Abstract
The paper discusses how social responsibility is a competitive advantage for Gap Inc. because focusing upon socially responsible business practices builds and sustains consumer respect for the company. The paper describes how Gap Inc.'s strategic planning includes a comprehensive emphasis that the company should go beyond the basics of ethical business practices and embrace its responsibility to people and to the planet.

From the Paper
"Social Responsibility is a competitive advantage for Gap Inc. because focusing upon socially responsible business practices builds and sustains consumer respect for the company. Gap Inc.'s strategic planning includes a comprehensive emphasis that the company should go beyond the basics of ethical business practices and embrace its responsibility to people and to the planet. Gap Inc. management is justified in believing that this kind of strategic approach provides "sustained, collective value to our...""

Tags:gap, and, viacom

Abstract
This paper analyzes The Gap Inc.'s marketing strategy and how successful it has been for the company. The strategy's attempt to make middle-class clothes available to the lower classes at Old Navy; solid middle to upper-middle class-type clothes at struggling middle-class prices at The Gap, and yuppie/upper-middle-class-level clothing at solid middle-class prices at its "high-end" store, Banana Republic, is discussed, as well as how this strategy has effected The Gap Inc.'s sales, profitability, cost-saving measures, and advertising campaign.

From the Paper
"Because retail space is one of the largest components of a company such as Old Navy's cost, market segmentation makes plain sense: Old Navy stores tend to be large and in strip malls whereas Gap stores predominate in malls. In this manner, Gap, Inc. is able to rent or purchase retail space more effectively as incomes are highly correlated with geographic factors and pedestrian traffic in places such as shopping malls. Demographic factors also play into the location of Gap Kids and Baby Gap outlets; these are more often than not found in malls where middle class families may stroll and browse shops in a comfortable attitude of relative safety."

Tags:class, differences, fabric, material, wear, self-identification, class-, consciousness, clothing

Abstract
The paper analyzes the Gap, Inc. with respect to its key outputs at the three levels of individual outputs, group outputs and organizational outputs. The paper examines employee satisfaction, group communication, profits, volume and same store sales and shows how there is a fairly high degree of synergy between these different outputs. The paper comes to the conclusion that the Gap remains a successful, profitable firm mainly due to the high level of synergy between the company's key outputs.

From the Paper
"At the individual level, one of the most important outputs is employee satisfaction. This output is important to the Gap for several reasons. One is that the company is in the business of retail sales, an industry notorious for high turnover but for which success often depends on having strong staff. The Gap in particular has attempted to retain quality staff through a wide variety of systems. The objective is to foster a high level of employee satisfaction. The company believes that a high degree of satisfaction will lead to reduced absenteeism, higher retention rates and higher store performance, each of which could be considered an output in its own right. One of the reasons the Gap does this is because it believes that hiring from within is the best way to build a stronger organization."

Tags:employee, satisfaction, group, communication, profits, volume, same, store, sales

Abstract
The paper focuses on a selected set of throughputs at the Gap Inc. including structure, tasks and skills, management practices, systems and policies, work unit climate, motivation and individual needs and goals. The paper explains how in some instances, these throughputs support one another well, but there are areas of weakness with respect to human resources management and the way that the system deals with motivation and individual needs.

From the Paper
"The Gap Inc. is structured along product lines. The four main structures pertain to the four main brands that the company operates. Within each of these brands, structure is delineated along functional lines such as design, marketing and retail operations. This structure allows the different brands within the Gap to foster their own images and cultures.
"However, management practices at the Gap lean towards the centralized. During the company's rise in the 1980s and 1990s, the organization was highly centralized, although in recent years the different operating units have been allowed increasing autonomy (Gap Inc 2007 Annual Report). That said, the company still centralizes many functions relating to purchasing and marketing."

Tags:structure, tasks, skills, management, systems, policies, motivation, human, resources

Abstract
The paper analyzes four ratios; the net income percentage, the return on equity, working capital and the current ratio. The paper finds that the Gap outperforms its industry average, which indicates that it has a number of strengths that it is using to best the competition. The paper discusses how the Gap is a consistently and strongly profitable company that will have little difficulty in meeting its upcoming financial obligations. The paper concludes by reviewing the notes to the financial statements of the company's 2008 Form 10-K.

From the Paper
"The net income percentage is defined as net income divided to total revenue. For the Gap in 2008 the net income was $967 million and the total revenue was $14,526 million. This gives the company a net income percentage of 6.65%. This compares to the 2007 net income percentage of 5.28% and the 2006 figure of 4.88%. The net income percentage reflects how well a company translates the revenues it earns to profits. The bottom line figure, the net income, is distributed to shareholders or kept as retained earnings. At the Gap, the past three years have seen a trend of improved translation of revenues into profits. The 6.65% net income percentage is a solid number for a retailer, given the industry average net income percentage is just 3.8% (MSN Moneycentral, 2009).
"The return on equity is defined as net income divided by average stockholder's equity. The latter is generally taken as the mean of the beginning and ending equity levels for the firm. The net income was $967 million in 2008 for the Gap. The beginning stockholder's equity was $4.274 billion and the ending equity was $4.387 billion. This gives an average equity for 2008 of $4.3305 billion. As a result, the return on equity for 2008 is 22.32%. This is a strong ROE figure, given that the industry average is just 13.8% (MSN Moneycentral, 2009). It is consistent with The Gap's five year average ROE as well, which is 20.2% (MSN Moneycentral, 2009). What this figure shows is that for every dollar of equity capital, the Gap makes 22.32 cents. The ROE should be taken in context with the firm's capital structure. In this case, Gap is not highly leveraged at a debt ratio of just 42%, so the company not only has a strong equity base but is able to translate that equity into strong returns for its shareholders."

Tags:net, income, percentage, return, equity, working, capital, ratio

Abstract
This paper explains that Gap, Inc. is one of the world's biggest multinational specialty retailers, selling casual clothes, accessories and personal care products for women, men and children. The author points out that, since its beginning, the goal of Gap has been to make shopping easier. The paper stresses that the judicious use of technology, such as computer-telephony integration (CTI) and data warehousing, can play a vital role. The author underscores that Gap utilizes state of the art technology, such as integrated global databases, to coordinate its customer knowledge; however, the greatest recent technological change in customer service has been the advent of online shopping. The paper relates that the Web has served its American customers extremely well by offering an excellent online shopping service, but its British clients are annoyed because Gap fails to offer them the same service.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Importance of Customer Service
Technology in Customer Service
Questionnaire
Results of Questionnaires
Conclusion

From the Paper
"US customers felt that they got good customer service at Gap. Some said it was very important that there is a sufficient number of staff, compared to stores like Wal-Mart or Target, where it is hard to even find a staff member, let alone someone knowledgeable. UK customers had very similar comments, comparing Gap stores favorably to retailers such as Tesco, where there is almost no customer service. Gap seems to be impressing its customers by resisting the global trend towards self-serve."

Tags:goal, computer-telephony integration, flow targeting personalized

Abstract
The paper analyzes the most important inputs for the Gap Inc. that are fashion trends, garments, the company's image and its branding strategy. The paper points out the insufficient structural support for the fashion trend input and the weak congruence with regards to formal organizational arrangements and the informal organization. The paper concludes that Gap is not failing entirely; it still operates a successful franchise, but these congruence gaps threaten the long-term success of the organization.

From the Paper
"The genesis of the Gap Inc. was the recognition of a growing fashion trend, in this case a return to vogue of denim in the 1960s. The ability of the company's founders to recognize this trend and exploit it allowed the Gap to begins its growth trajectory. Today, the company's success remains predicated on its ability to recognize and respond to fashion trends (The Gap Inc. 2007 Annual Report). This input is a vital part of the Gap's external environment. The firm's strategies are built around finding ways to continually respond to shifts in fashion in a timely manner. Tactics as well, down to the design function, are driven by this key environmental input."

Tags:fashion, trends, garments, image, branding, congruence

Abstract
The paper looks at the Gap Inc. and focuses on both the balancing feedback loop wherein the market research team analyzes current fashion trends and then reports those trends back to the design team, and the reinforcing feedback loop that provides feedback on the company's ethical performance. The paper describes how the balancing loop of market research can have a fairly immediate impact on the company's effectiveness, but there is more of a long-term impact from a damaged ethical reputation. The paper discusses the many opportunities for organizational learning these loops offer the Gap.

From the Paper
"Feedback loops serve an integral purpose in systems thinking. A feedback loop is a defined structure by which management gains information from points within the organization. This information is that used by the organization to help it learn, and adapt to the situation it faces. There are two main types of feedback loops. One is the balancing loop and the other is the reinforcing loop. Balancing loops affect parts of the system that are prone to constant shifts. The feedback loop provides information to management, which can help it identify when the system has become out of balance. Management then makes an adjustment to bring the system back into balance."

Tags:fashion, design, ethics, reputation, stakeholders

Abstract
When The Gap Inc., based in San Francisco, recently opened its 19,000 square foot store in Paris, this was the beginning of a dream that Mickey Drexler had of making his clothing company a global brand like Coke or McDonald=s.

From the Paper
"The Gap, Inc.
Resources
When The Gap Inc., based in San Francisco, recently opened its 19,000 square foot store in Paris, this was the beginning of a dream that Mickey Drexler had of making his clothing company a global brand like Coke or McDonald=s. And his company appears to have the resources to do it. According to the primary article for this case, A[Drexler] said the company had made missteps by taking 8,000 square foot stores when the French preferred smaller shops of about 3,000 square feet, and by taking >B= and >C= locations rather than >A= spots@ (AGap=s Tour de Force,@ 1998, 3).
During 1997-1998, AGap's stock. . .has gone from $26 to a recent $66, which is 37 times...expected earnings. (In other words, Gap is up 154%..."

Abstract
The paper explains that Gap's success lies in the fact that they believe business profitability and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive. The paper discusses the concept of globalization and its four major components. The paper points out that merely wearing American clothes does not mean that other peoples have adopted the American culture and so Gap remains a US, and not a universal, organization.

Outline:
Introduction
Implications and Effects: Globalization
Organizational Analysis

From the Paper
"Globalization has been defined as "the key idea of one single world or human society, in which all regional, national and local elements are tied together in one interdependent whole." [1] For better or worse, global culture and global business practices are coalescing around a common set of icons, principles and values. But is this really true that the world is moving towards a global culture or is it just adopting the global cultural forms. This is the phenomenon called globalization. If a business is to be successful in the global community it must focus on the diversity of its workers, the adaptability of its corporate culture and the protection of the environmental effect."

Tags:environmental, responsibility, culture, multinational, corporations