Product details

Danier Leather, a leading Canadian designer, manufacturer and retailer of men and women leather apparel, had been growing rapidly on the Canadian market. It had positioned itself with a fashion/value image, adapted to the needs of its market. After having established a strong presence and brand equity in Canada and started expanding into the US, Jeffrey Wortsman, President and CEO, had perceived the Internet as a new growth opportunity. He had therefore encouraged the development of an on-line shopping site, which he felt would lead to broader local and global markets. In particular, Jeffrey saw e-tailing as an unprecedented opportunity to expand to the European market, which he knew from its wholesale operation in London, was relatively untapped for value oriented fashion leather. The Danier case focuses on two main areas of concern in today''s e-business world: (1) should a brick-and-mortar company integrate the new Internet technology in its business structure, and if so, how can this best be done? (2) can the Internet be a means to expansion into the European market for a North American firm, and if so, how should this be done? The first order of concern is immediate in nature: management has launched two growth initiatives, US expansion and e-tailing, and students must decide if management has any other choice but to continue with these. This requires students to look at the firm''s strategy, environment, competition and performance to make recommendations to management and provide an action plan. The second order of concern is operational: management feels the Internet will impact the company''s operations very differently from expansion through traditional brick-and-mortar facilities and is looking for proposals on how to change their operation to make the most of this opportunity. The issue requires students to evaluate the effects of e-tailing on all aspects of the company''s operation, from ordering to delivery, as well as the possibility of B2B transactions that could lead to cost efficiencies for the company. The third order of concern is long-term strategy: management plans to expand the European market through e-tailing. Students are asked to identify the problems the company will face and how it can make the most of this opportunity. This issue will give students the opportunity to discuss if a growth strategy based on e-tailing alone is possible and how Danier should address local customer preferences and cultural differences through its on-line shopping site. This case was sponsored by the Indiana University CIBER Case Collection.