Tiffany and Co is an American luxury jewelry company that began in 1837 as a stationery and upmarket merchandise emporium but later specialized in jewelry in 1853. Since then, the company has opened stores in major capitals all over the world. Tiffany and Co became a fully-fledged publicly traded corporation in 1987 (Kennon, 2012). I chose Tiffany and Co because, unlike other small businesses and stores opened in the 1800s, it has managed to overcome social and economic changes to become one of the leading corporations of the modern era.
Resources, capabilities, and competencies
One of the resources that work in favor of Tiffany and Co is the ability to source for socially responsible materials. Other resources include access to excellence talent, unique designs, and vigorous marketing. Capabilities such as constantly striving towards innovation and selecting high-end jewelry to create practical advantage put the company ahead of the competitors (Camp, 2014). Tiffany’s core competencies are quality and craftsmanship and design and innovation. The company has created a reliable brand and proven itself as an intermediary of elegance and taste through maintaining high-quality artistry.
The corporation’s primary activities
Inbound logistics
The corporation buys its raw materials such as diamonds from company-appointed mines, and this ensures that every stone meets the stringent quality standards required by the company. The diamonds are then transported to warehouses and distributed to the jewelry making facilities. The company rarely outsources its procurement, and this guarantees superior standards right from the point of selection of the raw resources and expects high standards from the subsidiaries located outside the United States (Cumenal, 2017).
Operations
The company operates over 300 stores all over the world. Approximately 80% of the total net revenue comes from company-owned stores while the rest account for about 10.5 %. Having more company-owned stores reduces operation cost and ensures a higher profit to both the corporation and the shareholder.
Outbound logistics and marketing
There exists little use of intermediaries in product selling as the company sells the majority of its products from licensed stores. The company focuses its marketing strategy on customer need and satisfaction, and this increases their loyalty to the brand.
Secondary activities
Infrastructure and technology development
The stores for Tiffany and Co company are well designed and pleasing to attract high-end customers. Additionally, the application of technology has made the process of making jewelry faster, and this ensures consistency in quality and cost-saving, hence increasing the profit margins.
References
Camp. M, 2014. Tiffany & Co. Retrieved from: https://prezi.com/q6bbcxnpzt-8/tiffany-co/
Cumenal. F, 2017. Tiffany’s CEO on Creating a Sustainable Supply Chain. Retrieved from:
https://hbr.org/2017/03/tiffanys-ceo-on-creating-a-sustainable-supply-chain
Kennon. J, 2012. A History of the Tiffany & Company IPO and 25 Year Performance for
Investors. Retrieved from: https://www.joshuakennon.com/a-look-tiffany-company-investor-returns-over-past-25-years/
