Case study Zara – questions 1 and 2 – page 354

1 What can competitors learn from Zara?

2 How is Zara succeeding if they don’t have a unique product to offer?

this is the case study of zara

As the rest of the Australian retailing economy was flailing in April 2011 after the global financial crisis, reporting lost consumer con dence and increasing online shopping, the Zara Sydney store was just gearing up to open its doors, on all three levels of the new 1830-square-metre Westfield store (Tadros, 2010). And open they did, amid shopper mayhem. Customers queued for hours and were quick to swipe items before they could make it to the shelf. Some estimates quote 80 per cent (AU$1.2 million) worth of stock being sold on the rst day’s opening in Sydney (Burns, 2011). A few months later, the Melbourne Bourke Street store opened, with hundreds of people lining up to get in. So how do they do it? Zara has a unique business model that essentially boasts good quality, on-trend merchandise and a ordable prices, resulting in staggering pro ts. Each year, the reported 200 designers on sta put out around 20,000 items (Inditex, 2016). The global distribution centre in Spain moves around 2.5 million items per week, and nothing stays in the warehouse for longer than 72 hours at a time (Kottke, 2015). Chief Communications O cer Jesus Echevarria is quoted as saying the strategy of the fast-fashion retailers is ‘the complete opposite’ to the traditional model. He says, ‘it’s a matter of customer feedback. We are pretty quick to react’ (Burns, 2011). Zara puts the success down to using customer feedback to design their range. However, it is the business model that incorporates speed rather than unique innovation that sets Zara apart from the rest. It is reported that Zara uses customer feedback and a daily sales analysis from all 1830 stores to compile manufacturing plans within 48 hours (Burns, 2011). These plans are then communicated to 1500 factories in Asia, Spain and Brazil— the garments are then delivered to stores within three weeks (Burns, 2011). This means that Zara stores can be replenished with small-batch fashion choices twice a week. Zara stocks many different products: apparel for men, women and kids, plus bags, accessories and shoes. While Zara has at times been criticised for copying major designers, they insist that it is the customer-driven focus that gives shape to the products that they design worldwide. From humble beginnings in 1975, when the rst Zara store opened in A Coruña, Spain, Zara now operates in 88 countries, with online shopping also available (Inditex, 2016). Retailers like Zara represent a new wave of retailing, bringing production even closer to customer demands.

1.      In country Water, there are only 2 goods: Wave and Fish. The following table shows the prices and quantities produced of these goods in 2005, 2010, and 2015:

i)      Calculate NGDP, RGDP, GDP Deflator for all the three years.

ii)    Calculate cost of basket, CPI for the same years

iii)  Calculate inflation for year 2015 from 2010 using both GDP deflator and CPI. Does the answer vary between the two methods? Explain why or why not   

2. A) What are the main differences between financial market and financial intermediary? Why would you choose to diversify your bonds and stocks when you have the alternative option of buying stocks/ bonds of a big amount from a single organization?

B) What happens in the labor market when companies follow Minimum Wage Law? Explain with a graph. Remember to explain the supply, demand of available labor in the market and the ongoing minimum wage of the market

On January 1, 2010 Fiberglass Industries was authorized to issue 750,000 shares of 3.00 par common stock, and 40,000 shares of 4% $25 par cumulative preferred stock.

Required: Using the information below, prepare the Stockholders' Equity Section of the Balance Sheet at December 31, 2011.

2010:

Jan 4th issued 100,000 shares common stock at $5/ share.

Jan 5th issued 10,000 shares preferred stock at $40/ share.

Feb 1st Issued 60,000 shares of common stock in exchange for a shop with an estimated fair market value of $367,500.

Aug 31st Declared a $.20 cash dividend on common stock.

Dec 31st Net Income was $1,537,900 for 2010.

2011:

Mar 1st Declared and distributed a 5% common stock dividend. The company's common stock was selling for $6 per share when the stock dividend was declared.

May 15th Purchase 4,000 shares of their own common stock for $7/share.

Aug 31st Declared a $.25 cash dividend on common stock.

Nov 15th Sold 2,000 shares of the treasury stock for 22,000 Dec 31st

Net income was $1,323,380 for 2011.

Use a government website (such as BEA.gov, historical data) and complete the data for the components of GDP 2010-2017. You should only report data on personal consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment spending, government purchases, net exports (in a base year). Then, add up all of these components to get the GDP for 2010-2017 in a base year price. In other words, complete the following table.

HINT: A. go to www.bea.gov B. Under U.S. Economic accounts, select GDP C. Under the latest NIPA tables, select interactive NIPA tables D. Choose frequently requested NIPA tables. Please note that every year they change these tables. Finally, select First and Last year. Report the data for the last quarter of each year (fourth quarter).For example, for the year 2013, select the GDP and its components reported for the fourth quarter of this year. Do the same thing for other years and complete the following table.

Urban Brains and Rural Brains A study published in 2010 showed that city dwellers have a 21% higher risk of developing anxiety disorders and a 39% higher risk of developing mood disorders than those who live in the country. A follow-up study published in 2011 used brain scans of city dwellers and country dwellers as they took a difficult math test. To increase the stress of the participants, those conducting the study tried to humiliate the participants by telling them how poorly they were doing on the test. The brain scans showed very different levels of activity in stress centers of the brain, with the urban dwellers having greater brain activity than rural dwellers in areas that react to stress.

(a) Is the 2010 study an experiment or an observational study?

(b) Can we conclude from the 2010 study that living in a city increases a person's likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder or mood disorder?

(c) Is the 2011 study an experiment or an observational study?

(d) Can we conclude from the 2011 study that living in a city increases activity in stress centers of the brain when a person is under stress?

Reliable Manufacturing, Inc. is a calendar year, accrual method C Corporation that is the business of manufacturing widgets. Its taxable income averages $2,000,000 each year. On June 1, 2010, Reliable Manufacturer purchased a new manufacturing building in Minneapolis for $2,500,00. The land was allocated $500,000 and the building was allocated $2,000,000 of the purchase price. The building will be placed in service immediately upon purchase. Reliable Manufacturer occupied the building from June 1, 2010 through October 29, 2017. Reliable Manufacturer has entered into a purchase agreement to sell the land and the manufacturing building on October 29, 2017. a) What is the maximum tax cost recovery deduction Reliable Manufacturer can take on the manufacturing building in 2010? Please show your work and explain your calculations. b) What is the maximum tax cost recovery deduction Reliable Manufacturer can take on the manufacturing building in 2015 and 2016? Please show you work and explain your calculations. c) What is the maximum tax cost recovery deduction Reliable Manufacturer can take on the manufacturing building in 2017? Please show your work and explain your calculations.

trial balance of pioneer corp. on July 1, 2010 is:

account -------------------debit ---------------credit

cash............................ $26,000   

accounts receivable...... $4,500

accounts payable....................................$2,000

common stock.........................................$10,000

retained earnings.....................................$18,500

total...............................$30,500 .............$30,500

transactions during august 2010

a.loan of $45,000 from chasebank in note form

b.bought land for $40,000 cash

c. received $5,000 for services performed for customer

d. bought $300 supplies on credit

e. paid $1000 on account

f. paid salary expenses of $3000

g.received $3000 on account

h. declared dividend of $1,800

i. paid the $1,800 dividend declared in ( h. )

1)Journalize the transactions (a - i)

2)Post to the general ledger (a - i)

calculate the total only if its a permanent account

cash, accounts receivable, supplies, land, accounts payable, notes payable, dividends payable, retained earnings, dividends, revenue, salary expense, common stock.

3) create a trial balance for pioneer corp. on august 30, 2010. Pre-Closing

---do the appropriate closing journal entries

---set up a post closing trial balance.

1. Which of following is incorrect about the history of human population growth?

1. In the Modern growth era, both population and income per capita grow very fast.
2. In the Malthusian era, growth rates of both population and income per capita are close to zero.
3. In the Modern growth era, population growth slows down and income per capita grows fast.
4. In the post-Malthusian era, both population and income per capita grow at a higher rate compared with the Malthusian era.

2. According to the theory of Galor and Weil (2000), which of the following is the key driving force of demographic transition?

1. Structural transformation that increases the share of land in output
2. Government policy that encourages family planning
3. The positive feedback between population growth and technology growth
4. A one-time positive productivity shock.

3. Which of the following statements is incorrect about the nonrenewable natural resources?

1. The price of natural resources has an upward trend over time.
2. Technological progress is responsible for the declines in pollution and leveling off of energy use over time.
3. Depletion of natural resources have a negative impact on economic growth.
4. Pollution levels and income per capita have an inverse U-shaped relationship.

4. While the relative supply of college graduates has increased substantially in developed countries in the past few decades, the college premium (i.e., the college/high-school wage ratio) has also increased. Which of the following best explains the increases in both supply and price of skills?

1. An increase in the supply of skills raises the demand for skills directly
2. College students learn more from school today than in the past, and hence new generations of college graduates are more productive at work than the old ones.
3. Directed technical change: more skill-complementary technology is invented when the supply of skills is larger, increasing demand for skills subsequently.
4. New technology substitutes skills.

Nanotechnology is a field of research and innovation concerned with building 'things' - generally, materials and devices - on the scale of atoms and molecules. A nanometre is one-billionth of a metre: ten times the diameter of a hydrogen atom. The diameter of a human hair is, on average, 80,000 nanometres. At such scales, the ordinary rules of physics and chemistry no longer apply. For instance, materials' characteristics, such as their colour, strength, conductivity and reactivity, can differ substantially between the nanoscale and the macro. Carbon 'nanotubes' are 100 times stronger than steel but six times lighter.

make a case study should consider either :

1. Methods of nano-particle manufacturing
2. Application of nano-particle in chemical engineering field.

1a. Describe the five characteristics of an innovation that assist in determining the rate of acceptance or resistance of the market to a product. Please provide examples.

1b. What has become the primary vehicle for doing business in many foreign countries? Explain and justify your answer with example(s).

1c. What are the various techniques that can be used to motivate middlemen? Please illustrate your answer with examples.