Focus on Diamond Retailing: Blue Nile, Zales, and Tiffany

Abstract

The case focuses on the diamond retailing industry toward the end of 2008, with the United States in an economic downturn. All diamond retailers are hit by the downturn and are facing a critical look at their strategies. Given the basic performance information on Blue Nile, Zales, and Tiffany, students are asked to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each business model with the goal of understanding business models that are better suited to handling a downturn.

The learning objectives of the case are to (1) understand the link between supply chain structure and financial performance, (2) identify key drivers of supply chain performance and how they affect a firm's ability to respond during periods of strong or weak demand, and (3) develop the alignment between supply chain structure and strategic position for a firm.

Citation

Chopra, S. and Thomas, R. (2017), "Focus on Diamond Retailing: Blue Nile, Zales, and Tiffany", . https://doi.org/10.1108/case.kellogg.2016.000125