Acquisition of Tommy Hilfiger by Phillips-van Heusen: Case study I in operational planningIn a Toronto Star article entitled “Phillips-van Heusen buys Tommy Hilfiger in a $3 billion deal", Anne D'Innocenzio and Mae Anderson discuss the takeover of retail company "Tommy Hilfiger" (TH) by Phillips-van Heusen (a retail giant that owns brands such as "Calvin Klein" (CK), "Izod" and "Arrow') for $3 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition of TH did not result in any changes to its existing sales, marketing and design strategies, with Tommy Hilfiger retaining his position as lead designer. The move led to a 10 percent rise in shares of Philips-vanHeusen (PVH) on the New York Stock Exchange and is expected to bring the combined company's revenue to $4.6 billion. The authors note that PVH's decision is contrary to the recent trend of "shedding labels" among many apparel conglomerates (D'Innocenzio/Anderson, 2010). The above article is closely related to two concepts in the field of planning and control (ch.8): strategic plans vs. operational plans, and qualitative vs. quantitative forecasting. Regarding the first concept, it is clear from the article that the acquisition of TH by Phillips-van Heusen was a strategic plan and not an operational one. This is because the operational aspects of the TH were not changed and remained under the control of the lead designer. However, the inclusion of TH results in a change in Phillips-van Heusen's overall strategic plan. The article stated that the popularity of the TH brand in Europe would be leveraged to increase the popularity and sales of other Phillips-van Heusen brands (D'Innocenzio/Anderson, 2010). Thus, while the strategic plan dictates the broadest level of the paper......ethical techniques which are an integral part of a company's strategic plan and which include a continuous and systematic search for technological innovations, an overview consumer trends, anticipating competitors' next move, and launching products quickly and efficiently. Works Cited Anderson, Mae and D'Innocenzio, Anne. (March 2010). "Phillips-van Heusen to buy Tommy Hilfiger in $3 billion deal". Toronto Star. Retrieved from Schermerhorn, John R. and Wright, Barry. (2007). Management Fundamentals, Canadian edition. Stalk, George Jr. (January 2010) “Winning the Business War and Securing the Territory.” The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from1426477/>