Part 1: Introduction

One of the most popular global clothes retail chain is ZARA, a Spanish brand focuses
in quick fashion and provides apparel, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, and
fragrances. The headquarters are located in Arteixo, A Coruna, Galicia. More than
75% of all Inditex revenues are generated by the company's flagship segment, Zara. In
33 countries as of April 2003, Zara has 565 stores, with the majority of them still in
Spain (followed by France, Portugal, Mexico, and Greece). While distant regions like
Japan have long-term and perhaps significant growth opportunities, Zara continues to
be very cautious about the expansion of these areas. For instance, while having its first
store in the United States since 1989, Zara only has 8 locations there as of 2002.
Nearly all of Zara's retail network is owned and run by the company.

Part 2

a. Operation management principles in ZARA

\
TRANSFORMATION PROCESS IN ZARA

INPUTS OUTPUTS
300-person
design team
Mood boards for
the next
collection

On time arrival
Deliver clothes
around European Qualified items
stores and the rest of
the world Distributed items
Number of shipped
Team of pattern
clothes
cutters
Prototype
Factories
Pattern layout
Printing
machine
Fabric
Materials
Information
about the items
Transportation
(rail, plane)
At the biggest distribution facility in Arteixo, the transformation process described
above is the manufacture and assembly of suitable apparel for transportation
throughout the European and international retailers. The ZARA headquarters are
located here. A 300-person design team will first assess the newest industry trends,
maybe drawn from international fashion events. To keep up with the latest trends
throughout the world, they even have trend predicting books. Fashion businesses must
pay close attention to emerging trends in order to anticipate them and avoid becoming
irrelevant in the sea of fashionable alternatives. For the next line of clothing at the
store, the design team created mood boards. Once the design is complete, it is given to
a group of sample cutters who are located just a few meters away, where the
prototypes are assembled. If necessary, the crew can create a fresh prototype in a day.
The prototype will be tested on models who also work for Inditex in other divisions of
the fashion industry when it has been developed. A digitalized form is then
transmitted to one of its manufacturers after the prototype has been signed. The 10
factories that make Zara's most stylish apparel items are located on its 860,000-
square-foot site and are in essence things that require more care, according to the
spokeswoman. Through a network of covert tunnels that convey clothing on
electrically hung trains, these manufacturers are linked to the distribution hub.

Setting the fabric's pattern is the next step in the procedure. After sending the sample
pattern to a printer, which creates a life-size replica utilizing pertinent details about
each component of the garment. Under enormous cutters, fabric is stretched out, and
paper is layered on top. A tight plastic sheet holds both materials in place. In order to
separate the cloth into distinct pieces, the machine slices through the material. The
fabric is cut, and then the paper and fabric are boxed up. The sheet includes all the
information so that the factory staff is aware of where these pieces need to go next and
what portion of the garment they will make up. Along with a prototype of the finished
product so the factories can duplicate the precise design, these components are
transported to outside factories to be sewn together. The further elements like the
interior labels, zippers, and buttons are all added by the external factories. ZARA,
according to a representative for Inditex, outsources all of its garment manufacturing.
The finished item will be sent back to ZARA's headquarters for sewing. (Hanbury,
n.d.)

The priciest ZARA (fashion-forward) products are returned to the factory for
individualized quality inspections. To make sure there are no faulty stitches, items are
examined piece by piece. A security tag is attached to items that pass the test. The
sewing machine will fix any mistakes if any exist. Since there are millions of them,
other items (straight designs) are sent directly to the distribution center without being
checked. On such items, quality control inspections will be conducted by external
factories.

In its stores, ZARA began utilizing RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification)

technology in 2014. Security tags with RFID chips can be reused after being removed
off garments at the time of purchase. This chip recognizes radio signals from RFID
tags, enabling the business to swiftly recover goods. Stock is alerted right away when
an item goes on sale so that it may be replenished. An RFID tag makes it simple to
locate a product that isn't on the shelf. Unloaded from the truck, freshly made clothes
containers are instantly passed via a sensor where each item is RFID-tagged. They are
then stacked in groups on a conveyor belt as they wait to be transported. All European
shipments arrive by train in 36 hours, while all other items arrive by plane in 48 hours.

Operation and business strategy

ZARA provides ideas for cost leadership and differentiation strategy. From the outset,
Zara identified a sizable market gap that very few apparel companies were able to
successfully fill. In order to stay current with fashion, this offers apparel lines that are
both of good quality and competitively priced. Zara has outperformed its rivals thanks
to its strategic introduction of new collections based on the newest trends quickly. It
immediately became everyone's favorite brand, particularly for those looking to stay
current with fashion. Zara limits the shelf life of their products to three to four weeks.
Because all the items in a certain style or trend will sell out and be replaced by a
different trend if they are just a week late, this technique encourages customers to
frequent the brand's retail outlets. The regular updating of product ranges and shop
designs encourages customers to come in more frequently.

The usage of RFID technology in Zara's stores is one of the company's success
secrets. The company employs cutting-edge algorithms to trace the whereabouts of
clothing instantaneously and deliver the most popular things to clients as soon as
possible. Additionally, it lowers inventory costs, gives designers more freedom to
introduce new styles, and makes it possible to complete online orders with inventory
from the stores closest to the delivery location, which lowers shipping costs.

Decision Definition Application

Goods and services “The majority of the In Zara stores, you may get clothes
requirements for implementing for men, women, and kids. Zara
an OM judgment are largely Home designs are sold through
stated in this. It involves stores across Europe. Customers of
making the goods and Zara tend to be between the ages of
providing the services that will 18 and 35 on average. A distribution
be provided. For instance, center in Spain processes all the
product design frequently clothes. The new items are
determines the level of quality examined, sorted, and tagged before
and cost that are highest and being placed into the truck. Delivery
lowest, as well as other of clothing typically takes 48 hours.
sustainability factors and the Zara produces more than 450
required human resources.” million items annually. Zara offers
(Chiemelie, 2017) shoes, swimwear, fragrances, and a
variety of accessories in addition to
clothing and accessories. In May
2021, Zara's first cosmetics line,
ZARA Beauty, will debut.
Quality management This decision is based on the Every piece of clothing is handled
degree of quality that the via a warehouse in Spain, where
consumer base expects and new products are checked through,
 how they see it, as well as the sorted, labelled, and put into trucks.
steps the company has done to Clothes are delivered to shops
produce or attain that level of within 48 hours. Due to its vertical
quality. integration, Zara is able to maintain
control over processes like dyeing
and fabric treatment while also
having the ability to process
materials on demand to meet the
demands of both the firm and its
customers.
Process and capacity “The manufacturing processes, Zara artificially generates scarcity
design as well as the specific by lowering manufacturing for a
technological, quality, human certain style, which also lowers
resource, and capital exposure to any given product.
expenditures that management Similar to the general rule that all
will make to establish the fashion items (and more especially
majority of the company's luxury goods) follow, an item gets
fundamental cost structure, are more alluring the less readily
all described in this section.” available it is. Producing in fewer
(Chiemelie, 2017) quantities also means that there will
be less to manage if a style doesn't
take off and sales are lackluster. As
opposed to having a continuous sale,
Zara only offers two limited sales a
year and discounts just a small
portion of its merchandise—roughly
half that of its rivals. (Giovanni,
2020)

Location strategy This decision is based on the Zara's marketing strategy places
 distance between a company's more of an emphasis on retail
or product's target market, displays and store locations than on
suppliers, and workforce, as conventional advertising. Zara
well as the costs, ensures a lot of traffic by locating its
infrastructure, logistics, and stores in the most noticeable parts of
government projects necessary the city. Another efficient
to find the best location. communication tool produced by a
committed staff is its window
display, which highlights the
collection's most notable items. It
takes a lot of time and effort to
design window screens so that they
stand out and are unique.
Layout design and “To ensure that materials,
strategy people, and information move
efficiently throughout the
organization, this process
combines capacity
requirements, employee levels,
inventory requirements, and
technology.” (Chiemelie,
2017)
Job design and This decision considers the Through professional growth,
Human resources method of attracting, equality, diversity, and
rewarding, and retaining volunteerism, Inditex makes sure
outstanding employees as well that its workers have a common
as the overall cost structure of understanding of principles based on
the company sustainability. It also guarantees that
its suppliers have fundamental rights
at work by starting initiatives for
their continual improvement. Zara
 gives its salespeople and store
managers the authority to lead
customer research; they pay close
attention to what customers say and
take note of any cut ideas, fabric
suggestions, or line-new features, all
the while closely observing any new
looks that customers are sporting
that could one day become
distinctive Zara styles. Employees at
Zara are taught to listen, observe,
and pay attention to even the
smallest seismic signals coming
from their clients, which may be the
first indication of a developing
trend.
Supply chain This decision looks at how The vertically integrated, highly
management companies may more responsive supply chain of Zara
effectively tie their supply makes it possible for clothing
networks to their overall exports to reach the retailer in 10 to
company strategy. This might 15 days. Every piece of clothing is
include a description of handled via a warehouse in Spain,
purchased goods, suppliers, where new products are checked
and the terms of the purchase, through, sorted, labelled, and put
as well as a look at the into trucks. Clothes are delivered to
potential methods for shops within 48 hours. Due to its
delivering the final product to vertical integration, Zara is able to
the customer. items within the maintain control over processes like
time frame specified dyeing and fabric treatment while
also having the ability to process
materials on demand to meet the
 demands of both the firm and its
customers. With over 450 million
items produced and 12,000 new
designs introduced each year, Zara's
supply chain efficiency is essential
to the efficient operation of its
continual store-level collection
refresh.
Inventory This relates to decisions Zara is able to create clothing with
management regarding inventory holding the required raw materials
and purchasing, as well as accessible by effectively managing
process improvement to ensure hundreds of fabric, trim, and design
customer satisfaction, standards as well as their physical
improved supplier capabilities, inventories. Moreover, warehouse is
and a productive production no longer needed and demands are
schedule. satisfied.
Scheduling “This has to do with making A top designer's most recent
decisions about how to create collection, a specific spring/summer
and carry out short- and or fall/winter collection, recently
intermediate-term schedules popular trends, or the sudden
that can be used effectively popularity of an item worn by a
and efficiently by staff and celebrity/celebrity/actor/actress are
facilities in meeting customer just a few examples of the clothing
needs” (Chiemelie, 2017) items that can be found in-store at
any given time thanks to shorter
delivery times at Zara.
Maintenance This is about decisions
regarding the capacity of
business's facilities, the
amount of production needed,
and the number of employees
 needed to guarantee a
dependable and stable
manufacturing process.

Implementation of Operation Management Principles

Operation Management decisions are very important in ensuring the business’

functions. Among the decisions, Supply chain management, Job design and Human
Resources and Quality Management are the most vital decisions that ZARA has to
make every day.

What makes ZARA successful is the speed and ability to keep up with the latest
trends, with high various range of clothes. Also, the clothes ZARA design are unique
and limited. The designers always investigate on the latest concepts to renew and
refresh the production, and by doing that, the brand introduces more than 11,000 new
items in just one typical year. These items are not meant to be sold in the long run, in
contrast, they are only available for a short time (perhaps a couple of weeks) before
being replaced. For some brands, this can be a disadvantage since there will not be
enough customers to buy before the KPI is reached, but for ZARA, the key factor here
is the price. They offer very affordable and reasonable prices for very astonishing
pieces of clothing, which are unique and cannot be found anywhere else, so that
customers are easily attracted and are willing to pay as quickly as possible, prior to the
items’ disappearance.

The success of ZARA points out how quick the brand responds to the market. The
company has been known for its speed towards brand new styles and products. The
staff, includes store managers and designers are responsible for being flexible and
responsive. Customers will be asked for feedbacks by the store managers, on the
shopping experience, what they might be looking for and what they wish not to see
again in the boutiques. The information will then be sent to the designers, as they will
begin drawing out the sketches based on customers’ preferences. Due to the regular
introduction of new models, responsiveness influences consumer behaviour by
encouraging customers to make quick purchases and more frequent visits. As a result,
there is a scarcity and potential at Zara's retail outlets. The environment also quickens
and multiplies the number of times customers visit stores to make purchases. Regular
clients are aware that new items are typically not accessible the following day and are
instead released every two weeks. Contrarily, Zara's history of scarcity enables the
brand to offer more things at their original rates.

Continuous improvement: a philosophy and an operational method

Philosophy of Lean management and Kaizen improvement

A management philosophy known as lean manufacturing aims to give customers the

most value while producing the least amount of waste. In this sense, everything that
doesn't improve the product from the customer's perspective or doesn't improve the
business overall is regarded as waste (The Lean Six Sigma Company, n.d. ). Lean
Manufacturing's creator, Taiichi Ohno, a former industrial engineer for Toyota Motor
Corporation at the time of its establishment, originally referred to it as the Toyota
Production System. Seven production-related wastes are known to him. Toyota views
the system as a philosophical foundation and attitude in addition to a tactical weapon.
Toyota's management must remain dedicated to long-term continuous improvement
culture development and employee investment if the firm is to prosper. Lean
Manufacturing as a concept cannot advance in this manner until it has the backing of
the whole organization. It emphasizes cutting down on operating expenses and
manufacturing time.

Kaizen is a continuous improvement strategy built on the premise that tiny, continual
changes for the better may have a big impact. It frequently relies on cooperation and
dedication in contrast to strategies that rely on drastic or top-down reforms to bring
about transformation. Lean manufacturing and the Toyota Way are founded on kaizen.
It was created in the manufacturing industry to lower mistakes, minimize waste, boost
production, promote employee accountability and creativity. It frequently relies on
cooperation and dedication in contrast to strategies that rely on drastic or top-down
reforms to bring about transformation. It was created in the manufacturing industry to
decrease mistakes, remove waste, boost production, foster innovation, and inspire
employee purpose and accountability. Kaizen, which means "change for the better" or
"improvement," is a combination of two Japanese terms. However, because of its
connection to lean concepts and practices, kaizen refers to "continuous improvement."
After World War II, the Japanese quality circle is where kaizen first emerged. These
teams or rings of workers concentrate on mitigating errors at Toyota. They were
created in part in reaction to American productivity and management consultants who
came to the nation. Masaaki Imai introduced kaizen to the West and made it well-
known with his 1986 book Kaizen: Keys to Japan's Competitive Success.

Implementation of the principles in the business context

Lean manufacturing was once known as the "Just in time" approach. The Toyota
Motor Company developed this strategy in 1948, which calls for just producing
everything in the needed amount for the required period of time. This reduces waste,
irregularities, and pointless needs as much as possible from the production process.

ZARA has been offering quick fashion using this strategy for many years, defying the
laws of the fashion supply chain by maintaining low stock levels and regularly
changing the inventory. Clothing is ordered by store managers twice a week at precise
times, and fresh clothing is delivered on time. ZARA oversees more production
processes than other shops because to the extensive quality control and scheduling
required. Within 15 days, new designs may be found in stores, allowing ZARA to
cater to consumer demands by excluding less popular items and producing more well-
liked ones.

Kanban, a pull model, is another clear and impressive Lean technique that ZARA
employs. This system needs a lot of resources on hand and prepared to be used by the
process later. The Kanban system aims to maintain as few resources as possible,
replace what is currently in use, and only keep what is truly necessary. ZARA needed
to employ an effective approach to maintain a lean enough production process and
decrease waste because it produces up to 1,000 designs every month based on in-store
sales and current trends. The Kanban method tracks client spending in-store to
determine which designs are most popular and then updates future designs according
to that.

Continuous improvement plan for ZARA

Although ZARA is one of the world's most successful merchants and its production is
effective, there are still some operational management issues. Since the majority of
ZARA's retail locations and manufacturing facilities are in Europe, any regional issues
(such as weather, natural disasters, labor disputes, etc.) that might create interruption
could have a negative impact on the business. Only 1,747 stores across all brands are
present in Spain, while there are 1,362 outlets in other European countries, according
to the 2008 Inditex Group annual report. Spain contributed 33.9% of the
organization's revenue in that year, while money from other European countries made
up 43.4% of the total. It is clear that the European market has a significant effect on
ZARA, which makes it challenging for ZARA to grow in the US market. Despite the
European supply chain's demonstrated effectiveness, ZARA lacks a US distribution
plan.

In order to improve this situation, ZARA should use the PDCA framework, the 4
letters stand for Plan, Do, Check, Act. By using this model in quality management,
ZARA can develop its operation management, by pointing out the issue more clearly,
coming up with an appropriate plan and conduct actions to it.
 Plan

Continuous
Act Do
improvement

Check

 Plan: Hundreds of new stores have received about 3,000 million euros in
investment from Inditex. Despite the economic crisis, ZARA may still expect
to generate consistent revenue. ZARA can provide more specialized items for
various geographic regions within the same city to represent the scenario in the
US, as stores might suffer from cannibalization when there are too many of
them. In order to enhance the flow of customers, the business might also
diversify its items from one area to another.
 Do: At this stage, ZARA needs to investigate further the locations and the
customers’ preferences in US regions. The managers should begin to keep in
touch with managers in the US so that they can get the picture of what is
essential in the area. The references of US citizen can be collected through a lot
of other clothes shops, but the key factor to success is to create a difference.
Instead of selling typical, tedious items that can easily be found in other
boutiques or other available US ZARA’s branches, the managers should come
up with more appealing and unique clothes that still fit the US customers’ taste.
The collected information will then be sent to ZARA’s head production line to
provide the most appropriate items that can be introduced to the customers.
 Check: Since the operation is now in the US, ZARA has to check the quality of
the products very carefully, and the logistics process as well, since they have to
 make sure that the suppliers provide the correct items that are required. If there
are any fault in the delivery process, it might be very hard to manage the risk
and the consequences. The company also needs to double check the products
quality after they have been delivered across the sea, to avoid any unwanted
mistakes in selling them to the customers.
 Act: At this stage, ZARA will take action and see if the plan works for the
situation. In this plan, the firm has to evaluate the operation process again,
checking for the sales after a period of time, for example 3 months after the
new branches are operated. Customers’ feedback is also very important at this
point, if the received feedbacks are positive then the company can continue
operating this strategy or improve it to maintain the sales and number of
positive feedbacks. However, if the results are rather negative, the managers
will have to identify the problems, and repeat the cycle of the PDCA model.

ZARA’S project: “Embroidery Tet”

1. Project introduction
- Name: Embroidery Tet
- Concept: This temporary project is an event that is exclusively for Tet, the most
important holidays of Vietnamese people. Purchased clothes from a specific
ZARA’s shop in Hanoi can be embroidered with patterns that relate to the Tet
concept (blossom flowers, firework, animal symbols, etc.), in order to promote
the culture of Vietnam and to emphasize the uniqueness of the brand.
2. Objectives
a. Purposes
- Promote Vietnamese culture of Tet, raise young generation’s awareness to
appreciate the nation’s culture more
- Emphasize the brand’s creativity and uniqueness
- Increase ZARA’s popularity in the Northern part of Vietnam in specific, build
a foundation for ZARA to operate more future events in the region and also in
other parts of the country.
b. Objectives

The primary objective of this project is to promote the brand through patterns that
are embroidered with very unique and ZARA-ish style. This is only limited in
Hanoi’s ZARA shop, which is located in Vincom Ba Trieu, so the staffs of the
branch will be required to participate in it. The shop managers have to arrange a
team of designers who will be responsible for the embroidery, a team of staffs to
tak notes of all the orders from the customers, enhance the marketing department
so that the sales can reach the objective of at least 1,000 purchased and
embroidered items in 1 month. Social media will be utilized to promote the
project, as well as posters and web commercials.

3. Inspiration

ZARA has more than 1500 stores in Europe, while that in Asia only accounts for
less than 500 stores. It is obvious that ZARA’s presence as well as popularity in
this area is not strong, while the market share of it accounts for more than 35%.
With the dominant competitor like H&M or Uniqlo in Vietnam’s market, Shein
and Taobao in China’s market, ZARA is urged to come up with a project that
enhances its image in the Asia market, especially Asia-Pacific one. Vietnam is a
good choice to start off with, since there is only 1 store of ZARA in Hanoi, they
should focus on developing and strengthening the brand’s popularity in this city.

4. Schedule

Since the project’s concept is about Tet, and the Tet 2023 starts from January 22 nd,
the preparation will begin from beginning of December 2022. The pre-event will
take place in the late December, leading to the main project duration of 10-day in
the beginning of January 2023.

5. Team members
 The core team consists of functional units: human resources, finance, marketing,
logistics and operation management. Each department is responsible for different
and signature tasks, however, they still need to maintain communication and
coordination with each other to make sure that the process is going well. If there is
a shortage in staff numbers, recruitments will be made immediately to ensure the
staff quality and quantity.

6. Approach

After the core team and the recruitment is finalized, a detailed plan will be
developed and also finalized so that the project can be conducted. Starting with
pre-event, all preparations must be done on time, especially the risk management
plan, after that the main event will take place, and finally, after the post-event ends
and information is fully collected for analysis, the project ends as well.

Project Life Cycle (PLC) and its implementation on the project

1. PLC definition

The series of phases through which a project advances is known as the PLC.
Depending on the firm and the sort of project it has undertaken, the cycle's number of
phases and order may differ. They are nonetheless limited by time and should have a
distinct beginning and finish as they are a part of a project. Regardless of the exact
work involved, the PLC offers the fundamental framework for the tasks that must be
taken. There are four stages in a PLC model, as can be seen in the picture above.
Project Initiation is when the project is first started. The feasibility study, scope
definition, deliverable definition, identification of project stakeholders, development
of the business case, statement creation work, and perhaps the beginning cost, pricing,
and completion time are just a few of the numerous sub-activities that it could include.

Project Planning: After the project's conception phase is authorized, it enters the
planning stage. In this stage, a project plan that details the project's tasks, deadlines,
resources, and restrictions is created. During this stage, the project's budget is also
developed. At this point, hazards should also be foreseen and addressed, and
mitigation strategies should be developed.

Work is finished during this stage of the Project Execution. The project manager
ensures that the work is completed on schedule and that the process is efficient. The
task owner begins the job. Since problems will inevitably develop and require prompt
modifications as the project advances, monitoring and control (work and financial
management) is a crucial component of this phase.

Project Closing occurs when all tasks have been finished by the team and the project
owner has acknowledged that all deliverables have been met. Any paperwork is given
to the project owner and, if necessary, a continuing maintenance company. The
project's performance is then examined to see if the project's objectives are being
attained (tasks completed, on time and on budget).

2. PLC implementation

Initiating: Project Charter

- Goals: The aim of this project is to raise better awareness among young
generation of the beautiful culture of Vietnam, specifically Tet. In order to do
this, the company needs a practical set design and materials and equipment
needed for the process will be prepared and provided. Moreover, it is important
to increase ZARA’s popularity, so that more and more people (especially
Northern Vietnamese people) know about the brand, and they will likely hear
or read about the project when the advertisements are published.
 - Team establishment: The core team will include 1 manager, 1 vice manager, 5
heads of departments; 30-40 members are in this project overall.
- Finance: The main funding source of this project is ZARA, and sponsorship
will come from material suppliers, which the funding will be around 60-70
million VND.
- Stakeholders: Core team, members, material suppliers, customers.

Planning: WBS & Project Scope Statement

- Schedule: The core team will discuss and confirm a detailed plan in a short
period of time, this will be the project’s timelines, as well as other controlling
management. Within a month of preparation, planning and executing the
project will be finished. The timelines will have to finalized first, to make sure
that all stakeholders are aware of the situation at the specific time.
- Resources and budgets: It is very important to check the costs frequently to
avoid any possible financial problems that may occur before, during and after
the project. The finance department will be in charge of this, analysing and
evaluating the total cost, as well as reporting budgets status to the core team
members. The logistic department also plays an important role since the
materials need to be ensured, otherwise there will be a shortage of materials.
The Human Resources department is in charge of contacting with the suppliers,
asking for sponsorship, recruiting if necessary, and developing a strategy as
well as a management plan for all team members.
- Risks: Any projects face risks and challenges from the beginning, so every
detail, no matter how small or big, should be paid attention to very carefully.
The team must record and report all meetings’ notes, sponsorship information,
numbers of materials provided, timeline, etc.

Executing: Project analysis & Project report

- Progress and performance tracking: The core team’s job is to supervise and
adjust the work’s quality, making sure they are finished on time with
sufficiently good quality. The product of each department will be evaluated
thoroughly by the core team, so that adjustments can be made in time,
 preventing delaying. Also, other departments need to know what each
department is currently doing, as well as knowing their own responsibilities so
that the work can be done in an effective way.
- Communication: Team-work can never be effective without frequent
communication. Members should talk and discuss everyday while working in
order to keep track of what the others are doing and whether there is any
problem occurring. The work for each department will be set a deadline for it,
and there will be a meeting at the end of every week for departments’ heads to
report the week’s progress and problems they ran into. Another important thing
while planning is to come up with new ideas to enhance the work quality, as
well as keeping the project as creative as possible. Members are free and
encouraged to give opinions on how to develop the work throughout the
meetings and discussions.
- Quality and Forecasts: The development of the project will be continuously
watched to spot and foresee any dangers. There is always a chance that a
project's costs could rise unexpectedly, which is why a contingency budget is
required. A budget for unanticipated events and a contingency plan will work
together to help prevent any surprises. The financial staff will also carefully
monitor all expenses. In terms of human resource risks, certain employees,
particularly the core team, may encounter issues during the project from both
internal and external sources. Their stress and exhaustion may lead them to
leave the group, which would slow down performance as a whole. As a result,
the HR division must keep a careful eye on each employee and be prepared to
make any required adjustments.

Closing: Project analysis and project closing

At this point, all of the event parts have to operate smoothly and all the items are
finished with the embroidery to deliver back to the customers. There will be an
evaluation at the end of the project, which consists the current situation’s analysis, the
results for the team’s works, and customers’ attitude towards this project. The report
also includes the real results from practices, comparing to the original plan, in order to
make any necessary changes or maintain any good features for future events of ZARA
in the country. The team members will rate the performance of individuals that have
participated in this project, who will be mentioned in the report. They will receive
certificates as well. The sponsorship deal will be terminated.

Review and critique of PLC implementation on the project

1. PLC model

The PLC model is used to evaluate performances of the team, as well as maximizing
the results in outputs. Other project management tools are also used, such as Gantt
chart, milestones, deliverables transferred, KPI, and so on. They are key factors to a
successful project management.

The Gantt chart is a project management tool that shows the amount of work finished
over time in comparison to the amount of time it was anticipated to take to complete
the task. Task start and end dates, milestones, task dependencies, assignees, and more
can all be included in Gantt charts. You can better manage projects with Gantt charts,
which also increase project visibility overall and keep team members on task.
Managers can supply resources when and where they are needed with the use of Gantt
charts. They also promote cooperation among the members of the project team.

An important point in the project schedule is defined by a project milestone, a

management tool. These milestones can indicate the start and finish of a project as
well as the conclusion of a significant work period. While it is typically used as a
scheduling tool, milestones may represent anything that has started or finished. It can
be seen how useful a milestone can be in the scheduling process if it concentrates on
significant project progress milestones. Milestones let project managers plan,
schedule, and carry out project stages in the same way that tasks divide a bigger
project into manageable portions.

The basic timeline will be more effective with the help of project’s goal schedule.
This takes into consideration the resources amount at each phase, as well as other
relevant aspects. The schedule helps to adjust the date, evaluate the tasks, in order to
make best use of the project flexibility as well as enhance it. The project can change
quite a lot from the original plan, but the foundation information must be kept intact
no matter what.

Deliverables mean the project’s final result in a variety of shapes, which can be
mental, physical, etc. The main deliverables of this project are tangible, which are
clothes that have been embroidered with Tet patterns, the more embroidered items
there are, the more successful the project is. Also, another notable deliverable includes
higher awareness of people of the beauty of the country’s traditional holiday. People
can check in with their embroidered items and tag the store’s social media account in
their posts online, so that the results can be kept track and the community can get an
idea of what ZARA is doing, and then a lot of people may support the company.

KPI, which stands for key performance indicators, is a quantifiable statistic that
reveals how well a firm is fulfilling its main objectives. KPIs are used by
organizations to track their development and performance in reaching objectives.
High-level KPIs include market share, competitors from other companies, and low-
level KPIs are metrics such as sales effectiveness and promotion.
 PLC implementation analysis

PLC has helped the team to complete a lot of deliverables. First, 10 part-time staffs
have been recruited to maintain the work schedule, which exceeds the initial goal. One
of the risks that the team anticipated from the start is the shortage of staffs, or worse,
the increase in turnover rates due to stress and pressure from work, but the practice is
much better than the plan’s scenario. The financial plan initially expected a final cost
of 50 million VND, but the final cost turns out to be around 55-60 million VND,
which is just slightly more than the original cost plan. The risk management of PLC
also helps to prepare for the worst cases, and it has helped a lot with dealing with
unexpected circumstances while operating the project. There are very few materials
left, which is a good sign of protecting the environment, and making good use of Lean
production, like the philosophy of the business. The total number of embroidered
items are 1,300, 10% more than the initial goal of 1,000 items, and all of them have
been successfully given back to the customers that ordered them.

PLC contributed greatly in the process of project operation. It is especially useful in

the beginning stages of the project, where all original plans and ideas were drafted,
initial concepts were made and discussed about. As well as using PLC, performance
evaluation helps the core team to manage the operation better, while keep track of the
members’ progress in the project and the project’s progress too. Budgeting, risk
controlling, scope planning, nearly everything lie under the scope of a project is
assisted by PLC, before, during and after the event. PLC still has some limitations,
which needs a much more considerable time investment and man’s involvement, like
execution throughout the stages.

Conclusion
This research has given an introduction of the biggest retailers in the world, ZARA,
and a thorough explanation of how ZARA’s operation management functions. The
business’s key factor to success is their quick responsiveness to the market trends, the
lean philosophy in production, notably Just in time and Kanban methods. Applying
Continuous improvement helps ZARA create its core competencies. There are some
limitations, however, recommendations by applying PDCA model have been made, in
order for ZARA to operate better in the long run. PLC model is useful for managers to
plan and conduct a project successfully, which can be evaluated in the latter part of the
research.

Reference

Daniel, D. (2021) Kaizen (continuous improvement). Available at:

https://www.techtarget.com/searcherp/definition/kaizen-or-continuous-

improvement.

Editorial Team (2022) What is the Project Lifecycle? Available at:

https://www.adeaca.com/blog/faq-items/what-is-the-project-lifecycle/.

Makori, W. (2014) Zara’s operations strategy. Available at:

https://www.academia.edu/6500115/Zaras_operations_strategy.

PDCA Cycle - What is the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle? | ASQ (no date). Available at:

https://asq.org/quality-resources/pdca-cycle.

Robinson, N. (2021) How Zara used Lean to become the largest fashion retailer.

Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-zara-used-lean-become-

largest-fashion-retailer-nathan-robinson.

Hanbury, M. (n.d.). We went inside one of the sprawling factories where Zara makes
its clothes. Here’s how the world’s biggest fashion retailer gets it done. [online]
Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-zara-makes-its-
 clothes-2018-10#the-clothing-is-then-checked-piece-by-piece--16 [Accessed 21 Nov.
2022].
‌ Giovanni (2020). Zara’s Business Operations and Strategy: How and Why They
Work. [online] ToughNickel. Available at:
https://toughnickel.com/industries/Business-Operations-of-Clothing-Retailer-Zara.

‌ Chiemelie, I.B. (2017). Ten (10) strategic decisions in operations management: A

case of Harley Davidson and Ikea. [online] Available at:
http://ilokabenneth.blogspot.com/2018/04/ten-10-strategic-decisions-in.html.

Johan, A. (n.d.). Zara operation management key values. [online] www.grin.com.

Available at: https://www.grin.com/document/512230.

Appendix

Initiating phase paperwork

1. Project charter

1. General Project Information

Project Name: Embroidery Tet

Date of Establishment: December 1st 2022

Project Requestor: Last

Revision
Date:

Status of Project Charter:

(Pending/Approved/
Rejected)
Project Sponsor: Date of
Project
Approval:

Proposed Project Start & End

Date:

2. Project Details

This temporary project is an event that is exclusively for Tet, the most
important holidays of Vietnamese people. Purchased clothes from a specific
Description: ZARA’s shop in Hanoi can be embroidered with patterns that relate to the Tet
concept (blossom flowers, firework, animal symbols, etc.), in order to promote
the culture of Vietnam and to emphasize the uniqueness of the brand.

ZARA has more than 1500 stores in Europe, while that in Asia only accounts
for less than 500 stores. It is obvious that ZARA’s presence as well as
popularity in this area is not strong, while the market share of it accounts for
more than 35%. With the dominant competitor like H&M or Uniqlo in
Business Case: Vietnam’s market, Shein and Taobao in China’s market, ZARA is urged to
come up with a project that enhances its image in the Asia market, especially
Asia-Pacific one. Vietnam is a good choice to start off with, since there is only
1 store of ZARA in Hanoi, they should focus on developing and strengthening
the brand’s popularity in this city.

- Promote Vietnamese culture of Tet, raise young generation’s awareness

to appreciate the nation’s culture more

- Emphasize the brand’s creativity and uniqueness

Purpose:
- Increase ZARA’s popularity in the Northern part of Vietnam in specific,
build a foundation for ZARA to operate more future events in the region and
also in other parts of the country.
 Target segment: Customers from 20 to 35 years old

Location: ZARA store, Vincom Ba Trieu, Le Dai Hanh st., Hai Ba Trung dist.,
Scope:
Hanoi

Product: ZARA clothes with Tet patterns embroidery

Time: 2 month

Constraints (in Scope: Hanoi

priority order): Quality:

Budget: 50,000,000 VND

Better awareness of traditional holiday’s beauty of consumers

Purchased ZARA items with Tet patterns embroidery on

Deliverables:
Social media reach: number of reactions

Sponsor: Materials suppliers

KPI Baseline: Goal:

Number of embroidered items 800 1,000

Benefits:
Number of social media reach 20,000 30,000

Number of sponsors 1 3

Name: Role Name: Role:

Pham Thanh Van Mentor Do Hong Manager

Project Ngoc
Key Stakeholders
ZARA Sponsor Team:

Materials Supplier/
suppliers in Hanoi Sponsors

Risks: Name: Rating Action

 Insufficiency of High Focus on promoting with materials that fit
customers the consumers’ taste currently
interested in the
project

Lack of sponsors Low Find more suppliers with qualified

materials to support the supply

Low social media Medium Post frequently at time when people tend to
reach use social media the most, with appealing
pictures and videos promoting the project

Faults in Medium Hire good quality staffs and designers to

embroidering the ensure the quality and the accuracy of the
items items

Main Task: Start: End: Lead:

Planning 1/12 13/12 Do Hong

Ngoc

Project Promotion 20/12 26/12 Do Hong

Ngoc

Schedule: Location set up 27/12 28/12 Do Hong

Ngoc

Event 1/1 15/1 Do Hong

Ngoc

After event lookback 16/1 18/1 Do Hong

Ngoc

Project budget/ Fixed Cost Variable Resources

Cost
Resources
Facility, Location Equipment, 30-40 members
 hiring 50,000,000 VND funding
members,
embroidery
materials

3. Authorization

2. Project scope

1. General Project Information

Project Name: Embroidery Tet

Date of Establishment: December 1st 2022

Project Requestor: Pham Thanh Van Last

Revision
Date:

Status of Project Charter:

(Pending/Approved/
Rejected)

Project Sponsor: Date of

Project
Approval:

Proposed Project Start & End 30st November 2022 – 18th January 2023
Date:

2. Scope Details
 Human resources: 7 core team members, 40 team members

Location: ZARA store, Vincom Ba Trieu, Le Dai Hanh st., Hai Ba Trung dist.,
Hanoi
Description:
Participants: customers from 20 to 35 years old

Concept: Customized items to promote culture beauty of Vietnamese Tet

holiday

Raise awareness of brand

Deliverables:
Complete the operation of the project

To be sponsored extra 20,000,000 VND

Acceptance criteria
Approval of collaboration with at least 1 supplier

Time: 1st December – 18th Jan (1 month and a half)

Constraints: Budget: 50.000.000 VND

Scope: 800 customers

1. A crowd of customers will come to the event of customizing items

Assumptions:
2. Over 1,000 items will be purchased and ordered for embroidering

3. Authorization

Approval of Date:

Project Sponsor:

Approval of Date:

Project Manager:

Project Matrix Priority

Time Performance Cost

Constrain x
Enhance x
Accept x

3. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

4. Resource Breakdown Structure

5. Responsibility matrix

Deliverables Leaders Operation Human Finance Logistics Marketing

Management Resource
 Awareness of A R
customers
Weakly team R R R S
evaluation
Sponsorship A R R
selection
Promotion S S S S S R
Budget R S S R S
planning
Product R R S R S
Quality
management
After event R R R R
evaluation

R: Responsible S: Support A: Approval

Planning phase paperwork

1. Activity list
Activity Description of Finish
Activity Name Responsibility Start Date
ID work Date Duration

A2 Team review Each team report Core team 5/12 12/12 1 week
weakly their results, member
leaders give
feedbacks and
adjustments

A3 Sponsorship Sellect sponsors Core team, 10/12 16/12 1 week

selection and reach out for logistics,
collaboration human
resources

A4 Promotion Promoting the Marketing 20/12 26/12 1 weeks

project so as it
reaches as many
customers as it
can

A1 Budget Create plans for Financial 1/12 4/12 3 days

planning spending and
promote project
and attract
sponsors

A5 Product Double check Operation 1/1 15/1 14 days

Quality every management,
management embroidered item logistics, core
to avoid any team members
unwanted faults

A6 Customers’ Check the Operation 5/1 15/1 10 days

attitude reactions Management
(comments,
reviews) of
customers on
social media as
well as in shops
(staff ask for
feedback)
 2. Critical Path

These are the steps that must be followed to carry out a smooth and successful project,
called the critical path. These steps are linked together, so if only one step is missed
out, the whole schedule will be delayed. The critical path takes up the most time since
it contains a chain of steps. The event’s most important paths appear within this chain.

Another analysis method is used to check tasks in a schedule is PERT

Task Optimistic (O) Most likely (M) Pessimistic (P)

Concept discussion 3 days 4 days 5 days

Budget Planning 2 days 3 days 4 days

 Sponsorship 5 days 7 days 8 days
collection

Promotion 5 days 6 days 10 days

Team review 6 days 7 days 8 days

weekly

Customers’ attitude 8 days 10 days 12 days

check

Product quality 12 days 14 days 15 days

management

After event 2 days 3 days 5 days

evaluation

Compelt1ion 43 days 54 days 67 days

We have the formula of te = (P + 4M + O) : 6 = 54.3. Therefore, the weighted average

time for this event ca last for 54 days.

3. Project schedule

4. Cost management plan

Activit Pre event Labor Supply Subtotal cost

y Contact To
Q Unit Total Q Unit (VND)
number Location tal

10 people 10 5.000.000
1 Recruitment
Posts.
10- Posters,
10 10.000.000
15 video
1.1. Marketing making

30 People 30
1.2 During event

people 2 Embroi
30 30 dering 20.000.000
Location set machin
1.3 up es
people Embroi
dering 20.000.000
30 30 2 2
machin (same as above)
2. Embroidering es
Material people 2 2
30 30 10.000.000
2.1. restorations

4 People 4 3 3 5.000.000
2.2 Post event

5. Risk evaluation

Risk Probability Impact

Insufficiency of Low High
customers interested to
 participate in project
Faults in the embroidered Low Medium
items
Lack of sponsors Low Low
Low social media reach Medium Medium

5
4
Likelihood 3 Faults in the
embroidered
items
2 Lack of Low Insufficienc
sponsors social y of
media customers
reach interested
to
participate
in project
1
1 2 3 4 5
Impact
Red zone
(major risk)
Yellow zone
(moderate
risk)
Green zone
(minor risk)

Risk response
Risk event Response Contingency Trigger Responsible
plan
Insufficiency of Focus on Contact with <200 items Marketing
customers promoting Tiktok’s are sold team
interested to with popular within a
participate in materials accounts to week
project that fit the collaborate if
consumers’ necessary
taste
currently
Lack of sponsors Find more Have a back No sponsors Core team.
suppliers up list of found Financial,
with potential Logistics
qualified sponsors
materials
to supply
Low social media Post Make Tiktok Reactions Marketing
reach frequently or Facebook reach less team
at time videos, than 8,000
when advertising
people the new event
tend to use in ZARA
social with
media the reasonable
most, with price and
appealing beautiful
pictures products
and videos
promoting
the projecy
Faults in Hire good Immediately False patterns Operation
 embroidering the quality apologise and reports management,
items staff and customers from Logistics,
designers and fix the customers Core team
to ensure items as
the quality quickly as
and the possible
accuracy without
of the refunding
items

Performance Analysis

Project
Responsible Task Manager
Manager
Completes
Completes

Cost Schedule
Cost/Schedule Data
Performance Performanc

Percen Days CV CPO SP

t to Expense
WBS Task PV EV AC SV
Compl Compl /Week
ete ete

5,000, 5,000, 5,000, 5,000,

Sponsor 100 3 0 0 1
000 000 000 000 1
5,000, 5,000, 5,000, 5,000,
Hiring 100 3 0 0 1
000 000 000 000 1
Promotin 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000
100 5 0 1 1
g ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 1
17,000 17,000 17,000 17,000 0
Totals 11 0 1 0
,000 ,000 ,000 ,000

Estimate at Completion Project

50,000,000 Nguyen Minh
(EAC): Manager:
Budget at Completion 55,000,000 Project Date:
 January 15th
(BAC): Office Use 2023
Only:
Variance at Completion Time:
`10,000,000
(VAC):

1. General Project Information

Project Name: Embroidery Tet

Date of Establishment: December 1st 2022

Project Requestor: Do Hong Ngoc Last

Revision
Date:

Status of Project
Charter:

(Pending/Approved/
Rejected)

Project Sponsor: Date of

Project
Approval:

Proposed Project Start December 1st 2022 – January 18th 2023

& End Date:

2. Project Details

This temporary project is an event that is exclusively for Tet, the most
important holidays of Vietnamese people. Purchased clothes from a specific
Description: ZARA’s shop in Hanoi can be embroidered with patterns that relate to the Tet
concept (blossom flowers, firework, animal symbols, etc.), in order to promote
the culture of Vietnam and to emphasize the uniqueness of the brand.
 ZARA has more than 1500 stores in Europe, while that in Asia only accounts
for less than 500 stores. It is obvious that ZARA’s presence as well as
popularity in this area is not strong, while the market share of it accounts for
more than 35%. With the dominant competitor like H&M or Uniqlo in
Business Case: Vietnam’s market, Shein and Taobao in China’s market, ZARA is urged to
come up with a project that enhances its image in the Asia market, especially
Asia-Pacific one. Vietnam is a good choice to start off with, since there is only
1 store of ZARA in Hanoi, they should focus on developing and strengthening
the brand’s popularity in this city.

- Promote Vietnamese culture of Tet, raise young generation’s awareness

to appreciate the nation’s culture more

- Emphasize the brand’s creativity and uniqueness

Purpose:
- Increase ZARA’s popularity in the Northern part of Vietnam in specific,
build a foundation for ZARA to operate more future events in the region and
also in other parts of the country.

Target segment: Customers from 20 to 35 years old

Location: ZARA store, Vincom Ba Trieu, Le Dai Hanh st., Hai Ba Trung dist.,
Scope:
Hanoi

Product: ZARA clothes with Tet patterns embroidery

Completion Achieved
Criteria:
Criteria (Yes/No)

Reach on Socials Yes

Objectives:
Follow schedule timeline

Benefits: KPI: Baseline: Goal:

Number of embroidered items 800 1,000 Yes

Number of social media reach 20,000 30,000 Yes

 Number of sponsors 1 3 No

Project Event schedule Yes

Deliverables: Social media reach

Budget: 50,000,000 VND Yes

Main Task: Start: End:

Budget planning 1/12 5/12 Yes

Team review weekly 5/12 12/12 Yes

Schedule:
Sponsorship collection 10/12 16/12 Yes

Product Quality management 1/1 15/1 Yes

After event lookback 16/1 18/1 Yes

3. Authorization

Approval of Date:

Project
Sponsor:

Approval of Date:

Project
Manager: