This case discusses the astounding growth of Crocs, Inc., a manufacturer of plastic shoes, from 2003 through early 2007. Much of the company's growth was made possible by a highly flexible supply chain that enabled Crocs to build additional product within the selling season. The normal model used within the fashion industry was to take orders well in advance of each selling season, and produce to those orders, with relatively little additional production. If demand was far in excess of this production, there would be stockouts and the company would lose the ability to capture revenue for that season. The product might or might not be in fashion the following year, when production would again be based on preseason orders. Crocs' ability to build additional shoes within the season enabled it to take advantage of strong customer demand, resulting in the company filling in-season orders totaling many times that of the initial prebooked orders. The case describes the Crocs supply chain. I will ask you to assess the company's core competencies and how those can be exploited in the future.

In your post, please address the following questions:

1. What are Crocs core competencies, and how do they exploit these competencies?

2. Do you think the strategies they pursue fit with Crocs core competencies? If yes why, and if no, why not?