ASSESSMENT 2 – CASE STUDY: FAST FASHION

Module code:	BMA4000-20
Module title:	The Business Environment
Assignment:	A2: Individual Reflective Performance Report (Based on Business Case Study given on Moodle)
Word count:	1500 (+/- 10%)
Contribution to module mark:	40% of overall grade

Assessment type:	Individual Reflective Performance Report
Weight:	40%

Submission deadline:

7th October 2024 at 23:59

ASSESSMENT 2 – CASE STUDY: FAST FASHION

Student Name:

Student ID:

Executive Summary

This report summarised the Gibbs reflective cycle that has given the reference to the case study. This model describes the personal experience while doing a case study on a UK-based fast fashion company. Gibbs's reflective cycle provides a framework for reflective thinking and it leads through six stages for exploring an individual or group experience: description, feeling, evaluating, analysis, and conclusion and action plan. The complete experience is classified into these stages which include various area of concern that depends upon different elements. This model provides a framework for a structured approach to reflective thinking and is discussed in the report.

Report

Introduction

This report will describe the practical study of Gibbs's reflective cycle. This model originated by Graham Gibbs In 1988 (Adeani, 2020). Fast fashion is a rapid industry in the UK and has been performed in group work. Customers adore the producers who follow the trend, and keep low prices. The moment towards fast fashion began when Hargreaves of Oswaldtwistle made the first spinning jenny machine to rotate cotton faster by the 1770s (Guardian News & Media Limited, 2024).

1. Description

This descriptive case study was about the small fast fashion industry in the UK. Fast fashion is a rapid industry in the UK. Customers adore the producers who follow the trend and keep low prices. The term Fast Fashion means fashionable clothes that are manufactured at high speed and low cost (Curiously Conscious, 2024). In the fashion industry, fast fashion is the dominant player and will be responsible for a quarter of the Earth’s carbon budget by 2050 (Guardian News & Media Limited, 2024). While we were working on this case study, we had to follow Tuckman and Jensen's social development theory for effective productivity and to achieve common goals. This theory helped us from forming to performing. At the time of the group forming, we introduced ourselves to each other, discussed about clear goal and objectives, timeline for completing the project our team leader managed most of the agenda. In the next stage storming, some conflict arose but it was sorted out later which was the Norming stage and then team members were able to do work individually.

2. Feelings

While working on this case study I felt many issues. At starting of this research, I felt low on self-confidence. I also had conflict with my teammate so I felt depressed. Slowly I gained confidence while doing research in this case study. In the UK, the fast fashion industry is highly exploring this market. In this retail market, various employees are working on a low salary. So, the turnover of employees is very high in this industry. I feel some concern about the staff's mental health and the reason for the high turnover. Company was new in the market so sometimes, I felt frustrated with customers' complaints. The textile industry releases harmful greenhouse gases. This gas is so harmful to the environment that I feel very bad for this environmental impact. I want to find some solution for this problem for a safe environment.

3. Evaluation

Positive aspects

• The company is not so active on social platforms so my suggestion to the company to enhance social marketing gave positive results in the company’s profit.

• I decided to follow a competitive pricing strategy. There were various competitors in the market so I decided to keep the price not too high or too low to sustain in the market. This decision gave good results to the company and showed my decision making abilities.

• I researched the UK’s fashion trends, so I followed the trend according to customers’ demands and choices. The impact of this decision enhances the productivity of the business.

Negative aspects

• Small companies need to work a lot to stand in the competitive marketplace. Employee's salary was low in comparison to workload. So, they were highly demotivated in the scenario I should talk with the employees. But I had made the mistake that was the reason for the high labour turnover and thus shown my lack of critical thinking.

• The marketplace had many competitors, so customers were more loyal to companies that had been available there for more than a few years. So, my decision to follow a competitive pricing strategy later on resulted in low customer satisfaction.

4. Analysis

After the evaluation of this case study, I evaluate my positive or negative decisions. I analyse my strengths and weaknesses points. I made various decisions while I was doing work, and some of the decisions gave good results to the company to enhance their productivity, but some of my decisions were harmful for the company. My decision to enhance online or digital marketing, and make the website worked well for the company. These decisions enhance the company’s sales and increase profit.

Some decisions made by me went wrong because of my lack of management skills. I denied talking with my staff was the biggest and worst decision of mine. This results in a high dissatisfaction and turnover of the employees. I analyse that the most difficult area to make strategic business decisions is management. To achieve goals efficiently and effectively in the organisation the management must be strong. My management skills were not so strong so I analysed because of that I was lagging to making effective decisions. I have not applied Porter’s five forces model to analyse the internal environment of the company. Target market analysis helped me to identify opportunities for diversification in the market. This thing decreases interdependency and increases revenue.

5. Conclusion

After doing this case study, I felt that I could do much more for the company. Nowadays people are more addicted to using mobile so it would be better if I made the company’s website for easy mobile use as well. If I hire an influencer to advertise my company, I think it would provide high recognition to the company. Because influencers have large fan followings so when an influencer posts, others will follow. I think I should take participate in more local exhibitions and events like markets or pop-up shops to demonstrate our products and interact with potential consumers. In these types of case studies, I think I should develop my critical thinking skills and management skills more for better performance. Team collaboration is very useful for better results I should develop my listening skills and problem-solving skills for better team management.

6. Action Plan

	Objectives	Tasks	Success Criteria	Time Frame	resources
Step 1: Problem-solving skills	My objective for achieve goals in future is to work on my Problem-solving skills.	To achieve this skill, I need to define the root cause of the issue.	I will identify whether I am improving or not with the help of practice, or brainstorming process.	My long-term goal comes with experience. It will take 1 year.	I can enhance this skill with the help of Books and podcasts, online courses for improving this skill (LinkedIn, 2024).
Step 2: Team management	Team management skills are very important for work in an organisation so My goal is to enhance these skills.	Team management needs healthy communication among the team members which helps the leader to know about the individual capabilities.	With the help of self-assessment, I will identify my achievement toward my objective.	I will achieve this goal in 1 year.	With the help of active listening or communication, I can enhance these skills.
Step 3: communication skills	In every part of business, active listening and effective communication are very useful so my objective is to work more on my communication skills.	In a business environment, communication skills play a key role. Effective communication is important for effective results.	I will assess myself by involving myself in conversation.	I will achieve this goal within 6 months.	With the help of practice for public speaking or active listening I can effectively increase my communication.
Step 4: Critical thinking skills.	A good team leader or manager must be a Critical thinker for take effective business decisions toward achieving a common goal.	More practice or curiosity to know more will help me to achieve this skill.	I will critically analyse this by giving logical ideas for problems or by gathering relevant data.	I will achieve this in 9 months	By asking questions and collaborating with people.

Table 1: Action Plan

(Source: Created by the learner)

Conclusion

The report has described the UK-based fast fashion company and the complexity and diversity of doing business in a multinational environment. The case study about the small fast fashion company describes how to survive in the cut-throat competitive marketplace. With the help of SWOT analysis, we can conclude that the company has vast opportunities in future. The company has used various promotional strategies and marketing strategies to enhance its sales. With the help of Gibbs's reflective cycle model, I can conclude that to achieve the objectives and goals of the company effective strategic planning is very necessary. A leader must have management, team management, and communication skills to understand the problem and be able to make decisions effectively.

References

Report

Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin, S (2020) ‘Using GIBBS’reflective cycle in making reflections of literary analysis.’ Indonesian EFL Journal, 6(2), pp.139-148.

Boddy, D. (2019) Management: Using Practice and Theory to Develop Skill, 8^th ed., London: Prentice Hall.

Curiously Conscious (2024) 100+ Fast Fashion Brands & Reasons to Avoid Them. Available at: https://www.curiouslyconscious.com/2020/07/fast-fashion-brands-uk.html/(Accessed: 24 September 2024)

Guardian News & Media Limited (2024) Fast fashion is on the rampage, with the UK at the head of the charge. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/jun/21/fast-fashion-is-on-the-rampage-with-uk-at-the-head-of-the-charge (Accessed: 24 September 2024)

LinkedIn (2024) What are the most effective resources for improving problem-solving skills? Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/advice/0/what-most-effective-resources-improving-problem-solving-lykee (Accessed: 24 September 2024)

Morrison, J. (2020) The Global Business Environment: Towards Sustainability? 5^th ed., Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

Needle, D. (2019) Business in Context: an introduction to business and its environment. 5^th ed.,CENGAGE Lrng Business Press.

Wordbank (2024) BUILD LOYALTY WITH UK CONSUMERS. Available at: https://www.wordbank.com/market-insights/uk-consumer-behavior/#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%20UK%20consumer%20behavior%20is,for%20success%20with%20British%20consumers. (Accessed: 24 September 2024)

Case Study

fashionUnited (2024) UK: Employment in the fashion and textile industry. Available at: https://fashionunited.uk/uk-fashion-industry-statistics(Accessed: 24 September 2024)

IBISWorld (2024) Questions Clients Ask About This Industry. Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/number-of-businesses/fast-fashion/5064/#:~:text=Which%20regions%20have%20the%20highest,over%2040%20pages%20of%20analysis.(Accessed: 24 September 2024)

Özlem, K.A.Y.A (2023) FASHION BRAND MANAGEMENT: SWOT ANALYSIS.

Statista Research Department (2023) Share of fashion segment e-commerce users in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2021, by age group. Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/480940/clothes-and-accessories-e-commerce-users-by-age-digital-market-outlook-uk#:~:text=In%202021%2C%2023.7%20percent%20of,ages%20of%2018%20and%2024.(Accessed: 24 September 2024)

Zhang. B., Zhang. Y. and Zhou. P (2021) Consumer Attitude Towards Sustainability of Fast Fashion Products in the UK. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/1646(Accessed: 24 September 2024)

Appendix

Task 1: Swot Analysis for XYZ Company

Strength In the fashion industry, the company’s brand image is its biggest strength. The company is providing good products at reasonable prices. There are many varieties in a product so customers have the option to choose.	Weakness As the company is new in this market, so profit margin is very low. Customer segment is very limited. There is no global presence so the customer base is very low As the company is only 2 years old, it is not available on all e-commerce platforms.
Opportunity Fast Fashion demand in the UK market is increasing continuously. It was forecast to increase between 2024 and 2029 and it will be $18.2 billion and means an additional 45.56% more than recent (Özlem, 2023). The company can expand its sale on digital or e-commerce platforms	Threats As The UK faced a crisis like Brexit, it was the biggest threat. Various competitors are available in the market.

Table 2: SWOT analysis

(Source: Created by the learner)

Task 2: Competitors in the marketplace

• In the fast fashion market, various competitors are available in the market. So many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are dominating this area.

• In the UK until 2020 there were 30,035 retailers, 8,825 wholesalers and 8,245 manufacturers in 34,045businesses functioning within the fashion and textile sector (fashionUnited, 2024). Here 13% of manufacturing in garments increased in 10 years until 2020.

• Various well-known brands are dominating the marketplace including Mulberry, Alexander, Paul Smith, Wales Bonner many more.

• Various multinational companies are also there like Cotton on Clothing Pvt Ltd Group, H&M Hennes, Uniqlo Ltd, Zara Group Limited and Mauritz Ltd.

Task 3: Customer segmentation

In this industry to get a proper understanding of the customer, behaviours are very important. Every business's focus is customer satisfaction and for that, they must get to know about their fashion choice, according to demographic and psychographic, economic segmentation. Human wants are unlimited they are changing from time to time or location.

Demographic Segmentation

• The UK population is forecasted to be 67.6 million

• Fast fashion brands mostly target youngsters is also called Gen Zs.

• In the United Kingdom’s fashion market, the 25 to 34 years age group is the biggest age group that utilises e-commerce at 23.7% in 2021 (Statista Research Department, 2023).

Figure 1: Share of Users in Fast Fashion

(Source: Statista Research Department, 2023)

Location

The fast fashion industry has highest number of businesses in United Kingdom. Highly it is in demand in London (21), South East (13) and North West (11) businesses are available (IBISWorld, 2024).

Income

Disposable income in the UK was £32,400 of the median household in the year 2022. In the UK, high-priced products are more purchased by females; however, the male income is high.

Figure 2 and 3: Distribution of income and price Sensitivity of Sustainable Purchases by gender

(Source: Bo Zhang et al., 2021)

Psychographic Segmentation

This segmentation includes the attitudes values and customer's perspectives.

The UK people want to feel valued and be paralleled with the brands and money value. If any industry sets a balance between these three values, then the company has a high chance of success in the consumer market (Wordbank, 2024).

Task 4: Promotion Strategy

• In the United Kingdom, Consumer shows are a famous promotion strategy; here the customers are directly connecting with the seller.

• Companies can use a discounted pricing strategy to promote their product. In this method, the initial cost of goods and services is lowered down to boost sales and enhance profit.

Task 5: Marketing Strategy

• Nowadays digital marketing is in trend. Most of the businesses are available on digital platforms. This company will also proceed with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. This platform is time-effective as well as pocket-friendly.

Task 6: Resolve social and environmental issues

• As, the garment or textile industry creates many waste and harmful chemicals through their factory the company can adopt sustainable production methods or new technology to reduce its bad impact on the environment.

Task 7: Effects of Private Limited Companies

• Private limited companies must keep track of their financial records like cash flow statements, and balance sheets and file them with the government.

• The small companies or private company's number of shareholders are limited, that is why collecting large amounts is quite difficult.