Wanda and Jim are working on a research project to anticipat…

Wanda and Jim are working on a research project to anticipate customer attitudes toward a proposed new-product line for their company. They have worked with the marketing manager to determine the answers that are needed, and have created a research proposal and obtained manager buy-in. Their next logical step will be to

Zara is a women’s clothing retailer headquartered in Spain,…

Zara is a women’s clothing retailer headquartered in Spain, with stores located in many countries. Zara has developed a “quick response” system that allows store merchandise to be adjusted rapidly to fit changing customer preferences. Every aspect of Zara’s operation is optimized for this system, making it difficult for competitors like The Gap to duplicate. Zara has established

Manufacturers that use just-in-time manufacturing systems co…

Manufacturers that use just-in-time manufacturing systems coordinate closely with suppliers to ensure that materials and supplies arrive just before they are needed in the manufacturing process. While just-in-time systems can offer major advantages in terms of inventory costs, they must be carefully managed. If a firm found that its just-in-time system was badly managed, leading to frequent manufacturing delays due to missing parts, this would represent a(n) ________ in a SWOT analysis.