Phillips-van Heusen's Acquisition of Tommy Hilfiger: Case Study I in Operational PlanningIn a Toronto Star article titled "Phillips-van Heusen to Buy Tommy Hilfigerin in a $3 Billion Deal" ”, Anne D'Innocenzio and Mae Anderson report on the purchase of the retail company 'Tommy Hilfiger' (TH) by Phillips-van Heusen (retail giant which owns brands such as 'Calvin Klein' (CK), 'Izod' and 'Arrow') for $3 billion in cash and stock. The TH acquisition did not lead to a change in existing sales, marketing and design strategies, with Tommy Hilfiger retaining its position as lead designer. This move led to a 10% increase in Philips-vanHeusen (PVH) shares on the New York Stock Exchange and was expected to increase the combined company's revenues to $4.6 billion. The authors note that PVH's move runs counter to the recent trend of “losing 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 (Chapter 8). : strategic plans vs. operational and qualitative forecasts vs. quantitative. Regarding the first concept, it is clear from the article that Phillips-van Heusen's acquisition of TH was a strategic plan and not an operational one. The reason for this is that the operational aspects of the TH were not changed and remained under the control of the main designer. However, the inclusion of TH results in a change in Phillips-van Heusen's overall strategic plan. The article indicated that the popularity of the TH brand in Europe would be exploited to increase the popularity and sales of Phillips-van Heusen's other brands (D'Innocenzio/Anderson, 2010). So, while the strategic plan dictates the broader terrain… at the heart of the paper… creative techniques that are integral to a company's strategic plan and which include an ongoing and systematic search for technological innovations, understanding trends of consumers, anticipating the next step of the competition 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 Protecting the Territory.” The globe and the mail. Extract a1426477/>