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Dissertation on Retail clothes outsourcing in Zara: profit maximization or fair trade?

CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND ITS BACKGROUND   1.0 Introduction             Nowadays businesses are cutting back on operations to focus on the core business, reorganizing their business norms through downsizing, restructuring or reengineering, as well as contracting out various functions and tasks. Commonly known as outsourcing, this particular business trend had started in the retail business in the early 1980s, mainly as a means of cutting back staff and savings on wages. Krajewski and Ritzman (2002) define outsourcing as the allotment of work to suppliers and distributors to provide needed services and materials to perform those processes that the organizations do not perform themselves. To put it simply, outsourcing means going outside your organization to get a job done. While such a definition is easy to comprehend, knowing when and how to outsource is much more complex. Outsourcing probably is one of the most influential phenomenons of the millennium. Its impact worldwide has been tremendous, and perhaps, maybe even contagious. Companies from all over have integrated outsourcing into various business operations. Indeed, many studies and published documents have noted significant aspects on the real meaning of outsourcing, how companies can apply it and why they should apply it. Alternatively, many critics have pointed out the downsides of outsourcing. Due to opposing points it is difficult to gauge how efficient outsourcing is. An in depth discussion of the matter perhaps will help in determining whether companies are better or better off with outsourcing. To make the discussion more interesting, an actual view and application of outsourcing may make the comprehension of the topic easier (Greco, 1997).            One of the companies that use outsourcing is the Zara Company. Primarily the main goal of this dissertation study is to determine whether retail clothe outsourcing in Zara maximize their profits or it is just a fair trade.    1.1 Background of the Study 1.1.1     Overview of the Company ZARA is one of the Inditex Group’s flagship brand that offers women’s, men’s and children’s fashion. The first ZARA shop was opened in 1975 in Spain after its Initial Public Offering in May 2001. Within 12 months, its stock price increased by nearly 50% and sales revenue has been increasing rapidly since then. In 2006, there are over 2,900 ZARA outlets and become a well-known brand all over the world. Throughout the years, Zara focus their business model through in-house production unlike other retail industries that outsource their products. It is said that the company took a different strategy to turning out fast-paced fashions, choosing for vertical integration. Herein, instead of relying on outsources, Zara owns their factories, stores as well as their distribution network. The company managers their own production since they believe that they can minimize time to market by coordinating meticulously the entire production operations. The company believed that such ability to quickly respond to the demand of the target market is more efficient as well as profitable than outsourcing to low-cost contract manufacturers. Through their approach, it enables the company to react faster than their rival industries to percolate fashion trends (Just-Style, 2006). Although Zara has their own production, the company also outsource some of the products from other suppliers.   As ZARA is a global apparel chain shop, it competes with the other strong international brand too, such as The Gap (U.S.), Hennes & Mauritz (Sweden), and Benetton (Italy). However, all three had relatively narrower vertical scope than ZARA, which owned much of its production and most of its stores. Being in fashionable and creative offering clothing lines at low prices enabled ZARA to take full advantage in the international fashion industry to sustain its competitive edge in the market. In this regard, an in-depth case study investigating the business operations of ZARA will provide data and information on competitive and strategic business management as a benchmark of company success in the international fashion industry. There is much literature that shows how the in-house production of Zara helps them in maximizing their profit, but there are limited literatures that study the outsourcing approach of the company and its impact on whether it enables them to maximize profit or just fair trade.  The study then aim on analyzing the impact of retail clothes outsourcing in Zara.     1.1.2     Outsourcing             There are many reasons for outsourcing in a company or an organization. The decision of businesses to outsource is mainly based on cost, set-up time and the availability of the expertise. The most common reasons for outsourcing are the needs for expertise, that is due to lack of learning curve and re-creating; manpower, for having not enough staff; time requirements, because of the limited time available to accomplish the job; needed for economics, owing an overall cost savings; shifting of responsibility as for deniability; and removing of stumbling blocks in keeping the work for flowing. According to (Ryan, 1996) in his review of the current literature, outsourcing is a trend that will continue. There are many benefits to outsourcing, including freeing up management resources, sharing costs, creating integrated networks, building new organization structures, training staff, and interfacing with other information systems. Outsourcing offers a company functional specialization and flexibility (Economist, 1994, p. 79). On the downside, some of the negatives include difficulties in maintaining confidentiality, retaining control, and confronting transition problems. White (1996, p. xiv) provides a definition of outsourcing as a “contractual relationship between an external vendor and an enterprise in which the vendor assumes responsibility for one or more business functions of an enterprise”. Outsourcing has expanded through most every industry since the early 1980s (Bernstein, 1995). The primary reason is to conserve staff in all areas of business. While lower wages may not be the prime motive to outsource, they are sometimes the result. Moreover, as the administration of employee benefit plans becomes more complex, companies are looking to outsourcing as a way to meet this challenge (Burzawa, 1995). Outsourcing and out-tasking involve the transfer of a valuable amount of management control over the supplier. A relative term for this process is out-tasking: which means turning over a narrowly-defined segment of an industry o-operation to another industry which is usually held annually with agreement or contract or just few months. This typically includes direct or indirect management as well as decision-making by the client of the out-tasking business. Purchasing products from another industry is not considered as t outsourcing or out-tasking, because it is only noted as vendor relationship. On one hand, availing the services from a specific provider does not necessarily constitute outsourcing or out-tasking. The process of outsourcing always includes considerable level of two-way communication and information exchange, co-ordination between two parties, and most especially trust. Industries which deliver services feel may consider that outsourcing needs the turning over of their management obligations for running a segment of business. In theoretical aspects, such business segment must not be mission-critical, but practice often dictates otherwise. Outsourcing business is characterized by expertise not inherent to the core of the client organization. It is essential not to confuse outsourcing with an opportunity to terminate current staff. Greco (1997, p. 51) noted that outsourcing “may mean eliminating or reassigning employees, but outsourcing is no longer a euphemism for downsizing.” By identifying core competencies, managers may find the need to increase staff investments in those areas. The primary purpose of outsourcing is not to rid an operation of undesirable elements, but to achieve optimum results   1.3   Dissertation Objectives This dissertation aims on analyzing whether retail outsourcing in Zara maximize profit or fair trade. Specifically, this paper aims to achieve the following objectives       Identify the context of retail clothing outsourcing.       Identify the perception of Zara employees about outsourcing as a business strategy?       Determine the advantages and disadvantages in Zara.       Know whether retail clothe outsourcing maximize profit or fair trade.       identify alternative measures to improve outsourcing   1.4   Dissertation Question             Outsourcing has been the choice of most businesses in trading their goods and services because of three primary reasons: cost reduction, liquidity of resources and unburdening of corporate infrastructure pressure.             This paper seeks to answer the following questions: 1.    What are the fundamentals and the principles of retail clothes outsourcing and how is it connected to the world market? 2.    What is your perception about outsourcing as part of your business strategy? 3.    What are the advantages and disadvantages of Outsourcing in Zara? 4.    Does retail clothing outsourcing maximize the profit and/or the fair trade? 5.    What specific alternatives or measures can be implemented to help improve the outsourcing performance of zara?   1.5   Significance of the Study Multi-business organizations and firms are constantly facing pressures brought about the varying unpredictable factors that hinder efficient and effective business operations. This results to graver responsibilities faced by the business executives as board of directors; capital markets and shareholders push for effective and powerful corporate strategies. The competitive business environment within particular industries intensifies the need of business organizations to diversify the operation systems of the company recognizing the importance of the conglomeration of assets, skills, and capabilities of the available resources that the company has in order to be successful. Since the business environments are fast becoming more and more complex added to the fact that it changes rapidly and dynamically, businesses need to concentrate on a few key elements that are most important to their organizations survival. Thus, it is not surprising that company tends to use specific business models like outsourcing. In this light, the success of the business organization like Zara entails detailed understanding on its retail outsourcing activities that influence the growth and continuous operations of the company. Studying the important consideration relevant to the organization to serve the purpose and objectives of the company will determine its success.  Hence, this dissertation study was designed to serve as a benchmark study to succeeding students and practitioners in the business environment providing data and information that will yield productive principles and ideas for the benefit of the outsourcing in retail fashion industry and other existing business industries.    1.6   Scope and Limitation This paper will only cover the discussion on the operation on Outsourcing on the field of retail clothing like Zara. The conclusions derived from this study are limited to the retail industries and how it can increase its profitability by factors that will be outlined. Review of Related Literature will be limited to scholarly works written in terms of outsourcing, retail stores,                                                                                            clothing, and fashion. However, sources on the theoretical framework will be exempted. Data will be primarily contained on Zara.       CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE 2.0 Introduction             This part of the paper will discuss literature and documents relevant to the topic of the dissertation. In order to achieve the objective of this paper, context of outsourcing, retail clothing outsourcing and SWOT analysis and strategy of Zara will be discussed.             2.1 Context of Outsourcing The changes in the environment had been sharply perceived different industries such as the Zara as it operates within and beyond its national boundaries.  In order to make sense of the growing complexity of the environment that clothing manufacturers are operating within, it is necessary to examine in greater detail the dynamics of the clothing chain of production and understand the strategic options available to local manufacturers. These options must be placed in the context of two further structural developments over the past decade: the progressive vertical disarticulation of the clothing supply chain and the growing concentration of power within certain nodes of the supply chain. It is important that the knows, how to handle its business properly since it is undeniable that there are many people who want to have a long lasting career in terms of business. The influence of these aspects of management with respect to the Strategic Competitive Advantage may well prove significant in both application and effectiveness. Basically, Hammer (1992) looks at ‘Outsourcing and the value Chain’. He states: “One method of reducing costs is to outsource non-core activities. Outsourcing can bring a number of benefits.” Actually, the topic of outsourcing may help to understand the competitive advantage of the organization. Outsourcing simply means going outside your organization to get a job done. There are many reasons for outsourcing in a company or an organization. The most common reasons for outsourcing are the needs for expertise, that is due to lack of learning curve and re-creating; manpower, for having not enough staff; time requirements, because of the limited time available to accomplish the job; needed for economics, owing an overall cost savings; shifting of responsibility as for deniability; and removing of stumbling blocks in keeping the work for flowing. Normally, there are two types of outsourced services, technology and business process. Each can be inert partial to the subsequent areas. The first type of outsourcing is the technology services. This type covers the electronic commerce (e-commerce), infrastructure (networks), software (applications), telecommunications and website development and hosting. The second type of outsourcing is the business process outsourcing. Under this type of outsourcing are customer contacts (customer relations management), equipment, finance / accounting, human resources, logistics, procurement/supply chain management and security (Quinn, 1996). Information technology (IT) outsourcing is defined as the process of contracting vendors outside the company to perform different IT functions like data entry, application maintenance and development, data center operations, network management and operations as well as disaster recovery. Outside vendors may either be individual information technology professionals, employee leasing companies, consulting firms, CPA firms and full service providers (Antonucci, 1998). As companies and firms depend more on IT to operate businesses, getting into large market dissertation files to locate new customers and using the Internet as a storefront information technology development and maintenance costs have exploded. Due to this trend, it is no wonder why companies and firms have applied transfer systems of IT assets, leases and staff to outside vendors or third party members. As a result, outsourcing strategies have been widely accepted in order to reduce expenses, improve productivity, operations management, and delivery, and concentrate on upgrading the company’s technological expertise. Outsourcing retail is one of vital business and supply chain strategies which are one way companies are revolutionizing business operations to deliver better products faster at lowest cost possible (Domberger, 1998). It is a kind of supply chain collaboration model and strategic alliance approach, which allows the OEMs to concentrate on product development, sales and marketing (Bounfour, 2003). It eventually helps business organizations to gain competitive advantage of increased product availability, reduced inventory; minimized total logistics cost and rapidly introduce their product to market without a significant investment in plans for capital equipment (Arnold, 2000). There are many reasons for outsourcing in a company or an organization. The most common reasons for outsourcing are the needs for expertise, that is due to lack of learning curve and re-creating; manpower, for having not enough staff; time requirements, because of the limited time available to accomplish the job; needed for economics, owing an overall cost savings; shifting of responsibility as for deniability; and removing of stumbling blocks in keeping the work for flowing. Lee et al (2002) stated that there have three major outsourcing drivers: (a) economic - expense reductions, cost control and containment; (b) strategic - sharing risks, gaining access to new resources, achieving quicker time to market, as well as exploiting internet opportunities; and (c) technical - access to new technology; access to special expertise, coping with increasingly sophisticated risks and keeping up with the increasing complexity and speed of technology changes. Moreover, Ryan (1996), in his review of the current literature, found that outsourcing is a trend that will continue. There are many benefits to outsourcing, including freeing up management resources, sharing costs, creating integrated networks, building new organization structures, training staff, and interfacing with other information systems. Outsourcing offers a company functional specialization and flexibility (Economist, 1994). Williamson’s (1975) theory of transaction cost analysis can be the conceptual basis for outsourcing. It combines economic theory with management theory to determine the best type of relationship a firm should develop in the marketplace (Williamson, 1975). This basically strengthens the purchasing discipline that uses an analysis of the factors which determine the internal and external boundaries of the firm. The principle of Williamson’s (1975) TCA is that the properties of a transaction determine what constitute the efficient governance structure - market, hierarchy or alliance.  Williamson (1975) stated that factors that produce transactional difficulties include: bounded rationality; opportunism; small numbers bargaining; and information impactedness. This is the reason why companies ought to protect their operations even if it means monitoring the third party proving IT through micro management as stated earlier. Aside from the main factors, the issue of costs also plays a relevant importance as both parties tend to have the same objective of gaining advantages instead of losing it. Williamson (1985) further stated that the previously mentioned transaction difficulties increase along with associated costs when transactions are characterized by factors such as: asset specificity, which are transactions that require high investments which are specific to the requirements of a particular exchange relationship; uncertainty, or in other terms, ambiguity as to transaction definition and performance; and Infrequency, which means transactions which are seldom undertaken. All in all, the central theme of transaction costs theory is that the properties of the transaction determine the governance structure. Williamson (1985) argues that the decision will always be made in relation to the scope for cost reduction and the importance of asset specificity. Therefore, the company should outsource activities if to carry them out internally would require excessive investment to get the lowest unit cost. The whole point of submitting into the outsourcing process then, is to save costs and not to increase it through unnecessary allocation of funds such as that in retailing staff which can be already provided by the third party retailing companies. Certain dissertation findings conclude that the vital strategic aspects which influence business’ decision to outsource the retail function and business facilities centers around cost, technological innovation and knowledge enhancement considerations (Chalos, 1994; Teng et al., 1995). Furthermore, Quinn (1999) stated that the company should purchase goods/services from providers who have best-in-world skills, in order achieve competitive edge. In addition, Williamson (1988), Chalos et al (1998), and Holmstrom et al (1991) argued that managerial incentive intensity becomes the primary motivation for outsourcing, as managerial efforts are focused on core competency maximization when undistracted by non-essential tasks. Again, this view conflicts with the situation presented earlier in the study. The goal is trust the third party to apply its own management system to the business service or products they provide, and let the business staff of the company handle other areas in the company where management is needed. Or furthermore, downsizing could be appropriate as the former business staff from pre-outsourcing has nothing more to do. Retention then, as stated, would just provide additional unnecessary cost for the company. Whatever the reasons for strategic sourcing, a prime purpose should still remain reduction of costs. According to Juma’h and Wood (1999), there are a number of concepts in outsourcing. First, specific activities such as information technology require specific assets and skilled staff and are essential for companies operations. In the first place, one of the reasons why outsourcing companies engage into an agreement with outsource contractors is because of their lack of tools and skilled staff. Thus, retaining the previous staff would still require training for the new technologies or services that they will handle. While outsource contractors would allow such management take over in their operation, conflicts could arise as the errors of micro management could come to place, which would be discussed later. Furthermore, the familiarization stage of the retained Employees or human resources to the new technologies brought by the outsourced contractors could consume too much time and thus taking away profit from the company in the short run. On the other hand, in the long run, such approach would cost the company unnecessarily as retention of the staff could eat up to 7% of the company’s contract value. The second key concept in IT outsourcing is that the significance of outsourcing contract and agreement is fixed over a period of time and the terms are noted to be less comprehensive than for non-outsource contracts (Juma’h and Wood, 1999). In this period, it is one of the aims of the outsource contractors to understand the customer’s operations to be able to carry out their own operations effectively to immediately reduce the cost of information technology use of the clients and other business activities.  Thus, it is inappropriate for the clients to look over closely the operations of the outsource contractors. The third concept on the other hand is that other internal functions may depend on the outsourced function. Juma’h and Woods (1999) explained that managing the alliance between the outsourced function and remaining functions is important to overall company operations. This may be mistaken of what should be managed, but Juma’h and Wood (1999) stated that what should be managed is the alliance and not the specific operations of the outsource contractors which the former employees or human resources have no exact business. Furthermore, in terms of social relations and professionalism, this might produce uneasiness in the part of the outsourcing providers, which as mentioned, could make their work limited and would restrain innovative ideas. Aside from the three mentioned, Juma’h and Wood (2002) also mentioned other key concepts in outsourcing. One additional concept is that transaction costs are high for non-standard activities subject to outsource. Another is that outsourcing may involve the permanent disposal of the related assets at other than arm's length process. Furthermore, the outsource agreement is generally based on confidence rather than on open market or competitive process. Then finally, contingent liabilities and uncertainty are inherent in outsource contracts (Juma’h and Wood, 2002). These concepts also suggest the inappropriateness of retaining Employees or human resources of the outsourcing company.     2.1 Advantages of Outsourcing The main business purpose for outsourcing is to enhance the value of an organization’s offerings to its customers. Earl (1996) calls this “smart” outsourcing, which indicates a careful selection of functions to be outsourced based on strategic decisions. According to Irwin (1995) outsourcing strategies may come in many advantages. The advantages that can be gained in outsourcing are that activity can be performed better or more cheaply by outside specialist.  Moreover, achieving the competitive advantage is not crucial in the activity. The risk of the firms in the exposure to the changing technology can be reduced. Furthermore, the cycle can be cut, the decision-making have sped –up and the coordination costs can be reduced. Finally, because of these outsourcing strategies, the firms can concentrate on its focal point in business. According to Antonucci (1998), in general, the following are considered the positive impact of business outsourcing to business sectors:             Access to state-of-the-art technology. Due to the volatility of information technology, IT skills tend to become obsolete quickly. Software for instance, is updated and replaced rather quickly, that by the time the company applies a particular program, the software may not be state of the art anymore. Through the outsourcing specialists, their skills become valuable for maintaining the up to date resources and facilities.             Cost savings and quality. Because of the intense competition in the business world, most management are left with no other choice but to lay off employees so as to reduce costs. Even the most established companies find ways on how to compete along with new entrants while reducing company expenditures. In outsourcing, companies are enabled to save costs primarily through the outside vendors. This is become third party members have a much tighter regulation of fringe benefits as well as able to run leaner overhead structures. They are also more aggressive in using low-cost labor pools and can move data centers to areas of low cost through the help of modern telecommunications. Furthermore, outside vendors are able to apply world class standards to the firm’s available Employees or human resources, in which all of whom have to re-qualify for appointment at outsourcing time. Third parties can also reduce costs as they can utilize more effective bulk leasing and purchasing arrangements for all software and hardware and have more control over licenses of software as they often are better informed negotiators. Also, outside vendors encounter certain contractual pressures; hence, they are obligated to meet deadlines. Flexibility. Through the use of business functions from outsourcing, businesses must be able to adapt well in the constantly changing business environment so as to quickly respond to changing trends and demands. Thus, flexibility is essential to the business. The outside vendors are able to tap a wide array of skills, resources, and capacities, while the internal information technology staff has limited abilities.             Job security for regular employees. Through outsourcing, companies are able to hire staff knowing that they will be hired for a limited period. Hence, they can easily drop or add employees into the workforce without putting the reputation of the company as a stable employer in danger. Further, outsourced employees buffers regular workers from changes in demand as well as enable the firm to create a more established relationship with its regular employees than would otherwise be plausible.   2.2 Disadvantages of Outsourcing             Antonucci (1998) noted that while Business outsourcing has its positive effects on business operations, it is not a general matter. Thus, the application of Business outsourcing in the organization does not always necessarily lead to success. In reality, outsourcing is not for every client or company. This then gives rise to the issues questioning Business outsourcing regarding its credibility and efficacy. In the article of Antonucci (1998), the following are considered the possible negative outcomes brought about by Business outsourcing: Media hype and outsourcing benefits. Oftentimes, managers of most companies report success stories related to outsourcing during its debut to the business operation. During this time, both the company and the selected vendor have high hopes on the outsourcing effort. However, in some cases, only the projected savings that will be derived from outsourcing will make it into the headlines. The enormous fees caused by contract amendments however, are left out of publicity as there are only a number of companies who wish to advertise their failures.             IT is not easily outsourced. IT is different from other resources; it is not like the other resources that some companies have successfully outsourced in the past. IT is not the same as legal services, logistics, security advertising and the purchase of other raw materials of the company.             Information technology evolves rapidly. Due to the fast evolution of IT, prediction beyond three years may no longer be true or applicable by that time. Thus, settling on long term Business outsourcing contracts is particularly risky. Mercurial economics. Price-performance improvements take place in every industry. However, only a few can do the underlying economics shifts as efficiently as they can on IT. For instance, mainframe that cost $1 million in 1965 costs less than $30,000 today and probably will cost 20% to 30% less next year. This makes it difficult for decision makers to evaluate costs of outsourcing bids. The cost of switching is high. Shakeout is often a problem in outsourcing, which occurs among IT vendors, with takeovers and mergers becoming commonplace. In the future, it is likely that only a few suppliers will survive; hence, difficulty will most likely be encountered in shopping for the right price. Lost of Control. There are some critics who noted that the services provided by in-house function is often unmatched by those provided by third parties, in terms of service levels and responsiveness. This is because outsourced employees are not under the same management regulation and direction as the internal workers. Moreover, there is a strong concern among third parties with regards to data confidentiality, provisions and strategic applications for disaster recovery. Bad for employee morale. Lay offs or the transfer of available employees to the outside vendor are often the resulting outcome of outsourcing. This transition is likely to cause a significant negative impact on the employees’ morale. Regular employees may fear for the security of their employment, thereby affecting their daily work output. Less flexibility. The specification of the business services is in the contract provided by the outsourcing vendor. In this provision, the outsourcing vendor utilizes the technological platform that is appropriate. Due to this contract, the company may lose a certain degree of flexibility, particularly in shifting to a new computer platform. Being held hostage. There were professionals who argued that outsourcing permits the user to become bound to the vendor, becoming its “hostage”. Outsourcing may lead to the company’s loss of technical staff as well as be locked to the outside vendor’s proprietary hardware and software. While initially, the company may have the upper hand in a long term contract during negotiations, in the long run, the outside vendor has the most advantage when the outsourcing is already in operation. Expenses. Several managers presume that outsourcing vendors are intrinsically more competent because of economies of scale. (The economies-of-scale theory says large companies can achieve lower average costs than small companies due to mass production and labor specialization efficiencies.) Within the outsourcing arena, nonetheless, this model may not always be applicable. For instance, small companies may have lower costs than large companies by employing older technology, offering below-market wages and maintaining tight controls and procedures. When vendors submit bids that indicate savings, CPAs should always consider whether they can achieve similar results themselves. If the vendor is not essentially more capable, probably the company can reduce its own IT expenses through data center consolidation and resource optimization. Subcontractors. It is not unusual for companies to find out that their outsourcing project is working not for the company, but for someone else. There are some outside vendors, particularly those who are looking for hard to find technical skills, who will subcontract a part of their computer systems to small and unknown companies. These actions are done without the knowledge of their own clients. Problems such as acquisition of viruses from subcontractors, high costs, poor communications and poor quality service may arise due to subcontracts. In general, the impact of outsourcing worldwide is divided into two, and that is either outsourcing is a success or a failure. While these effects are based on various factors within the outsourcing parties involved.    2.3 Retail clothing or Zara                Businesses especially to those involve are in retailing of products needed to assess their coordination towards their supplier.  Basically, business organizations today operate in a turbulent and dynamic business environment. The contemporary business environment is undergoing a metamorphosis as rapid technological innovations, competitive markets, diverse customer preferences, and extensive global operations prevail in it. To ensure continuous operation and survival in today’s rigid business environment, a business firm has to be open to change and improvement. Business processes, services, products, and operations should be consistently subject to evaluation and refinement. The norm is to deliver quality products and services while maintaining flexible and effective operations. The retail clothing or Zara is a business sector comprised of companies producing and distributing clothing merchandise. The market of the clothing industry is mainly influenced by economic issues; in particular, as consumers are into more prosperous economic conditions, the demand for more luxurious clothing increases. While this industry is affected by common business issues such as economic factors and competition, this industry is also greatly affected by consumer trends, such as seasonality and fashion. With these affective factors, the retail clothing or Zara typically encounters problems such as demand uncertainty; this problem on the other hand, is addressed by apparel companies through product variety.  Due to the growing intensity of competition in both local and global business sectors, several companies and service providers have realized the need to develop more strategic approaches for managing supply chains. These affective factors and realization then led to the development of tradition SCM systems up to the advanced systems companies apply at present. The evolution of supply chain management occurred during the 1990s; at this time, collaboration between manufacturers and suppliers had been established in order to enhance traditional approaches in supply management functions. At the same time, retailers as well as wholesalers had integrated their logistics operations as well so as to achieve greater competitive advantages (Tan, 2002). In the process, both of these concepts were joined and became a strategic approach to what is now known as supply chain management (SCM). In this chapter, the relation of the retail clothing or Zara to SCM is explained. Models, implementation needs as well as the dilemma on the application of SCM systems are also discussed through the citation of various related literatures and studies.             The retail clothing or Zara goes through a number of business challenges. Due to certain trends like fashion and consumer preferences, companies operating in the industry often encounter the issue on demand uncertainty. In order to address this, apparel businesses utilize the concept of product variety. This technique however, would require certain activities such as production systems, forecasting and inventory management. This then emphasizes the need for the retail clothing or Zara to employ innovative systems to manage and handle its supply chains. Traditionally, the supply chain approach of apparel establishments is made up of the formation of inventories for raw materials, work processes, and finished products. Sabath (1998) stated that with the traditional supply chain approach, apparel companies tend to react slowly to changing consumer trends as they establish similar inventory levels for both volatile and non-volatile goods. However, the development of SCM systems through innovative and more advanced tools allowed apparel companies to acquire useful benefits.             Through supply chain management, the information between business partners are optimized and collaborated; most importantly, SCM systems help in reducing inventories, which in turn can lessen operational costs, compress order cycle time, enhance asset productivity as well as increase the companies’ responsiveness to the market (Palevich, 1997). Aside from these benefits, the retail clothing or Zara  is able to achieve quick response (QR) through efficient SCM practices (Rabon, 1998). Quick response is a concept pertaining to the collaboration and sharing or information among manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, allowing them to respond more rapidly to the needs of the customers. Previous studies have noted that QR concept brought about by supply chain management is advantageous to the retail clothing or Zara as well as to fashion-oriented businesses (Askelson, 1995; Ko and Kincade, 1998).             The relevance of supply chain management to the retail clothing or Zara is high as various SCM-related activities and factors are observed in clothing companies. One of which is the involvement of raw material suppliers in an apparel business’ supply chain. Manufacturers of clothing merchandise order and buy various yarns, fabrics and other textile mill products from suppliers so as to make their finish products. As most manufacturers would have to deal with multiple suppliers for their highly-diversified product lines, a system to manage the suppliers is an important strategy. Moreover, the SCM technique is essential for apparel manufacturers to keep track of suppliers who specialize in multiple types of raw materials (Jarnow and Dickerson, 1997). A supply chain management system is also relevant to the apparel companies as this helps in keeping track of the suppliers, in terms of the quality of their services and supplies. This aspect is particularly important since suppliers have the tendency to the supply chain off balance. By means of analyzing suppliers and assessing their performance, the uncertainty on the supplies of raw materials will lessen; in addition, the inventory performance of the apparel companies will also be improved (Davis, 1993). By efficient information exchange and communication brought about by SCM, apparel companies can deal with supplier that suit their needs. Data on the suppliers’ product stocks, costs, speed and reliability can be obtained through SCM; in turn better inventory performance and strong company-supplier relations can be established (Doney and Cannon, 1997). Another factor that relates the retail clothing or Zara to SCM is the companies’ connection with the retailers. While some apparel companies distribute their products directly to consumers, most manufacturers utilize the services of the retailers. The application of an SCM system on the other hand helps in strengthening the relationship between both parties as well as in achieving positive business outcomes.  Considering that the apparel sector encounters the problem of demand uncertainty, SCM allows the companies to communicate with their retailers; this feature of the SCM enables them to forecast product demand jointly. The participation of the retailers with the SCM system of the company helps the apparel companies to obtain valuable consumer data such as end-customer demand levels; this will then help in reducing the manufacturers’ errors in determining raw material and production volume.             2.4 Supply Chain and Outsourcing Due to several changes in business as well as in technology, outsourcing at present is no longer an alternative strategy but a priority. Several businesses are trying to apply outsourcing their different internal operations in the attempt of establishing stronger business focus on primary competencies. The basic motivating factor for this decision is mainly concentrated on organizational restructuring and reduction of costs. As previously mentioned, outsourcing also results to several benefits for both the client and the outside vendor. Upon deciding to pursue outsourcing, the following question would probably be where to outsource. According to Shine Technologies (2004), possible outsourcing sites are found all over the world. Why companies tend to apply outsourcing is a common inquiry. In a survey conducted by Cohen and Stonich (2004) together with the World Trade Magazine, the 180 companies who participated stated various reasons for their decision to outsource. Among the common responses include capacity expansion, attainment of greater flexibility in production, product quality improvement, attainment of better focus on primary competencies, reduction of investment in capital assets and achievement of global presence in retail. The researchers noted however, that the most common reason why companies apply outsourcing is to save monetary resources. In fact, 40% of the respondents stated that the reduction of costs is their major driver for outsourcing. Outsourcing has been defined in literature by several analysts and authors. In general, outsourcing is a present business trend wherein companies extend its services to other locations do as to distribute internal functions. Various companies have chosen to conduct outsourcing to retail industries with potentials in order to obtain several organizational benefits. Nonetheless, outsourcing also results to certain difficulties primarily because there are third parties and barriers involved.             In the retail industry setting, outsourcing has started to flourish along with the economic progress of the industry. As the retail industry possesses several potentials of a good outsourcing area, apparel industries and other retail industries have been interested in conducting outsourcing. Through outsourcing in Apparel industries and other retail industries, these industries where able to obtain company objective as well as various benefits, including increased market, profit gains, enhanced global presence, reduced costs, and company flexibility.             Based on the analysis provided above, outsourcing in Apparel industries and other retail industries has its advantages and downsides. While some companies are hesitant in venturing into outsourcing, the benefits gained by apparel industries and other retail industries in Apparel industries and other retail industries apparently outweigh the risks involved. Moreover, from the experiences of the sample companies cited, these difficulties are manageable by means of certain risk management strategies and prompt actions. Conducting business operations and making business deals in whatever aspect naturally has its pros and cons. Outsourcing is then no different. Thus, the gain from outsourcing in Apparel industries and other retail industries has its potential risks. The good thing about these difficulties is that they are manageable. In the article by Cohen and Stonich (2004), the authors states that in spite of the known difficulties in establishing business partnerships in Apparel industries and other retail industries, apparel industries and other retail industries still take the risk as the advantages and benefits gained from it is indeed very real. So as to minimize expected difficulties, companies who intend to outsource in Apparel industries and other retail industries must consider certain factors and conduct important initial procedures. 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Consider all possible costs 	when evaluating</li> In order to do these step, read on recent literature regarding outsourcing in Apparel industries and other retail industries. Weigh over the benefits and risks. In this case, a balance between the two is crucial. To support the documentary findings, it is advisable to consult other apparel industries and other retail industries who had outsourced in Apparel industries and other retail industries. From this brief conversation, invaluable data that is not publicly available may be obtained. Through this step, apparel industries and other retail industries may learn from others’ experiences, successes and pitfalls. The company may also learn of other qualitative or quantitative factors to evaluate through consultations. 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Ensure that the products to be 	outsourced suits Apparel industries and other retail industries </li> This step is a major driver for the company’s cost analysis. It is important to remember that mature products do not need ground-breaking retail capabilities. Hence, these products are likely to lead to near-term cost savings if transported to Apparel industries and other retail industries. Moreover, mature products that have clear and established retail mechanisms will result to a much flatter learning curve when transported to a new area. In addition, this type of products does not need much management attention and engineering. 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Make it certain that internal 	resources can support outsourcing relations</li>             The manner in which companies conduct outsourcing with Industry partners is essential for business success. For this purpose, a high-touch model must be used to attain a higher possibility to succeed. High-touch basically means that the role of both parties involved is clearly defined. Ideally, this can be achieved through a joint service agreement (JSA), which provides legal contracts, enabling both business partners to comprehend their core objectives. This clear agreement also encourages both parties to direct all activities towards their constant improvement. 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Make sure that sufficient 	supply chain personnel is available</li> Adequacy is not only measured in number. Hence, it is important that the supply chain personnel is also adequately capable or skilled and has the necessary experience to manage the change to an outsourcing strategy. They must also be able to work efficiently with Industry business partners. While it is a plus if the company personnel can communicate in Industry, the ability to work and deal well with foreign employees is more advantageous and useful. 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Previous experience is crucial</li> Past experiences on outsourcing are vital factors for success. If the company intends to do outsourcing in Apparel industries and other retail industries for the first time, it is recommended that the people behind the transition process are not new to it. Their experiences may be vital in resolving present problems related to outsourcing. Moreover, their experiences can enable the prediction of possible problems in the future. Thus, the companies can resolve it immediately before it affects the business operations. 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Design and implement business 	practices with the new Industry Partner</li> Supply chain management practices are not generalized. Hence, the practices of the apparel industries and other retail industries may not necessarily be applicable to the Industry setting. Work instructions that the foreign company have been using for years can be incomprehensible to their Industry partner. In order to design and implement a more effective supply chain management practice, variation in techniques, skills and equipment may require re-evaluation. This also applies to core supply chain procedures. For instance, the foreign company may have to make essential changes to its planning and sourcing procedures so as to operate within the outsourcing model. In this case, the core staff members that will be in charge of managing cultural and communication issues must fully understand all that it takes to change major supply chain procedures from the internal environment to the work environment of the Industry partner. 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Do not determine the level of 	expertise in supply chain of the partner on their sales pitch alone</li> This a common practice among most company management, in which their supply chain expertise is based on their general customer base, overlooking the company site they have considered for outsourcing. Several retail service providers that are operating in Apparel industries and other retail industries have developed through acquisition. In order to achieve consistency and successful assimilation of new partners and facilities, sufficient time should be allotted combined with a huge amount of management attention. Effort must be exerted by the foreign company to fully understand the company site it has considered for transition.               In general, in conducting outsourcing in Apparel industries and other retail industries, or to any site for that matter, the key to success is to make sure that all factors, both qualitative and quantitative, have been taken into account. Consider the experience of other companies as well; their achievements, and most importantly, their mistakes. Apparel industries and other retail industries should never be overly confident about outsourcing. They should not underestimate the difficulties and possible risks in managing and implementing outsourcing operations abroad. Good human and social skills are also essential in this type of business setting. Not only will this enable a more profitable and successful outcome, but it will also help in the establishment of long-term relationships.   2.5 Retail Clothing Outsourcing The concept of retailing is simply defined as the direct sale of commodities to consumers. However, to be able to succeed in this kind of venture, a considerable number of considerations must be identified. The tool that one uses to measure its success often defines the vision and strategy in retailing (Hughes, 2002). It is said that the net present value of the customer base should be at the top of the measurement hierarchy. Lifetime value is the net present value of the profit to be realized on the average new customer during a given number of years. Hughes (2002) suggested that one should get customers to give data, and build it into a database complete with purchase history. For a retailer, that means that one have to keep track of their spending. Moreover, he asserted that building a relationship with customers only works if the customer benefits from the relationship. The main technique in retailing is to find ways which one can do for clients that will be able to modify behavior in profitable manners. What the retailer provides to customers has to be something that they will appreciate and value, but which do not cost you too much. In retailing, the margins are often thin (Hughes, 2002).                The problem arises when retailers can’t adapt to the rapid changes of their environment. There is pressure in competition.  While it is being said that advancement on marketing operations and adapting to the current forms of retailing methods will drive you to ultimate success, however there are other factors that will block your way. It has been noted that the most ambiguous, accommodating and changeable, yet the most persistent and potent forces that control retail competition are custom, consumer expectations, and social pressure (Greco & Michman, 1995). The market in a lot of ways limits what retailers can do.  There is a constant adjustment to customer needs and tastes.  The relationship between retailing and its environment is complex.  The ability of the small firms to successfully operate and compete its environment, could hinder their success against the market competitors in all areas. The importance of high quality services and products is consistently taken as a component of successful firms (Hofer & Sandberg, 1987).  One of the ways that most retailing industries nowadays consider is the aspect of outsourcing. Outsourcing probably is one of the most influential phenomenons of the millennium. Its impact worldwide has been tremendous, and perhaps, maybe even contagious. Companies from all over have integrated outsourcing into various business operations. Indeed, many studies and published documents have noted significant aspects on the real meaning of outsourcing, how companies can apply it and why they should apply it. Alternatively, many critics have pointed out the downsides of outsourcing. Due to opposing points it is difficult to gauge how efficient outsourcing is. An in depth discussion of the matter perhaps will help in determining whether companies are better or better off with outsourcing. According to David (2003), there are at least four types of resources which the company can use to achieve its objectives: financial, tangible, human and technological resources. These are the same critical success factors that Zara or other retail companies should be equipped with in order to conceptualize efficient supply management and cost-effective distribution strategies from the main suppliers to the end-users of the products, particularly their clothing products. In some other countries, the domestic channels for apparel are characterized using three dominant patterns as shown in the schematic diagram below (Figure 1). Approximately 70-80% of the garments in the local market are distributed in the local market through Pattern A through product supply chain and interchanges between the textile manufacturers, apparel manufacturers and the retailer to the consumers. the large cities of China normally employ Pattern A while Pattern B is dominant in small and middle-sized cities and towns. In pattern B, the distribution channels or retail outlets include the specialty stores, the department stores, and the street fashion peddlers. Pattern C is seldom used in the local market to distribute apparel products to the consumers (retail chains and direct mails) (China Textile University & Harvard Center of Textile and Apparel Dissertation, 1999).        Figure 1. Distribution Patterns of Clothing and Apparel Products       Some of the ways that companies acquired cost advantages are by improving process efficiencies, gaining unique access to a large source of lower cost materials, making optimal outsourcing and vertical integration decisions, or avoiding some costs altogether. If competing firms are unable to lower their costs by a similar amount, the firm will be able to sustain a competitive advantage based on cost leadership. This has been the practice within some retail and apparel companies and retail and apparel production through contracts with direct supplier in order to lessen the expenditures of the company spent on materials.   2.6 Synthesis The literature review provided above has been able to explain basic concepts of outsourcing and its advantages and disadvantages upon consideration. Herein, outsourcing can be done with the technology, with the human resources and most probably with the products. Being able to realize the benefits of outsourcing, different companies are able to utilize this approach and integrate it to their current system. Accordingly, the analysis of the previous studies shows that outsourcing has vast effect to the organization as a whole. In the case of retail apparel industries outsourcing has also               Zara                                           Dissertation Methodology         3.0 Overview This part of the paper discusses the methods that have been used for this dissertation.  This detailed the steps the researcher took in order to accomplish the study.  The said steps then include the collection procedure of the data that is required in the delivery and completion of the dissertation.  It also presents the manner in which these data will be utilized and integrated in the study and at the same time, detail how the dissertation proceed to answer the aims and objectives in order to reach to the conclusion. In this manner, this part of the paper justifies the means in which the study will be performed.  It also emphasizes its credibility by making mention of widely accepted scientific methodologies. Through the methods mentioned in this paper, a plausible conclusion will be obtained.   Looking back to the aims and objectives of the study, the study intends to determine whether outsourcing maximize profit or fair trade for Zara. In order to identify the opinions of the s of the company, the study’s methodology was focused on collecting both primary and secondary data through related literature dissertation and the survey and interview materials. As the dissertation intends to discover the general consensus of staff in ZARA with regards to retail outsourcing, the immediate dissertation methodology in mind is the descriptive dissertation design.  The dissertation are taken from various data sources that is integral in identifying issues of  retail outsourcing,  and the status of their performance in ZARA.   3.1       Dissertation Design The study is exploratory, being descriptive and illustrative. To achieve the objective of this study, the researcher opted to use descriptive method of dissertation was utilized. The purpose of employing the descriptive method is to describe the nature of a condition, as it takes place during the time of the study and to explore the cause or causes of a particular condition. The researcher opted to use this kind of dissertation considering the desire to acquire first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.   According to Creswell (1994), the descriptive method of dissertation is to collect information or data regarding the present existing situation or phenomenon.  Descriptive dissertation has as its purpose developing a better understanding of a phenomenon in detail. Descriptive studies usually have as their purpose the first two aims of normal science as described by Kuhn (1970, pp. 25-26): “attempts to increase the accuracy and scope with which facts are known” or “determination of those facts that can be compared directly with the predictions from theory”. The aim of descriptive dissertation is to clarify the nature of a phenomenon in a specified, static context while viewed from a specific, fixed perspective.   Descriptive dissertation design, then, is directed toward clarifying a phenomenon's appearance or nature. In other words, it describes a particular phenomenon, focusing upon the issue of what is happening, rather than why it is happening.   Two types of data were used: the primary and the secondary data. The primary data were derived from the answers respondents gave in the self-administered questionnaire prepared by the researcher. In addition, the information obtained from the interview also provided primary dissertation data that supported the study. The secondary data on the other hand, were derived from the findings stated in published documents and literatures related to the dissertation problem. These were based from the recent literatures related to retail outsourcing and motivation and the concepts cited by the respondents. In terms of approach, the study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative approach focused on obtaining numerical findings was used with the survey method. The interview on the other hand, made up the qualitative approach of the study as this focused on personal accounts, observations, description and individual insights of the respondents. This study employed the combined approach so as to overcome the limitations of both approaches. In order to achieve the goal of this paper, the researcher has been able to use appropriate approach.  For this study, the research design used is qualitative approach (Mays & Pope, 2000). In this study, the qualitative data used provides details descriptions of the entire topic which is the health incentives which allowed the researcher to gain better understanding of the objective of the study (Creswell, 1994). It can be said that the article used qualitative research method since it will try to find and build theories that will explain the impact of retail outsourcing with Zara. In this research design, the data collection approach includes the consideration of relevant literatures that provides discussion about the practical considerations for employers which want to use strategically incentives as a vital program approach for motivating their employees and engaging them to health promotions. Herein, the researcher has been able to gather information from relevant studies and incorporate it qualitatively through the use of content analysis. Through the secondary documents, it can be said that the researcher have been able to achieve the goal and objective of this study. It is said that the qualitative research utilized in this article can be said to be as it is more open to adjustment and refinement of research ideas as an inquiry proceeds. Several researchers had stated that generally, qualitative research takes place within a natural setting. It is less likely for qualitative research to impose restriction on data collection. Furthermore, it is more focused on idiographic descriptions and emergent themes rather than on categorical frameworks and very specific hypothesis (Cassell & Symon, 1994).   3.2        Participants The respondents have been chosen directly from ZARA HR department. This may include managers, line managers and other employees of the company.  All of these participants were selected through random sampling. This sampling method is conducted where each member of a population has an equal opportunity to become part of the sample. As all members of the population have an equal chance of becoming a dissertation participant, this is said to be the most efficient sampling procedure.   In order to conduct this sampling strategy, the researcher defined the population first, listed down all the members of the population, and then selected members to make the sample. For this purpose, a self-administered survey questionnaire in Likert format was given to the respondents to answer.  The respondents assessed the retail outsourcing strategies of ZARA and determine whether retail outsourcing have a significant impact with organizational performance. However, due to time and budget constraints, the researcher opted for a smaller sample size. In this regard, the dissertation will only consider 50 employees of the company. ZARA employees have been chosen to ensure that the data and information that will be gathered is pertinent.   3.3        Dissertation Instruments For this study, two dissertation instruments were used to evaluate the relationship of the two contexts. These dissertation instruments included the survey questionnaire methods. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the selected s. The questionnaire given to the respondents aimed to assess retail outsourcing strategies of ZARA and identify whether retail outsourcing maximize profit or fair trade. In addition, this also aims to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the ZARA’s retail outsourcing strategies as perceived by the respondents in terms of the mentioned aspects above. This focus of the assessment was based on the principles introduced by various authors. The questionnaire was structured in such a way that respondents will be able to answer it easily. Thus, the set of questionnaire was structured using the Likert format with a five-point response scale. A Likert Scale is a rating scale that requires the subject to indicate his or her degree of agreement or disagreement to a statement. In this type of questionnaire, the respondents were given five response choices. These options served as the quantification of the participants’ agreement or disagreement on each question item. Below are the designated quantifications used in the questionnaire for this dissertation: 	 		 		 		1 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		2 		 		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		3 		 		 		Uncertain 	 	 		 		 		4 		 		 		Disagree 	 	 		 		 		5 		 		 		Strongly 		Disagree 	               The survey method will be facilitated through the use of survey forms and questionnaires. This will include inquiries on the general characteristics, particularly the socio-demographic information of the selected research participants. Quantifiable inquiries will be likewise contained in the survey forms and questionnaire regarding the real advantage of retail outsourcing in general on Zara. The survey format will be distributed to employees of the company. The criteria which will be used to select the employees will be the individuals that have long been in the company for more than 3 years. This will enable the participants to compare and contrast the business processes of their company before and after the popularity of the use of retail outsourcing operations.   3.4       Instrumentation 3.4.1. Content analysis Content analysis was done to analyze communications in order to answer two levels of questions – the descriptive and the interpretive. Descriptive questions focused on what the communication contains. Interpretative questions focused on what the contents was likely to mean. The process entailed searching through one or more communication to answer questions that an investigator brings to the search (Brubaker & Thomas, 2000). Content Analysis was used to analyze and interpret the interviews.   3.4.2. Statistical Treatment The Likert scale was used to interpret items in the questionnaire. These responses were based on the respondents’ assessment of the current investment process model. There were instances that the respondents were asked to rate the effectiveness of implementing the phases in the investment process. The range and interpretation of the five-point scale are shown in Table 1.   Table 1: The Five-point Likert Scale 	 		 			 			 			Scale 			 			 			Range 			 			 			Interpretation 		 		 			 			 			5 			 			 			4.50 – 5.00 			 			 			Strongly Disagree 		 		 			 			 			4 			 			 			3.50 – 4.49 			 			 			Disagree 		 		 			 			 			3 			 			 			2.50 – 3.49 			 			 			Uncertain 		 		 			 			 			2 			 			 			1.50 – 2.49 			 			 			Agree 		 		 			 			 			1 			 			 			0.00-1.49 			 			 			Strongly Agree 		 	   Weighted mean was used to measure the general response of the survey samples, whether they agree to a given statement or not. The formula in computing weighted mean is as follows:                                     Where:           f – weight given to each response                                                             x – number of responses                                                             xt – total number of responses   Results of the survey were presented in tables. Excerpts from the interview were integrated based on the analysis outline. Relevant literatures to support the findings are also included. Basically, the data acquired from the survey was analyzed using Pearson Correlation to find out the significant impacts and relationships.   Furthermore, the correlational analysis is conducted in this study. The correlational kind of dissertation method is use due to ethical problems with experiments. Moreover, it is also used due to practical problems with experiments. Moreover, inferring causality from correlation not actually impossible, but very difficult. This mode of study is widely applicable, cheap, and usually ethical. Nonetheless, there exist some "third variable" issues and measurement problems. The correlational dissertation refers to studies in which the purpose is to discover relationships between variables through the use of correlational statistics (r). The square of a correlation coefficient yields the explained variance (r-squared). A correlational relationship between two variables is occasionally the result of an outside source, so we have to be careful and remember that correlation does not necessarily tell us about cause and effect. If a strong relationship is found between two variables, using an experimental approach can test causality. To assess the strength of relationship between variables, it is important to get the correlation coefficient, which can take on any value between -1 and +1, since this will tell the strength of the relationship between two ranked or quantifiable variables (Saunders et al, 2003, p. 363). Accordingly, a value of +1 represents a perfect positive correlation, which means that the two variables are exactly related, where, as the values of one variable increase, values of the other variable will increase. Conversely, a value of -1 shows a perfect negative correlation, which also means that the two variables are exactly related, only this time, as the values of one variable increase, that of the other decreases. Finally, correlation coefficients between +1 and -1 stand for weaker positive and negative correlations, and a value of 0 means that the variables are completely independent from each other. Table 1: Values of Correlation To assist the researcher in the statistical analysis of the gathered data, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. SPSS is one of the most widely available and powerful statistical software packages that covers a broad range of statistical procedures, which allows a researcher to summaries data (e.g., compute means and standard deviations), determine whether there are significant differences between groups (e.g., t-tests, analysis of variance), examine relationships among variables (e.g., correlation, multiple regression), and graph results (e.g., bar charts, line graphs).   3.5        Ethical Considerations As this study utilized human participants and investigated business practices, certain issues were addressed. The consideration of these issues is necessary for the purpose of ensuring the privacy as well as the security of the participants. These issues were identified in advance so as prevent future problems that could have risen during the dissertation process. Among the significant issues that were considered included consent, confidentiality and data protection. In the conduct of the dissertation, the survey forms and interview methods were drafted in a very transparent and unbiased e manner to prevent conflicts among respondents.  Employees who participated in the dissertation were given an ample time to respond to the questions posed on them to avoid problems and conflicts as well as inaccuracies in the employee’s answers. The participants of this dissertation were provided waivers about the confidentiality of employee’s identity and details that they did not wish to disclose. The cooperation of the participants was eagerly sought after, and the employees of the company were given assurance that the collated data from them would be treated with the strictest confidence to make them more open in answering the questions. This was done with the hope that this would promote rapport and trust between the researcher and the respondents.       Chapter 4 Presentation, Interpretation and Analysis of Data   In this chapter, the data gathered from the chosen respondents who are mostly managers and employees of Zara. . This chapter discusses the results of the structured survey questionnaires given to the 50 chosen respondents and the result of the survey process which has been initiated among 50 senior managers of Zara. Prior to the initiation of the survey process, the purpose, the importance, and objectives of the study were relayed to the chosen respondents. They were also assured that all the information they had provided are solely for the purpose of the study while their identities would remain confidential. All questions asked in the survey questionnaire pertain only to the respondents’ insights regarding the significant relationship of china and international apparel industries with each other. For a clearer presentation, the findings of the survey are presented in graphs and tables and the findings of the conducted survey were also presented. To give an appropriate flow of discussion, findings are also divided into sections. Section one gives a summary of the demographic profile of the participants used in the study. This profile was categorized according to the respondents’ age, gender, civil status, educational attainment, and length of service in their respective apparel industries.   Part 1 Demographic characteristics of the respondents In order to have a general idea on the general social and economic characteristics of the respondents, the data and discussion provided in this section of the results and findings of the study presents the details of the overall description of the sample population. Age. In terms of age, almost three-fourths of the total number (78%) of respondents comprises the adult group categorization (30 – 59 yrs. old) while the age of the remaining participants compose the managers who are below 20 years old (4%), and 20 to 29 years old (18%). A more graphic illustration of the respondents’ age distribution is detailed in the pie chart below. Figure 2   Gender. The data also indicated that more than half of the respondents (66%) are female while the remaining participants in the research activity are male (34%). It could be inferred that the job nature in Zara provides career opportunities to women than men. Figure 3 below illustrates the specific results of the research study in terms of the gender of the respondents.  Figure 3   Civil status. Meanwhile, the largest portion of the respondents (64%) indicated that they are married followed by those who are single (20%), thus supporting the inference in Figure 1 regarding their familial responsibilities. Managers who claimed that they are separated comprises of 4% out of 50 respondents and widows/widowers (12%). From these research results, it is evident that three-fourths of the respondents (84%) attend to and meet the needs of their immediate family members. See Figure 5 below for the details of the research findings on the participants’ claimed civil status. Figure 5   Years of employment in the company  The largest portion of the total number of respondents (50%) stated that they have 6-10 years of working experience in the Zara followed by the managers who have gained 11-15 years of career experience (36%) in the Zara. It is remarkable to note however, that there are 14% of the respondents who have 5 years or less of work dedicated to the organization. These findings are clear indication that the company has interesting strategies of minimizing the turnover of the employees and provides good opportunities to company members who have relatively lesser experience in the company operations. Details of these findings are illustrated in Figure 6 below.   Figure 6   Part 2: Perception of Respondents             The proceeding sections will present the results in accordance to the Likert technique. It will be remembered that the respondents of the study were presented a set of attitude statements so they can express their agreement or disagreement with the use of a five -point scale, wherein 5 is equivalent to an answer that merits a strong agreement and 1 as showing a strong disagreement (see Likert). Table 1 Perception of the Respondents about Outsourcing 	 		 		 		Statements 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 		 		 		Weighted Mean 		 		 		 		Interpretation 	 	 		 		 		1. The outsourcing system 		used within Zara can be considered as one of the critical success 		factors of the company 		 		 		36 		 		 		14 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.28 		 		  		 		  		 		  		 		 		  		 		Strongly 		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		2. The good supplier 		partnership of outsourcing used within the company makes it applicable 		as a method for managing successfully the supply chain of the company. 		 		 		26 		 		 		19 		 		 		0 		 		 		5 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.68 		 		  		 		  		 		  		 		 		  		 		  		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		3. The different methods 		of having external connection and links with the outsourcing approach of 		the company enables them to successfully handles supply chain activities 		and other logistics 		 		 		41 		 		 		9 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.18 		 		  		 		  		 		 		  		 		Strongly 		 		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		4. Outsourcing enables the 		company to be able to meet the needs and demands of both the customers 		and suppliers effectively. 		 		 		38 		 		 		12 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.24 		 		  		 		  		 		 		Strongly 		 		 		Agree 	     The table above present the perception of the respondents regarding outsourcing. Herein, the answers of the respondents’ ranges from agree to strongly agree.  The employees of Zara have perceived that the outsourcing system used within Zara can be considered as one of the critical success factors of the company. In addition, the respondents also strongly agreed that the different methods of having external connection and links with the outsourcing approach of the company enables them to successfully handle supply chain activities and other logistics and they also strongly agreed that outsourcing enables the company to be able to meet the needs and demands of both the customers and suppliers effectively. On the other hand, they agreed that the good supplier partnership of outsourcing used within the company makes it applicable as a method for managing successfully the supply chain of the company. Table 2 Advantages of Outsourcing 	 		 		 		Statement 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 		 		 		Weighted Mean 		 		 		 		Interpretation 	 	 		 		 		focus on company's core 		competencies, 		 		 		41 		 		 		9 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.18 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		better Return On 		Investment (ROI), 		 		 		38 		 		 		12 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.24 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		better cost control, 		 		 		39 		 		 		11 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.22 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		more focus on R&D, 		 		 		36 		 		 		14 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.28 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		improved the performance 		of time-to-market, 		 		 		35 		 		 		15 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.30 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		no need to do the 		investment on buying new machines for making new products, 		 		 		42 		 		 		8 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.16 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		reduce total cost, 		 		 		41 		 		 		9 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.18 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		better product quality and 		reliability 		 		 		39 		 		 		11 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.22 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		flexible retail services, 		 		 		36 		 		 		14 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.28 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		less risk on releasing the 		new product to the market, 		 		 		35 		 		 		15 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.30 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		improve the services to 		the customer (Quick respond for sampling and mass production), 		 		 		42 		 		 		8 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.16 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		less investment but faster 		lead time. 		 		 		35 		 		 		15 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.30 		 		 		Strongly 		Agree 	             The table above provide the perception of the respondents about the advantages of outsourcing in Zara. Herein, it shows that majority of the respondents strongly agreed that through outsourcing; Zara is able to focus on company's core competencies, have a better Return On Investment (ROI), better cost control, more focus on R&D and improved the performance of time-to-market. Furthermore, the respondents also perceived that through outsourcing there is no need to do the investment on buying new machines for making new products.  The respondents also strongly agreed that outsourcing reduce total cost, and generate better product quality and reliability, flexible retail services, less risk on releasing the new product to the market, improve the services to the customer (Quick respond for sampling and mass production), and less investment but faster lead time.   Table 3 Disadvantages of Outsourcing 	 		 		 		Statement 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 		 		 		Weighted Mean 		 		 		 		Interpretation 	 	 		 		 		cannot own the retail 		know-how, 		 		 		12 		 		 		8 		 		 		0 		 		 		19 		 		 		11 		 		 		3.18 		 		 		 		Neutral 	 	 		 		 		relationship driven, need 		to spend more time on communication, 		 		 		18 		 		 		9 		 		 		0 		 		 		6 		 		 		7 		 		 		1.90 		 		 		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		need to spend more time on 		relationship development, 		 		 		21 		 		 		13 		 		 		0 		 		 		9 		 		 		7 		 		 		2.36 		 		 		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		Not easy to have better 		communication with supplier partner 		 		 		23 		 		 		19 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		8 		 		 		2.02 		 		 		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		high data integration 		cost, 		 		 		16 		 		 		21 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		13 		 		 		2.46 		 		 		 		Agree 	 	 		 		 		  product knowledge will 		be disclosed to the suppliers 		 		 		35 		 		 		15 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.30 		 		 		 		Strongly Agree 	 	 		 		 		not easy to build up the 		trust with the supplier, 		 		 		41 		 		 		9 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.18 		 		 		 		Strongly Agree 	             The table above presents the perception of the respondents with regards to their perception on the disadvantages of outsourcing. Based on the result and analysis, the answers of the respondents corresponds from neutral, agree to strongly agree.  The respondents have neutral perception that one of the disadvantages of outsourcing is the inability of the management to own the retail know-how.             On one hand, the respondents agreed that the disadvantage of outsourcing is its relationship driven which do  not have more time on communication, need to spend more time on relationship development,  uneasiness to have better communication with supplier partner. They also agreed that outsourcing results to high data integration cost. lastly, the respondent strongly agreed that  product knowledge will be disclosed to the suppliers and it is uneasy to build up the trust with the supplier. Table 4 Alternative Measures on Outsourcing Process 	 		 		 		Statements 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 		 		 		Weighted Mean 		 		 		Interpretation 	 	 		 		 		1. Having an 		effective process of production planning and the corresponding inventory 		control process. 		 		 		32 		 		 		18 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.36 		 		 		 		Strongly Agree 		 	 	 		 		 		2. Ensuring a proficient 		 		process of distribution and the underlying logistics process 		 		 		31 		 		 		19 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.38 		 		 		  		 		Strongly Agree 	 	 		 		 		3.  Ability to measure the 		performance of the supply chain activities for maintenance and 		sustainability of the supply chain process within the organization. 		 		 		 		28 		 		 		22 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.44 		 		 		  		 		Strongly Agree 	 	 		 		 		4.  Conducting 		Supply chain evaluation based on 		customer responsiveness. 		 		 		39 		 		 		11 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.22 		 		 		  		 		Strongly Agree 	 	 		 		 		5.  Ensuring 		Customer/client/supplier satisfaction for every supply chain process 		involved in the company 		 		 		23 		 		 		27 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.54 		 		 		  		 		Strongly Agree 	 	 		 		 		6. Having a continuous 		coordination among important suppliers. 		 		 		29 		 		 		21 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.42 		 		 		  		 		Strongly Agree 	 	 		 		 		7. The enterprise network 		infrastructure must work together seamlessly since its effectiveness 		depends on the ability of users to access up to the minute information 		across the supply chain. 		 		 		28 		 		 		22 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.44 		 		 		  		 		Strongly Agree 	 	 		 		 		8. Organizations must 		capitalize on customers' active participation in organizational 		activities so as to gain competitive advantage through greater sales 		volume, enhanced operating efficiencies, positive word-of-mouth 		publicity, reduced marketing expenses, and enhanced customer loyalty 		 		 		31 		 		 		19 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		0 		 		 		1.38 		 		 		  		 		Strongly Agree 	   The table above shows the alternative solutions that can be suggested by the employees of Zara which are facing problems in terms of managing effectively their outsourcing. Outsourcing covers the entire integrated process of acquiring raw materials, transforming the raw materials into final products from the outsource companies, and delivering these products from Zara end customers. The highest level of outsourcing involves two integrated processes: first are the process of production planning and the corresponding inventory control process; and second are the process of distribution and the underlying logistics process. (Martin 1994). Herein, the participants strongly believed that this process is a really helpful idea to manage outsourcing effectively or successfully.              Production design involves the plan and management of the entire production process. The production process is a cyclical and continuous process but it generally starts with the acquisition of raw materials and other necessary resources followed by the scheduling or allocation of resources in the succeeding production cycles. After which the business develops a retail design and set target outputs for every deadline in its retail schedule. Inventory control process refers to the succeeding development of a plan and system of handling and controlling the flow of resources such as the codes for the different resources and a warehouse storage plan. This also includes a synchronized system of conducting inventories to determine the status of the supply of raw materials and final products and to prevent damage and wastage of raw materials and final products. (Beamon 1998)             After these processes, a business firm has to develop a distribution and logistics process that involves a system of transporting final products from the warehouse to the distribution outlets and directly to customers. The considerations are inventory retrieval in the warehouse, arrangements for the transportation of products to the different channels of distribution and the delivery of the final products to end consumers. (Beamon 1998)             These two processes interact in the operations of the business to develop the integrated outsourcing of the business. The plan and management of the integrated outsourcing determines the extent that the outsourcing operates as a unit in attaining the target performance objectives. Determining the performance of outsourcing in goal achievement requires the establishment of a performance measure. The performance measure is used to determine the effectiveness of the current outsourcing of the business or to compare alternative systems to find one that is appropriate to the needs of the business. Performance measures may also be used as basis for the design of a system, which means that a system of checks is incorporated into the system to ensure regular evaluation of the implementation of the system. Generally, there are two forms of performance measures, which are the qualitative and the quantitative measures.             Outsourcing evaluation based on customer responsiveness involves the achievement of these goals: 1) fill rate maximization or increasing the number of customer orders met on time; 2) product lateness minimization or decreasing the period between the order and actual delivery; 3) customer response time minimization or decreasing the period between the customer order and receipt of product; 4) lead time minimization or decreasing the period between the beginning and end of the production process; and 5) function duplication minimization or eliminating the assignment of a single task to two or more business entity. (Nicoll 1994)   Part 3 Industry Analysis: Zara              This part of the paper will provide the internal and external analysis of Zara. Herein, the marketing tool used to do this is SWOT Analysis. The discussion also includes the analysis of the strategic capabilities of Zara.   SWOT Analysis of Zara             This part of the paper will analyze Zara using SWOT analysis. Strengths <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	The company used vertical 	integration in its supply chain approach while most of its competitors 	outsource their products as well as other process to countries with cheaper 	labor like China. This enables Zara to shorten turnaround times and attain 	great flexibility and reduce stock to a minimal and diminishing fashion risk 	to the greatest plausible context.</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	The company’s business model 	is based on producing the latest styles in high quality apparel goods at an 	affordable price. With their creative team of more than 200 employees who 	are professional and well trained, the design process of the company is able 	to meet the demands of their target market. Herein, the information travels 	from the clients to the designers, and transmit the demand as well as 	concerns of the clients.</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Zara has been able to manage 	the shortening of lead times by several period and have the ability to turn 	out new apparel products in a week to meet the needs of the clients (Jones, 	2005)</li> </ul> Weaknesses <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	The inability to penetrate 	American market is one of the weaknesses of Zara.  Zara’s presence in the US 	is still unstable because of the competitors. This is because Zara has 	European preferences. </li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Inability of Zara to replicate 	their winning European business approach in the United States which include 	strong production and distribution strategy so as to shorten the time of 	production as well as lead times.</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	The company is also struggling 	in terms of acquiring economies of scale. The use of vertical integration 	often results to their inability to acquire economies of scale which implies 	that Zara don’t have the opportunity to gain advantage of producing large 	quantities of products for a discounted rate. </li> </ul> Opportunities <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	The company can have great 	opportunities in terms of internalization. Ever since the decision of the 	company to internationalize in 1988, Zara has been able to gain experience 	to be competitive in the international market Internationalization. The 	company still have the chance to be more active in the global market by 	opening more stores in different countries.</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	 Internet/Company Website – 	Because of the internet Zara is able to reach its customers in diverse 	locations around the world. The company’s website, aside from its stores, 	also serves as a tool for Zara and its customers to communicate. 	</li> </ul> Threats <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	The disruptions may threaten 	the operation of Zara. The operations of the company from design to their 	logistics are concentrated in La Coruna Spain. Though the company is 	considered to have the most efficient supply chain, the disruptions in their 	headquarters may have an effect on the global operation of the company. Zara 	is quite vulnerable to these risks like natural disaster, weather, 	terrorism, political instability, and labor strike that may happen in Spain. 	</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	The centric business approach 	in Spain makes the company more susceptible in terms of financial issues, 	for instance Euro has been strong relative to the dollar. Different low cost 	retail countries have currencies which are either fallen against the Europe 	or pegged to the dollar. This implicates that the Spain-centric costs of 	Zara rose at higher rates as compared to rival industries, which present 	greater challenge in keeping profit margins check.</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Another threat is the rising 	cost of transportation. Due to the erratic costs of transportation as well 	as continued rise of fuel, the model of twice-weekly delivers which have 	been vital for defining the experience of Zara can become expensive to 	maintain. </li> </ul>  2.3 Strategic Capabilities of Zara 2.3.1 Innovative Business Model Inditex is the company which owns Zara. It can be said that Zara has innovative business approach which serves as the base of their strategic capability. Such business approach enables Zara to provide utmost value t their clients as well as their continuous innovation. The company has been able to consider their clients as the beginning and the end of their business. Nonetheless, Zara has pushed forwards by providing their target market an active role and position from the start of the supply chain and turned it as a principal driver for their entire operations. The feedback and other suggestions of the clients are specifically considered by their design team, which establish proposals which are sent to their stores as soon as possible. The beginning of the business model of Zara is their store which is essential to the industry’s business model because this is where the information from the clients are collected and received. Such information is sent to design centers as well as commercial departments in real time. Herein, the response of their clients with new product requests sets the operations going. The stores are receiving new products twice week, providing quick response to their clients. 2.3.2 Excellent Supply Chain Management For the store of Zara, to be able to provide cutting edge fashion with lower prices, needs the company to exert strong effect over almost the entire garment supply chain which includes fashion design, purchasing operation, production, distribution as well as retailing. The company produces and creates clothing lines which result the latest in the fashion industry, but the company beat other designers to market. Since the company use inexpensive fabrics, the company can give the clients affordable price. To attain such competitive advantage, the company controls most of their supply chain by taking control of the design, warehousing or storing, distribution and logistics functions. The company design the organization, operational activities, performance measures and even the configuration of the office to enable information and product transfer easily. Since Zara’s merchandize is generated in small numbers, provided on predictable schedules, as well as displayed in the stores for only short period, clients visit the stores often. With this the company can reduce cost in terms of advertising. The scheduling approach of the company is also very efficient. The following are the specific operations and operations of the company: <ul type="circle" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Centrally Managed Inventory – 	managed the timely delivery of clothing to their stores in the market. 	</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Reduced Design Cycle Time – 	This enables the company to timely response to items which have potentials 	and ability to easily change or enter new products and designs. </li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Strong IT System – permits 	almost urgent communication of sales and inventory information all over the 	market place</li> 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Logistics and Distribution – 	the company moves their products within hours to their destination with 	effective scheduling of shipments</li> </ul>   Chapter 5 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation   This part of the study will provide the discussion of the summary, conclusion and recommendation based on the results presented in the previous chapters. The focus of the study is to determine in detail the researcher’s findings on whether retail outsourcing Zara maximizes profit or fair trade. Specifically, this paper aims to achieve the following objectives.       Identify the context of retail clothing outsourcing.       Identify the perception of Zara employees about outsourcing as a business strategy.       Determine the advantages and disadvantages in Zara.       Know whether retail clothe outsourcing maximize profit or fair trade.       identify alternative measures to improve outsourcing   This is done by carefully examining the answers from the employees of the company e. Data collected from the managers provided answers to the queries of the researcher.  The primary source of data will come from a questionnaire that will be distributed to the respondents coming from companies who are implementing this kind of leadership approach.  Their cooperation was fervently soughed after and its descriptive analysis was undertaken by the researcher through the descriptive research method that uses observation and surveys.   SUMMARY 	<li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	Profile of the Respondents</li> The respondents for this study were composed of 50 employees directly from the targeted industry, i.e. Zara. Employees were chosen so as to make sure that the researcher will only get pertinent data from pertinent source. The description of the respondents was based on their age, gender, civil status and the length of service within the company. The researcher opted to choose Zara employees as respondents because of their knowledge regarding the outsourcing approach of the company. And with the use of the outsourcing context in their company, the researcher is assured that all the respondents are knowledgeable enough regarding the topic. Statistics have shown that  almost three-fourths of the total number (78%) of respondents comprises the adult group categorization (30 – 59 yrs. old) while the age of the remaining employees  who are below 20 years old (4%), and 20 to 29 years old (18%). In terms of gender, statistics show that 66% of the respondent’s female while the remaining participants in the research activity are male (34%). It could be inferred that the job nature in Zara provides career opportunities to women than men. In terms of civil status, it has been revealed that most employees in Zara are already married comprising (64%) of the total employees. In line with the length of stay in the company or the number of years working in the company, it is said that most of them are working in Zara for 6-10 years. These findings are clear indication that the company has interesting strategies of minimizing the turnover of the employees and provides good opportunities to company members who have relatively lesser experience in the company operations.     Conclusions Outsourcing system can be considered as one of the most influential phenomenons in the retail industries. Its impact worldwide has been tremendous, and perhaps, maybe even contagious. Companies from all over are trying to integrate the concept of an effective outsourcing as part of their management system and business practice, specifically in handling their supply chain activities and operations. Indeed, many studies and published documents have noted significant aspects on the real meaning of outsourcing, how it affects organizational performance. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher concludes the following: 1.     The respondents who took part in this study are already mature in age, responsible and reliable.  They are also aware about the existence of outsourcing strategy within their company and how it enhances the organizational performance of Zara. 2.     The respondents agreed that outsourcing is an important approach which can be used by many retail industries provided that they have been able to determine the advantages of this to the operation of the company. 3.     The respondents also strongly agreed that the outsourcing has both advantages and disadvantages for Zara 4.     Based on these results, it can be concluded that outsourcing can be considered as an approach that maximize profits for Zara depending on how the company effectively used it?     Recommendation Organizations could not be able to attain its mission, objective and vision, if it does not implement a strategic management system that will deliver all the functions for ensuring competitive and developmental organization. With outsourcing along with the identified critical success factors, Zara are able to become successful in the field of retail and delivering products or services. This approach helps the company to have better commitment on the things that they do specifically in handling effectively their supply chain procedures.   Hence, with the result of this study, it is recommended that other retail industries like Zara. must consider the implementation outsourcing and other given alternative measures or approach within their organization. Although, outsourcing  have some flaws, the optimistic view and the acceptance of the organization can make these flaws as a challenge to have a more effective supply chain system.   By and large, the study only have small number of respondents which may have  significant effect in terms of result, in order to have a more reliable and evident result, it is recommended that other studies should be conducted focusing on the same topic.   Reference   Antonucci, L. (1998). The Pros and Cons of IT Outsourcing. Journal of Accountancy, 185 (6), 26+. Arnold, U 2000, ‘New dimensions of outsourcing: a combination of transaction cost economics and the core competencies concept’, European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management, vol. 6, pp. 23-29. Benamati, J. & Rajkumar, T. M. (2002). The application development outsourcing decision: An application of the technology acceptance model. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 35-42. Bernstein, A. (1995, July 17). Outsourced - And Out of Luck. 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(2000) Qualitative research in health care: Assessing quality in qualitative research. BMJ, 320, pp.50-52 Quinn, J.B. (1999, Summer). Strategic outsourcing: leveraging knowledge Capabilities. Sloan Management Review, 40 (4), 9-22. Ryan, C. (1996). Outsourcing. Journal of Small Business Management, 34. US: Zara fast fashion workshop announced," Just-style.com, February 11, 2009; White, R. & James, B. (1996). The Outsourcing Manual. Gower Publishing Limited England. Williamson, O.E. (1975). Markets and Hierarchies. New York: Free Press. Williamson, O.E. (1988). The logic of economic organization. Journal of Law Economics and Organization, 4 (1), 65-93.     Questionnaire The researcher is conducting a study to investigate whether retail clothes outsourcing in Zara maximize profit or generate fair trade.  To enable the researcher to make the necessary conclusions and recommendations for this study, it would be very appreciated if you answer all the items in the questionnaire.             Information given will be treated in strictest confidence. Thank you.                                                                                                       Part 1.  Profile of Respondent   Direction: Please answer all questions.  Are you a full time staff (  ) or part time staff (  )   a.            Age Below 25                   ( )         25-35                          ( )         36-45                          ( )                            46-55                           ( )                    56-above                 ( )     b.            Gender Male      ( ) Female ( )   c.            How long have you been working in Zara? Less than 1 year            ( ) 1-2 years                       ( ) 3-4 years                       ( ) 5-6 years                       ( ) 7-8 years                       ( )             9- above                        ( ) Part 2: Perception of the Respondents   Direction:       Check the number corresponding to your answer                           1          -           Strongly Disagree                         2          -           Disagree                         3          -           Uncertain                         4          -           Agree                         5          -           Strongly Agree   a.    Perception about Outsourcing     	 		 		 		Statements 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 	 	 		 		 		1. The outsourcing system 		used within Zara can be considered as one of the critical success 		factors of the company 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		2. The good supplier 		partnership of outsourcing used within the company makes it applicable 		as a method for managing successfully the supply chain of the company. 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		3. The different methods 		of having external connection and links with the outsourcing approach of 		the company enables them to successfully handles supply chain activities 		and other logistics 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		4. Being able to meet the 		needs and demands of both the customers and suppliers effectively. 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	             b.    Advantages of Outsourcing   	 		 		 		Statement 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 	 	 		 		 		focus on company's core 		competencies, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		better Return On 		Investment (ROI), 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		better cost control, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		more focus on R&D, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		improved the performance 		of time-to-market, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		no need to do the 		investment on buying new machines for making new products, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		reduce total cost, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		better product quality, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		flexible retail services, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		less risk on releasing the 		new product to the market, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		improve the services to 		the customer (Quick respond for sampling and mass production), 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		better product quality and 		reliability,  and 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		less investment but faster 		lead time. 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	       c.    Disadvantages of Outsourcing   	 		 		 		Statement 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 	 	 		 		 		not easy to build up the 		trust with the supplier, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		cannot own the retail 		know-how, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		relationship driven, need 		to spend more time on communication, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		need to spend more time on 		relationship development, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		Not easy to have better 		communication with supplier partner 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		high data integration 		cost, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		  product knowledge will 		be disclosed to the suppliers 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		not easy to build up the 		trust with the supplier, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		cannot own the retail 		know-how, 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	         d. Alternative Measures to Improve outsourcing Process   	 		 		 		Statements 		 		 		1 		 		 		2 		 		 		3 		 		 		4 		 		 		5 	 	 		 		 		1. Having an 		effective process of supply chain and distribution planning and the 		corresponding inventory control process. 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		2. Ensuring a proficient 		 		process of distribution and the underlying logistics process 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		3.  Ability to measure the 		performance of the outsourcing activities for maintenance and 		sustainability of the outsourcing process within the organization. 		 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		4.  Conducting 		outsourcing evaluation based on 		customer responsiveness. 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		5.  Ensuring 		Customer/client/supplier satisfaction for every outsourcing process 		involved in the company 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		6. Having a continuous 		coordination among important suppliers where outsourcing is taking 		place. 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		7. The enterprise network 		infrastructure must work together seamlessly since its effectiveness 		depends on the ability of users to access up to the minute information 		across the supply chain. 		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  		 		 		  	 	 		 		 		8. Organizations must 		capitalize on customers' active participation in organizational 		activities so as to gain competitive advantage through greater sales 		volume, enhanced operating efficiencies, positive word-of-mouth 		publicity, reduced marketing expenses, and enhanced customer loyalty

Dissertation on Retail clothes outsourcing in Zara: profit maximization or fair trade?

CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND ITS BACKGROUND 1.0 Introduction Nowadays businesses are cutting back on operation...

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTION: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

THE UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS SCHOOL   MBA    BAHRAIN 21   STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT   29 August 2007   2 Hours     Instructions to Candidates:   Read the attached case “Chaos in the skies – the airline industry pre- and post-9/11” (,and)   Imagine you are a consultant to the airline industry. Prepare to make a presentation to a specific client (either an FCS or an LCC) in which you will evaluate their situation in the light of the events of September 11, and advise them on future strategy.   The examination will be a CLOSED BOOK, so that you will not be able to bring in any notes or reference material of any kind. You will be required to answer all THREE questions set with no choice. Marks will be awarded for evidence of extra research         Answer ALL questions           Strategic Management     Answer ALL three questions     Question 1   Set out your views on the state of the airline industry and its prospects after September 11, 2001                                                                                 (40%)   Question 2   Evaluate critically what you see as the key capabilities required of an FSC or an LCC in this new situation                                                                     (20%)   Question 3   Choose a specific airline (either FCS or LCC) and advise them on appropriate future determined or emergent strategies                                     (40%)

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTION: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

THE UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS SCHOOL MBA BAHRAIN 21 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 29 August 2007...

Thesis Chapter 3 on Insurance for Small Business - A Survey of Options

Chapter 3 Methodology   Method of Research to be used                This study will utilize a survey on the insurance company profiles and their offered insurance plans, and a case study of selected companies and their current insurance plans. The insurance plans will be divided into basic insurance plans, including liability insurance, health insurance, business continuation insurance and workers’ insurance policies; and other insurance plans, including  e-commerce protection and terrorism insurance.                The companies will be asked to describe and delineate the scopes of all their insurance plans and packages, specifically those with multiple coverages like Business Owner’s Policy and Umbrella insurance.  This study will use the descriptive approach.  This descriptive type of research will utilize questionnaires in the study. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, the researcher will be guided by Calmorin when he stated: “Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition.  The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of a particular phenomena.”   Sampling techniques                Insurance companies catering to small businesses and with existing products relating to the protection of small businesses will be included in the survey. A list of all legitimate insurance companies in the USA will be made using resources such as the on-line directories, insurance advertisements and government-provided lists of registered insurance providers in the different states. The researcher will contact these insurance companies via mail, fax or telephone prior to the survey to assess their willingness to participate. The researcher will provide the insurance companies who will agree to be a part of the survey with the necessary legal documents that comprise strict guidelines on the usage of the information, confidential or otherwise, disclosed by the companies. The researcher will use a combination of cluster and random sampling.  First, the researcher will cluster the 51 different states in the USA. From each cluster, the researcher will randomly pick a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 50 insurance companies. The companies will be notified by mail or e-mail and will be asked to answer a researcher-made survey questionnaire. Respondents will be qualified insurance personnel predetermined by each company, particularly those that have been handling policies for small businesses for a significant number of years.                A case study will be conducted on several companies. The sample size for the case study depending mainly on their performance in the questionnaire survey and on their company profiles. The researcher’s criteria for the selection of insurance companies to be included in the case study include: significance of available policies and services to the needs of small businesses; accessibility; business track record and financial stability (according to the submitted profile); and extensiveness of insurance coverage. Instruments to be used                The questionnaire survey will center on the different types of insurance offered by the company, their estimated premium prices and their specific coverage details for small businesses. The insurance company will also be asked to submit a detailed company profile that contains the company’s address and contact details and will reflect the company’s track record.                In the questionnaires, attention will be given on the similarities between the insurance coverage offered by different companies, and more importantly, on the policies that stand out as unique to a particular insurance provider.                Validation of the Instrument                For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a survey questionnaire and after approval, the survey will be given initially to 10 randomly picked insurance companies from a previously obtained list. After this, the survey questionnaire will be answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument.  The researcher will again examine the content of the survey questionnaire to find out the reliability of the instrument.    Administration of the Instrument                The revised instrument will then be administered to the respondents of the study which will be chosen through a combination of cluster and random sampling.  The researcher will exclude the ten respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument.  The researcher will also tally and tabulate all the relevant data in the survey questionnaire.   Data Analysis                The researcher will classify and tabulate the insurance companies that responded to the survey according to the number of years in the industry, the number of basic and other policies offered to small businesses, premium prices, their policies pertaining to the needs of small businesses.   Statistical Treatment of Data                When all the survey questionnaire will have been collected, the researcher will use statistics to analyze all the data. 1. Percentage distribution – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.           n % = -------- x 100  ;              n – number of responses           N                                 N – total number of respondents   2.            Weighted Mean          f1x1 + f2x2  + f3x3 + f4x4  + f5x5 x = ---------------------------------------------  ;                                xt where:   f – weight given to each response                                x – number of responses                                           xt – total number of responses     REFERENCE: Calmorin, Laurentina P. & Calmorin, Melchor (1995). Methods of Research and             Thesis Writing 1st ed. Manila: Rex Bookstore.

Thesis Chapter 3 on Insurance for Small Business - A Survey of Options

Chapter 3 Methodology Method of Research to be used This study will utilize a survey on the insurance company profiles ...

BIODIVERSITY

BIODIVERSITY INTRODUCTION Biodiversity can be defined as the efficient and effective implementation of the policies and tasks necessary to preserve the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region. Biodiversity focuses on the careful management of the processes involved in the preservation and protection of various ecosystems in the world ( 1983). More often than not, geneticists, biologists and ecologists don't really have the same interpretations regarding the concept of biodiversity. As a result, they engage in activities that various schools of sciences typically associate with the concept of biodiversity. These activities include the identification of biodiversity hotspots, connecting biodiversity with evolution as well as its benefits and ecological roles. However, the concept of biodiversity deals with all operations done within various ecosystems. Activities such as the management of ecosystems, the control of species, logistics and evaluations are often related with biodiversity. A great deal of emphasis lies on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Therefore, biodiversity includes the analysis and management of internal processes. Measurement of Diversity There is not one available objective measure of biodiversity that can be used, only measures relating to particular purposes or applications. There are three common metrics used to measure species-level biodiversity. These are: (a) Species richness; (b) Simpson index; and (c) Shannon-Wiener index. Costs of losses in biodiversity Concerns about the declining water, land and air quality in various ecosystems all over the world have cropped up since the 1960s. These concerns started on pollutants such as heavy metals and other chemical wastes from industries which slowly destroyed the biological structures of these ecosystems. These wastes proved too harmful for both humanity and the health of the wetlands. To counter this major problem, the Clean Water Act (CWA) was established in 1977 in the hopes of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the wetlands particularly in the United States ( 1988). High non-point source runoff induces significant changes in ecosystems. The color and turbidity of waters become dark and cloudy. There would also be an increase in the presence of organic matter and nutrients as well as suspended sediments in the water. While in the ecosystem, these materials wreak havoc and can seriously degrade the quality of water, land and air for humans and other life forms. Non-point source pollution is difficult to detect and control because its runoff come from different sources. Non-point source pollution is actually one of the most prevalent sources of pollution in the United States ( 1983).   Economic growth and biodiversity preservation There is no doubt that in order to gain enormous publicity and praise in the industry, there are multinational companies who engage in environmental conservation efforts as part of their strategy to monopolize the entire place. Their efforts to alleviate the worsening environmental conditions in their own capabilities are really good, but the debate lies on whether the price these poor countries have to pay in exchange for the biodiversity preservation programs is fair or not is still on. Sad to say, but this is the way how economic growth can impact on biodiversity preservation. Most multinational companies nowadays deliberately take advantage of this worsening biodiversity situation as a means to allow the continued growth and expansion of their businesses in underdeveloped countries. The same goes to natural or man-made disasters. Some multinational companies make it a point to see their names on top of the highest donations list, so the public may picture them as a business entity that’s not only profit-oriented, but cares for humanity even in the most trying times as well. No doubt, the extent of the profits these multinational companies obtain from these kind of efforts is varied and always to their advantage. On the other hand, the underdeveloped countries which are favorite targets of multinational companies for their environmental conservation programs seem to have no choice but to let these multinational companies take advantage of their situation. If not, they will be left starving to death. This may be a clear indication of how worse the environmental situation has gotten over the years. India, Brazil and many other underdeveloped countries will continue to remain under the control of these multinational companies unless the world’s biodiversity crisis is resolved. Is there a way to stop this situation? Maybe not by a long shot. Nowadays, there seems to be a mutual agreement between the poor countries and these multinational companies regarding the purpose of existence of each other. The poor countries need the multinational companies to get them out of their bad environmental situation. The multinational companies, on the other hand, need poor and environmentally-savaged countries to expand their businesses. A simple give and take relationship, but in reality the poor countries become even poorer and the multinational companies become even richer. Although this is not correct at moralist’s standpoint, the world’s biodiversity situation is simply overpowering and crippling that the situation has gotten into this direction. Perhaps, it is important right now to know how to survive rather than to know what is right. Cutting on remaining tropical forests There is no need actually for banning tropical forests to be cut down in developing countries. However, there has to be certain regulations as to which trees can be cut down and which are not. After all, tropical forests are important in the management and preservation of biodiversity because: a)     They constitute the majority of species present in ecosystems; b)     The show a wide range of sensitivity to pollution; c)      They are easy to sample and identify; and d)     Because of their short life cycles and high movement, they provide reliable evidence of improved water, land and air quality after a pollution event. The traditional way in monitoring the health of ecosystems is by using the tropical forests monitoring approach. In this approach samples from tropical forest ecosystems are collected and further analyzed for possible physical and chemical pollutants. However, this approach is costly and relatively ineffective in some cases. This is because the concentrations of pollutants vary with respect to time and location. Therefore, non-point source pollutants cannot be traced by physical and chemical monitoring alone ( 1993). Bio-monitoring uses a biological approach towards tropical forest monitoring. It incorporates the use of tropical forest ecosystems and other minute aquatic organisms as basis for detecting pollution. It was the Europeans who first used this approach in the early 1900s to determine the existence of organic pollution in large rivers (. 1991). In the United States, on the other hand, the use of tropical forests as biological indicators became rampant only over the last two decades. Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have biologists implements bio-monitoring in ecosystems across the country. Bio-monitoring operates under the basic concept that tropical forests and certain types of stream animals thrive only under certain water quality conditions. So for instance, when a particular ecosystem receives a significant non-point source pollutant, the abundance of tropical forests and other stream animals in that particular ecosystem will definitely change. Government intervention and international cooperation In lieu of the present developments in biodiversity preservation, there have been significant visions of learning that evolved. A majority of these learning visions are based on the idea that biodiversity preservation is a social process where government intervention and international cooperation is necessary for its success. The process of biodiversity preservation, then, transforms into an interactive process. The interaction is being verified through the help of the participants in the biodiversity preservation process such as the government officials and the public. In this framework, high quality of biodiversity preservation would mean the continued guidance and support of the active biodiversity preservation process of the public. Obviously, this would call for an intensive and phased guiding strategy. When in the active pursuit of biodiversity preservation, the interaction of the government with the public forms an integral part towards its success. Collaborative efforts and international cooperation as a method of teaching biodiversity preservation is gradually being used by countries nowadays. Through this approach, the general public can learn from their government leaders through the imitation of their techniques in the biodiversity preservation processes. In the process, the general public is able to obtain the chance to see their own ideas in a different aspect and therefore be able to take alternatives into consideration. The relative effectiveness of this approach is determined with the capability of the public to continuously challenge their pre-acquired knowledge by trying to adapt to the interpretations of their government. Aside from the public and the government, the different resources of learning belong to a third category of factors of biodiversity preservation. Moreover, biodiversity preservation efforts have shown signs of significant growth over the past years. Consequently, obtaining knowledge becomes more complicated. This is because the transformation of all this information into knowledge requires the public to possess the appropriate reference frameworks. But through international cooperation, governments can certainly help the public transform information regarding biodiversity preservation into valuable knowledge. SUMMARY This essay utilized the concept of biodiversity as the model concept to review its present impacts and how governments dealt with critical situations especially in its preservation. From the analysis, key trends in the biodiversity preservation were then identified, how they worked and their effectiveness in dealing with critical situations was ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess the possible costs of losses in biodiversity, during which the internal capabilities of economic growth in relation to biodiversity preservation were determined also. An overall analysis of the performance and effectiveness of government intervention and international cooperation regarding biodiversity preservation efforts was also conducted to assess and compare the capabilities of these strategies with those of others. Gaps in the biodiversity preservation efforts as well as their capabilities were then identified. Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the biodiversity preservation efforts of countries as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well. CONCLUSION As a person with knowledge of biodiversity, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of strategy formation regarding the analysis of this topic and at times fails to understand the reasons or logic behind certain strategic implementations imposed on it. By delving into this project paper, the author intended to have better insights into how the concept of biodiversity is thought up, formulated and then imparted down. The author hoped to have an in-depth understanding as to how the concept of biodiversity enabled local communities and ecosystems to compete effectively and profitably in this era of internationalization where competition is extremely intense. In order to reinforce the learning objectives, two key focal issues were focussed upon i.e. innovation and diversity. Innovation was discussed with regard to the concept of biodiversity where it was renowned for its developmental capabilities to constantly innovate. Diversity came under strategic thinking and formation as the author considered the diverse culture, political climate, economic surroundings, social environment, technological settings, government policies and legal systems in order to better understand the issues being discussed.                           REFERENCES

BIODIVERSITY

BIODIVERSITY INTRODUCTION Biodiversity can be defined as the efficient and effective implementation of the policies and tasks necessar...

RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE (FTP)

FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE (FTP)   INTRODUCTION               According to the article written by Husman and Shell (2008) retrieved from Science Direct journal, there is indication that Future Time Perspective or FTP does amicably relate such degree of time perception as compared to the actual physical time as found into such calendar records for instance as there must be clarification stance when individuals do perceive future needs and by allowing a more serious idealism that such present path is linked within the past and towards the future as it deals to the temporal context and turning needs of people into specific goals. Thus, there can be evidence existing that the thoughts of some college students' regarding the future does incur certain impact mostly in the academic achievement (Malka & Covington, 2005; Shell & Husman, 2001; Simons, et al., 2004 in, Husman and Shell 2008) as well as the study persistence (Shell & Husman, 2001 in, Husman and Shell 2008) and in turn managing the passage of time.                 The measuring of FTP has created as the (Shell & Husman, 2001; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999 in, Husman and Shell 2008) and knowing that comprehensive measure of FTP constructs was not available yet and the enclosed instruments of the process do impose little unsatisfactory reliability and construct validity. Generally, FTP has accounts in the history centered on European psychology as stable sets of beliefs and expectations dealing with the future (Lens & Rand, 1997; Trommsdorff, 1994; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999 in, Husman and Shell 2008). The dimensions being focused in FTP tool are valence, extension, speed and connectedness that serves as traditional constructs of a stable FTP and certain evidence indicates aspects of time perspective do change and can be rooted in social context and culture (Jones, 1994; Seginer & Halabi, 1991; Bond & Smith, 1996 in, Husman and Shell 2008). For Valence, FTP manifests that all things are equal and that goals that are more distant in time as compared to the immediate goals and valuing valence can possibly be associated with adaptive behavior and positive motivation in post-secondary educational settings (Shell & Husman, 2001; Turner & Schallert, 2001 in, Husman and Shell 2008).               Meanwhile, connectedness is present as the FTP does have ability in making connections within present activities and future goals that is to anticipate distant future; to dispose longer time intervals in which an individual can situate motivational goal as well as directing present actions toward the goals into distant future. Ideally, Daltrey and Langer (1984 in, Husman and Shell 2008) developed a scale called the Daltrey Future Time Perspective Test consisting of five subscales: extension, coherence, directionality, density and attitude and are highly correlated with each other (0.42 to 0.86) and was a representative of an underlying unitary construct. The presence of factor analysis was realized from within that had revealed 13 factors, and its not 4 or 1 (Regeth, 1996 in, Husman and Shell 2008) as primary factor did contain the majority of the items, as Regeth retained 10 of the original 80 items and it proved to be reasonably internally consistent implying alpha coefficient of 0.78 which have reasonable construct as well as validity.               Comes next is extension aspect referring to goals that exists from such individual in his time horizon holding importance for the individual than goals outside within the habitual time and was of use in clinical and counseling psychology with adolescents and adults (Lennings, 2002; Rappaport, 1991; Rappaport et al., 1985; Rappaport & Fossler, 1993 in, Husman and Shell 2008). Then, the speed the anticipation and planning for future as attributed to strong cognitive FTP and the subscale of such had represented the speed at which individuals feel time is passing and time orientation has focused on post-secondary students. Accordingly, Shell reported good psychometric properties for these scales, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.78 for the valence scale and 0.83 for the instrumentality scale. Simons and colleagues simplify FTP by providing basic examples with short FTP view the near future in setting plans and goals while people with long or deep FTP do it otherwise or in the distant future. As Bembenutty and Karabenick (2004 p. 36) have listed numerous authors who refer FTP as “an individual’s beliefs or orientation toward the future concerning temporarily distant goals”.                 The importance of FTP is rooted on the recognition of its role in human decision-making and taking particularly on how far a person plan into his/her future. It also reflects the future needs of the person and the degree in which it links with the past and the present. According to the article of Husman and Shell (2008), FTP recognizes time as individual psychological experience rather than a mere physical thing. Through time, individual perceptions changes and leads to the understanding of the past, the present, and the future. It is but important to acknowledge the importance in FTP because it is associated with human behaviors and activities. The understanding of the current human behavior and activity leads to making distal outcomes more salient in current thought (Husman and Lens, 1999 in, Husman and Shell 2008). The current study of Husman and Shell explore further on the measurement of the beliefs and perceptions about the future by presenting empirical evidences rather than literary collection.   METHOD               For the method, internal consistency and reliability (or the Cronbach’s alpha) from study 1 and 2 reliability (e.g. 0.95) are evaluated based on the results from study and are clearly presented in the article. For the procedure, there was conduction of a questionnaire that undertook by means of on line questionnaire upon log in to the site and completes it without time limit.   PARTICIPANTS             A total of 202 items comprising of 155 girls and 46 boys from UNIVERSITY OF WSERTN SYDNEY, multicultural and age, with one unknown gender rounding to just 201 participants in total ranging from ages 19 years old to 58 years old.  The method was treated according to ethical standards of Australia Psychological Society.                The data collected has not been sufficient to conduct a multicultural analysis. It does not speak anything about the participants in terms of the concept of the study. Thus, the need to use the questionnaire that is previously made is suggested. The four dimensions of FTP namely: valence, connectedness, extension and speed are provided with examples. Cronbach’s alpha and construct validity are presented on scale represented by 1 – 5, which corresponds to 1= strongly disagree and 5= strongly agree. Thus, looking on Study 3 outcome from the article Husman and Shell (2008), there were nine items remained in the valence component with Cronbach alpha of 0.83; twenty one items remained in the connectedness component with Cronbach alpha of 0.88; seven items remained in the extension component with Cronbach alpha of 0.70; and six items remained in the speed component with Cronbach alpha of 0.64. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were greater than 0.70 for all four subscales indicating that the scale has good internal reliability. There were 27 items on the final version of the FTPS as seen Table 4 of the article by Husman and Shell (2007). FTP theory and the research study indicate that activities occurring outside individual's time perspective will seem far as those seem to occur within time space.       CITED ARTICLE   Husman, J. & Shell, (2008). Beliefs and perceptions about the future: A measurement of future time perspective. Learning and Individual Differences, 18: 166-17     REFERENCE Bembenutty, H., & Karabenick, S. A. (2004). Inherent association between academic delay of gratification, future time perspective, and self-regulated learning. Educational Psychology Review, 16, 35−57   Bond, M. H., & Smith, P. B. (1996). Cross-cultural social and organizational psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 205−235   Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297−334   Daltrey, M. H., & Langer, P. (1984). Development and evaluation of a measure of future time perspective. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 58(3), 719−725   Husman, J., & Lens, W. (1999). The role of the future in student motivation. Educational Psychologist, 34(2), 113−125.   Jones, J. M. (1994).An exploration of temporality in human behavior. InR.C. Schank &M. R. Lepper (Eds.), Beliefs, reasoning and decision making (pp. 389−411).   Lennings, C. J. (2002). Perceptions of time in adolescents and young adults: The use of the time line. Journal of Applied Health Behavior, 4(1–2), 46−51.   Lens, W., & Rand, P. (1997). Combining intrinsic goal orientations with professional instrumentality/utility in student motivation. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 28(2), 103−123.   Malka, A., & Covington, M. V. (2005). Perceiving school performance as instrumental to future goal attainment: Effects on graded performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30(1), 60−80.   Rappaport, H. (1991). Measuring defensiveness against future anxiety: Telepression. Current Psychology, 10 (1/2)   Rappaport, H., Enrich, K.,&Wilson, A. (1985). Relation between ego identity and temporal perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48(6), 1609−1620   Rappaport, H., & Fossler, R. J. (1993). Future time, death anxiety, and life purpose among older adults. Death Studies, 17(4), 369−379.   Regeth, R. (1996). A measurement of future time perspective. International Journal of Psychology, 31(3–4), 4495   Seginer, R., & Halabi, H. (1991). Cross-cultural variations of adolescents' future orientation: The case of Israeli Druze versus Israeli Arab and Jewish male. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 22, 224−237   Shell, D. F., & Husman, J. (2001). The multivariate dimensionality of personal control and future time perspective in achievement and studying. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 26, 481−506   Simons, J., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., & Lacante, M. (2004). Placing motivation and future time perspective theory in a temporal perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 16, 121−139.   Trommsdorff, G. (1994). Future time perspective and control orientation: Social conditions and consequences. In Z. Zaleski (Ed.), Psychology of future orientation (pp. 39−62)   Turner, J. E., & Schallert, D. L. (2001). Expectancy-value relationships of shame reactions and shame resiliency. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 320−329   Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (1999). Putting time in perspective: A valid, reliable individual-differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1271−1288.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE (FTP)

FUTURE TIME PERSPECTIVE (FTP) INTRODUCTION According to the article written by Husman and Shell (2008) retrie...

Criminal Law

INTRODUCTION The common foundation for entailing liability in criminal law is that the defendant have got to be attested to have carried out a guilty action at the same time as possessing a guilty state of mind. The physical components are jointly labeled the actus reus and the supplementary mental condition is labeled as the mens rea. It is the basic responsibility of the prosecution to establish both of these components of the offence to the contentment of the judge or jury beyond reasonable doubt. Without such evidence the defendant will be exonerated. Furthermore, the prosecution is required to establish that the defendant carried out the actus reus whilst in a particular mental condition. The mens rea essential prior to an individual could be condemned of a crime is indicated in the characterization of every crime. There are several states of mind which independently or jointly can make up the needed mens rea for a criminal offence. These include intention, recklessness and negligence. From time to time, the characterization of a criminal offence will make it apparent which of these mental conditions is suitable, however occasionally court judgments explicate the requirements of the description more specifically. This paper intends to discuss the connection of mens rea and actus reus in a criminal offence. The discussions presented in this paper will be based on actual cases where these common law doctrines are provided.     ACTUS REUS An actus reus is made of more than merely an action. It similarly takes account of whatever conditions and outcomes are acknowledged for legal responsibility for the crime under consideration. In other words, it consists of all the components of an offence except the mental component. Crimes can be separated into a couple of classes. Initially, there are conduct crimes where the actus reus is the illegal and illicit behavior itself. For instance, the actus reus of the offence of reckless driving is merely driving a mechanically driven motor vehicle on a street or other public place. No damage or outcome of that reckless driving is required be recognized. The second kind is deemed as result crimes where the actus reus of the crime needs evidence that the demeanor brought about an illegal and illicit consequence or end result. For instance, the actus reus of the offence of criminal damage is that possessions owned by another individual have to be ruined or damaged.  The actus reus have to be voluntary             The defendant’s conduct have to be voluntary or unreservedly resolved if he is to bring upon himself liability. It may possibly be involuntary for various causes. The following represents these causes.        Automatism Automatism takes place where the defendant carries out a physical action but is oblivious of what he is carrying out, or is not on top of his acts, on account of several factor external of the defendant. (R v Quick [1973] 3 All ER 347)  Reflex Actions Occasionally individuals can react to something with an impulsive reflex action over which they have no direct power. Even though, to some extent, different this is occasionally categorized as a kind of automatism. The characteristic case in point is that provided in Hill v Baxter [1958] 1 All ER 193, of somebody being stung by a multitude of bees while driving an automobile, and being unable to control the vehicle.  Physical Force The behavior may possibly be involuntary in that it is physically enforced by someone else, in which instance there will be an absence of actus reus. (Leicester v Pearson [1952] 2 All ER 71)  "State of Affairs" Cases One collection of cases which cannot be argued in the context of voluntary actions is frequently denoted as the "state of affairs" suits. These offences are characterized not in the context of the defendant carrying out a constructive action however consisting in the defendant being found, being in control or being in control. In a number of such suits all the prosecution is required to establish are the subsistence of the factual conditions which make up the crime - the subsistence of the state of affairs. (R v Larsonneur (1933) 24 Cr App R 74) Omissions There is an issue whether a person can be deemed criminally responsible for a failure to do something. The common rule is that there can be no legal responsibility for a failure to do something, except at the instance of the failure to act, the defendant was underneath a legal responsibility to seize constructive action unless a decree distinctively so grants, or the common law obliges a responsibility upon an individual to take action in a specific manner towards another, a measly oversight or omission to take action could not bring about criminal liability. (R v Miller [1983] 1 All ER 978.) The dissimilarity involving positive actions and omissions was emphasized in the Bland case [1993] 1 All ER 821, where the House of Lords decidied that euthanasia through positive actions to terminate a patient's existence, like controlling a drug to cause his demise, is illegal.  Nevertheless, retreating or ceasing medical treatment, as well as artificial nourishment, from an insensate patient with no expectation of recuperation when it was established that the outcome would be that the patient would in next to no time pass away, is legal if it was in the patient's welfare not to extend his/her life. A positive duty to take action subsists such as responsibility being caused by statute. Legal responsibility for failure to take action will be forced where the defendant can be confirmed to have been under a statutory obligation to acquire positive action. (Greener v DPP (1996) The Times, Feb 15 1996) An additional is a duty based on a contract. Where an individual is under a positive responsibility to take action for the reason of his commitments under a contract, his failure to carry out the contractual responsibility under consideration can structure the foundation of criminal liability. (R v Pittwood (1902) 19 TLR 37) A third is public duty. An individual in a public office may possibly be under a public duty to look after others. (R v Dytham [1979] 3 All ER 641) Correspondingly, there is the voluntary supposition of responsibility or dependence. There is a common law duty of care where there is a connection of dependence involving defendant and victim. Therefore if someone willingly presumes accountability for another individual then they similarly presume the positive duty to take action act for the general wellbeing of that individual and may possibly be legally responsible for omissions which prove deadly. (R v Stone and Dobinson [1977] 2 All ER 341) And finally, there is the duty by reason of the defendant's previous behavior. If the defendant by chance consigns an action that brings about harm, and later becomes conscious of the hazard he has formed, there begins a responsibility to act rationally to forestall that hazard. (R v Miller [1983] 1 All ER 978)      Causation             When the characterization of an actus reus needs the incidence of specific outcomes, the prosecution have to establish that it was the defendant's behavior which triggered those outcomes to take place. There are a couple of kinds of causation. One is the causation in fact, in which the "But For" experiment is employed.  (R v White [1910] 2 KB 124) Another is the causation in law, for which, for instance in homicide lawsuits, the defendant's actions have to be the working and considerable reason and grounds of fatality.  (R v Smith [1959] 2 All ER 193)   MENS REA Intention             Direct and Oblique Intent In the context of law there are a couple of kinds of intention. Direct intent is the characteristic condition where the outcomes of an individual's actions are preferred. Oblique intent, also recognized as foresight intent, implies the condition where the outcome is anticipated by the defendant as practically certain, even though it is not preferred for its own sake, and the defendant carries on with his acts at any rate. (R v Moloney 1985) To necessitating evidence that it was the defendant's intention to make happen a specific outcome may possibly entail placing an extremely serious evidential burden on the prosecution. Not unexpectedly, provided the above illustration, criminal law usually simply needs evidence of oblique intent (ie, foresight intent) in place of direct intent.             Intention Anchored on Foresight of Consequences The courts have affirmed that foresight of outcomes can merely be proof of intention if the defendant is aware that those outcomes would undeniably come about. Therefore, it is not enough that the defendant simply anticipated a likelihood of a certain incidence. At one instance, DPP v Smith [1961] AC 290, was authority for the perspective that an individual anticipated and anticipated the natural and likely outcomes of his actions. As a result, where foresight is needed to be recognized an individual is not to be deemed as meaning the natural and likely outcomes of his actions basically for the reason that they were natural and likely, even though a jury may possibly deduce that from observing all the facts. The test is consequently subjective and a jury is to come to a decision what the defendant's intention was from bearing in mind all the proof. The connection involving foresight and meaning was deemed by the House of Lords in Hyam v DPP [1975] AC 55. It is imperative to indicate that foresight of the outcomes is not identical as intention but merely proof of intention. (R v Scalley [1995] Crim LR 504) The justification of prescience of the outcomes in Hancock and Shankland and the Nedrick course, where suitable, are pertinent to all crimes and not only murder. A court or jury may similarly deduce that an outcome is anticipated, nonetheless it is not preferred, when the outcome is an almost positive result of the action, and the defendant is aware that it is a practically particular outcome. Recklessness Recklessness is the acquisition of an inexcusable risk. Nevertheless, two dissimilar tests have been created by the courts, the consequence of which is that recklessness now has a couple of unlike legal connotations which relate to dissimilar offences. The initial test for recklessness was subjective, ie the defendant is aware of the risk, is keen to deal with it and deals with it intentionally. The subject that has to be posed is whether the risk in the defendant's mind at the instance the offence was being carried out. This test was recognized in R v Cunningham [1957] 2 QB 396. The second test for recklessness is objective. Specifically, the risk has to be understandable to the reasonable individual, in that any reasonable individual would have acknowledged it if he had reflected about it. An individual is reckless in the new broader context when he carries out an act which generates an understandable risk, and, when carrying out the action, he has either granted no consideration to the likelihood of such a risk taking place or he acknowledged that a little risk subsisted, but carried on to put up with it. This test was recognized in MPC v Caldwell [1982] AC 341. The risk has to be understandable to the sensibly prudent individual. It need not be understandable to the defendant. (Elliott v C [1983] 1 WLR 939) The individual who pauses to reflect will still be legally responsible if he acknowledged that there was some risk. (Chief Constable of Avon v Shimmen (1987) 84 Cr App R 7)  Negligence Negligence consists of falling below the standard of the ordinary reasonable person. The test is objective, based on the hypothetical person, and involves the defendant either doing something the reasonable person would not do, or not doing something which the reasonable person would do. It does not matter that the defendant was unaware that something dangerous might happen, if the "reasonable person" would have realised the risk, and taken steps to avoid it. (McCrone v Riding [1938] 1 All ER 157)   Transferred Malice Under the principle of transferred malice a defendant will be legally responsible for a crime if he has the essential mens rea and consigns the actus reus even though the injured party varies from the one anticipated. The foundation for this standard is the judgment of the court in R v Latimer (1886) 17 QBD 359. If the defendant has the mens rea for a dissimilar crime from that which he consigns nonetheless, the intent cannot be conveyed. (R v Pembliton (1874) LR 2 CCR 119) Coincidence of Actus Reus and Mens Rea It is a common standard in criminal law that for an individual's liability to be recognized it has to be exposed that the defendant owned the required mens rea at the occasion the actus reus was consigned - thus the two have to correspond. This is similarly recognized as the contemporaneity rule. In a number of lawsuits a literal understanding of this rule would obviously bring about injustice, and the courts have carried out ways of establishing coincidence of actus reus and mens rea when the incidents happen over a period of time, and where they represent a course of events. Continuing Acts Where the actus reus entails an ongoing action a later mens rea throughout its persistence can coincide. (Fagan v MPC [1969] 1 QB 439) Chain of Events The second means in which the courts have addressed the issue is to take account of an ongoing sequence of actions to be an ongoing actus reus for the intentions of the criminal law. If the actus reus and the mens rea are both in attendance at some instance for the duration of this chain of events, then there is legal responsibility. (Thabo Meli v R [1954] 1 WLR 228)

Criminal Law

INTRODUCTION The common foundation for entailing liability in criminal law is that the defendant have got to be attested to have carried...

Marketing Orientation

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT Due Date: (Week 4) May 30, 2007 (Wed) Weighting: Assignment 1 (12.5%) Format: Essay Font size: 12 Times New Roman Spacing: 1.5 lines Select a company of your choice and write an essay to show me your understanding on at least the following questions: 1. Which type of marketing orientation will you implement? Why? (10 marks) &#61618; You need to support your argument with reasons and relevant examples. 2. What recommendations would you make so as to help build a more profitable relationship with your customers / clients? (10 marks) NOTE: 1.  mark will be awarded for late submission, plagiarism and collusion. 2. Proper referencing is required. &#61599; Refer this link for details: http://ec.hku.hk/plagiarism/reference. tm 3. Title page (cover page) should show: &#61599; Topic of the Assignment &#61599; Your Full Name and Student ID &#61599; Date of Submission

Marketing Orientation

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT Due Date: (Week 4) May 30, 2007 (Wed) Weighting: Assignment 1 (12.5%) Format: Essay Font size: 12 Times New Roman...