Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors 2022/23: No. 22

In 2014 Zara were still very much a market leader in fashion, with 1923 stores in 88 countries worldwide. But how did Zara continue its remarkable growth when an economic crisis appeared in 2008? Extensive interviews with company managers and employees tell the story. 

In November 2019, IKEA’s online sales were growing rapidly and recent launch of new small city stores, which unlike the traditional IKEA stores carried little inventory, as well as growing competition from Amazon, Alibaba and other online retailers all signalled the need for a fresh look at IKEA’s global supply chain strategy. The challenge facing IKEA was how to make essentially brick-and-mortar system suitable for the growth in online sales. It needed to make its production and supply chain more agile. But exactly by how much, how, and where in the supply chain?

This case has made The Case Centre’s bestsellers list every year since it was released in 2003. Used in a wide rage of courses, the case focuses on the process that enables Zara to deliver garments to its 507 stores in 33 countries in just 15 days after they are designed.