UCLA Anderson Associate Professor Felipe Caro was yesterday presented with the two 2013 ecch Case Awards he earned for the case he wrote on Spanish fashion retailer Zara. He is the first person in the awards' 22-year history to win both the New Case Writer award and an overall category award – the Production & Operations Management Award.
Caro, who spent years working closely with Zara developing model-based processes to optimize their inventory allocation and clearance pricing decisions, decided to write his own case study on the company after years of teaching other schools' cases to his students. His case, "Zara: Staying Fast and Fresh" (2012), explores the most recent developments in distribution, supply chain, and operations at Zara.
"It's the first time I wrote a case, so it's encouraging," Caro said of receiving the ecch Case Awards. "Now, it's not only research, but also a teaching tool, which is ideal."
His case has already been picked up and is being taught by prestigious schools nationally and internationally, including the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, MIT Sloan, and Stanford Graduate School of Business, among others.
"It has truly gained international recognition," said Eric Aldrich, General Manager of ecch USA, who was on hand to present the awards. He added that Caro's recognition is especially noteworthy, as Zara is the subject of many case studies, more than 25 in the ecch catalogue alone.
The case and its teaching notes are available at www.ecch.com, reference numbers 612-006-1 and 612-006-8. A sample page is available here.
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