The Business Environment
Assignment 2
Student
Name:
Student ID:
Reflection
1. Description
According to me, the nature of the case study is to provide meaningful solutions to business problems. This case study is situated in the industry of fast fashion. When I observe people of my age group around me, it seems to me that these people want to wear stylish clothes which they can purchase at a low price. This means that the fast fashion industry is currently on a lot of growth (Niinimäki, et. al., 2020). After analysing the case study, I observed that my company is a new fast fashion company which faces many challenges. Mainly market competition, sustainability issues and environmental and social impact are the main challenges that my company has to deal with. While working on the case study in class time, I discuss the case study with my colleagues. I believe that through teamwork, it becomes easy for me to find meaningful solutions to business issues.
I realise that by following Tuckman’s model, I can find meaningful solutions to business challenges that appeared in the case study with the assistance of my group members. For this purpose, I decided to discuss my case study with group members. Before the discussion, I introduced myself and asked them to introduce themselves. It is important for creating bonds and rapport between my team members. After this, I listened to their problems and tried to solve them. When everyone became comfortable, they were also inspired to solve the case study together. After this, I assigned roles and responsibilities to everyone and gave them small tasks. Some group members cooperated with me by examining business problems that appeared from the case study and some group members started finding solutions to these business problems. Everyone liked these collaborative efforts and expressed their desire to work with me in future also.
2. Feelings
The case study is associated with business issues that a fast fashion company may encounter. I think the case study indicates that a fast fashion company can face a lot of business challenges. I also personally believe that a fast fashion company needs to draw their attention towards certain areas in order to survive in a competitive market. When I read this case study, I realised that solving this case study would be challenging. I felt this way because I did not know the fast fashion industry closely and that was why I felt the need to take help from my colleagues.
As per the case study, several concerns appear which I need to identify and analyse. I believe that before solving a business issue, it is important for me to first identify business issues and analyse such business issues deeply. Only after this, I can be able to resolve such issues. As per the case study, sustainability issues, market competition and environmental and social impact appear as the main challenges for the company. I realise that these challenges are huge for a company and can lead to negative consequences if they are not addressed and solved properly. Therefore, I felt that this case study could not be solved without focusing on each challenge separately, doing effective research, taking the opinion of experts and taking the contribution of group members. I felt that my business knowledge was not enough to solve the business problems of this case study on my own.
3. Evaluation
While completing the case activities, the decision to take assistance from group members was a very good decision. That is why when different people expressed their views and analysed the case study from different angles, it became easier for me to solve the case study. Case study research requires a detailed analysis of a particular situation (Schoch, 2020). If this had not happened, I would have probably spent a lot of time and would not have been able to solve business problems as effectively as I have now. Therefore, it was a positive thing for me while completing case activities. During case activities, I thought it would be better to solve the business problems together. It was a negative thing because due to this decision, I complicated everything. Then a colleague of mine advised me that it would be better to solve business problems like competition, sustainability issues, environmental concerns and social concerns separately. I corrected my mistake and tried to find a separate solution for each problem.
Tuckman’s model was followed by me for the completion of case activities. This model is very effective through which a problem can be easily solved through teamwork, collaboration and support. This model includes a series of stages such as forming stage, storming stage, norming stage, performing stage and adjourning stage (Jones, 2019). In the forming stage, I gathered all the group members and gave them a chance to get to know and understand each other. After this, I tried to summarise their roles and responsibilities and told them that we had to solve a case study. After this, I have to continue the process to the storming stage. At this stage, I checked to see if the group members had any issues working with each other and with me. After resolving those who had issues, I continued the further process.
After this, by the time the norming was reached, all the group members agreed to work together. They became comfortable and agreed to work on the same study, combining their roles and responsibilities. In the performing stage, some group members have done research on issues related to the fast fashion industry, some have observed people and some have contributed to finding ways to deal with business issues. After this, according to the adjourning stage, I tanked to everyone and freed them from their respective roles and responsibilities.
4. Analysis
To solve this case study, I made certain decisions. I first decided that it was necessary to understand the case study. For this, I researched the fast fashion industry, took the opinions of experts and discussed them with colleagues. Discussing with colleagues proved to be the most beneficial decision because my colleagues helped me a lot in identifying and solving business issues. According to me, the worst mistake was that I tried to solve different business problems with only one angel. Due to this decision, my problems increased and a lot of my time was wasted. Apart from this, this decision was also not effective because due to this I was not able to give meaningful solutions to business problems. That is why, following the advice of one of my colleagues, I studied different business problems separately. First of all, I solved the problem of competition.
My company is a new company and it is a difficult task to survive and grow despite the presence of very big names in the fast fashion industry. According to me, it is essential for my company to analyse big players. In this industry, big players are Gap, UNIQLO, Zara and H&M (Su, 2020). Apart from this, it is also essential to pay attention towards developing USP, considering new markets, valuing customer preferences and manufacturing clothes as per new trends and fashion. It is well known that the impact of fast fashion is negative on society and the environment. This is why my company needs to acknowledge this. For this, my solution to the problem is the use of the 4R approach (reuse, reduce, recycle and recover), save energy, effective waste management, low carbon footprint and use of eco-friendly material for the manufacturing of clothes. It is important for my company to pay attention towards the well-being of workers as they handle risky processes and materials like leather and cotton. This is how the company can address social concerns effectively in my opinion.
According to me, the most difficult area to handle is marketing in business and management. I am saying marketing because marketing strategies are difficult to implement, marketing techniques are always changing and it is hard to market products and services as per customer choice. As per Porter’s theory, marketing is difficult because of competition, new approaches, the supplier’s role, the customer’s role and the customer’s ability to find a substitute if marketing is not effective.
5. Conclusion
I concluded that to better perform and understand such case studies, I have to work on certain skills. First of all, I need to improve my research skills. Research skill enables a person to find and collect reliable information and find meaningful solutions (Immerse Education, 2024). According to me, this case study is a problem-based case study and this is why I also have to improve my problem-solving skills. Case studies require deep analysis for solutions. For this reason, learning analytical skills and critical thinking skills are important for me. I take assistance of group members to solve this case study. I think communication skills, emotional intelligence skills and teamwork skills need to be improved for this purpose.
6. Action plan
To address the business problems, it is important to follow below steps –
Step 1: Identify and analyse business problems
Step 2: Make plans and strategies to solve business problems like environmental concerns, market competition and social concerns
Step 3: Analyse competitors, develop USP, consider new markets, value customer preferences, analyse new trends to tackle market competition
Step 4: Use 4R approach, energy consumption, waste management, zero carbon footprint and use of eco-friendly material to tackle environmental concerns
Step 5: Pay attention towards worker’s health, well-being, working conditions and pay to tackle social concerns
References
de Oliveira, L.G., Miranda, F.G. and de Paula Dias, M.A., 2022. Sustainable practices in slow and fast fashion stores: What does the customer perceive?. Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 6, p.100413. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666790822000180
Immerse Education, 2024. Research Skills: What They Are and How They Benefit You. Available at: https://www.immerse.education/study-tips/research-skills-a-guide/ (Accessed: 05 Oct 2024)
IONOS, 2023. Balance sheets: the basics. Available at: https://www.ionos.co.uk/startupguide/grow-your-business/balance-sheet/#:~:text=Any%20company%20operating%20in%20the,financial%20statements%20to%20Companies%20House. (Accessed: 04 Oct 2024)
Jones, D.A., 2019. The Tuckman’s model implementation, effect, and analysis & the new development of Jones LSI Model on a small group. Journal of Management, 6(4). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alex-Jones-20/publication/335176254_THE_TUCKMAN'S_MODEL_IMPLEMENTATION_EFFECT_AND_ANALYSIS_THE_NEW_DEVELOPMENT_OF_JONES_LSI_MODEL_ON_A_SMALL_GROUP/links/5d55427e92851cb74c6cd2df/THE-TUCKMANS-MODEL-IMPLEMENTATION-EFFECT-AND-ANALYSIS-THE-NEW-DEVELOPMENT-OF-JONES-LSI-MODEL-ON-A-SMALL-GROUP.pdf
Jurgenson, N., 2019. The social photo: On photography and social media. Verso Books.
Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H., Perry, P., Rissanen, T. and Gwilt, A., 2020. The environmental price of fast fashion. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1(4), pp.189-200. https://acris.aalto.fi/ws/portalfiles/portal/78950024/The_environmental_price_of_fast_fashion.pdf
Schoch, K., 2020. Case study research. Research design and methods: An applied guide for the scholar-practitioner, 31(1), pp.245-258. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Subhash-Basu-3/post/How_do_i_determine_the_sample_size_for_a_study_looking_at_the_treatment_outcomes_of_mental_health_patients_in_a_community_house/attachment/5ebbae3eead4db0001551c21/AS%3A890646755811328%401589358142328/download/105275_book_item_105275.pdf
Su, Y., 2020. The Internationalization Strategies of Fast Fashion Clothing Retailer Brands: A Cases Study of ZARA, H&M, UNIQLO, and Gap. Wenzao Ursline University of Languages. https://c030.wzu.edu.tw/datas/upload/files/2020%E7%95%A2%E6%A5%AD%E7%94%9F%E8%AB%96%E6%96%87/108GP_1105209030_%E8%98%87%E7%BE%BD%E7%94%84.pdf
Zhang, B., Zhang, Y. and Zhou, P., 2021. Consumer attitude towards sustainability of fast fashion products in the UK. Sustainability, 13(4), p.1646. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/1646
Appendix
Answer 1
Strengths
The main strength of the company is its industry. In the present context, everybody loves stylish, colourful and designed clothes at affordable prices and fast fashion companies fulfil their clothing requirements. This industry is growing industry. Apart from this, chances of expansion, profitability and customer base also fall under the category of company's strength.
Weaknesses
Fast fashion companies are at high risk of negatively affecting the environment because of the use of water and chemicals in manufacturing and greenhouse gas emission issues. Apart from this, workers are at risk of health and safety issues because of poor working conditions. The company is a new company and does not have enough experience to tackle business issues.
Threats
The main threat to the company is market competition. In the present context, it is hard for a new fast fashion company to survive in the competitive market in which big players such as Zara, Levi's and H&M are already established. Apart from this, customers also started paying attention towards sustainable clothing (Zhang, Zhang and Zhou, 2021).
Opportunities
The company has the opportunity to become the leading brand in this industry if it tackles business issues such as environmental concerns, social concerns, market competition and sustainability issues.
Answer 2
Within the fast fashion market, the nearest competitors of the company are Uniqlo Ltd, Zara Group, H&M Ltd, Cotton on Clothing Pty Ltd and Levi's.
Answer 3
Demographics of the customers - Customers of the company are both male and female and belong to the zen-z and millennial generation. This means that the customer's age group is somewhere between 15 years to 30 years. Customers in urban areas follow fast fashion and they can be social media influencers, content creators and working professionals. Their disposable income is such that they cannot afford luxury clothes. Their main hobbies are using social media, exploring new things and styling.
Psychographic profile of customers - Customers of the company are open-minded and modern people who want to stay updated with new and trending fashion. They follow the clothing styles of celebrities and models and want to look like them. They want to become highlighted in society and are very sensitive about their social media appearance. Their main goal is to become popular. They also do not want to repeat their clothes.
Answer 4
The company's main focus is social media for the purpose of promoting its clothes. As per the strategy of the company, they can increase their customer base through social media because most of the youth are active there. For this purpose, the company promotes its clothes by hiring social media influencers and celebrities for promotion. Another way through which the company promotes its clothes is online advertisement. The company believes that through this way they can reach their target audience.
Answer 5
The company is planning to use social media platforms like Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and WhatsApp for promoting clothes. This is why because the target audience (young generation) highly uses these platforms (Jurgenson, 2019). They spend a lot of time on these platforms and it is a better opportunity to grab their attention through social media. Apart from this, the company is also planning to use Google for advertisement. This is why because Google is used worldwide by everyone for various purposes. If they show advertisements on Google, it is a high chance to hit the target audience.
Answer 6
To tackle social and environmental issues, the company should focus on certain strategies. This is why the second most polluter industry of the present time is this industry (de Oliveira, Miranda and de Paula Dias, 2022). In order to tackle environmental concerns, the company is required to use the 4R approach, energy consumption, waste management, zero carbon footprint and use of eco-friendly material. In order to tackle social concerns, it is important for the company to satisfy the people who are working for them. For this purpose, the company has to draw their attention towards worker’s health, well-being and working conditions.
Answer 7
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