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 |
Student Name:
Student ID:
Executive Summary
The report has carried out an effective reflection in terms of analysing the contributions of an individual to the understanding of fast fashion in 18Montrose within the UK. Herein, the Gibbs Reflective Cycle has been applied to this work and each stage has included an evaluation of the current and potential market of fast fashion. There is also an understanding of the distinct stages that have been applied to the environment of fast fashion based on the challenges that have been imposed in this field. In this regard, every stage of the model highlights an understanding of the case study.
Introduction
An interesting approach to reflection involves the observation that individuals do not reflect on simple practices, instead, they are more attracted to thinking about practices which do not have an immediate or obvious solution (Williams, Woolliams and Spiro, 2020). It can represent personal pieces of writing, formal or professional reflections, and academic practices, entailing the growth and progress of individuals. In this reflective report, the contributions, progress and challenges that an individual may have come across while conducting a case study analysis on 18Montrose. It is a privately owned small-sized fast fashion organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom (LinkedIn, 2024).
Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Reflective writing or journals are identified to be academic pieces of literature that take into account the personal perspectives of the writer, drawing on opinions and experiences (Adeani, Febriani and Syafryadin, 2020). Herein, Gibb’s Reflective Cycle has emerged as a model of reflection, taking into account description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and an action plan to understand distinct approaches. This entails the approach to dealing with literary pieces of academic writing while adopting the framework to understand personal reflections. It acknowledges the academic, personal and professional practices of an individual.
Figure 1: Gibbs Reflective Cycle
(Source: Golumbic et al., 2022)
1. Description
The nature of the case study is analytical and is based on the retail fashion industry of the United Kingdom based on the growth of fast fashion. However, the case study deals with the adverse impacts of fast fashion, for instance, in the form of excessive demand and the rapid depletion of resources. Although I have been able to understand the case study in-depth and analyse the current and potential solutions that may be offered to 18Montrose, group discussion helped me gain more insights. Tuckman and Jensen’s Group Working Theory established a foundation for how teams may be capable of developing in consistent sequences through distinct stages (Muscato et al., 2023). Herein, the stages include forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Forming involved my approach to fetch the topic with my group members while the storming stage revolved around conflicting decisions. However, in the norming stage, I can represent how every member came to a mutual understanding and the performing stage included actions undertaken to execute the work. After the completion of the case study, the group was dismissed, believing that with extensive research, every criterion of the case study had been met while submitting the completed work on time.
2. Feelings
I find the case study an interesting field of research since in today’s world fast fashion has been identified as a sustainable approach while this case study entails the adverse impacts of fast fashion. One of the major challenges I believe this case study involves is representing the competitors of 18Montrose since it is a small firm in the UK, with not many competitors in a similar range. Other than this, solving the challenges presented in the case study has been a practice to carry out extensive research. I believe that I may not be able to submit the work on time since the organisation I am dealing with is small and has not yet experienced major challenges associated with fast fashion. However, I felt that I had been equipped with enough knowledge of the business in terms of responding to the questions. This entailed an understanding of the current fast fashion market in the UK, delivering enough to differentiate between the opportunities and threats that 18Montrose may come across in the long run. From a different perspective, I lacked knowledge of the current competitive landscape for small-scale firms, making it difficult for me to move beyond large-scale fashion organisations.
3. Evaluation
A positive decision that I had undertaken while reading and completing the case study was to have a critical approach towards understanding the relevance of fast fashion. Belbin’s Team Roles include 9 roles for every team member (Kobushko et al., 2020; Rahmani et al., 2022). As an action-oriented individual, this helped me deliver an understanding of the case study based on the challenges that have been imposed on 18Montrose by fast fashion. I have also taken into account the benefits associated with fast fashion such as eco-friendly practices. The Katzenbach and Smith Model analyse team performance based on collective work products, personal growth and performance results. Herein, the negative decision that I have undertaken revolves around the promotional strategies that may be implemented against fast fashion, adversely influencing performance results. Aligning with the forming stage of Tuckman and Jensen’s Group Theory, the base for decisions had been formed followed by the forming stage where a conflict surged between me and another group regarding the most adverse impact of fast fashion. However, we came to an understanding in the norming stage, deciding to include both decisions while executing them in the performing stage and completing the work in the adjourning stage.
4. Analysis
Among the decisions that I had undertaken in this case study, the idea to analyse the adverse impacts of fast fashion on 18Montrose and compare them with the benefits observed in larger fast fashion firms has worked well. This is because I was able to outline the strategic decisions that can be implemented by the small firm to be able to advance its competitive advantages. It helped me highlight the approaches that can be undertaken to ensure better outcomes from fast fashion rather than the rapid depletion of resources based on the profit margin of large-scale organisations achieved through fast fashion. However, the decision to integrate the promotional plans of 18Montrose with its current business strategy did not work out well since I was not able to interlink the practices. In my opinion, the operations and management departments have been the most challenging for me to make effective decisions since I had to keep in mind the budget of a small-scale enterprise. However, I had not applied Porter’s Five Forces of Mintzberg’s Analysis of the microenvironment of 18Montrose. I have been able to understand the external micro forces impacting the organisation based on an understanding of the fast fashion industry.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, I have been able to carry out effective performance based on understanding the case study of fast fashion for 18Montrose, a small-scale firm in the UK. I have been able to conduct extensive research improving my research skills, decision-making skills and commercial awareness. However, in terms of understanding relevant and similar case studies, I believe that I need to enhance my academic skills and writing skills. Executive attention practices are closely aligned with goal-oriented cognitive control capabilities (Wilkey, 2023). This can help me improve and enhance my concentration on research and find out distinct measures that may have been undertaken within the fast fashion industry. From a different perspective, in terms of working in teams, I have been able to improve my managerial skills, active listening skills and accountability. However, I still need to empower my communication skills, time management and emotional intelligence. This, interlaced, can help me contribute to a better understanding of my team members, evolve as an efficient leader and resolve conflicts in the long run. In both cases, improving such skill sets can help me gain a better understanding of similar case studies while engaged in effective teamwork that can support me to develop.
6. Action Plan
Step 1: Revert to Slow Fashion
Well-informed clients are focused and concerned regarding the long-term well-being of individuals and the planet itself, empowering a new movement known as Slow Fashion (Domingos, Vale and Faria, 2022). 18Montrose may be able to engage in slow fashion practices to compete against resource depletion.
Step 2: Shift to Responsible Clothing
Since the clothing industry has been determined as one of the most polluting industries in the world, retailers and manufacturers nowadays have been reverting to the application of ethical fashion principles (Liu et al., 2021). 18Montrose can shift to responsible clothing manufacturers against challenges.
Step 3: Use Recycled Resources
With an approach towards waste recovery, recycling has been evolving as a targeted measure to address the current challenge of diminishing resources and pollution (Shooshtarian et al., 2020). 18Montrose can focus on utilising recycled resources and introduce eco-friendly product lines for long-term growth and development.
Step 4: Improve Existing Quality
The increasing efficiency and consumption of the manufacturing of fast fashion products has driven the prices of clothing to be low and affordable for customers (Niinimäki et al., 2020). 18Montrose may be able to indulge in improving fashion product quality and introduce affordable price rates.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be derived that the current situation at hand entails carrying out a case study on fast fashion and its emergence or acceptance within the retail industry of the United Kingdom. Herein, initially, although the assignment may not have been submitted on time due to the issues of time management on the part of the researcher, it had been completed on time through extensive and skilled research. One of the key strengths of the case study is that it entails the challenges of fast fashion from a perspective that reveals resources being depleted at a rapid pace.
Reference List
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Golumbic, Y.N., Motion, A., Chau, A., Choi, L., D'Silva, D., Ho, J., Nielsen, M., Shi, K., Son, C.D., Wu, O. and Zhang, S. (2022) Self-reflection promotes learning in citizen science and serves as an effective assessment tool. Computers and Education Open, 3, p.100104.
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Kobushko, Y.V., Kobushko, I.M., Starynskyi, M.V. and Zavalna, Z. (2020) Managing team effectiveness based on key performance indicators of its members.
Legislation.gov.uk (2024) Environment Act 2021. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/30#:~:text=An%20Act%20to%20make%20provision,that%20fail%20to%20meet%20environmental (Accessed: 24 September 2024).
LinkedIn (2024) About us. Available at: https://uk.linkedin.com/company/18-montrose (Accessed: 24 September 2024).
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Appendix – Case Study: Fast Fashion
1. SWOT analysis
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
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Opportunities |
Threats |
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Table 1: SWOT Analysis
(Source: Created by the learner)
2. Nearest competitors
Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo Ltd are the nearest competitors of 18Montrose within the fast fashion sector (refer to the case study). In 2023, Zara reported a brand awareness of 85% in the UK (Statista, 2024). Conversely, the brand awareness of H&M is much higher at 93% in the country in the same period (Statista, 2024). On the contrary, the brand value of Uniqlo Ltd in the country was at 9.6 billion US dollars in 2022 (Statista, 2024).
3. Current customers:
• Customer demographics
The customers of 18Montrose include both men and women (LinkedIn, 2024). The age group opting for fast fashion items are those between 18 and 24 years or the younger generation especially Generation Z wherein females make the most purchases (YouGov, 2020). 18Montrose targets individuals who are young professionals or students demanding fashionable and affordable items belonging to the median disposable income range. In 2021/2022, the median disposable income of the targeted group is worth 31,344 British pounds (Statista, 2024). Following influencers and being active on social media to identify the latest trends and socialising are the main hobbies of the demography.
• Psychographic profile
The personality traits of 18Montrose’s customers are value-oriented and impulsive buyers. Currently, the trend for impulsive purchases is on the rise as one-third of the survey respondents mentioned their concerns and tendencies toward the same (Statista, 2024). Another 36% proposed to outline their impulsive buying attitudes while browsing online. Influencer endorsements and social media savvy are the major social convictions of these individuals. In 2024, the social media penetration rate has surged to 82.8% (Statista, 2024). On the other hand, the consumers of the brand also analyse whether or not the company abides by ethical practices concerning diversity, social activism, and sustainability. Presently, 20% of the customers are willing to invest in sustainable options (Statista, 2024).
4. 2 ways 18Montrose plans to promote itself to customers
18Montrose plans to introduce celebrity endorsements by leveraging influencer marketing to better promote its brand and its offerings to customers. Influencer marketing is immensely beneficial as it helps to enhance brand credibility and amplifies reach thus driving long-term revenue growth. 69% of the surveyed retailers acknowledged the essence of influencer marketing in enhancing their brand awareness (Statista, 2024). Using the same will help 18Montrose to increase conversion rates.
5. Marketing/advertising streams 18Montrose plan to use
18Montrose plans to use WhatsApp, TikTok, and Snapchat as its advertising or marketing streams in the future. This is because the usage reach of WhatsApp is at 79% followed by TikTok at 40%, and Snapchat at 31.3% in the country (Statista, 2024). All these will help the brand sales to ensure increased visibility among its potential clients.
6. How does your company plan to tackle its social and environmental issues? Consider both social and environmental issues.
Social: To overcome the social issues related to reduced pay which is a major concern mentioned by the labourers, 18Montrose plans to abide by the UK legislation of the National Wage Act that has increased the basic pay of the workers per hour reporting at 11.44 pounds belonging to the age group of 21 years or more (GOV.UK, 2024).
Environmental: To mitigate the issues related to increased waste, 18Montrose aims to abide by the Environmental Protection Act 2021 to occupy a more competitive position by turning net zero by 2050 (Legislation.gov.uk, 2024).
7. Finally explain how being a private limited company (Ltd.) affects the company’s day-to-day operations. E.g., Financial reporting, compliance, raising capital, etc.
Financial Reporting:
Financial statements not publicly disclosed.
Internal use and statutory compliance purposes.
Less stringent reporting requirements than public companies.
Raising Capital:
Limited access to public markets for fundraising.
More challenging to secure large amounts of funding.
Rely on private investors, family, and friends for capital.
Compliance:
Fewer compliance obligations.
Less regulatory oversight than public companies.
Simpler corporate governance requirements.
Other Factors:
More control for owners.
Limited transferability of shares.
Fewer shareholders.
