BUSS1000 Future of Business:
FINAL ASSESSMENT – Zegna
Task
(Weight 30% - refer to rubric for marking criteria breakdown)
As a result of our work with Patagonia, Zomato and the recent pitch to Unilever, USBS Consulting is proud to announce that our new client is the Italian luxury fashion group: Zegna. The company is facing significant challenges that have worsened since COVID-19, including the growing competition with suppliers and mega-brand groups such as Luis Vuitton Moet Henessey (LVMH) and Kering, as well as the consumer trend towards more casual wear and the pressure from the EU government on European companies to reach net-zero carbon emission targets by 2050.
Sustainability is a growing global industrial concern. The recent Europe Luxury Sector Report (2023) identified that 77% of European retail consumers are interested in purchasing luxury products that are sustainable, with more than 50% willing to pay an extra 10% for sustainably shipped and/or made products. This trend is not new, but has been exacerbated as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Retail next, 2023). Recognising the importance of sustainability, Zegna became a member of the “Fashion Pact” in 2019 with the aim of minimising “the environmental impacts fashion and textiles have across oceans, climate and diversity (Luxuo, 2019). But with a view to greater impact, they are in need of help to expand their sustainability interests.
Zegna has provided us with information about the company and their current context (see case study) to help you better understand their organisation and industry. It is expected though, that you conduct more research into their operations and that of their competitors. They have asked us to draw on our work in Week 7 Sustainability and Week 11 Design Thinking to come up with two specific initiatives they can test and potentially use in their operations to help make their business more sustainable, particularly in regard to circular fashion.
Considering this, your report for them requires you to:
• Conduct more research into their operations and that of their competitors to identify current best practice or innovation in the space of luxury brands and sustainability.
• Discuss the importance of innovation in relation to sustainability and key sustainability theories/concepts.
• Use the Double Diamond framework to research the ‘problem’, ‘define the problem’, ‘develop’ two initiatives to be tested (discussing pros and cons of each and providing advice on how to best assess if these will work),
• Critique those initiatives, providing a recommendation on which to use for ‘delivering’ and ensure you include information on how to do so (for example: do they need to have a social media campaign, what markets should they test it in, and consider what success measures Zegna could use),
• Ensure you include reasoning why you believe the chosen initiative will be the most successful and why. How does this initiative help Zegna become more sustainable while at the same time, successfully competing with other luxury European brands?
Zegna has also requested insights from your experience with previous clients within your report. Ensure you reflect on your work with:
• Zomato – consider if there are learnings for Zegna in relation to dealing with a large multinational like Amazon which has significant expertise, buying power and financial resources to enter and change the industry? What other advice could you pass on from your work with this client?
• Patagonia – what key takeaways are there from initiatives Patagonia introduced as a fashion brand that Zegna could consider to assist the company reach mandates for zero-net emissions by 2025?
Are there any reflections from other clients you can integrate in support of your analysis and argument? Ensure you use these reflections to support your argument.
This report will require you to integrate relevant BUSS1000 theories /concepts/ frameworks, recent relevant research, and evidence from the case (ensure you have specific data points/information from the case and state what page they come from).
Integration refers to having a strong connection between your theory, research, and evidence to help justify your analysis and argument. For other key terms, refer to the rubric document under BUSS1000 Assessments.
EXCEPTIONS:
• The case study will need in text citations with page numbers. It can be referred to as the company’s name, ‘the business’, or as ‘the case’. It does not need to be in the reference list.
• BUSS1000 readings must be cited correctly using the relevant information i.e., author, year, page numbers etc, and included in the reference list.
• BUSS1000 Modules can be cited in-text as: ‘Module 1.2’ and can be listed in the reference list as webpages with the author being BUSS1000.
• BUSS1000 Tutorial Case Studies need to be cited and in the reference list as per the APA 7th ed style guide
• BUSS1000 videos in the modules – need to be cited as ‘Module. 10.12 Video’ (or if there are multiple videos on the page, Module 10.12 Video 2). The reference list entry is the same as the BUSS1000 Modules requirement.
• All other resources provided to you by BUSS1000 must be cited as per normal using the APA 7th ed. requirements (i.e. websites you accessed via BUSS1000 modules). Your own reflection can simply be referred to as Reflection Week 7.
• NOTE: In your Reference list, you do not need to identify which resources are BUSS1000 or ABDC listed journal articles
Writing & Formatting Requirements
Wordcount
• The wordcount limit is 2,300 words. Depending on your level of analysis, most of you will write between 2,000-2,300. A word count penalty will apply if you go over 10% (2,530). We will use the word count amount that you see when in Cadmus.
• The only part of your report EXCLUDED from the word-count is the Reference list. In-text citations are included (and everything else).