Managing Across Borders: Zara's Internationalisation and Expansion Strategies in Asia

MANAGING ACROSS
BORDERS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report produces the outlines regarding the process of Internationalisation that Zara has

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used for itself and at the same time it also gives the idea regarding its expansion in Asian
region. The way it has entered into the Asian region as well as the methods they have
utilised for the management of their business. In the later part, the strategies which have
been used by Zara have been highlighted. Zara has been using its strategies in a better way
so as manage their businesses across borders as well as penetrating deep into the market.
There are many challenges and issues that have been faced by the company in its expansion
process as Asian region is of strategic importance to the company hence a proper analysis
of its impact needs to be done by the firm. In the last section, all these issues and problems
has been highlighted.
Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
Expansion of ZARA in Asian region.....................................................................................................3

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Approach to Internationalisation...........................................................................................................3
Process of expansion.............................................................................................................................4
Zara’s strategy for expansion.................................................................................................................5
Zara’s business challenges and problems in Asian region.....................................................................7
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX.........................................................................................................................................11

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INTRODUCTION
In the age of globalisation where many firms have crossed borders, it has become difficult for
them to ensure effective management of their operations. Globalisation has empowered the
organisations to enhance their profit margins but it is not easy to manage a worldwide
business (Carugati, Liao and Smith, 2008). For managing it, they have adopted various kinds
of strategies which provide them competitive advantage over its competitors. The selection of
markets and the strategies is always done by understanding the market dynamics as its future
growth objectives. Issue in the market have widened and hence operations management
across borders are also facing difficulties.
Zara which is a global fashion brand have also adopted a series of strategies so as to manage
all the operations of the firm in a better manner (Tungate, 2008). With the support of its
parent firm Inditex they have adopted various approaches to expand their business in many
parts of the world. Their major focus was Asian market which has a lot of opportunities
because of its highly dense nations (Crofton and Dopico, 2012). With the use of its resources
and brand name they have successfully entered into the Asian market with their major focus
on the markets of India and China. Their fast fashion concept has helped them in their
expansion plan. There were many challenges faced by Zara over the years in the Asian
market and in recent years this has widened because of the fact that heavy competition exist
in the market.
Over the years, fashion industry has made a huge development especially in the Asian region.
Zara is a leader in the fashion industry all around the world and so is in Asian market. In the
highly populated regions of Asia this fashion giant has utilised different strategies to enter
into the region. Their parent firm has its manufacturing plant at China while they are availing
their raw materials from the regions like Indian sub-continent. It is because all the resources
are available at lower prices (Bhardwaj, Eickman and Runyan, 2011). The easy availability of
resources and the increasing demands of the company’s products in this region have made its
business successful over the years.
This report covers the several aspects related with the expansion of Zara in the Asian region.
It also showcases the internationalisation approach which they have selected for expansion
and growth in and across the Asian region. It also depicts the problems and issues they are
facing in the Asian region along with the strategies that they have used for their development
of business across borders.