Innovative Business Model of Zara

2013 國際 ERP 學術及實務研討會

A solutions-focused innovative business model: Case Study of Zara

Author: Dr Te Fu Chen Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration Lunghwa University of Science and Technology Email: phd2003@gmail.com Abstract

With the current global scenario, R&D service providers need to better understand their client needs and come up with what can be called “solution innovation”. Corporate solutions and innovations specialise in the delivery of solutions to business problems and opportunities. A company embarking on this type of strategic repositioning needs to establish exactly what kind of solutions it wants to provide and to what extent it will leverage and integrate its own current products and services. This is a critical question, as these companies need to continue to operate effectively in their current business as they attempt transition from their current models of practice towards a new solutions-focused business model. The study is aimed to construct a solutions-focused business model and then examine solution innovation via one case study of representative firm: Zara. This model allows Zara to better identify customers’ business problems and for an effective solution to be defined, developed and delivered in the form of a set of integrated products and services. Clearly, key partnerships with technology and service-providers may be necessary to construct an effective solutions-based portfolio. The competence profile of the “solutions” focused company sees a progressive move away from a strong “technical” competence to one that is more balanced with the “integration” and “market/business knowledge” competencies. The effective solutions-providers should add “customer partnering competence” and balance four competencies into a profile. In this environment, it becomes obvious that technological leadership will be quickly displaced by the depth of customer relationships and the cumulative learning curves of a company as key...