanding of its forecasting, manufacturing, and supply chain operations CRM tools can be employed to obtain appropriate patterns, trends, and rules. For instance, CRM is used largely as a process control tool both to control factors impacting product quality as well as to generate rules for production control systems. This information allows the managers to correct the problems quickly.

CRM strategy has given birth to a new enterprise-wide “world order” that focuses on customer demand which, in turn, specifies what the company will produce (Mcginn 202). It should be emphasized that CRM is a customized value creation approach (for example, delivery of products and services that match the value definition of each unique customer served versus serving the similar in kind requirements of a generalized market). For Armani Company to be successful, CRM strategy presents unique new business practices that allow the company to identify individual customer needs and expectations and respond with products and services that exhibit unique preferences for each customer.

When viewing Armani Company’s operations on a global basis, there is a need to go a step further by utilizing information technology software. It can assist managers at the top levels throughout a global-based company. As a starting point, CRM strategy is a key component. CRM strategy will help Armani Company deliver goods faster and more efficiently as well as to use its global channel of distribution as an instrument of corporate strategy.

References

• Brynjolfsson, Erik and Urban, Glen L. (2001). Strategies for E-Business Success. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.
• CSC Helps Restyle Italian Fashion IT. CSC.  Available at: http://www.csc.com/features/2006/16.shtml
• Currie, Wendy. (2000). The Global Information Society. Wiley: New York.
• Mcginn, Dennis. (2002). Information Technology, Corporate Productivity and the New Economy. Quorum Books: Westport, CT.
• Tansey, Stephen D. (2003). Business, Information Technology and Society. Routledge: New York.
• Twitchell, James B. (2002). Living It Up: Our Love Affair with Luxury. Columbia University Press: New York.

For the past years the company has been experiencing hampered development in terms of production and distribution of our clothing line. This slow setback has been seen as a result of inadequate marketing railing against exposure and product brand recall. Erroneous decisions in market positioning have also been some of the factors that resulted to poor outcome thus hindering the company’s gain for profit. This paper is geared towards exploring new avenues with regards to new locations in the clothing line market.

We would try to investigate three referred locations in countries in Latin America and Africa, namely Bolivia, Sri Lanka and Nigeria. As part of our initial recommendation, this paper would be focusing its first part of the report to the country of Nigeria. Based on preliminary investigation done, Nigeria is being viewed as the most conducive and most advantageous among the three countries in this case study. All of the necessary issues and concerns would be tackled and be briefly discussed on the foregoing items.

Like any other sovereign country, labor policies in Nigeria are being controlled and monitored by the government. Labor union practices are allowed by the state, as part of the international community, Nigeria has signed and ratified the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) convention on freedom of association and the creation of labor union. however, prior (military) rulers recognized a single central labor body, the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC), thereby de-legitimizing other unions.

Except for members of the armed forces and selected employees essential by the government, Nigerian workers in all levels may join trade unions and strike. Employees essential to government operations include firefighters, police, employees of the central bank, the security printers (printers of currency, passports, and government forms), and customs and excise staff. Collective bargaining is widespread in many sectors of the economy. Nigerian law specifically the Nigerian Industrial Courts, an independent arm of the judiciary protects workers from retaliation by employers for labor activity.

In terms of the protection of Nigerian Children against child labor, Nigeria’s 1974 labor decree prohibits employment of children under 15 years of age in commerce and industry and restricts other child labor to home-based agricultural or domestic work. The law further stipulates that no person under the age of 16 may be employed for more than eight hours per day. The decree allows the apprenticeship of youths under specific conditions Labor laws in Nigeria also enforce strict compliance on the safety of its workers.

Just compensation for injured workers and dependent survivors of those killed in industrial accidents are rigorously being imposed on employers. Cultural Attitude Towards Women and Children As in many ethnically diverse countries, women’s role in Nigeria is based on ethnic and regional differences. Majority of the Nigerian women that are still secluded under Islamic beliefs and principles are commonly less educated and sometimes hindered from formal education. Most of urban Nigerian Women are working as stall vendors operating small stalls.

Even in elite families of the society, Nigerian women’s presence in social gatherings and other functions are either non-existent or very controlled. However, in contemporary times Nigerian women’s presence in modern society is rising but is still a long foreseeable future for Nigerian women’s role in a country dominated by the principles of old of the male gender. Children are treated as a part of the minority of the society. As mentioned on labor laws being enforced by the government, children are allowed to work providing they are not below 16 years old.

In western nations the legal working age of children or minors are 18 and above, this fact just shows that opportunities for children to work is open at a younger age in Nigeria. At present, Nigerian fashion is greatly influenced by both Nigerian ethnic culture and western influence. The presence of diverse style in terms of influences has come a long way in Nigerian fashion. Many noted personalities in the country evolved as icon in the Nigerian fashion industry, many of them have international recognition.

Nigeria has designers like Maufechi, Divine, Monami, Kess Jabari, Meggito to mention a few. The presence of Nollywood, the cinematic center of Nigeria similar to that of Hollywood serves as a typical role model to the existing fashion statements in Nigeria. Opral Benson, an African fashion designer par excellence describes fashion as; “Fashion is continuously changing. You cannot compare the fashions of these days….. Fashion is something which is local, national and international.

In short, fashion all over the world is a quite dynamic phenomenon. Fashion trends evolves from ethnic to modern styles, rejuvenating the fashion of early years in Africa towards the influences from Europe and Western countries specifically Afro-American fashion statements from the US. Famous brands from western designers like Versace and Tommy Hill Figger is presently being adored by upper class society in Nigeria, thus only proving that blends in fashion is striving gracefully in the country. Nigeria being the most populated country in the African Continent is considered as a third world developing country.

Its people are ethnically divided and have some 250 ethnic groups, with varying languages and customs, creating a country of rich diversity. According to Country Studies, US ; About 70 percent of all Nigerians were still living in farming villages in 1990, although the rural dwellers formed a shrinking proportion of the later force. It was among these people that ways of life remained deeply consistent with the past. Nigerian economy is at its recovery and development stage and is presently undergoing massive reforms to uplift the countries economic standing.

The importance of formal education has been one of the primary concerns of the Nigerian Federal Republic and has become the largest social program of the government. At present more than 47% of the age group of 5 to 14 years old have attended primary to secondary schools. The secondary level age-group (ages fifteen to twenty- four) represented approximately 16 percent of the entire population in 1985. English is the official mode of instruction above the secondary level of education. Federal Republic is the form of government of Nigeria.

Historically, Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 after a sixteen-year-long interruption by a corrupt and brutal series of military dictators and counter-coups. Corruption is still one of the worse problems that the government is facing. Nevertheless and as always in a third world government, new reforms are being undertaken to subdue art of this problem. The Club of Paris considers the economic reforms and policies of the present government under the leadership of President Olu?? gun ? basanj? is being considered strong and formidable.

With a positive outlook, it must be important to note that the prevailing advantageous situation existing in the Federal Government of Nigeria is in sum conducive and serves as a credible prospect to establish a boutique and a manufacturing plant. The existing labor laws of the country are favorable to the type of employment that the plant will need in its operations. The improving educational level of attainment and literacy rate of the prospective employees will be a key factor in streamlining plant and factory operations.

The countries demographics being the largest population in West Africa and social conditions as mentioned on previous case finding points out considerably fair in attaining production growth in terms of sales and distribution of primary clothing line. Government reform policies in its economy and foreign policies will trigger our company’s goal to expand and export high quality products produced in the Nigerian based manufacturing plant. Last but not the least, the high fashion sense of Nigerians in terms of garments, in diverse influence and style will be a vast market for our products.

The presence of a moving industry like Hollywood will serve as a high level market trend setter that would provide consistent promotion of our clothing line. In summation, Nigeria will not only serve as a good place to establish a manufacturing plant but will also provide the company s a vast market to distribute our products. A country situated in central South America with the present Unity Government headed by President Evo Morales of the Movement Towards Socialism (MTS) Party. The country is highly dominated by indigenous people of Bolivia comprising almost 65% of its population.

Bolivia experienced several military government takeovers in the past 5 decades. In terms of Economy, Bolivia is one of the least developed countries in South America and remains to be the poorest among its neighboring nations. Around 65% of the countries population are considered agriculturally dependent and still lives in poverty. The social condition of Bolivia hinders its opportunity to grow as nation. With a large number of grievances coming from the majority of Bolivian indigenous people, ranging from issues like poverty, labor disputes, political issues among other things.

Bolivia is still experiencing traditional division of classes of which the working class remains to be in destitute. Political instability has been also a great factor in the slugging economy of the country. The presence of several political parties with contradicting policies and principles thwarts the countries emancipation from political turmoil. Disputes between labor and the state deepened under military rule. Bolivia was a country torn apart by regional, ethnic, class, economic, and political divisions.

In terms of education, the present negative standing of Bolivian Government delays the development of general education in the country. Data from US Country Studies on Bolivia detects; Dropout rates also remained extremely high. Only one-third of first graders completed the fifth grade, 20 percent started secondary school, 5 percent began their postsecondary studies, and just 1 percent received a university degree. Dropout rates were higher among girls and rural children. Only about 40 percent of rural youngsters continued their education beyond the third grade.

Since poverty is the primary problem of the country, the overall spending of an average family relatively allotted to basic necessities such as food and shelter. Overall the obstructing difficulties surrounding Bolivia’s national predicament and dilemma have made our conclusion that the country is the least among the three case study countries to establish a manufacturing plant and boutique. A country founded in the midst of racial difficulties, diversified religion and relatively unstable political system.

Having a similar caste system as India, its mother nation, social divisions have had a direct and weighty impact on politics. These obstacles have produced several civil wars and created dent on the national standing of Sri Lanka for the past decades. Ethnic rivalries also add unstable issues among political parties. Unsound political situation and issues regarding security have been a part of the struggle of the economic standing of Sri Lanka. Violence has continued to dominate its criminal and justice system.

Enforcement of labor laws and policies are still being considered by analyst as inconsistent. Labor unions are highly politicized with a variety of organizations representing different political parties. With regards to factory and manufacturing operations, certain holidays, cultural and practices such as the working time frame of women deter and delays production. Education, however, have been a primary concern of the government. In the modern educational system of Sri Lanka, within the last four decades the rate of literacy went up to 46%, the number of schools increased by 50%.

Teachers place second as part of the government workforces next to the plantation workers. With some positive notes on the standing of Sri Lanka, still the matter of security risk and political and social class instability contributes highly to the reason why our team rejected the country as a prospective location to set up and establish future manufacturing plant and boutique for our new clothing line. If such conditions and issues would be addressed in the near future, Sri Lanka might be considered and be included in future studies.

In this piece of coursework I will show a company’s aims and objectives. I choose ‘TOPSHOP’ I will also tell you what they sell and what sector their in and their. opshop is a clothing shop in the UK. Its fashionable clothes and accessories for men and women. The Topshop stores selling men’s clothes are branded Topman. Topshop is owned by the Arcadia Group. The company’s target audience is young fashion-conscious girls on a budget. The company has stores all over the UK and Ireland, with its main store located in Oxford Street, London.

It was founded as an independent store in 1989 by Marie Rooney, as an outlet for girls who enjoyed changing their clothes on a regular basis, and soon became one of the most biggest retail shop in the UK Topshop owns the world’s largest fashion store at London’s Oxford Circus. Selling affordable and trendy British high street fashion, Topshop was recently named Fashion Retailer of the Year for two years running. One of the reasons that Topshop is so successful is that it makes you the customer comfortable and sees shopping as entertainment and the unique Topshop experience also has a cafi??

Radio station, nail bar, a vintage range, Topshop TV channel, VIP changing rooms and personal style advisor, the flagship Oxford Circus store introduces, on average, 300 new lines a year and attracts 180,000 visitors each week. TOPSHOP is a private limited company owned by ‘The Arcadia Group’. Topshop is in the public sector and the tertairy sector. The business has 13% of the market share and have 290 shops in the UK they are also opening shops in France and New York which will be open at the end of 2006.

Topshop has just over 25 000 employees, but Topshop doesn’t have different size shops. All the shops are located in the city centre. TOPSHOP is a global business. As every other business it has competition e. g. Rivers Island, Marks and Spencer and Moschino but Topshop’s clothes are cheaper then some high street fashion store thats why Topshop had a profit of 3. 3. billion last year. (oct 2005)Human recourse- Are staff, are the employees that work Topshop believe that they have the best staff and that they are trained for the job that they have got.

Read also “Waitrose aims and objectives”

‘I feel that I am justified to say that we have by far the most experienced staff e. g. managers, checkout staff , Our employees are very capable of turning round our fortunes’. Sales- Their sales are going up especially as they attract over 180. 000 customer each week and their sales of last year 2005 were so high that the company got a profit of 3. 3 billion. Marketing- the marketing group are also part of the staff they ensure that Topshop is know, seen, and heard about by future customers.