Date of Award

Spring 5-2022

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Business Administration

Advisor/Committee Chair

Raymond K. Van Ness

Abstract

The key to competing in the luxury market is adopting a "differentiation strategy." Since the luxury fashion segment is saturated, standing out from the crowd of other luxury retailers can be the key to organizational survival. In this work, I compare and contrast the strategies and qualitative and quantitative performance of Capri Holdings Limited with those of the Ralph Lauren Corp. The strategy to performance evaluation is based on a 5-point Likert Scale and includes more than 40 points of assessment. At the opposite ends of the scale, 1 represented very poor performance and 5 represented that which was very good. Data was collected from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission site and from information detailed in the firm's formal report, the 10-K. Additional performance data was collected from a combination of the Internet, the popular press, some academic publications, financial analysts’ websites, Yahoo! Finance, and Google Finance websites. The overriding goal of this work was to enhance understanding of the environment in which luxury brands must compete and to gain insight as to the alignment of strategies to performance. Performance records indicate that Capri Holding Limited was not invincible or immune to the many challenges facing the retail industry, particularly the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, analysis of their formal performance records indicates their strategies were flexible and anticipatory, thereby enabling the firm to adapt when necessary. In summary, their performance was impressive despite the numerous environmental challenges the entire industry was forced to face.

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