SWOT Analysis of the Fashion Industry

SWOT Analysis of the Fashion Industry Conducting a SWOT analysis, that is, reviewing the strengths of an organization, its weaknesses, opportunities it can capitalize on for maximum profits, and the threats to achieving its full potential provides very invaluable information to the organization about the market and understanding the industry, as well. The analysis is used to define both the unfavorable and favorable factors and their impacts on goals of the business. The fashion industry, which is very volatile, is not an exception, it too has its own share of strengths and opportunities which once utilized by an organization can help it grow substantially and weaknesses and threats which the organization must strive to minimize to the lowest possible levels. One of the strengths of Oakley as a company in the fashion industry is the growing income levels. The growth in individual incomes increases the amount of disposable income and hence many people are able to purchase their products. Growth of sports through funding by international sponsors is also a major strength as it has led to a significant increase in the number of sportspersons who are the highest consumers of Oakley Inc products like prescription eyewear, watches, shoes and electronics. Despite the downturns, the fashion industry has continued to grow over time and is one of those industries that are far away from reaching their peak. This can be partly attributed to the ever growing population and the increase in the propensity of people to don fashion attire. With efficient management, Oakley Inc has the potential to be the leading multi-national company in the distribution of apparel, sunglasses and footwear. Oakley Inc has built a reputation and a name for itself as being a producer of high quality products and the owner of about 575 patents a figure of about 1100 trademarks. It has successfully worked on creating a large customer base and trade connections. It also has in its possession a large talent of labor which has led to the production of high quality products. This has established it as a market leader enjoying many industrial advantages over its competitors guaranteeing a higher volume of sales compared to other companies in the industry. One of the greatest weaknesses facing the company is the development of some products which do not command a large following. This leads to these products staying in the distribution outlets for a long time leading to stagnation of capital. Losses are incurred as the limited sales made are not able to meet the production costs of the product. To avert this, the company should produce a limited number of products in each line and test its appeal in the market by monitoring the quantity of sales made per unit time and then deciding whether the product is viable to the company. Another weakness in the fashion industry is infrastructural development. The development of infrastructure has been very slow thus unable to keep up the pace of growth of the sector. It is therefore, a bottleneck in the industry as it hinders efficient distribution of company products to some areas. Curving out a niche for itself in the fashion industry has not been an easy ride for Oakley Inc. Building a reputation for itself has been a major weakness as a lot of investment has had to be done in advertisements and market research to determine the best market places and consumer needs. The company has also had a hard time competing with other companies in the same industry due to the low prices attached on these companies ¿Ã‚ ½ products. To survive this, the company has had to lower its prices while ensuring that they are in balance with the returns to avoid losses. Extensive advertising campaigns on quality have also given it an edge over those companies offering their products at lower prices. Oakley, Inc has had to maintain a huge and expensive work force which is spread over an outsized ecological area and which requires constant communication and monitoring. For this to work to its advantage, extensive evaluation of the personnel is required to ensure competence and also the ability of the workers to work under minimum supervision (Montgomery pp.1-2). There are many opportunities that the company can capitalize on to reap maximum profits. Expected investment is one of the opportunities that can benefit the company. The fashion industry is ever growing, and there is an increasing number of stakeholders in the industry willing to invest fashion. The company can take this opportunity to increase its capital base so as to be able to enjoy large economies of scale. The company should monitor international barriers to trade and make a move into new areas once these barriers come down. Abolition of these barriers can also help the company acquire high quality and less costly fabrics. Development of new products and services can lead to a remarkable growth on the profits of the company. Continued introduction of new products and various designs to the market can help ensure a growth in sales. Introducing special price packages for regular buyers of Oakley products would help in retaining these customers and increasing the appeal of the business to customers. Technological advancement and investment in information technology is an opportunity that can greatly help the company to minimize its operation cost. Oakley, Inc can rely on information technology to offer more customers friendly services like informing regular customers of a new design or product. Relying on e-commerce to sell its products online can help grow its geographical market area to cover the entire globe hence higher sales. The Company should evaluate end user response to its services to gain information on what areas of its services to improve. This would go a long way in helping the organization acquire new customers as well as retain its old ones who are satisfied with the services being offered (Johnson pp.D1). The organization should also take the opportunity to expand and cover a larger geographical area. It should grow into the untapped markets and offer its products and services in these regions. Having a large customer base would increase its profits. Acquiring better supply deals, for example, a less expensive textiles supplier would greatly minimize the operation cost of the company. The company can also retain its suppliers but negotiate for better deals with the aim of increasing its profit margin. Linking up with other companies in the industry is an opportunity that should not be ruled out. Linking up with another fashion company would increase the customer volume greatly. There are many threats facing organizations in the fashion industry. Shopping for products like expensive sunglasses and footwear is greatly impacted by the global economy. A downturn in the global economy means that less people are likely to purchase these products. This leads to low income to the company during this period. To minimize the effect of this, the company should devise a mechanism of lowering its operation cost to the minimum possible levels to avert possible losses due to its operating costs exceeding income. Trade barriers are a threat to the company as it has been unable to venture into some markets due to strict market regulations. It has also hindered the company from acquiring low cost raw materials for manufacture of its products which would have increased its profit margin. Shifting trends is also a major threat to the company. A change in the fashion trend may render some of the company products useless and obsolete. The company therefore has to ensure continued development of new products to maintain its sales. Some government legislation can also be a major threat to investors in the fashion industry. Intervention by the government can come with it rules which are very costly to adhere to and also competition from unexpected quarters, for example, from multi-national fashion companies due to liberalization of the market (Leibowitz pp.22). The international sports calendar has a huge impact on the sale of Oakley products which are mainly composed of athletics products. The company should devise a mechanism of maintaining the sales even in off peak seasons. This can be achieved through having a line of brands which are not sports related. Over the next few years, huge investments are expected to be made in the fashion industry. New companies are likely to crop up and this will lead to a strain on the available labor force. This will be a limiting factor to the continued growth of the company. To prevent this, the company should start training its own fashion staff. This would in future give it an advantage over the other companies which would be experiencing a shortage of the same. The company can therefore, transform this threat into an opportunity by selling some of its staff to the other businesses for a profit. The organization also faces the threat of being vulnerable to attacks by its major competitors. It should therefore, have all the mechanisms of counteracting this in standby so that it does not fall to accusations from other fashion companies. The rising fuel prices have become a major hurdle for almost every business in the world. A huge upward surge in fuel prices can destabilize an investment. To counter this, the company should ensure that it has its own fuel reserve so that it is not immediately affected by the changes in fuel prices as it will have time to adjust while relying on its fuel reserves. With its own reserve, it can benefit from this threat by providing that much needed resource to its competitors at a large profit margin.

Achieving Goals in The Corrections by Johnathan Franzen Essay -- essay

Jonathan Franzen is the author of many books such as The Twenty-Seventh City and Strong Motion. He is probably best known for his book, The Corrections. This book mainly explores a variety of themes such as adversity and resilience, family unity and coming of age. The main characters are members of the Lambert family, who live in the Mid-West. Although each character is at a different stage of their lives, all of them are going through hardship. Gary, the eldest son, is the only child with a family of his own. By taking on most of the responsibilities, Gary is having trouble running his own family while experiencing clinical depression. Chip, the middle child, lost his job as a university professor and is working for a criminal warlord in order to make a living. Furthermore, the parents of these children are facing difficult time trying to reunite the family. Enid, the mother, suffers from harassment and distress in an attempt to bring all her children home for one last Christmas. Al though the situation seems abnormal, it can actually be seen to be that of a typical family in America. In his novel The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen uses point of view to reveal that everyone can achieve their goals despite of their difficulties. Although Gary appears to have a clear vision of his life, it is through the use of his and other characters’ point of view that Gary’s ability to achieve his goal in spite of his difficulties is shown. One of Gary’s main problems is his clinical depression. For instance, when Gary’s wife says to him: â€Å"I’m tired of living with a depressed old man,† (Franzen, 184) Gary knows that he is going to have trouble bringing his family back to St. Jude. With disapproval from two of his sons and wife, Gary feels that... ...her goal regardless of other people’s criticism. Once again, through the use of point of view, the author reveals that goals can be achieved despite difficulties. As it can be seen, Jonathan Franzen’s use of characters’ perspectives reveals that everyone’s objectives can be met in spite of their obstacles. Point of view is one of the best ways to express a character’s difficulties as readers can gain insight to his/her thoughts and feelings. At the same time, it is also possible to show a barrier that one faces through another person’s point of view. Whether it is a mother who has little control over her family, a son that takes advantage of his father’s paten, or a man who has lack of vision about life, everyone has common aims. There are many barriers that distance people from their dreams, but difficulties will always be part of the journey to reach one’s goal

“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid Essay

In the short story â€Å"Girl† by Jamaica Kincaid the author gives a perspective of the relationship between a strict mother and her young daughter. Jamaica Kincaid wrote series of sentences that sets the tone of the story to be uptight, oppressive, and informative. The author described her daughter into becoming a ‘slut’ which tells the readers that the mother is worried and is disapproving of her daughters actions. Others might think that the story is only about the daughter repeating what her mother tells her to do but it really it’s the perspective of the mother trying to prevent her daughter from becoming a ‘slut’ and changing her to become a lady. Although others may think otherwise that the character who plays girl, is in fact making a mockery of her mother’s commands. In theory people may say that the mother repeated herself so often about her daughter’s behavior and teaching her how to do her responsibilities correctly th at the daughter have memorized her mother’s lectures and began to repeat them to herself to show rebellion against these tasks. With the attention to the dialogue, shows the mother lecturing her daughter. In the beginning the author wrote â€Å"but I don’t sing benna on Sundays† (line 7) in an italicized format giving the idea that someone, in this case the daughter, is responding to her mother’s lecturing trying to defend herself. This goes to show that the poem is in fact a conversation held by a mother and a young girl with disapproving behaviors causing her mother to scold those unacceptable behaviors. Throughout the poem lists a few teachings into having a good behavior and proper manners. There are specific ways the mother instructed her daughter to do her chores. For example, â€Å"this is how you smile to someone you don’t like† (line),†this is how to set a table for dinner†, and â€Å"this is how to bully a man†. The lists goes on and I can relate to these rules. My mother taught me the importance of discipline throughout my whole life teaching me right from wrong and telling me to do chores and teaching me how to do things on my own since I was now becoming a young adult. Mothers have many different parenting ways to teach their own daughter how to become a lady and most  will teach their daughters by the mistakes they’ve made in the past or by the experience of their mothers giving the same lecture to them when they were coming up into the teenage years. Jamaica Kincaid based this short story on her life growing up as a child. Kincaid and her mother was very close until her three brothers were born. After that Kincaid and her mother grew apart and her mother became more intense and more demanding towards her daughter to become a lady. In conclusion the poem â€Å"Girl† by Jamaica Kincaid is the self-reflection of kincaids early life. She described her life as being very controlled by her mother and being judged of becoming a ‘slut’.

Analysis Of The Song Of Achilles - 1330 Words

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Because language is relative/arbitrary, queer has various meanings, depending on evolution and history and also personal attributions. Queer has been used as an adjective to mean strange, questionable, or to not feel right, a pejorative against queer individuals, an identity relating to a person who does not conform to a normative sexual orientation or gender identity, a sexual orientation, and as a gender identity (such as genderqueer). However, there is an overlooked use of the word: queer is also a verb. What does it mean to queer something? There was a time when that phrase meant â€Å"to mess it up,† as in queering aShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Assignment- Stairway to Heaven1401 Words   |  6 PagesANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT- STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN Through ineffective manipulation of structure, timbre and melody, Victor Lopez’s short version of Stairway to Heaven fails to convey the same mood and effect on the listener as the original classic piece by Led Zeppelin. 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