Comparative Case Study of

UNIQLO and MUJI

Carol
Lucy
Kaspar
Atsushi

Table of Contents
1) What is a value chain?
2) Background Information
3) Primary activities
4) Support activities
5) Future Developments
6) Bibliography

1) What is a value chain?

design, produce, market, deliver, and

support
strategically important activities
competitive advantage
a value chain

2) Background Information
UNIQLO

store in
First
Hiroshima, 1984
quality clothes
Good
at Low Price
items in mass
Basic
production
UNIQLO fleece 1988
billion yen sales
1650
in fiscal 2014

MUJI
with 40 products as
Started
a private brand of Seiyou in

1980
a wide variety of household
and consumer goods.
Pursuit of a sustainable
Pleasant life
Simple and environmentally
friendly products
220 billion yen sales in
2014

3) Primary activities

Inbound logistics
receiving, storing, and disseminating
inputs

material handling
warehousing
inventory control
vehicle scheduling
returns to suppliers

Inbound logistics

4) Support activities

Firm infrastructure
Human Resource Management
Technological Development
Procurement

Firm infrastructure

Technological Development
UNIQLO
Constant research for new
materials

MUJI
Passport App
7% of total sales online

Attending fashion shows in

Tokyo, Milan, New York and
Paris
Continuous improvement of
inventory control systems

Brick-and-click/O2O
development
Use of Big Data
Popular YouTube commercials

Human Resource
Management

Human Resource
Management
UNIQLO

MUJI

Strict employee training

Outsourcing of HR capacities

Unified global culture

Adaptation to local cultures

Work-life balance

Focus on retention

Disabled people

Mentorship program for

Youngers

Women in management
Electronic planning system

Procurement
UNIQLO

MUJI

UNIQLO Material Development

Team

Worldwide search for quality

products

Denim from KAIHARA,

Hiroshima

Sustainability is important
Use of discarded materials

Ultra-fine cotton
Orders for 1 million garnments

5) Future Developments
UNIQLO

MUJI

Flagship stores for market

penetration

Growing operational margin

and profit

Looking to develop US/EU/CN

market

Expansion in Japan/EU/Asia
Entering Australian market

More economies of scale

Learning from globalization
Become nr. 1 in the world

6) Bibliography
Porters Value Chain. (n.d). Retrieved June 23, 2015, from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/34937428/PortersValue-Chain/
Porter, M. E. (2001). The value chain and competitive advantage. Understanding business: Processes, 50-66.
http://www.porterprize.org/english/pastwinner/2009/12/03114807.html/
https://www.prophet.com/theinspiratory/2014/10/21/6-reasons-why-uniqlo-is-winning/
http://www.lgcnsblog.com/it-trend/what-do-zara-and-uniqlo-have-in-common-supply-chain-management/
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-UNIQLO-Fast-Retailing-Credential.pdf/
http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ - Fast retailing company website
http://nymag.com/fashion/features/65898/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muji/
http://ryohin-keikaku.jp/corporate/
http://www.uniqlo.com/sg/corp/production/
http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/ir/library/pdf/ar2011_en_08_n.pdf/
http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/12/muji-makes-brand-sexy-consumers/
http://ryohin-keikaku.jp/eng/balance/pdf/annualreport_2014_e.pdf/
http://www.kamigumi.co.jp/english/service/business/total/case.html/
https://satori.marketing/blog/marketing-strategy/
http://www.uniqlo.com/jp/corp/corp_about.html/
http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/strategy/uniqlobusiness.html/
http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/group/strategy/tactics.html/
http://architecture.mit.edu/pdfs/lecturereadings/muji.pdf/
http://www.cityray.com/page.cfm?news_id=188&pid=66&sid=478/
http://www.textile-future.com/dynpg/print_text.php?lang=en&aid=890&showheader=N/