Strategic Management Analysis of Woolworths- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theStrategic Management Analysis of Woolworths for HomeShop. Answer: Introduction Woolworths is an organization of Australian origin which operates in the industry of supermarkets. The chain of supermarkets is owned by Woolworths Limited and it was founded in the year 1924. The organization mainly specialises in the selling of groceries, magazines, beauty and health products, household products, baby products and pet products. Woolworths operates around 1000 stores all over Australia and 19 additional convenience stores as well. The organization has been able to acquire around 80% of the entire market of Australia. Woolworths has also started its online operations which is also known by the name of HomeShop (Woolworths.com.au 2018). The three major key performance indicators or priorities of Woolworths are, The positive culture in the stores of Woolworths and the providing high levels of customer service. The customer satisfaction levels are a part of the incentive plans that are provided to employees. The company aims to generate the momentum of sales in the food related sector. Woolworths is also planning to lower the prices of its products so that they can attract more customers. The stable merchandising platform of Woolworths has helped the company in increasing its revenues. The process of human capital management is live in the stores of Woolworths. The improvement of end-to-end process has also improved the performance of Woolworths (Albrecht, Holland Peters, 2016). Internal environment analysis The resources, core competencies and capabilities of Woolworths Resources The major resources of Woolworths mainly include the employees of the organization who are responsible for providing the highest levels of satisfaction to the customers. The inventory that is possessed by the company and the distribution related capabilities of Woolworths will further act as the most important resource for Woolworths (Chatzoglou et al., 2017). Core competencies The core competencies of Woolworths include the world-class supply chain of the organization and ways by which it decreases the time of production. The brand value and the market position of Woolworths has helped the organization in gaining a sustainable position in the market. The innovation related capabilities of Woolworths has further been helpful in creating a competitive position in the market. The sales and marketing related capabilities of Woolworths are also a part of the core competencies of the organization (Cosic, Shanks Maynard, 2015). Capabilities The capabilities of an organization are mainly related to the coordination of resources by putting them into use. Woolworths has been running its business operations quite successfully since the time of its inception in the year 1924. This depicts that Woolworths has the capabilities to use the resources in an effective and efficient manner (Gereffi Lee, 2016). VRIO Analysis VRIO analysis is an analytical tool which is used for the purpose of evaluating the internal resources that are possessed by an organization. The tool mainly analyses the capabilities of the organization and the competitive advantage or the weaknesses of the company in the industry. The various types of resources that are analysed with the help of VRIO framework are financial resources, material resources, human resources and non-material resources. VRIO is the abbreviation that is used for four particular factor of analysis which are, value, rareness, imitability and organization (Knott, 2015). Value Woolworths has high value in the retail market and it has a strong global presence as well. The global presence and brand value of the company is considered to be one of its most important assets. This has helped the organization in increasing its size, market share and sales in the industry. Woolworths has been operating in the Australian market for many years which has enabled the organization to gain a position in the industry and create its own value (Lin Tsai, 2016). Rare Woolworths is mainly known in the Australian market for the production and supply of fresh food items. Manty other organizations in the market also claim to provide these products, however Woolworths has been able to gain a trust in the minds of Australian citizens regarding the quality of its products. Many products that are offered by Woolworths in the market are rare in nature and are not easily found in the stores of the other organizations. The wide range of products that are offered by Woolworths are a major advantage that is gained by the company in the industry (Lin Wu, 2014). Imitability The revenues that are generated by Woolworths and the position that the organization hold in the market has been unique in nature. The competitors of the company in the Australian retail market like. Coles, Distributors and Aldi have not been successful in imitating the company in all its aspects and gain a competitive position in the market. This has provided Woolworths a shield from getting totally imitated by the other companies in the market. Organization Woolworths has been taking constant advantage of the capabilities and the core competencies that it possesses. The company has more than 300 stores in entire Australia and New Zealand and employs more than 1,00,000 people in all its branches, stores and facilities. The innovation related skills of the company have also been helpful in creating a strong image of its brand (Los, Timmer Vries, 2015). Value chain analysis of Woolworths Woolworths has been able to create a valuable position in the market with the help of its various value chain related activities that are discussed further, Inbound logistics The suppliers of Woolworths are spread in thousands of businesses on a global platform. The organization is heavily dependent on its suppliers for the purpose of gaining the best products that can be supplied to the customers. The management prices of the products are easier for Walmart as it purchases products in bulk from the suppliers. The company is able to exert pressure on the suppliers based on the financial position of the business in the industry (Schroeder Kotlarsky, 2015). Operations Woolworths has its operations in the retail sector and this industry has been growing steadily for many years. Woolworths has also been able to expand its operations and revenues with the help of its extensive operations in all the markets. Outbound logistics The core of the inventory management related technique of Woolworths is related to the successful management of its supply chain related activities. The products are delivered by the suppliers to the stores in such a manner so that the costs related to these activities are low. The products are replenished on an immediate manner so that the customers do not have to wait for a long time (Taglioni Winkler, 2016). Sales and marketing The pricing strategy of Woolworths is considered to be the key element related to the success of its marketing activities. The company has been investing a lot in the marketing activities and promotes its brands with the help of many different marketing channels. Technology Woolworths has made extensive use of technology to improve the offline or store sales related processes. The online processes have also been improved by developing the website of the company and adding more features (Xu et al., 2016). Human resource management Woolworths has been successful in creating an employee base which consists of the best of people. The recruitment process of the company is transparent in nature and the candidates are treated in a fair manner. Procurement The procurement and supply chain related activities of Woolworths have efficient in nature. The company has introduced a world-class approach to manage the supply chain activities and offer the products to the customers in time. Infrastructure Woolworths has a huge infrastructure which includes the various departments like, human resources, supply chain and many more. The management of employees of Woolworths is also performed in an efficient and successful manner (Schroeder Kotlarsky, 2015). Organizational culture The organizational culture of Woolworths consists of two major factors which are integrity and hard work. The company follows a down-to-earth culture in which the employees celebrate the values of the organization which are family-friendly in nature. The business operations are mainly led by the customers and their needs and demands. The customers are always at the heart of the decisions that are made by the company (Woolworths.com.au, 2018). Strategic issues in Woolworths The major strategic issue that was faced by Woolworths in the recent years was related to the high prices of the products as compared to its competitors. The company had been showing slow growth due to the prices that had been decided for its products in the market. The company has changed its strategy of focussing on short-term profits and have been able to sacrifice these profits for long-term profit growth. The liquor and food business of the company has not shown growth in the recent times which has further led to changes in the leadership and management (Schroeder Kotlarsky, 2015). Conclusion The report can be concluded by stating that Woolworths has been successful in the retail market of Australia and New Zealand. The internal resources of the organization have been analysed based on VRIO and Value chain framework. The analysis has depicted that Woolworths has huge capabilities and resources to grow in the retail market and increase its international presence as well. The company has however faced some strategic issues that the management has tried to solve to increase the revenues in the market. References Albrecht, C., Holland, D., Peters, M. (2016). Strategic revenue analysis.Strategic Direction,32(7), 32-34. Chatzoglou, P. D., Chatzoudes, D., Sarigiannidis, L., Theriou, G. (2017). The role of firm-specific factors in the strategy-performance relationship: revisiting the resource-based view of the firm and the VRIO framework.Management Research Review, (just-accepted), 00-00. Cosic, R., Shanks, G., Maynard, S. B. (2015). 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