''It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.'' These are the words of Lou Holtz, a retired American football Coach. I decided to begin the blog with the quote because of how in a very profond way speak to the subject of the blog. It speaks to every aspect of work and life experience. Moreover, it challenges us to face our difficulties with boldness inspite of the reality of the situation. As a Coach myself, I deal with the question of motivation often- how do I motivate my players to play harder when we are losing? What motivate these set of players? Why did my team played horrible in the last game? Questions like these Coaches have to find answers to daily in order to be effective.
But let me continue by referring first to the ''ancient story'' from the class handout. In the story we saw three types of common attitude in life as it relate to work. These types of attitude I think is what Warren Buffet referred to as the three 'I's. In quoting Buffet, Theodore Forstmann said, ''Buffet once told me there are three 'I's in every circle. The 'Innovator', that is the first 'I'. After the Innovator comes the 'Imitator', and after the Imitator comes the 'Idiot'.'' The three 'I's are represented in the story. In the first worker, we saw the Idiot attitude. These are the type of workers that believe that the world owe them something. They see every task as a burden of some sort. They are pessimists. If they stay long enough in the job, they will contaminate the whole team with their negativity, which in turn affect the performance of others in a negative way. Confidence is contagious, so is lack of confidence (Vince Lombardi). Subsequently, we saw in the second employee the Imitator's altitude. These are the types of employees that are either in or out. They flow with the motion as they say- anything goes type of people. These are the types of employees that perform the duty because they are told to do so. No personal imagination or creativity. It is important to know that the imitators can be more subtle than the Idiots. However, the third worker display a different type of attitude towards work. The attitude of success, nation building, Patriot, optimist and of an innovator. A writer once said, the harder I work, the luckier I become. These are the type of employees you want on your team. The kind of attitude that brighten up your day even when the circumstances dictate otherwise. Employees that see a greater good in what they do.
Moreover, there are different theories that explain what motivate people. The one that interest me is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The reason being that maslow's in my opinion is the most fundamental and a starting point in understanding motivation. Another reason am discussing Maslow's is because of a quote that has stuck with me even before I know Maslow's.
''.......Life is a series of choices. You can't follow your passion unless your basic needs are being met. like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, until you take care of your basic survival needs, you're not going to have room to start following your passion.'' - Mitchell, Black Enterprise magazine (January 2007 issue). In the article, Meeting Employee Requirements, Golnaz Sadri and R. Clarke Bowen relates the premise of Maslow's research to employees motivation. According to them, the highest priority of every employee who start a new job is pay. Once that need is satisfied, the employee requires a level of safety. The third level of need focuses on developing a sense of belonging and connection. Next, employees need to feel recognized and valued to satisfy their esteem needs. Once all these needs are met, organizations need to add incentives that lead to satisfaction of the highest need on Maslow's hierarchy, the need for self-actualization. They want further to say that, it is the responsibility of managers to identify the need that motivate an employee at any given time and develop benefits packages that help satisfy those needs, each time building on the benefits that were provided before.
Looking back at the questions- Why did my team played horrible the last game? how can I motivate my team? Conventional management wisdom tells us that you can't motivate another person. You can, however create the conditons in which an individual can motivate him/herself (Zofi and Meltzer,2007)
http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5833ac32-c6cf-439e-8951-32541557f1d3%40sessionmgr110&vid=4&hid=104
http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ehost/detail?sid=5a026c6f-cf39-413b-866e-643b751a12ed%40sessionmgr111&vid=5&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=24524050
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Individual Behavior
I will like my future boss or any manager I will be working with to understand in its totality the concept of individual behavior. I think that understanding the concept is very important to the success of manager and employee relationship at workplace. But the one aspect that stand out for me during the discussion in class was stereotype which come from perceptual distortion.
Most of us are guilty of this distortion. As we learned in class, it present itself in many forms. But the one most common at workplace is stereotypes. I think we are familiar with that word by now. Because of its presence in the news all the time. However, before talking about stereotype specifically, let see what perception distortion is and how is related to stereotype. Perception is how we view the world around us, how we receive and interprete information from the environment. But how we receive and interprete information is greatly influence by individual backgrounds, values, experiences, etcetera. Consequently, these influences which lead to individual differences on how we view the world around us might lead to distortion. Hence perceptual distortion in the form of stereotype often lead to inaccurate assumption about people. Stereotype which stem from this distortion in my opinion is a way of trying to describe or predict the performance of an individual base on the gender, creed, believes, or race of that individual.
I believe is paramount that my future manager or any manager should understand the danger of stereotype. To have a preconceived notion about an employee, a manager misses the opportunity to know the employee on a personal level. Stereotype always inhibit the avenue to foster a good relationship. It might be that it is the personal rapport that the employee needs for motivation to perform better. Or a situation where a qualified applicant was not hired because of stereotype. These examples are just tip of the iceberg about the dangers of stereotype. I think my future manager we get more out of me and the other employees if we have a better understanding.
We are all unique, and I believe every individual should be treated that way. As we learned, our personality is already set and we can do nothing about that. But the propensity of a group or some notion about a group should not be used to determine the outcome of our performance or competency. Rather, every individual should be judge base on their personal abilities and the ability to produce results.
Most of us are guilty of this distortion. As we learned in class, it present itself in many forms. But the one most common at workplace is stereotypes. I think we are familiar with that word by now. Because of its presence in the news all the time. However, before talking about stereotype specifically, let see what perception distortion is and how is related to stereotype. Perception is how we view the world around us, how we receive and interprete information from the environment. But how we receive and interprete information is greatly influence by individual backgrounds, values, experiences, etcetera. Consequently, these influences which lead to individual differences on how we view the world around us might lead to distortion. Hence perceptual distortion in the form of stereotype often lead to inaccurate assumption about people. Stereotype which stem from this distortion in my opinion is a way of trying to describe or predict the performance of an individual base on the gender, creed, believes, or race of that individual.
I believe is paramount that my future manager or any manager should understand the danger of stereotype. To have a preconceived notion about an employee, a manager misses the opportunity to know the employee on a personal level. Stereotype always inhibit the avenue to foster a good relationship. It might be that it is the personal rapport that the employee needs for motivation to perform better. Or a situation where a qualified applicant was not hired because of stereotype. These examples are just tip of the iceberg about the dangers of stereotype. I think my future manager we get more out of me and the other employees if we have a better understanding.
We are all unique, and I believe every individual should be treated that way. As we learned, our personality is already set and we can do nothing about that. But the propensity of a group or some notion about a group should not be used to determine the outcome of our performance or competency. Rather, every individual should be judge base on their personal abilities and the ability to produce results.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Leadership
A leader is a person who leads according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Also, it means a Guide or conductor. These above definitions may seem like no-brainer, but the simplicity serves as an uderpining to the widely accepted notion of leadership. To lead is a complex idea that interweave different kinds of skill sets, and require nurturing and time to become a master at it. Also it demands creativity and personal ingenuity to be a successful leader.
However, there are some acceptable traits that are associated with leaders. Amongst are intergrity, humility, credibility, kowledgeble, and visionary. No matter what field or industry, these traits have become a standard be which leaders are measured by. Moreover, these traits are not unique to a particular leadership role, but are transfereble from industry to industry to ensure success. Hence leadership is the process of inspiring others to work hard to accomplish inportant tasks. So to be an outstanding leader, it is important first and foremost to know how to work with people, and secondly to have a clear sense of the task ahead. Tasks and personnels might change from one role to another, but the leadership skills required to be successful is similar across the spectrum. Although, new leadership roles demand individuals to adopt different approaches from those adopted in their previous roles. An example of a high profile industry switch was that of Edward Whitacre. As a former head of AT&T and SBC, critics question his qualifications when he was named to be the Chairman and CEO of General Motors. The critics forgot that one of the qualities of a leader is the ability to get results, and Whitacre is well respected for getting results in the companies he has worked. He skills sets which gets him results from his employees in the previous jobs will be needed in this new role.
Closely examined, one of the contingency leadership theory that support the transferability of leadership qualities is the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model. The model matches leadership styles with the maturity of followers. These model believe that successful leaders adjust their styles base on the readiness of their follower to perform in a given situation. A leader according to these model should be able to assess the followers' readiness so as to be able to determine which type of leadership style to employ. The style range from Delegating, participating, selling and telling. Further, this model believe that leaders should adjust their style as followers mature over time. But it should be known that not all skills set are tranferable. One person that will agree to that is Jim Turner. Jim for 30 years was in the beverage industry, which took him to become the President of Dr Pepper. He was at Dr Pepper when the company was purchased by a private equity firm. Through many changes in the company, he became the head of Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Texas. Under him, the company grew to a $2 billion annual revenue through acquisition and expansion. But he decided to retire from the company due to constant travelling to open an insurance company. He quickly realized that even while he was successful at the beverage industry, this new industry will require a new set of skills that he did not have. He described his first year as ups and downs, so he finally decided to hand over the management responsibilities to another person.
Jim will advice that not everything is transferable from one type of business to another. According to him, ''Management skills, selling skills, marketing skills- all of these tranfer. But a different customer base requires a different skills set. You have to surround yourself with people who understand the technical aspects and culture of the new industry.''
http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_CEO/2010/July_August/Three_Dallas_CEOs_Reinvent_Themselves_With_Second_Careers.aspx
http://www.career-line.com/job-search/new-gm-ceo-comes-from-att/
However, there are some acceptable traits that are associated with leaders. Amongst are intergrity, humility, credibility, kowledgeble, and visionary. No matter what field or industry, these traits have become a standard be which leaders are measured by. Moreover, these traits are not unique to a particular leadership role, but are transfereble from industry to industry to ensure success. Hence leadership is the process of inspiring others to work hard to accomplish inportant tasks. So to be an outstanding leader, it is important first and foremost to know how to work with people, and secondly to have a clear sense of the task ahead. Tasks and personnels might change from one role to another, but the leadership skills required to be successful is similar across the spectrum. Although, new leadership roles demand individuals to adopt different approaches from those adopted in their previous roles. An example of a high profile industry switch was that of Edward Whitacre. As a former head of AT&T and SBC, critics question his qualifications when he was named to be the Chairman and CEO of General Motors. The critics forgot that one of the qualities of a leader is the ability to get results, and Whitacre is well respected for getting results in the companies he has worked. He skills sets which gets him results from his employees in the previous jobs will be needed in this new role.
Closely examined, one of the contingency leadership theory that support the transferability of leadership qualities is the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model. The model matches leadership styles with the maturity of followers. These model believe that successful leaders adjust their styles base on the readiness of their follower to perform in a given situation. A leader according to these model should be able to assess the followers' readiness so as to be able to determine which type of leadership style to employ. The style range from Delegating, participating, selling and telling. Further, this model believe that leaders should adjust their style as followers mature over time. But it should be known that not all skills set are tranferable. One person that will agree to that is Jim Turner. Jim for 30 years was in the beverage industry, which took him to become the President of Dr Pepper. He was at Dr Pepper when the company was purchased by a private equity firm. Through many changes in the company, he became the head of Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Texas. Under him, the company grew to a $2 billion annual revenue through acquisition and expansion. But he decided to retire from the company due to constant travelling to open an insurance company. He quickly realized that even while he was successful at the beverage industry, this new industry will require a new set of skills that he did not have. He described his first year as ups and downs, so he finally decided to hand over the management responsibilities to another person.
Jim will advice that not everything is transferable from one type of business to another. According to him, ''Management skills, selling skills, marketing skills- all of these tranfer. But a different customer base requires a different skills set. You have to surround yourself with people who understand the technical aspects and culture of the new industry.''
http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_CEO/2010/July_August/Three_Dallas_CEOs_Reinvent_Themselves_With_Second_Careers.aspx
http://www.career-line.com/job-search/new-gm-ceo-comes-from-att/
Sunday, November 11, 2012
HRM
Human Resource Management is an important branch or department in an organization. Moreover the investment in human capital has been proven over the years as a smart company investment plan. Investment in hiring, mentoring, training or coaching which require a lot of the organization's resources, will eventually with time translate into assets according to studies. but the reality is that most companies do not invest enough in Human Resource Management.
One of the challenges or problems I observed in my former job was that of staffing. There was a constant process of hiring and firing of employees. Management was struggling with finding employees that fit the job. This was not the case that management was bad in general, but it was obvious that they have a problem with there recruitment and selection process. I am able to say that was the problem because of some of the reasons I will be outlining. Moreover, it was very apparent that most of us was working there because of the paycheck. But we were glad we have the job anyway. Then the question is how do employees get hired for a job even if they a not fit for the job. Then I did not know, but after the class in Human Resource Management, it was clear that the company was not meticulous in there hiring process.
According to an article by C.O. Ajila, Professor at the department of Psychology, Obafami Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and Linus Okafor, Professor at the department of Business Administration, Bells University of Technology, Ota, Nigeria. Human Resource Management (HRM) is fundamentally about matching human resources to the strategic and operational needs of an organization and ensuring full utilization of those resources. Also it is concerned not only with obtaining and keeping the right number and quality of staff required, but also with selecting and promoting people who ''fit'' the culture and strategic requirement of the organization (Bello-Imam, Oshieonebo and Ojeifo, 2007). Its goal is to help an organization to meet strategic goals by attracting and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively (Armstrong,2006).
However, before we can achieve all the other HRM objectives, recruitment and selection will be the starting point. How deep is the company's investment on thier recruitment and selection process, will determine if the company will benefit from the advantages of HRM. In the case of my former employer, it was clear that they did not invest much in the recruiting and selection process. At least, I can attest to that considering how I was hired for the job.
Employees are vital asset in an organization according to Ajila and Okafor. Then if so vital, the process of hiring should be done with seriousness. The recruitment and selection processes should not stop at the process of advertising the job, collecting a pool of applicants and selecting from that pool base only on the evaluation of the biographical information available from Resumes, application forms or the sources. It should also include a comprehensive employee screening program (Testing). This process of comprehensive outlook of an employee in the form of in-depth interviewing and some form of testing, or real-time assessment and background checking was what my former employer was lacking. In my case, I think the interview took less than twenty minutes.
Although, testing without a clear objective is meaningless. Any employment testing should meet the criteria of validity and reliability. Validity means that the test measure exactly what it intend to measure and it is a good predictor of future job performance. Reliability means that the test is consistent in yielding the same result time after time. In all, the investment in Human Resource Management in the area of employment testing should not bring apprehension to the employee, rether it should be seen as mutually beneficial to both the employee and the the employer.
http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=8&sid=532d8541-e0e4-48b4-b320-e3f16c511635%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=78093789
http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=8&sid=532d8541-e0e4-48b4-b320-e3f16c511635%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=79700569
One of the challenges or problems I observed in my former job was that of staffing. There was a constant process of hiring and firing of employees. Management was struggling with finding employees that fit the job. This was not the case that management was bad in general, but it was obvious that they have a problem with there recruitment and selection process. I am able to say that was the problem because of some of the reasons I will be outlining. Moreover, it was very apparent that most of us was working there because of the paycheck. But we were glad we have the job anyway. Then the question is how do employees get hired for a job even if they a not fit for the job. Then I did not know, but after the class in Human Resource Management, it was clear that the company was not meticulous in there hiring process.
According to an article by C.O. Ajila, Professor at the department of Psychology, Obafami Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and Linus Okafor, Professor at the department of Business Administration, Bells University of Technology, Ota, Nigeria. Human Resource Management (HRM) is fundamentally about matching human resources to the strategic and operational needs of an organization and ensuring full utilization of those resources. Also it is concerned not only with obtaining and keeping the right number and quality of staff required, but also with selecting and promoting people who ''fit'' the culture and strategic requirement of the organization (Bello-Imam, Oshieonebo and Ojeifo, 2007). Its goal is to help an organization to meet strategic goals by attracting and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively (Armstrong,2006).
However, before we can achieve all the other HRM objectives, recruitment and selection will be the starting point. How deep is the company's investment on thier recruitment and selection process, will determine if the company will benefit from the advantages of HRM. In the case of my former employer, it was clear that they did not invest much in the recruiting and selection process. At least, I can attest to that considering how I was hired for the job.
Employees are vital asset in an organization according to Ajila and Okafor. Then if so vital, the process of hiring should be done with seriousness. The recruitment and selection processes should not stop at the process of advertising the job, collecting a pool of applicants and selecting from that pool base only on the evaluation of the biographical information available from Resumes, application forms or the sources. It should also include a comprehensive employee screening program (Testing). This process of comprehensive outlook of an employee in the form of in-depth interviewing and some form of testing, or real-time assessment and background checking was what my former employer was lacking. In my case, I think the interview took less than twenty minutes.
Although, testing without a clear objective is meaningless. Any employment testing should meet the criteria of validity and reliability. Validity means that the test measure exactly what it intend to measure and it is a good predictor of future job performance. Reliability means that the test is consistent in yielding the same result time after time. In all, the investment in Human Resource Management in the area of employment testing should not bring apprehension to the employee, rether it should be seen as mutually beneficial to both the employee and the the employer.
http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=8&sid=532d8541-e0e4-48b4-b320-e3f16c511635%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=78093789
http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=8&sid=532d8541-e0e4-48b4-b320-e3f16c511635%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=79700569
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Ethics in Action
According to the text( Exploring Management by Schermerhorn), Ethical dilemma is a situation that , although offering potential benefit or gain, is also unenthical. Not long ago, bribery was still accepted in an advance economy and could be claim in a tax return. Ethics is very broad and assume different meaning as we move across cultures. For that reason, it is sometimes a complex and complicated issue to comprehend. In that light, the conduct of Mr. Jayaswal and Mr. Dadra was not an isolated practice but a practice that overtime has become accepted in the society as a way of doing business. It is referred to in the article as crony capitalism.
Crony capitalism is a system were elected officials in the government skew government contracts to benefit their cronies, it might be friends, relatives or business associates. Ironically, these cronies most times are not the best fit to execute the contract. Crony capitalism in general is unethical because it encourages a system whereby some members of the citizenry are excluded from the process. In such a system where government picks winners and losers is said to be against the principles of free market that encourages competition and open system. free market in the long run straightens the fundamentals of an economy because badly position organizations eventually die off leaving the well postioned and visionary organizations that are ready to take risk and innovate. On the other hand, a system that do not encourage competition tend to corrode and weaken the economy overtime. But sometimes, individuals or businesses engage in this practices in other to operate. It is an ethical dilemma, because you are doom if you do and you are doom if you do not.
But most times these individuals or businesses engage in such unethical practices base purely on individual interest and self gain ( individualism). Interest motivated by greed and a quest for riches. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary,Individualism is define as the conception that all values, rights, and duties originate in individuals. The means to the end may not be justified, as long as the end is achieved is the basis of this reasoning. It is obvious that the gains from such acts of Mr. Jayaswal is short-term and self-fulfilling. Conversely, it destroys the spirit of free market that promote growth, investment and innovation.
Corruption is widespread in most part of the world. However it is so entrench in some system that is has become an acceptable practice. As I mention in my opening paragraph that bribery was once accepted by a developed economy does not make it ethical. I have the confidence that corruption can be reduce in India. According to Chetan Agrawal in his paper titled Right to Information: A tool for Combating Corruption In India, found that that the Right To Information Act passed by the India parliament in 2005 is a step in the right direction in combating corruption in India. And also has succeeded in exposing corruption.
Crony capitalism is a system were elected officials in the government skew government contracts to benefit their cronies, it might be friends, relatives or business associates. Ironically, these cronies most times are not the best fit to execute the contract. Crony capitalism in general is unethical because it encourages a system whereby some members of the citizenry are excluded from the process. In such a system where government picks winners and losers is said to be against the principles of free market that encourages competition and open system. free market in the long run straightens the fundamentals of an economy because badly position organizations eventually die off leaving the well postioned and visionary organizations that are ready to take risk and innovate. On the other hand, a system that do not encourage competition tend to corrode and weaken the economy overtime. But sometimes, individuals or businesses engage in this practices in other to operate. It is an ethical dilemma, because you are doom if you do and you are doom if you do not.
But most times these individuals or businesses engage in such unethical practices base purely on individual interest and self gain ( individualism). Interest motivated by greed and a quest for riches. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary,Individualism is define as the conception that all values, rights, and duties originate in individuals. The means to the end may not be justified, as long as the end is achieved is the basis of this reasoning. It is obvious that the gains from such acts of Mr. Jayaswal is short-term and self-fulfilling. Conversely, it destroys the spirit of free market that promote growth, investment and innovation.
Corruption is widespread in most part of the world. However it is so entrench in some system that is has become an acceptable practice. As I mention in my opening paragraph that bribery was once accepted by a developed economy does not make it ethical. I have the confidence that corruption can be reduce in India. According to Chetan Agrawal in his paper titled Right to Information: A tool for Combating Corruption In India, found that that the Right To Information Act passed by the India parliament in 2005 is a step in the right direction in combating corruption in India. And also has succeeded in exposing corruption.
Agrawal C. Right to Information: A Tool for Combating Corruption in India. Journal Of Management & Public Policy [serial online]. June 2012;3(2):26-38. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed September 30, 2012.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Zara International: Fashion at the Speed of Light
The apparel industry is among the top most competitive industry. The reason being that for companies to survive, it should be ready to be constantly aware of new trend in the industry. Also, to be able to attract investors, companies should be able to prove that they can cut cost and maximize profit.
Zara became a leader in the industry through its cutting edge strategy and innovative business model. Through aggressive adaptation to new trend and understanding of the customers perception, Zara has been able to position itself above it's competitor like Gap and H&M in gaining more market share in the industry.In an article in the Canadian business, by Bryan Borzykowski, wrote that according to Don Huber, lead manager on the Franklin world Growth Fund, that the reason for Zara success lies in it's unique business model. He added that the company does several things other retailers don't do.
Through the years, it is evident in the success of the company that it has been able to mobilize and motivate highly competent employees and these employees has the responsibility of keeping up with the latest fashion trend. Also these professionals are responsible that products get to the customers in the shortest amount of time. The recruitement of highly skilled workers and in combination of having total control from the procurement of raw materials, design, production, distribution and retail which is a form of classical management approach, has given Zara competetive edge in this volitile industry.
The genius behind Zara business model is not to be involve in the generic way of doing business, but rather to try new approaches or combination of approaches that will best give optimal customer service. Subsequently, Zara has employ methods from inducing artificial scarcity of their product, thereby having more sells to using advance technology which help to monitor inventory in all their stores all over the world, which in turn help to avoid oversupply or undersupply of their product.
Given the success of Zara in the apparel industry, it is undoubtedly obvious that they have build into their model an extensive contigency and analytic approach in the running of the business. In a New York Times article titled A Rival to Gap That Operates Like Dell, David Oliver, a principal at Kurt Salmon Associates, a retailing-industry consulting firm, said of Zara '' The question going forward is: how durable is the model as it gets bigger and goes internationa?''
Zara became a leader in the industry through its cutting edge strategy and innovative business model. Through aggressive adaptation to new trend and understanding of the customers perception, Zara has been able to position itself above it's competitor like Gap and H&M in gaining more market share in the industry.In an article in the Canadian business, by Bryan Borzykowski, wrote that according to Don Huber, lead manager on the Franklin world Growth Fund, that the reason for Zara success lies in it's unique business model. He added that the company does several things other retailers don't do.
Through the years, it is evident in the success of the company that it has been able to mobilize and motivate highly competent employees and these employees has the responsibility of keeping up with the latest fashion trend. Also these professionals are responsible that products get to the customers in the shortest amount of time. The recruitement of highly skilled workers and in combination of having total control from the procurement of raw materials, design, production, distribution and retail which is a form of classical management approach, has given Zara competetive edge in this volitile industry.
The genius behind Zara business model is not to be involve in the generic way of doing business, but rather to try new approaches or combination of approaches that will best give optimal customer service. Subsequently, Zara has employ methods from inducing artificial scarcity of their product, thereby having more sells to using advance technology which help to monitor inventory in all their stores all over the world, which in turn help to avoid oversupply or undersupply of their product.
Given the success of Zara in the apparel industry, it is undoubtedly obvious that they have build into their model an extensive contigency and analytic approach in the running of the business. In a New York Times article titled A Rival to Gap That Operates Like Dell, David Oliver, a principal at Kurt Salmon Associates, a retailing-industry consulting firm, said of Zara '' The question going forward is: how durable is the model as it gets bigger and goes internationa?''
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