Unit 32 Business Strategy Assignment

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 32 Business Strategy
QFC Level	Level 4

Introduction

Business strategy refers to planning and implementation of process to achieve the goals and objectives. The leading organization are developing and implementing strategies by analyzing the market trends and activities have significant impact on the business procedure as well growth of the business. The report will provide information about mission, vision, core competencies and objectives of Waitrose organization and evaluate the effectiveness of two techniques that would be useful for planning and analyzing the strategy of organization. In the next part report will analyze the current strategic positioning and perform the internal audit of organization to analyze the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats for organization. Moreover, considering the stakeholder analysis report will provide the information about new strategy for organization to conduct the audit. In the next task, report will analyze the appropriateness of alternative strategies and justify the selection of new strategy to achieve the goals and objectives. At the end, report will assess the role and responsibilities of personnel in changes implementing the strategy as well as evaluate the contribution of SMART objectives to achievement of strategy implementation.

Organizational overview

Waitrose is chain of British supermarket that forms the food retail division of Britain’s largest employee-owned retailer, John Lewis Partnership. The head office of organization is located in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. Waitrose has started business in 1904 and currently operating business at 350 locations across the world. The key products of organization are food, electronics and cloths according to needs and demand of the customers. Moreover, organization is offering supermarket and online shopping services to customers as well following the trends and culture of target market (Carroll and Shabana, 2010). The current operating income of organization is £ 173.5 million, net income £ 123 million and generating the revenue of £ 5,400 million. In order to maintain the services standard and quality of the services, organization has appointed 90,000 employees at different level that are performing activities according to define role and responsibilities. The major concern of organization is on the quality of the services and products to meet the objectives as well satisfaction level of customers. For promotion and advertising, top management is using the services of marketing agencies that are performing research project and collecting information about the needs and requirements of target group of customers.

By considering the needs and wants of target customers, organization is developing marketing plan by highlighting the features of products and services. Apart from that in food section, organization is concentrating on the organic food and creating awareness about the benefits of organic foods. The prices of organizational products and services are high as quality of the products is good. In order to gain the competitive advantages organization is focusing on the standard and needs of customers to design the concept of manufacturing and delivery of goods. In spite of that, organization is following rules and regulations proposed by the government and leading authority of managing and monitoring of services. Top management of organization has implemented health and safety measurements, offering the satisfactory wages and salary to the staff members and performing the CSR activities to maintain the growth and sustain the position within industry (Grünig and Kühn, 2015). Online shopping is one of the key services option of organization that helping to collect the information about the customer needs and helping to deliver customized services by consuming less time and cost for transportation. Moreover, organization has developed the smart phone application for customer through which they can access the product list, prices and availability of range to choose the services according to their requirements.

Organization has got many awards for quality products and services offered to the staff and customer that have positive impact on the brand value of Waitrose and helping to maintain the effectiveness in the process.  The major awards of organizations are Best Loyalty Schemes, Nation’s Favorite Food Retailer, and Best Supermarket for Wines as well as Best High Street Retailer for Customer services. The organization is undertaking the initiatives for social development and meeting the responsibilities by offering the charity funds for improvement of education for poor children, medical services and encouragement in the employment opportunities. By having vision of expanding business, organization is encouraging opportunities for young professionals to start career with Waitrose and contribute in development.

Task 1

1.1 Business mission, vision, goals and objectives and core competencies

Waitrose is one of the leading foods retailing organization of UK that majorly offering the food products and services according to needs and requirements of customers as well as using the standard approach for managing the sales.

• Mission: The mission of organization is to maintain the positive growth in the business and create awareness about the organic and hygienic food products. Moreover, Waitrose management is keen to satisfy the customer needs and efficient utilization of resources.
• Vision: According to analysis, vision of Waitrose is to become the world largest food retailing organization in world.  In order to meet vision statement, organization is expanding the areas of sales by considering the cultural, ethical and legal requirements (He, 2015). This kind of approach is helping Waitrose to create place in new environment.
• Goals and objectives: Following are the major goals and objectives of organization:
  • To meet the satisfaction level of customer and staff
  • To maximize the profits
  • To encourage the sales and area of business
  • To maintain the standard and quality of the services
  • To encourage the brand reorganization and gain the competitive advantage
• Core competencies: The core competencies of Waitrose involve the doing right things to farmer and offering them value for efforts. Additionally, organization is offering the quality products and services to customer by working on the strength and standard of monitoring and checking of raw material.  The core competencies of organization has included the minimization of waste, planning of the resources in professional manners and proper maintained of demand and supply for sustaining the place in the industry and expand the business. Organization has got many awards for quality products and services offered to the staff and customer that have positive impact on the brand value of Waitrose and helping to maintain the effectiveness in the process.

1.2 Analysis of factors that to be consider when formulating the strategy

For retail organization, it is essential to have knowledge about the factors that can influence the planning and implementation of strategy to achieve the goals and objectives. In order to maintain the sustainability and effectiveness of strategy, Waitrose need to consider the following factors which will help to expand the business:

• Economy: This is an important factor that needs to be considering while planning the strategy for business. Waitrose is looking to expand the business and for that purpose fund and investment will the major concern of organization. By analyzing and considering the economical conditions of particular area will help to develop the budget plan and identify the sources for collecting funds.
• Culture: For developing the strategy for specific product or overall business improvement consideration of cultural factors is important. This will give knowledge about key requirements and add-on features for products and services that will help to gain the competitive advantage (Nielsen and Nielsen, 2011). In this section management will focus on the values, belief and social needs of target customer groups that will support to develop and design the plan that satisfied them and help to meet the business objectives.  
• Environmental factors: In order to plan a strategy, it is essential for organization like Waitrose to analyze the environmental conditions that have significant impact on the agriculture. Food products and services, environmental conditions plays vital role. The development of strategy and new plan for business expansion and betterment, forecasting of the environmental issues is essential. By focusing on the condition the management will able to make decisions for making changes in the existing strategy or involve the new elements for achieving the business objectives.

1.3 Evaluation of effectiveness of techniques that used for developing the plan

For the development and making changes in the plan for development of business, Waitrose management could use the following techniques that will help to increase the growth and capacity for managing resources and optimum utilization. Following are the major tools and techniques that have significant contribution in the development of plan:

BCG matrix: This technique is also known as growth-share model that is basically derived from the theory of product lifecycle. Use of this technique will help organization to determine and analyze the priorities and develop the effective product portfolio of each unit. By using this model for developing the strategy, Waitrose management requires to analyze the share in market from lower to higher segment. This kind of process and approach will help management to identify the growth or downfall in the business and make changes on the particular movement to achieve the higher efficiency to meet the business objectives (O'Regan and Ghobadian, 2012). This tool is useful for identifying the specific knowledge and facts about the overall performance of organization or products. Apart from that, BCG matrix helps to develop the current portfolio of the products using the Star, Cash, Cow and Dogs which reflects the actual effectiveness of product in market. For large organization this technique is useful to analyze the performance of products and determine the growth in particular department.

 

This technique would be used by Waitrose to identify the strength and weakness of products and organization to develop a strategy on the basis of these. According to this tools organization needs to put the value on the each parameters to identify the value. This technique helps the organisation to focus on values and goals to be achieved. Waitrose is the renowned food brand that deals in designing and development of food products has major impact of the values followed by the target group (Robert Mitchell.et.al. 2011).  It is also necessary for the Waitrose to perform environmental scanning before strategising any business plan which will help the organisation to develop their information and database about the market.

Task 2

2.1 SWOT analysis of Waitrose

The SWOT analysis of Waitrose is as follows:

• Strength: Waitrose is a well establish brand name in UK that offering the quality food products to customers and hotel organizations for preparing food for customers. The organization is having good monitoring and checking process for developing and delivery of the food items to customers. Moreover, skilled labour for performing the operation is helping organization to make proper utilization of resources and gain more profit.
• Weakness: The high prices and lack of distribution in market are the two major weakness of organization as it get less target group for sales. Additionally, less us of technical products and services is also area that required improvement (Sridhar and Jones, 2013). Management approach for monitoring and analysis of competitor policies also consider as weakness of organization.
• Opportunities: There are many opportunities for Waitrose to develop the business as management can start and establish business in the Asian market like India and China where demand of organic food products is increasing. Moreover, implementation of new tools and technology for sales and managing relation with the customer and supplier will help to encourage the brand image. Online business process will be better opportunity for organization.
• Threat: The level of competition and entry of new organizations in the business are major threats for organization that affecting and could affect in future too (Bouckaert.et.al. 2010). In addition to this, changes in the political and economical scenario are also threat for Waitrose to deal with. Management needs to consider these factors in formulation of strategy to maintain the business growth.

2.2 Environmental audit

PESTLE analysis of Waitrose:

• Political factors: In the current scenario, changes in the political environment has affected the business of Waitrose in the international market as the changes in the global conditions and  relations of nations is affecting the business development approach of organization in countries like Russia, China and India.
• Economic factors: The business is majorly relay on the economic growth and changes in currency cost. According to analysis, economic conditions of UK and other developing nations is good as this would be right time for Waitrose to expand the business. Apart from that, organization needs to consider the inflection rates and growth of country (Bouckaert.et.al. 2010).
• Social factors: In food sector, social factors plays critical role as changes in the belief and values of people in particular area has significant impact on the business of Waitrose. For offering of the products and services organization needs to analyze the social needs of target customers.
• Technological factors: The process of business in today’s culture is majorly based on the use of technology and implementation of new tools and system. Introduction of online tools like website and smart phone application is having significant impact on the sales of organization and proper utilization of other resources. This has positive impact on the sales of Waitrose.
• Legal factors: Organization is following rules and regulations for managing the business and implementing the acts and procedure for manufacturing and delivery of food items which has positive impact on the brand value.
• Environmental factors: The changes in global environmental conditions has direct impact on the growth and business of Waitrose as organization has to depends on the agriculture economy for maintaining the own effectiveness. Hence, it is been considered that environmental factors are affecting the business of Waitrose (Chen.et.al. 2012).

2.3 Significance of stakeholder mapping

This is an important process of developing the strategy and implementing changes in the existing strategy stakeholder mapping helps management to identify the power and interest of stakeholders. Stakeholders participate in the formulation of strategy and contribute in the decision making as it essential for organization to consider the input of stakeholders. By using the stakeholder mapping technique, Waitrose management will able analyze the effectiveness of stakeholders in development of business as their contribution is important. 

By using this process of stakeholder analysis, Waitrose management will able to identify the strength and weakness of stakeholder like supplier, investors, employs and owner that is essential in framing the business strategy (Clastres, 2011). In addition to this, support from stakeholders will help the organisation to reach out to more resources which will be helpful in the success of the project. Also the communication is very important with stakeholders so as to make them understand about the project and also about various strategies planned in relation with the project.

2.4 New strategy for Waitrose

To craft improvement in the business, organization could make changes in the strategy to meet the goals and objectives. For improvement, Waitrose management could implement the strategy which will involve the elements like promotion and public relations. According to this strategy, organization needs to implement the CRM system for maintaining the public relation and planning of new activities and products using the feedback of the customer (Cummings and Worley, 2014). Moreover the implementation of CRM will help to analyze the needs and requirements of target and existing customers and develop customized products and services to meet the satisfaction level. On the other hand for promotion and marketing of food products, it is recommended to Waitrose to use social and digital media tolls which are cost effective and cover the large area.

Task 3

3.1 Alternative strategy for Waitrose

Following business strategies would be beneficial for organization to encourage the business:

• Sustainable growth: For expanding the business and growth, Waitrose management could use this strategy. According to this strategy, organization could acquire the other growing organization in this sector to expand the business in low investment. This kind of sustainable growth strategy is known as vertical integration. By implementing this strategy Waitrose will able increase the market share and areas of business. This strategy will help to overcome the cost of developing and establishing the infrastructure and appointing new staff members.
• Market entry: In order to encourage business and expand the market share, organization could use the marketing strategy in which Waitrose will start joint venture with the local organization to capture new market and target the new customers (Day and Tosey,  2011). According to this strategy, organization needs to analyze the effectiveness of local and small food organization that having mass customer base and offering the quality services. Joint venture strategy will also help to maintain the cost of establishing the business. This strategy will help to meet the business outcome in limited resources and investment.

3.2 Justification and selection of strategy

For large organization like Waitrose use of sustainable growth strategy would be better and appropriate as by acquiring the local organization that offering such services. Selection of this strategy is also good for future as any disputes in the management of both organizations may not affect the business process of organization. By implementing this strategy Waitrose will able increase the market share and areas of business.  This strategy will help to overcome the cost of developing and establishing the infrastructure and appointing new staff members.   Moreover, by implementing this strategy Waitrose can get competitive advantages over its competitors by making a strong brand name and market share in the market (Dibb, 2010). For expansion of market this strategy is effective and appropriate as it brings new opportunities for organization in new market areas as well support to deal in the specific manners by utilizing the resources and using the new tools and techniques. This strategy is best for the organization because it brings additional resources, expert and skilled staff and additional developed technologies which increase the production level of Waitrose.

Task 4

4.1 Roles and responsibilities of personnel who are charged with strategy implementation at Waitrose

The roles and responsibilities are being divided by the top management in the Waitrose thus there is no issue of confusion in the organization. The Chief executive officer is main authority that controls all the activities in the organization.  The CEO is the super authority that operates the business and gives command to the manager to distribute the role to all the employees in the organization. The CEO go through all the responsibilities in the organization and handle the situation in a way that no issue can remain unsolved. The CEO likewise delivers the benefits to the business to stake holders like customers, representatives, government authority and different partners. The main role of the CEO is the organization is to forecast future and identify the issues that will affect the business in near future. It is the foremost duty of the CEO in the organization is to problems of the employees and provide best alternative for their problem. It is the liability of CEO of Waitrose is to design the policy for the welfare of the organization and then implement it in the effective way (McLaughlin, 2016). The stake holders in the organization are responsible parties that formulate and implement the strategy in the organization.

4.2 Estimated resource requirements for implementing a new strategy in Waitrose

While considering the strategy before implementation the allocation of resources is necessary then management can implement the strategy. Different strategy needs different kind of resources in the organization. To generate the source of resources is necessary for the management to spent time and money on it. The main element in the implementing the strategy is time and money. These two elements are the foremost requirement of organization. Internal factors include financial resources and human capital. With the help of this two factors manager can easily implement the strategy in the organization. External factors include technology up gradation. The manager has to identify the latest technology in the market and then try to bring it in the organization. This is the foremost liability of the manager that implementation of latest technology is compulsory in the Waitrose. Organization has to get in contact with the customers thus they can easily make the people aware about the innovative ideas of organization (Chkanikova, 2015). The retail brand should develop the effective relation with its customers.

4.3 Contribution of SMART target in achievement of strategies

Business strategies designed on the SMART targets are easy to achieve because of most of requirements and risk of implementations are calculated and solved for success of strategy. SMART target helps to overview the implementation and scope of the strategies in business to attain certain benefits. For instance, Specific attribute of SMART target helps to design the strategies for specific benefits only as compound goals are unpredictable to achieve in single strategies. The target goals and benefits must be specified in business strategies. Also the business strategy of Waitrose should answer the approach in practical achievements. There should to evidence to prove the capability and measurability of strategy for achievements in business. The third attribute of SMART goals determine the acceptability of strategy in business processing. The management bodies and influencing entities in business must be analyzed as the effective platform for implementation of strategies. Decision without the approved of authorized bodies in workplace may result in conflictions and disrupt in business processing of Waitrose.

Addition to it, The R letter of SMART goals stand for the realistic approach which means that the objective of organization must be realistic to achieve with available business limitations and resources. The skill sets and assets in workplace need to be analyzed for the success factor of strategy (DuFour and Marzano, 2015). The objective of business management in Waitrose also needs to be time bounded to deliver the proper estimation of improvements and investments so that future plans can be scheduled and rearranged properly. The decisions those are uncertain to accomplish in time may result in loss of capital and productivity in workplace. These five factors of SMART goals must be answered properly to achieve success in business strategies.

Conclusion

From the above study, it is been consider that business strategy is having significant impact on the outcome and process of Waitrose food retailing organization. Report has provided information about the goals, objectives and mission of organization and analyzed the factors that need to be considering while planning of the strategy for improvement.  Moreover, report has conducted internal and external environmental audits for identifying the key strength and areas of improvement which will help in development of strategy. In the next part report has analyze the strategies like sustainable growth and market entry for further improvement in the business.   

References

Books and journals

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