10 Jan Additional Requirements

Assessment 1

Preparation

For this assessment, locate a case study for one of the leading clothing retailers listed below and then search for additional information about the company’s international positioning strategies and challenges.

Choose one of the following leading clothing retailers:

Zara.

The Gap.

PVH Company, which includes brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and others.

Select a case study for the retailer. You may use the Internet links provided in the Suggested Resources or another scholarly, peer-reviewed source, such as a database in the Capella library. The case study must contain the following information in order for you to complete this assessment:

Strategy for increasing market share in the global market (international positioning strategy).

Information about how the company operates in a foreign market.

Information about the business support systems for the strategy (technologies, transport, et cetera).

Search current (within two years) professional and trade magazines and reputable business publications such as the Economist, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Wall Street Journal for the following information:

The retail company’s competitive edge or advantage.

Information about laws and regulations that affect the operation of the company in foreign markets.

Highlight two issues you think are most important.

Information about challenges that might affect the competitive advantage or the implementation of the market share strategies.

Highlight two issues you think are the most important.

Scenario

You are a business consultant with a firm that has been retained by a large national clothing retailer. Your client wants to expand into more global markets and increase market share. Your first task is to explain the strategies and problems of one of the top ten companies to your client, as background information.

Deliverable

Write a succinct 2–3 page business report for your client. Begin the report with the title and URL of the case study you selected. Include in-text citations and a complete reference page to support your positions.

There are many ways to create a business report to meet the criteria for this assessment. If you do not have experience writing business reports, it would be beneficial to search and review examples on the Internet.

The challenge in writing this report is to distill a wealth of information into a succinct, easy-to-read business format for your client. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways:

By creating subheadings to organize the information.

By creating graphs or charts, in addition to text, to relay complex information. For example, a simple chart could convey information about the legal or regulatory environment.

By using bullets and phrases to convey pertinent information rather than writing long blocks of text.

Address the following in your business report:

Describe a clothing retailer’s international positioning strategy for increasing market share. Focus on one strategy you believe to be the most important.

Summarize how the company’s business systems support the strategy.

Explain legal and regulatory factors that contribute to the competitive advantage (labor supply, health and safety regulations, tariffs, permits, et cetera).

Analyze the cultural factors that contribute to the company’s main competitive edge among retailers.

Analyze the global challenges to maintaining and growing market share under the identified strategy.

Additional Requirements

Length: 2–3 pages, including any charts, graphs, tables, and references.

References: Provide a minimum of nine reputable references integrated into the report where appropriate. When you compile data from multiple sources to create a table or graph, cite your references at the bottom of the graphs or charts.

Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to the legal environment, including labor supply, health and safety regulations, tariffs, permits, et cetera.

Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to the company’s competitive edge.

Provide a minimum of three reputable references related to assessing the global challenges in the strategies for increasing market share.

Communication: Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics, and correctly format citations using APA style.