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What Business Is Zara In? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of What Business Is Zara In?


Zara, a successful fast fashion manufacturer and retailer, noted for its uncommon business process, needs to consider the future of the company and its popular flagship brand. The company produces clothes in the high cost labour market in Europe, spends very little on advertising, ostensibly overspends on positioning high-end stores in chic retail districts, and carries substantially less inventory and charges 15 per cent less than its competitors. Though investors initially viewed this process as a formula for disaster, the company had proven them wrong by establishing itself as a leader in the industry with its hard-to-replicate strategy for success. However, the disruptive business model innovator is now faced with new competitors who are trying to beat the company at its own game by successfully copying key components of its fast fashion approach. The company needs to find a way to continue to differentiate its brand in the evolving industry, while capturing more than its share of the tremendous market growth anticipated in the future. Daniel Doiron is affiliated with University of New Brunswick Saint John.

Authors :: Daniel Doiron

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Growth strategy, Risk management, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "What Business Is Zara In?" written by Daniel Doiron includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Zara Overspends facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in What Business Is Zara In? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Risk management and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the What Business Is Zara In? casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of What Business Is Zara In?


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in What Business Is Zara In? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Zara Overspends, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Zara Overspends operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.




SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix


SWOT analysis of What Business Is Zara In? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in What Business Is Zara In? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Zara Overspends
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Zara Overspends




Strengths What Business Is Zara In? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Zara Overspends in What Business Is Zara In? Harvard Business Review case study are -

Training and development

– Zara Overspends has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in What Business Is Zara In? Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Zara Overspends has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study What Business Is Zara In? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Zara Overspends has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Zara Overspends has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Diverse revenue streams

– Zara Overspends is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in What Business Is Zara In? case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.

Strong track record of project management

– Zara Overspends is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Zara Overspends digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Zara Overspends has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the What Business Is Zara In? Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Zara Overspends in the sector have low bargaining power. What Business Is Zara In? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Zara Overspends to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Organizational Resilience of Zara Overspends

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Zara Overspends does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Zara Overspends in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Zara Overspends has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Zara Overspends is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Zara Overspends in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.






Weaknesses What Business Is Zara In? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of What Business Is Zara In? are -

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study What Business Is Zara In? that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case What Business Is Zara In? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Zara Overspends is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Zara Overspends has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Zara Overspends even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Zara Overspends has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Zara Overspends has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Lack of clear differentiation of Zara Overspends products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Zara Overspends needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Zara Overspends needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study What Business Is Zara In? has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Zara Overspends 's lucrative customers.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Zara Overspends is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study What Business Is Zara In? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As What Business Is Zara In? HBR case study mentions - Zara Overspends takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Zara Overspends has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Zara Overspends has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.




Opportunities What Business Is Zara In? | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study What Business Is Zara In? are -

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Zara Overspends can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Zara Overspends can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Zara Overspends can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Zara Overspends can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.

Manufacturing automation

– Zara Overspends can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Reconfiguring business model

– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Zara Overspends to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Zara Overspends to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Zara Overspends to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Zara Overspends can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Zara Overspends operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Zara Overspends in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Zara Overspends to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Zara Overspends has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study What Business Is Zara In? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Zara Overspends to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Zara Overspends can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Zara Overspends to increase its market reach. Zara Overspends will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Zara Overspends is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. What Business Is Zara In? case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.




Threats What Business Is Zara In? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study What Business Is Zara In? are -

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Zara Overspends with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Zara Overspends can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Zara Overspends is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Zara Overspends business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study What Business Is Zara In?, Zara Overspends may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Zara Overspends can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing wage structure of Zara Overspends

– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Zara Overspends.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Zara Overspends demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Zara Overspends.

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Zara Overspends needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Zara Overspends high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of What Business Is Zara In? Template, Example


Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study What Business Is Zara In? needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study What Business Is Zara In? is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study What Business Is Zara In? is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of What Business Is Zara In? is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Zara Overspends needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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