Operations & Technology Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Operations & Technology Management - Case Study Example This is part of Peter Salisbury's move to reorganize and decentralize. His program "Return to Recovery Program" tried to centralize 77% of tasks in the UK for easy control and communication. He was successful in accelerating the design-to-store lead-time. He also came out with a trendy line for clothing labeled "Autograph" the "real clothes for women." Despite all these efforts and a 20Million advertising campaign, M&S failed. It could not compete with Inditex and its brand Zara. Zara who does not spend on advertising but relies solely on window displays, proper positioning of stores, giving the people what they want and at the fastest possible time. Zara has its designers combing streets and asking the people what they want. It has a machinery that can produce a copy of a competitor design in a week and make new designs every two weeks. Zara is able to this and still pass the product to the consumer at reasonable costs. According to Merrill Lynch, M&S failed because it did not chang e the root causes of poor performance which is, "heavy organization, limited flexibility and over centralization."

Taste Trends of the Coffee Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Taste Trends of the Coffee Industry - Essay Example Resource based view to management asserts that the management must prioritize the effective management of both tangible and intangible assets at the firm thereby optimizing productivity. The production of agricultural products is seasonal a feature that influences the patterns of both the supply and demand of such products including coffee. Such factors present marketers with numerous operational challenges as they seek to develop competitive brands in such markets. Among the leading coffee markets in the world are Brazil, Philippines, India and Europe. The availability of the products in the market especially during particular seasons results in increased supply of the product thereby resulting in reduction of the prices of the product. Introducing a new product in such a market therefore requires effective analysis of the industry with the view of understanding the intricate feature of the industry. Marketing is a function of the management mandated with the establishing, anticipating and satisfying customer demands. Marketers of coffee brands thus face myriad challenges arising from the structure of the market. Key among the challenges is competition. As one of the oldest industries in the world, the industry attracted numerous entrepreneurs who specialize in similar functions thereby competing for the same markets in South America, Europe and parts of Asia. Competition influences the demand and supply thereby influencing the productivity of the industry as the numerous players target the same market. The players must therefore develop effective strategies in order to position their products effectively thereby safeguarding their profitability. While the size of the market has remained constant throughout, the supply changes depending on the prevailing factors thereby influencing the number of marketers who operate in the industry.