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Case Study 1
b. Evaluate the text’s definition of job security. Is it d. Do you think technical skills (accounting profi-
effective? If you think not, offer a better definition of ciency, financial analysis proficiency, etc.) provide
job security. job security? Why or why not? Do you think you
c. As a team, do you agree that improving your skills would have answered this question differently in
on the four dimensions in the Collaboration Exer- 1990? Why or why not?
cise Questions will increase your job security?

Ca Se StUD y 1

zulily

On November 15, 2013, zulily, a Seattle corporation, issued its sit in playgrounds, in cars waiting for kids at soccer practice, or
initial stock (i.e., went public) at $22 a share. By the end of the anywhere else young mothers have a break long enough to shop
day, the stock was trading at $38, and 4 months later it reached on their mobile devices.
$62, nearly tripling its initial price. At $62, the holdings of the One of your goals for this class should be to learn to assess,
company’s chairman, Mark Vadon, totaled more than $2B. evaluate, and apply emerging information technology to business.
Before dismissing this as just another successful public offer- Seem like an empty platitude? Not to Mr. Vadon, who turned that
ing, consider the company. What is its business model? A high- exact principle into $2B . . . so far.
tech company offering the latest gee-whiz technology? A new
tablet? A new Facebook competitor? Another way of sharing The zulily Business Model
pictures? No, no, no, and no. zulily sells to mothers: primarily
children’s clothes and toys, but also women’s clothes, accessories, zulily conducts flash sales of children’s and women’s cloth-
and décor items. The oldest and most traditional forms of retail. ing and other items of interest to women. Sales open at 6 AM
So what is the excitement? Cofounders Mark Vadon and Darrell Pacific time each day and last 72 hours. Customers find brand-
Cavens found a way to harness information technology to provide name merchandise intermingled with hard-to-find boutique
an entertaining shopping experience to mothers, one that offers products. zulily uses the term curated sale to mean the sale of
name-brand goods as well as unique and difficult-to-find off- items specifically selected and grouped by its shopping experts
brands and often sells them at substantial discounts. According to be exciting to women. Because these curated sales provide
to the zulily prospectus, 45 percent of its sales occur over mobile interesting variety, women enjoy the thrill of discovery while
devices, as mothers churn through the day’s specials while they shopping. zulily thus provides entertainment as well as a

Figure 1-11
zulily Merchandise Variety
Courtesy of Zuilly Inc. Used by
permission