Zara's Counter-Intuitive Business Model 
Background
Inditex, founded by Amancio Ortega, operates six different chains: Zara, Massimo Dutti,Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho. Since 2006 when the case was written, Inditex hasadded Zara Home and Uterque to its collection.
The retail chains were meant to operate asseparate business units within a structure, which included six support areas and nine corporatedepartments. Each chain addressed different segments of the market, but all share the samegoal: to dominate their segment using a flexible business model that could be expanded on aninternational scale. As the parent company, Inditex focused on providing the corporate servicesto its respectable chains so that they could accomplish their goals.As a global apparel fir m, Inditex’s main development strategy for international expansion is to become the sole or majority shareholder. However, for small or culturally different markets, itextended franchising agreements to leading local retail companies. For countries with largebarriers to entry and an appealing customer base, Inditex created joint ventures with thepossibility of later buying out its partner. Despite the different approaches used to enter intothe international market, Zara has shown that there is no impediment to sharing a singlefashion culture.Zara, a key subsidiary of its Spain-based parent company Inditex, was established in Galicia,Spain in 1975. The brand provides an alternative outlook to the fashion retail business model byrejecting media advertising and blow-out sales, and maintaining the bulk of its productionprocess in-house rather than outsourcing to low-cost countries. Despite the seemingly counter-intuitive business model Zara operates, it has become one of the leading fashion retailers in theworld.
II. Business Model
As the first retail chain established by Inditex, Zara has become the largest and most expansive.It had three product lines (men, women, and children), each with its own creative team of designers,
Inditex, founded by Amancio Ortega, operates six different chains: Zara, Massimo Dutti,Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, and Oysho. Since 2006 when the case was written, Inditex hasadded Zara Home and Uterque to its collection.
The retail chains were meant to operate asseparate business units within a structure, which included six support areas and nine corporatedepartments. Each chain addressed different segments of the market, but all share the samegoal: to dominate their segment using a flexible business model that could be expanded on aninternational scale. As the parent company, Inditex focused on providing the corporate servicesto its respectable chains so that they could accomplish their goals.As a global apparel fir m, Inditex’s main development strategy for international expansion is to become the sole or majority shareholder. However, for small or culturally different markets, itextended franchising agreements to leading local retail companies. For countries with largebarriers to entry and an appealing customer base, Inditex created joint ventures with thepossibility of later buying out its partner. Despite the different approaches used to enter intothe international market, Zara has shown that there is no impediment to sharing a singlefashion culture.Zara, a key subsidiary of its Spain-based parent company Inditex, was established in Galicia,Spain in 1975. The brand provides an alternative outlook to the fashion retail business model byrejecting media advertising and blow-out sales, and maintaining the bulk of its productionprocess in-house rather than outsourcing to low-cost countries. Despite the seemingly counter-intuitive business model Zara operates, it has become one of the leading fashion retailers in theworld.
II. Business Model
As the first retail chain established by Inditex, Zara has become the largest and most expansive.It had three product lines (men, women, and children), each with its own creative team of designers,