This case discusses the astonishing growth of Crocs, Inc., a manufacturer of plastic shoes, from the year 2003 through early 2007. Much of the business's growth was made possible by a very elastic supply chain that empowered additional merchandise to be built by Crocs within the selling season. The ordinary model used within the fashion industry was to take orders in advance of each selling season, and generate to those orders, with relatively little added creation. There would be stockouts, if demand was way in excess of this production and the business would lose the ability to get revenue for that season. The merchandise might or might not be in vogue the following year, when creation would be based on preseason orders.
Crocs' skill to build additional shoes within the season enabled it to benefit from strong customer demand, causing the business filling in-season orders totaling many times that of the initial orders that were reserved. The case describes the Crocs supply chain. It asks pupils to evaluate the core competencies of the company and how those can be exploited in the future. The case was revised in March 2011 to present info on the firm's results in 2007 and prepare pupils for discussions of issues that would be faced in 2008 (covered in the B and C cases).
PUBLICATION DATE: June 18, 2007 PRODUCT #: GS57A-HCB-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about STRATEGY & EXECUTION
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