In late 2017, Zara, a major Spanish multinational retail clothing chain specializing in fast fashion, was the target of a negative campaign initiated by the workers of one of the company’s Turkish suppliers, Bravo Tekstil, who had been left without pay after their employer declared bankruptcy and disappeared overnight. Zara was in the media spotlight, and Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry’s largest alliance of labour unions, was pressuring .....more

In 2014, Yildiz Holding, a Turkish conglomerate, had just acquired the UK-based biscuit maker United Biscuits, the premium chocolate maker Godiva Chocolatier Inc., and the US-based company DeMet’s Candy Company. As Yildiz Holding moved forward in pursuit of its goal of dominating the global confectionery market for biscuits and snacks, senior management members were questioning whether the company's business model (which had brought it success .....more

Arcelik, a member of the Turkish Koc Group, had grown from a leading manufacturer of household appliances (also known as ‘white goods’) in Europe’s largest emerging economy to a substantive international player. Yet the company faced new challenges in strengthening its positions in advanced economies, exploiting its competitive advantages across a wider range of emerging economies and in raising the profitability of its international operations. In .....more

The chief executive officer and chair of the board of directors of a company that designs, builds and sells consumer and commercial refrigeration products are trying to decide if the firm should expand in Asia and, if so, which method it should use. In recent years, Metalfrio has become a global leader in its industry by establishing manufacturing operations in Mexico, Turkey and Russia, as well as expanding within its home territory of Brazil, with .....more

This supplement to Metalfrio: Achieving Global Leadership in the Plug-in Commercial Refrigeration Industry 9B13M012 gives an overview of the commercial refrigeration sector, including a history of the industry, major participants and markets, and key local and regional competitors. The note also provides select financial and market data for the years 2002 to 2009.

This case considers attempts by a Turkish manufacturer of cosmetics packaging to trade off quality for cost, in order to compete with the influx of low-cost products from China. It describes the challenges faced by SomPack management in their effort to survive in the face of low-cost Chinese competition as well as the credit crisis. The company had grown because of its focus on quality and customer relations, but had to slash costs first in response .....more

Otoyol Motor Company, a large commercial vehicle manufacturer, is on the verge of being liquidated by its shareholders. Despite all efforts to maintain its competitive position, the company has been caught in a downward spiral. Erosion of its first mover advantages, shifts in industry core competencies and changes in consumer preferences have depreciated the company's value proposition and deteriorated its market share. Utilizing empirical data, .....more

The Turkish financial sector has been developing rapidly and often unpredictably, offering an ideal backdrop to carry out an industry analysis in the dynamic environment of an emerging market. Akbank, one of the leading private Turkish banks, has been successful in taking advantage of the new opportunities that appeared in the credit card sector as a result of post-crisis restructuring of the financial services industry in the early 2000s. Launched .....more

The chief executive officer (CEO) and owner of Alara Agri, a major Turkish cherry and fig producer, wants to convince retailers in Belgium and Germany (and, later, other parts of Europe) to change cherries from a bulk product to a higher-end luxury product packaged in small carry bags. The move from bulk to small packages has been highly successful in the United Kingdom where retailers reduced waste and increased margins. The German and Belgian retailers .....more

Alara Agri, based in Bursa, Turkey, is one of the world's foremost cherry and fig producers. The president and chief executive officer (CEO) was concerned about a recurring capacity problem at the end of the process where cherries were packed. On some of the plant's conveyor belts, piles of cherries of one size waited to be packed while other belts had too few cherries to keep workers busy, and thus delayed order fulfillment. Diverting excess .....more