Subject category:
Strategy and General Management
Published by:
Cranfield School of Management
Length: 19 pages
Data source: Field research
Abstract
The case charts the rise of Laura Ashley Plc, from cottage industry to trans- national company with global aspirations. The case follows the rapid growth of the company's retail and manufacturing operations across several continents, and shows how these factors combined with increasingly complex sourcing arrangements and a rapid expansion in the business's product ranges, eventually proved to be too much for the company's ad-hoc in-house logistics systems.
Location:
Industry:
Size:
5,000 employees, GBP248 million turnover
Other setting(s):
1984-1991
About
Abstract
The case charts the rise of Laura Ashley Plc, from cottage industry to trans- national company with global aspirations. The case follows the rapid growth of the company's retail and manufacturing operations across several continents, and shows how these factors combined with increasingly complex sourcing arrangements and a rapid expansion in the business's product ranges, eventually proved to be too much for the company's ad-hoc in-house logistics systems.
Settings
Location:
Industry:
Size:
5,000 employees, GBP248 million turnover
Other setting(s):
1984-1991