Tommy Hilfiger Essay

1. High pressure for local adaptation combined with low pressure for lower costs would suggest what type of international strategy: A. global B. multidomestic C. transnational D. overall cost leadership 2. Foreign direct investment includes the following form of entry strategy: A. licensing B. franchising C. joint ventures D. exporting 3. According to Michael Porter, firms that have experienced intense domestic competition are A. unlikely to have the time or resources to compete abroad. B. most likely to design strategies aimed primarily at the domestic market. C. more likely to design strategies and structures that allow them to successfully compete abroad. D. more likely to demand protection from their governments.

It is impossible to beat a cheap price. In today’s world, finding a sought after item at a dirt cheap price is one the main motivation American’s get in the car and battle the craziness in the mall. And as the basic American human beings that we are, it is never possible for us to be complacent with the amount of stuff we currently have. Eventually, we will come across a friend that has the next must have item that will cause us to run to our local mall and purchase a similar item at the lowest price possible. With all that said, it is no wonder why the industry of fast fashion has taken off over the past decade. Felipe Caro and Victor Martínez-de-Albéniz, researchers for UCLA’s school of supply chain coordination, define fast fashion as “a business model that combines four elements: (i) fashionable clothes mostly for consumers under 40; (ii) affordable prices in the mid-to-low range; (iii) quick response; and (iv) frequent assortment changes”. Retailers like H&M, Forever 21, Target, and Wal-Mart have been able to take this business model and make a fortune. But while all these quick trends and cheap prices are great for the consumer, its cost on the foreign worker and the environment does not go uncovered. In the book Overdressed by Elizabeth Cline, she presents many arguments supporting the claim that fast fashion is unethical based on

Of the hundreds of named brand clothing that form part of the retail and fashion industry I chose to compare, for my analysis, Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever 21, American Eagle, and H&M. These stores are prominent, well-known for selling apparel, shoes, and accessories by the means of offering sales and promotions to their customers. This is a clever strategy for attracting customers, allowing them to believe that they bought goods at affordable, convenient prices – and not to mention the prestigious name prescribed to the clothing brands. Using keyhole.co as my main source, I obtained relevant and valuable information regarding the status of these brands. My intentions were to compare a period of 14 days, however, due to the limited access that I received from my free trial, the program only allowed me to see fewer of the dates than I anticipated. I want to take this opportunity and mention ahead of time that due to the various and distinctive products that are sold from these stores, when looking for the “spending capacity” I decided to focus on shirts/ jeans for men and women and compare the prices among them since each of these retailers carry those items and as a way to make this report easier to contrast and comprehend. Also, when approaching the section of “setting”, I screen-shotted some of the images on Instagram and made them into a collage to separate the type of clothes and trends that each of these brands sell currently. In the following modules

Although the Chinese apparel manufacturers would lose profitability due to rising cotton prices and competition from emerging countries, they stand to gain the most from the removal of U.S. quotas and tariffs. According to the author, in 2007, 95% of the 20 billion garments Americans made were purchased overseas. Due to U.S. trade barriers, China’s share of the U.S. apparel import was only 30%. Once these barriers were removed, Chinese apparel would flood the American market due to their low cost and dominance in garment manufacturing. Experts predict that China could eventually supply 85% of U.S. apparel. As they increase their market share in the

2.2 Local Capabilities Australia is a competitive market. The strength and success of local brands and designers have been well able to compete successfully against high-profile imported and designer goods. Internationally, Australia is best known for its beachwear, bushwear (e.g. outback, outdoor clothing), urbanwear and high fashion. Currently there are over 5,000 fashion labels in Australia6 7 and more than 2,000 companies export fashion. 2.3 International Competition China dominates the Australian import market due to its low cost. This has increased the pressure on local firms to compete on price. This has resulted not only in a contraction of the domestic industry but also in a new focus on specialization and innovation. The international fashion and apparel industry presence in Australia is noticeably less than other western markets, such as Canada or Japan. For example, large international firms such as H&M, Zara, Top Shop or The Gap do not have stores in Australia. However, as economies begin to recover from the global financial crisis, The Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Zara have expressed interest in the Australian marketplace. 2.4 Canadian Position Canadian fashion and apparel is regarded as having innovative design and quality. However, few designers and brands are well known in the Australian market.

The U.S. women’s apparel industry market is mature, given that the average growth rate from 2005 to 2007 was 4.66%. Within the industry, there are 6 categories of clothing in which companies compete: haute couture, designer, bridge, better, moderate, and budget. Each category targets customers with different needs and different price ranges, with haute coutre and designer clothing ranging upwards from $10,000 and moderate

The need for a solid market entry decision is an integral part of a global market entry strategy. Entry decisions heavily influence the firm’s other marketing-mix decisions. Company can enter International Market with many ways, some of them are as follows:

Klein's design philosophy is rooted in minimalism. This is what he is known for. He typically uses neutral colors or earth tones and designs separates that work in many different ensembles, from day to night and season to season. At the same time his advertising for jeans and fragrances was being criticized, Calvin Klein clothing was receiving critical acclaim for its clean, modern lines. (Gaines)

2. Richard M. Johns (2006). The Apparel Industry. 2nd ed. UK, London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. 1-124.

Rivalry among existing competitors: The apparel industry is highly competitive with a great number of both local and global competitors. As the market is mature, its growth is small. Accelerated growth and expansion to new markets are not easy goals to achieve. The barrier to get out of the industry is quite low for distributors, but high for producers. Most fashion manufacturers moved their production base to low-cost countries like China as wage and raw materials in developed markets like Western Europe are high. Besides, there is no great discrepancy in terms of quality of products, so customers make their purchase choices based on price and brand recognition.

In order to have higher profit margin, one of the most effective ways is to cut down production costs. In view of the low labor cost in developing countries, global sourcing seems to be a good choice to reduce costs. With the development of global production networks and the increasing competition, fast all fashion clothing firms have shifted their manufacturing operations to low lost locations over the past decades.

Companies can decide to go global or to enter international markets for various reasons, and these different objectives at the time of entry that enable the business to produce different strategies and the performance goals, and even forms of market participation.

Subject : Appraisal of a MNE's recent market entry (2007-2010) ( 1. Firm Motivations for internationalization 2. Entry Strategy 3. Corporate Strategy)

There are many different types of market entry strategies that may be implemented by a foreign firm in an emerging country. Amongst the most popular are:

The reluctance of firms to change entry modes once they are in place, and the difficulty involved in doing so, make the mode of entry decision a key strategic issue for firms operating in today’s rapidly internationalizing market place.