Strategic Management & Sustainability-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Strtegic Management or Sustainability. Answer: Strategic management helps in identifying and describing the strategies that needs to be taken up by the managers so that it helps the organization in achieving a better performance from the employees, which in turn will help the organization in getting a competitive advantage over the rival firms. The profits of the firm may get enhanced when the strategies are designed in a proper manner. It can also be defined as a collection of decisions, which are made by the managers of the organization so that it makes the company to achieve high performance and better profitability ratio. The managers need to have a proper knowledge and analyze the situation of the market, which will act as positive agents when formulating new strategies for the firm. It helps the managers in planning the actions that needs to be undertaken within the organization and makes space for any unfeasible liabilities that may occur within the organization. The smaller as well the larger organizations in the modern w orld face competition in the modern scenario of market, which can be decreased by implementing and formulating the appropriate strategies, which will act as an advantage for the firm (Hill, Jones, R., Schilling, 2014). The use of strategic management also helps the managers and the strategists in identifying the way in which the organization is moving towards, which can be evaluated on a constant manner. This helps in involving a continuous process so that it helps in evaluating and controlling the businesses in which the firm is linked with. It also helps in evaluating the movement of the competitors and set the goals and objectives of the company in that manner, which will help the firm in getting a competitive advantage over the other firms (Eden Ackermann, 2013). The process of strategic management helps in providing a wider perspective to the employees of the firm, as they get a better understanding of the job that will fit in the organizational process and the correlation between the other members of the organization. It helps in managing the employees in an appropriate manner so that the objectives of business can be achieved in an efficient manner. The employees are likely to trust the company and become committed, as they are satisfied with the transparency that is present in the plan of the organization. It helps them in understanding the changes in the environment and the causes of response within the organization. This helps the employees in providing better judgment about the impact that the changes create on the job process and effectively adapting to it (Wheelen Hunger, 2017). Woolworths is an organization that is famous in Australia for its chain of grocery products. The company sells a wide variety of product to the Australian consumers and provides them with discounts, which has helped the company in building a customer base and are loyal towards the customers. The company has been incurring losses in the recent years due to its failed strategies that are being adopted within the organization. The vision statement of the company is to provide the customers a proper experience in shopping when they visit the store every time ("Woolworths Supermarkets - Woolworths Group", 2017). The company wants to extend its leadership in the food and liquor sector, which will require a new campaign for the market that will help in adding value to the stakeholders of the company so that the business can expand in the market with respect to the products. The break-even growth of the sales point for the company needs to be competitive so that the launch of new products can be supported by the media. The company also needs to revaluate its joint business in electronic with Dick Smith by altering the structures in the business. They also need to accelerate the offer of Big W so that it helps in attracting the consumers and increase the level of competition within the market (Trevena, Neal, Dunford, Haskelberg, Wu, 2015). The company needs to maintain a record of its new growth so that they can improve on a sustainable and profitable way, which will help in opening up the opportunity of international markets. It is important for the company to understand its external environment so that the formulation of the strategies will help in achieving the profitability of the firm. The impact of external factor can be seen on the performance of the business along with the impact that it creates on the corporate strategies as well. The external analysis of the company will be done by using the Five Forces Framework of Porter, which will help in identifying the strategies. Most of the customers for the company are individual buyers, which mean that the power to bargain is high among the customers. This strong power of the customers results in decreasing the cost of the products by the company so that the customers can purchase from the stores. The needs of the customers are met in a proper manner by keeping the prices low by the company is one of the strategies that have been adopted by the company (E. Dobbs, 2014). The suppliers get stronger within the company if they are given more than the importance that they deserve by the company. Thus, the company needs to be dependent on its suppliers in a lesser manner, which will give the suppliers a lower power to bargain for the products. The primary reason for their low power of bargaining is the presence of large retailing sector in the Australian market place (Marshall, 2013). The company does not consider the threat that they receive from the new entrants because of the large number of stores that the company have around the Australian market, which helps in providing premium quality of products and services. The new entrants in the retail sector needs to invest a lot of capital as capital apart from the fixed facilities that will help in running the business in an efficient manner. The presence of other companies such as Coles act as a dominant competition, which has access to different channels of distribution and is one of the other leaders in the retailing industry. The new entrants in the market may have the risk of losing their start-up capital due to the presence of high competition (Yunna Yisheng, 2014). The company faces stiff competition from the other firms that are dominant players in the Australian retailing sector. The products that are substitute in nature are being offered in the market at a lower price, which will result in losing out on the market share by the company. Thus, the company needs to produce innovative products and introduce competitive strategies in the market place that will help them in attracting the customers and build a strong reputation in the market. The adoption of competitive price strategy needs to be taken up the company so that it will help in attracting the customers from the rival companies as well. Therefore, the company has a high threat of substitute for the products and the services that are being offered to the customers (E. Dobbs, 2014). The competition is intense among the rival companies that are present in the retailing sector in the market. Companies likes Coles and Myers may help in limiting the shares of the market and provide higher level of concentration than Woolworths. The level of intensity amongst the competitors will help in forcing the company in devising new and effective strategies so that they can be differentiated from their competitors (Yunna Yisheng, 2014). The internal analysis can be done based on the strengths and weaknesses of the firm with respect to the resources and capabilities that are available so that it could be used in an effective and productive manner. By the end of the financial year in 2012, the company had almost 3,329 stores operating in Australia and New Zealand along with a total strength of 195,000 employees. The company is one of the trusted and reputed brands within the retailing industry. The company has discovered its core competencies within the employees that are more experienced and those who provide value-added services to the customers. The use of experienced staff members can be identified as one of the first resources and capabilities of the company. For example, the company employs staffs that are efficient than its major competitor, Coles. As far as Coles is concerned, they hire young workers whereas Woolworths gives preference to the experience workers who are middle-aged and provides training to them so that they can develop within the company. The company had invested around $80 million in the training and development programs for the workers by the end of 2015 so that they could be efficient in all the stores of the company. The company is of the view that the retailing sector is focused highly on business, which will help in recruiting the best employees that are available all throughout the country (von Briel Recker, 2017). The services that are provided within the stores are focused mainly on the strategies adopted by the company. The customers have benefitted from these services many a times like during the delivery of a product that is heavy in nature and purchasing many of the products at an affordable price. The company also has in-store butchers so that when the customers place order for the meat, the fresh meat can be prepared and packed and delivered to the customers. The company has also taken an initiative to expand its sushi kitchens that are present within the store so that it can cater to the diverse tastes that is increasing within the customers (Ryall, 2013). The strength of the company is that most of the businesses that has been undertaken by the company has helped in maintaining good financial status in the previous years and has shown an increase its annual growth rate for sales. By reducing the cost of businesses, the company has been able to reach a growth of 8 percent, which is a higher percentage when compared to its competitors. The company has the ability to generate capital and has plans to expand its business by opening many numbers of stores so that it can provide the facilities to those customers as well. This is one of the core strengths of the company. The company is also a reputed and a trusted name within the retailing industry. It is one of the first retailing business that has responded to the needs and preferences of the customers in an innovative manner. The company was also voted as one of the largest retailers in online due to the size of its business along with the prices at which the variety of products and services were offered to the customers (Methner, Hamann, Nilsson, 2015). The company has focused on developing their relationship with the suppliers and producers so that it can help in developing better relationships with them in the longer run. Most of the other retailers in this business have taken the help of milk reductions that are being offered to them by private investors, which has hampered the profitability ratio of the suppliers. The company has a long history of looking after the suppliers and has worked with the government in developing the National Food Plan along with the other retailers and suppliers during the development of Charter of Fair Trade, which helps in encapsulating the principles of developing the relationship with the business and the retailers. The company has also participated in the program called Fresh Food Future that was introduced so that the concept of sustainable agriculture can be promoted amongst the farmers (Leibold Hugo, 2015). The weakness of the company is that the rate of debt of the company has been on the rise since the past five years, which is not a good sign for the development and success of the company in the Australian market. The growth of the sales is considerably high but the increase in the rate of debt will cause a risk financially to the company, which might make the company to go in to liquidation. The business of the company has been operating within Australia and New Zealand alone, which has given the competitors like Wal-Mart an upper hand. The competitor brand has its presence felt in Europe, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, South America and the United States. The company has a limited amount of share in the global market, which can be increased if the company expands on an international basis (Shin Lee, 2015). The opportunities are that the future that is present in the retailing industry will help in reshaping the method of computerization, which will help in developing the technology that is related to supply chain. It will also change the lifestyle of the consumers, as the development of the internet and the digital commerce will help the customers to efficiently procure the products and services. The customers are the center point for the business to flourish within the country, so the online shopping can be done by them by downloading the application on their mobile phones, which will help the customers in getting easy access to the products. The company is not keen on increasing the usage of land for agricultural purposes and the intensity of cropping but is giving preference on the existing farmland to achieve 90 percent of its materials through proper production. The consequences of increasing the rate of yields for the crops may lead to pollution of the environment and changes in the climate, which may be a cause for the achievement of the company. The company is looking for opportunities that will help in production of crops based on innovation and sustainable in the long run (Leibold Hugo, 2015). The threat for the company is that it is facing stiff resistance and competition from the other retailers in Australia, as the low pricing strategy has been introduced by Coles as well who is also a major competitor in the retailing business in Australia. The company also has plans to expand its business in Asian countries, where it may face stiff competition from other big retailing industries as well. Another threat for the company is the rate of growth that is slow in nature, which may be unpredictable due to the increase in the diseases that are related with consumption of alcohol. The government due to this factor has put pressure on the company to reduce the production of alcohol, which has limited the shares in the market and the sales of the company (Shin Lee, 2015). Thus, it can be recommended that the strategy of pricing is one of the important factors in the retailing industry, which influences the decision of the customers in purchasing a particular product or service from the company. To manage the company in a better way, the company needs to adopt the strategies that will help them in increasing their sales and earnings. The recommendations are as follows: It can be achieved by the company if they follow a cost-leadership structure, which is an integrated set of events that helps in producing and delivering the products to the customers at the lowest costs. The features of the products are also liked by the customers, which helps them in shifting from products that are being offered by the other companies. The company has implemented the policy of sales-up/costs down that has helped them in gaining revenues over the years. The other strategy that is present in the cost-leadership structure is to decrease the cost of operation, which is the use of just-in-time strategy. This strategy will help in utilizing the products in the supply chain, which will help in decreasing the costs of wastages and storages by making the products arrive to the retailers when they are in need of it. To implement this strategy, the company needs to develop a program that will help in forecasting the replenishment of the stocks. This will help in decreasing the wastage of the products and help in increasing the revenues of the company. Additionally, the company needs to bear in mind that the storage cost may get higher if the prediction is not done in a proper manner (Kurt Zehir, 2016). The company needs to develop a alliance based on strategies between the core operations of the business and the other operations. This will help the company as the operations will benefit from this alliance by helping them gain excess profits. For instance, the alliance between the company and Caltex resulted in buying the petrol at a reduced rate at the time of purchasing vehicles from Woolworths. This has helped the company in earning better revenues at a short period of time. The company also needs to have a reward program where it can reward its customers, which will help in ensuring customer loyalty in the long run (Albers, Wohlgezogen, Zajac, 2016). This strategy will help the company in achieving diversification among the products so that it can be developed on a constant manner for the future as well. The company was able to take over Dan Murphy, which helped them in providing a wide range of products in the same market, which helped the company in attracting new customers along with looking after the needs of the existing customers (Bucci, 2015). The company needs to give importance to the capabilities of the human resources so that the goals can be achieved in a better manner. The diversity of the staffs will help the company in being committed towards the people by employing workers of different backgrounds and ethnicities with respect to nationality. The company will be able to achieve diversity within its work place by employing people of diverse backgrounds. The company needs to train these individuals in a proper manner so that the gaps can be identified and removed, which will help in serving the customers properly (Albers, Wohlgezogen, Zajac, 2016). Therefore, to conclude it can be said that the the company needs to accept the challenges and use the strategies that are present in the strategic management process. The customers will be able to identify the brand and its products if the company can market itself in a proper manner by ensuring that the work place for the employees is healthy. The company needs to analyze its macro and internal environment so that the strengths and weaknesses can be identifies, which will help in selecting the suitable strategies for improvement within the company. Bibliography Albers, S., Wohlgezogen, F., Zajac, E. J. (2016). Strategic alliance structures: An organization design perspective. . Journal of Management, 42(3),, 582-614. Bucci, A. (2015). Product proliferation, population, and economic growth. Journal of Human Capital, 9(2),, 170-197 Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1),, 32-45. 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