CASE STUDIES

1. Burberry was founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry (Thomas), who opened a clothing store
in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England (See Exhibit I). By 1870, the business had started
focusing on the growth of outdoor clothing. In 2004, Burberry faced a huge challenge as its
signature collection of garments was being widely imitated by cheap, mock brands,
making luxury consumers feel that their luxurious clothing was similar to what working
class youngsters were wearing. Burberry had witnessed a growing trend of ‘chavs’
wearing its trademark camel check clothing. Retailers who stocked Burberry merchandise
felt that there was a rising negative association with the brand among people of high
social status. They took various steps to solve this problem. In the annual report for the
year 2017-18, UK-based luxury fashion giant Burberry Group PLC (Burberry) mentioned
that it had physically destroyed surplus stock worth £ 28.6 million. Experts said that the
company had destroyed excess stock to maintain its exclusivity, while Burberry
maintained that it wanted to avoid its clothes falling into the hands of counterfeiters and
grey marketers who could sell them at a discount thereby devaluing the brand. The total
value of goods destroyed by the label since 2013 was £ 90 million. The company faced a
huge backlash from analysts and environmentalists for opting to incinerate the stock
when it could have given it to charity instead or used it in some other way. The critics
voiced their outrage on various social media platforms.

Problems faced:
 Provide solutions for the above mentioned case.
 Ascertain the methods by which companies can practice sustainable inventory
management.
 How can luxury fashion brands resort to sustainable practices to manage their surplus
stock.
2. This case consists of the factors which led to the failure of Target Corporation (Target) in
Canada. Target entered Canada by acquiring a portion of Zellers Inc. (Zellers) in 2013
hoping to cash in on the demand it had in the US from Canadian cross border shoppers. It
started in Canada by opening more than 100 stores by the end of 2013. However, Target
was not able to establish a viable supply chain strategy in Canada due to an inefficient
software system, which resulted in empty shelves at the stores. Moreover, customers
found that the products at the Target stores in Canada were priced higher than those in the
US stores. Target was forced to exit Canada in 2015. The decision to close its Canadian
operations came despite Target’s turnaround attempts in the country. Many analysts
assumed Target would be able to recover from its setbacks in Canada and go on to repeat
the success it enjoyed in the US. However, Target’s CEO Brian Cornell (Cornell) could
not find enough indication that the turnaround plan was working in favor of Target and
this ultimately led to Target exiting Canada. Analysts wondered what kind of precautions
Target would take while entering a new country in future to avoid a repeat of the fiasco in
Canada.

 Suggest the reasons for Target’s exit from Canada.

 Provide points on the need for customizing a company’s supply
chain operations according to the various countries in which it
operates.
 Explain the role of IT and the Internet in supply chain
management of global companies