ANALYZE A CASE STUDY
Lululemon Athletica Inc.: Case Study Analysis
Maria Lida Acosta
BUSI4003 | Yorkville University
Presented to: Allison Goldman
May 28th, 2017
Background
Lululemon Athletica Inc. is a Vancouver clothing company that was founded by Chip Wilson in 1998 (Lululemon, 2015). Having total assets of $1.29 billion USD, and store locations worldwide with Asian locations recently in place, Chip pushed the idea of improving the level of health within communities through its products (Lululemon, 2015). Lululemon Athletica Inc. professed uniqueness through their products with the popularity of female yoga participants, and solidified the company’s market niche with innovative fabrics and activewear technologies to help women improve their fitness goals (Lululemon, 2015). At its core, Lululemon Athletica Inc. provided a culture of awareness to the valuable health benefits practicing daily yoga provides to patrons (Lululemon, 2015). The main public relation focus Lululemon Athletic Inc. provides to all of its employees is the heavily invested trainings that educate staff on effective and creative styles of selling the company’s vision to each store’s customers (Pirouz, D., 2014). Lululemon began with core mission statements to the philosophy of their products, but with diverse management styles that directed the company’s future, fragmentation caused much of Lululemon Athletic Inc.’s steep decline in customer appeal, and business success (Pirouz, D., 2014).
Problem Definition
The activewear clothing company Lululemon Athletica Inc. has faced multiple problems since the replacement of original Chief Executive Officer—CEO—Chip Wilson (Pirouz, D., 2014). The company’s performance is suffering and their reputation for standing by their customers has been placed into question (Pirouz, D., 2014). Lululemon’s employee relation and support has been fragmented from changes in the executive leadership developments, and the abrupt resignation of CEO Christine Day (Pirouz, D., 2014).
Diagnosis
The issues that brought about the rough transitory period in Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s current state was the heavy centralization that encompassed the company’s leadership development and corporate structure (Lavrence, 2014). The lack of an administrative structure, a dire need of a more rigorous manufacturing model, and a failure to address competition are the main proponents to the issues that negatively impacted the company’s brand image, revenues, employee cohesiveness, and market value (Pirouz, D., 2014).
Proof of Causes
Action Plan
References
Bellezza, S., & Keinan, A. (2014). How “Brand Tourists” Can Grow Sales. Harvard Business Review, 92(7/8), 28.
Ganin, C. (2014). American Apparel, Crumbs Cupcakes, And Lululemon, Oh My! Examples Of Why Increased Shareholder Involvement Will Not Fix Corporate America. Arizona Law Review, 56(3), 937-952.
Lavrence, C., & Lozanski, K. (2014). 'This Is Not Your Practice Life': lululemon and the Neoliberal Governance of Self. Canadian Review Of Sociology, 51(1), 76-94.
lululemon athletica inc. (2015). Lululemon Athletica Inc. Marketline Company Profile. Business Source Complete, 1-25.
Pirouz, D., & Huang Arman, K. (2014). Lululemon Athletica Inc. Ivey Publishing.
Rob, W. (2009). Marketing Pose. New York Times Magazine, 18.
Thomas, J. B., & Peters, C. (2015). Lululemon Athletica and a Series of Bad Marketing Decisions. Journal Of Critical Incidents, 8102-105.
