Manage changing

Change is not always easy to accept and most of us will take a while
to adapt to new ways of doing things. However for organisations to
survive it is important to adapt and change to meet the needs of the
new consumer

Operation flexibility
As Dr. Zhang pointed out, Operations flexibility emphasizes on
responsiveness to uncertain demand changes. It also focus on
improvement in the areas of shortened new product development
lead time and reduce the system transformation of time and cost.
Enhancing operations flexibility involves a wide range of issues,
especially uncertainty management.

Abercrombie & Fitch

In the 1990s, Abercrombie & Fitch became one of the most popular
brands for teenagers in the USA. People could see dancing
teenagers and smiling staffs in the stores with loud music, tourists
waiting in line to enter the A&F store, and ads around streets. (Julie
Saussier,2016) For the company, it made more profits in a short
period. Unfortunately, when the logo became overexposed, A&F lost
its appeal for youth and kids, who want be unique especially.
Customers moved away to look for new targets which attract them.
This is the determining reason why A&F was on the decline.

What should be noticed is thatA&F did not have their own

production facilities which relies on the independent third-party
manufacturers. Over 150 suppliers of A&F, including foreign
manufacturers have located around the world. Therefore, A&F

operating success due to the timely received unqualified clothes

from a third-party manufacturers. Timing critical is the key point in a
fashion business, if a manufacturer cannot deliver orders on time or
satisfied the quality standards, it may lead to delay in response to
the demands of consumers(Klara Robert ,2007), less time to make
profit and higher risk of obsolescence. It also has negative impact
on consumer confidence and the company's brand value. In
addition, A&F is easy to increase the physical cost (production costs,
distribution cost, storage costs) from manufacturers while it may not
be able to translate to the customer. All of these reasons may have
a negative impact on the company's financial situation and market
competition status.

With the reduction of brand equity and rapid decline in consumer

willingness to buy, A&F has been struggling to revive its reputation
for the past five years, although it faces real difficulties. Initially,
changing the old, blatant advertisements plays an essential role on
avoiding Visual fatigue to customers. Furthermore, to strive for a
competitive advantage, A&F have tried to improve business
strategies aimed at reducing lead times and responding rapidly to
market trends (Hines and Bruce, 2001)
Now A&F Sales have been slowly climbing out of the grave and its
styles have slowly turned to a more fashionable look ( Mallory
Schlossberg, 2016).

1. https://www.credit-suisse.com/us/en/articles/articles/news-andexpertise/2016/06/en/the-rise-and-fall-of-fashion-companies.html
The Rise and Fall of Fashion CompaniesPublished: 02.06.2016 ,Julie

Saussier,
2. Abercrombie&Fitch,

Klara, Robert, Adweek, Nov 3, 2014, Vol.55(40),

pp.27-28
3. Abercrombie&FitchSWOTAnalysis, 2007, p.1-10
4. Abercrombie & Fitch is facing a terrifying reality about its most loyal
customers
http://uk.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-and-fitch-still-struggling-2016-5?
r=US&IR=T
Mallory SchlossbergMay 23, 2016, 4:31 PM