Marketing Management

Executive Summary

In this paper, strategic analysis of different companies has been presented by using Porter's Five Forces Framework. The companies which has been included in this analysis is Zara, The five forces which have been presented by Porter, in his model, include bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, industry rivalry, threat of new entrants, and threat of substitutes..

Executive Summaryii

Introduction2

Methodology2

Porter's Five Force Analysis2

Strategic Market Audit3

Zara3

Strategic Options9

Strategic Recomemndations10

Conclusion11

References12

Appendix13

Annotated Bibliography15

Marketing Management

Introduction

This paper is based on the analysis of decision making at different organizations from a managerial and marketing perpsecive. The analysis of different companies will help in understanding the dynamics of different businesses and the frameworks used by those businesses to achieve a competitive edge. The organization which has been chosen for the analysis include Zara.

Methodology

In order to conduct this study, data was gathered from different secondary sources. A broad range of secondary sources was accessed in order to reach to a balanced perspective. Secondary data, for this paper, was gathered from EBSCO, Gale, ProQuest, and other online databases.

Porter's Five Force Analysis

The companies chosen for analysis include Zara. Zara is a subsidiary of the Spanish Inditex Group. Zara is a famous apparel brand that was established in 1975 in Spain. The brand ranks third in the world and first in Spain. Zara is the brand that is the most preferred choice of young people and customers who want to adopt the latest fashion. It is because Zara allows customers to engross themselves in the latest fashion. There are diverse factors that differentiate Zara from its competitors including its excellent design and inexpensive prices and the opportunity to embrace high fashion (Blum, 1998, pp. 5).

The aims and objectives play an important role in the growth and development of a business. The vision and mission of Zara has provided it with a competitive edge.

Zara aims to bring individuality to every market it enters. The business model of Zara is very different from its competitors. Zara is committed to satisfy the desires of its customers. The vision of Zara is to bring innovation to its business continuously. Zara also aims to provide customers with an improved shopping experience. Zara offers its customers with high quality products at a lower price.

Strategic Market Audit

Zara

Zara is operating in the fashion industry which is highly competitive with major players including Gap and H&M. The sales of Zara have provided it with the advantage of staying ahead of its competitors. The supply chain efficiency of Zara has also allowed the company to survive in the competitive environment. The threat for substitutes is an important component of Porter's Five Force Analysis. In the case of Zara, the threat for substitutes is low. This is because the products cannot be copied easily (Capell, 2008, pp. 56). However, there are a number of other brands that are offering fashionable clothing at a low price. Furthermore, average customers cannot spot differences between Zara's designs and others. Therefore, it is important for the company to focus on product differentiation and brand ...