BSS050-6 Strategic Management Assignment Sample
BSS050-6 Strategic Management Assignment Sample
Introduction
The given report is going to discuss the case of D and G short, a family business that has been facing significant challenges concerning its operational activities. Moreover, the problems faced by the corporation will further be analysed and evaluated by taking into account the utilisation of various models such as porter’s 5 forces, swot, pestle analysis and more to assess the attractiveness of the industry. Through the implementation of the given models, the internal and external environments of the organisation will also be explored.
Company background
The company was started in 1926 and they started the business as a greengrocers company in 1946, after the son of the owners joined the firm, the shop was in the business of selling toys and a plethora of gardening products (Dandgshort.com. 2023). However, over the years the family business evolved to a great extent and many members of the Short family joined the firm that finally led the organisation to create their locksmith, gate automation and security business that has helped the family business to become even more resilient in the competitive market (Dandgshort.com. 2023).
Problem statement
It needs to be mentioned that the company has been experiencing a significant number of challenges during the pandemic that have taken a toll on its operational activities similar to several other businesses. Research has established that the unprecedented arrival of the pandemic has left a significantly negative impact on the majority of businesses and for that business owners are looking to implement strategies to promote the growth of their businesses (Apedo et al., 2020). From the given case study, it has been noticed that the fundamental problem faced by the business is that they are facing challenges concerning customer acquisition and for that, they need to implement relevant strategies to overcome the issues.
Relevant strategies
It has already been mentioned that the given business is facing challenges in customer acquisition and for that, they want to develop relevant strategies to ensure that the impediments faced by the organisation are overcome. However, the company follows traditional strategies for promoting its business and they have not focused on much product diversification as they want to continue its journey with its already existing products and cater for the specific consumer base they have.
Analysis by applying tools and theory into practice
Swot analysis of D and G short
Strength
The strength of the corporation is that over the years the company has acquired a significantly positive brand image and name as one of the most reputed corporations that are operating within the given industry. Research has demonstrated that the aspect of brand image or brand identity helps to determine customer loyalty and it has been proven that brands that have acquired a significantly favourable reputation tend to have a positive impact on consumers’ minds (Abbas et al., 2021). Furthermore, the company is also known to have been way ahead of its time as they have been implementing innovative technology within its door automation system that has helped the company to stand out from the rest of its potential competitors.
Weakness
The main weakness of the company is that they are facing great challenges in maintaining its existing customer base and also getting new customers after the sudden outbreak of the pandemic and it is safe to mention that it has led them to lose its competitive advantage to a great deal. In that context, research has mentioned that the implementation of effective digital marketing strategies in the contemporary age might enable the corporation to overcome the challenges of customer acquisition (Mehralian and Khazaee, 2022).
Opportunity
It has been mentioned above that the corporation might use the benefits of relevant digital marketing strategies to ensure they are promoting their business adequately to get the attention of customers as that might help them to become relatively more known among their potential consumer base. However, according to research the sudden outbreak of the pandemic has led to significant changes in consumer behaviour and perception and for that, it might be challenging for them to successfully acquire their consumers (Watson and Popescu, 2021).
Threats
Given that the business is facing challenges to acquire consumers and their business is facing significant challenges, the main threatening factor for D and G short is that they are losing their competitive advantages.
Pestle analysis of D and G short
Political
The political condition of the UK is not quite stable as it has been reported that after Rishi Sunak became the prime minister of the country, the environment has been quite turbulent and one of the examples of that is the National Health Service of the UK or NHS is at the breaking point at the moment (Statista.com. 2023).
Economical
According to data received by the World Bank, the current Gross Domestic Product or GDP of the country is 3.13 trillion (Worldbank.org. 2023). It has also been mentioned that the pandemic has been quite daunting to the economy of the country as the growth of their GDP has decreased to a great extent, however, their economy is currently recovering and it is predicted to bounce back in the next 5 years (Nicola et al., 2020).
Social
The country is a socially amicable place to live in as it has been reported that crime rates are extremely low within the nation as they have been ranked 18 out of 180 countries which is a significantly high score (Transparency.org. 2023). In addition to that, it is one of the countries with the highest level of literacy rate since it has been proven that 99% of people living in the country are educated (Worldpopulationreview.com. 2023).
Technological
The country is one of the most advanced nations when it comes to the aspect of technology and reports have suggested that they are increasing the amount of money they are investing within the technological landscape to 30 billion annually to even enhance their growth (Businessinsider.com. 2023).
Environmental
The UK has adopted several initiatives to become one of the nations that have addressed the environmental implications concerning the outcomes of climate change by adopting a 25-year environmental plan through which they are trying to become a net-zero country (Haque and Ntim, 2018).
Legal
The UK also has several strong legal laws that have been developed to protect the fundamental human rights of the people, consumers, businesses and more to maintain a stable legal environment in the nation.
Porter’s 5 forces
| Competition within the industry | High | Competition within the industry is high of the number of such small and medium-sized companies that have grown in the industry that also have similar businesses (Jordão et al., 2020). The company mainly operates within the manufacturing industry of the UK and reports have suggested that it is one of the most attractive industries in the country which has seen a market growth of 9% from 2020 and in 2021, its collective revenue was 400.8 billion pounds (Ons.gov.uk. 2023) |
| Power of suppliers | Moderate | The power of supplier is moderate as it is implied that being a mid-sized family business, the company does not have a vast number of suppliers similar to a Multinational Corporation |
| Power of buyers | High | The power of buyers has become high since it has been mentioned that D and G short has been facing challenges to acquire customers |
| Threats of new entrants | High | Threats of new entrants are high as any business might enter the given industry at any moment |
| Threats of being substituted | Moderate | It is moderately low since having a strong brand image for many years might make it challenging for others to replace them easily |
Vrio analysis
Valuable
One of the most valuable aspects of the company’s business is that they have an efficient manufacturing process and they offer an extensive range of security systems that are in alignment with the rules of local authorities, which makes them even more believable and authentic for consumers to trust. By adhering to the principles of resource-based value it might be stated that the resources acquired by a corporation give them competitive advantages and therefore, every organisation attempts to procure unique resources to stay ahead of their competitors (Yang et al., 2019).
Rare
The rarest aspect of D and G short’s business venture is that they are one of the first corporations to dive into the business of gate automation within the UK and that somehow makes them one of the most successful pioneers in the industry. Therefore, it might be implied that the organisation has also been successful in creating one of the most reputed corporate images within the business industry they are operating.
Inimitable
Even though the company has succeeded in securing a reputed brand image and they have an efficient manufacturing process, its business model and the products they sell are easy to be imitated and especially, in the contemporary age with the help of the technological organisation.
Organisation
The organisation is mainly a family business and several times the ownership of the same has changed due to the demise of many members. However, it needs to be mentioned that a significantly effective hierarchical structure is followed in the company.
Value chain analysis
Primary activities
Inbound logistics
The company receives the raw materials required to make the products and the manufacturing department does the same to create the most robust items that provide the company value.
Operations
The operations stage includes several individuals creating the product, thorough quality-checking, packaging and more to create the final product.
Outbound logistics
The company then distributes the products through the means of various distribution channels, especially through the means of wholesalers and retailers to ensure that they reach the consumers successfully.
Marketing and sales
The company has created a website that provides a significant amount of information through which they promote its business, however, the company has not focused much on the contemporary ways of digitally promoting its business as such.
Service
They go through thorough quality-checking while manufacturing the products and also have established robust customer service to maintain after-sales services.
Support activities
Firm infrastructure
The company is a family-run business that is operated by following the significant principles of hierarchy and they have also created various manufacturing plants, and posh offices which take after a modern architectural facade.
Human Resource Management
The company has created an efficient Human Resources or HR department to look after the well-being of their employees as it has been proven that the given department is in charge of doing the same by adopting relevant strategies (Ho and Kuvaas, 2020).
Technology development
It has already been mentioned that they have been ahead of their time in this department as the company implements robust technological innovations to create their security systems and installed the same within their manufacturing facilities to speed up the process. On the other hand, they have also created a smart warehouse and Artificial Intelligence or AI to improve the process of product manufacturing and inventory management (Patel et al., 2018).
Procurement
D and G short procure the required raw materials from their vast supplier base which is spread across the country to ensure that they do not run out of supplies of necessary raw materials.
Recommendations
Given the above-mentioned discussion it has been understood that the company operates within a highly attractive business industry and with that, it might also be stated that the number of businesses in that industry follows an integrated communication strategy to promote their business. In that context, the chosen organisation must also implement relevant strategies of digital marketing such as influencer marketing to promote their business after the pandemic as it is regarded as one of the most trustworthy sources among the contemporary consumers while making a purchase decision (Jin et al., 2019).
Additionally, they might also adopt the approach of social media marketing or advertisements to ensure that their target audiences are becoming aware of their business and the innovative method they have adopted to make the most efficient security system. The findings of a study have shown that engagement through social media advertisements has grown to a large extent, however, it is extremely content-specific and will depend on the information provided by the business (Voorveld et al., 2018).
They might also conduct significantly more efficient techniques of Search Engine Optimization or SEO for their website in comparison to their competitors to ensure that the company website is ranked higher on the search engine result page as that will make their potential customers find them on the internet relatively easier (Bhandari and Bansal, 2018). Personalised email marketing might be considered as another strategy that might be adopted to ensure that the company is successful in acquiring more consumers to sustain itself within the competitive race (Sahni et al., 2018).
Conclusion
Finally, it might be concluded that the company is one of the most well-known and reputed corporations within the business of manufacturing security products and having a family business for a significantly long time has helped them to acquire a positive brand name and reputation. However, due to the arrival of the pandemic, they have been facing challenges to acquire new customers and that has led them to lose competitive advantages. After thorough analysis, it has been noticed that the company has a substantial amount of technological and other resources, however, the contemporary market trend of promoting the business using digital marketing strategies has been lacking. Henceforth, effective recommendations have been provided that might help them to mitigate the issues. The most relevant recommendations provided for the company have been to implement robust digital marketing approaches to enhance the promotional strategies of the company as it has been perceived that these approaches help businesses to create more engagement among consumers.
References
Abbas, U., Islam, K.A., Hussain, S., Baqir, M. and Muhammad, N., 2021. Impact of brand image on customer loyalty with the mediating role of customer satisfaction and brand awareness. International Journal of Marketing Research Innovation, 5(1), pp.1-15.
Apedo-Amah, M.C., Avdiu, B., Cirera, X., Cruz, M., Davies, E., Grover, A., Iacovone, L., Kilinc, U., Medvedev, D., Maduko, F.O. and Poupakis, S., 2020. Unmasking the Impact of COVID-19 on Businesses.
Bhandari, R.S. and Bansal, A., 2018. Impact of search engine optimization as a marketing tool. Jindal Journal of Business Research, 7(1), pp.23-36.
Businessinsider.com. 2023. From Nobel prizes to vaccine development, the UK is ahead of the pack in science and Technology, Business Insider. Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/uk-science-tech-investment-boost-2022-2 (Accessed: February 13, 2023).
Dandgshort.com. 2023. D&G short (no date) D&G Short. Available at: https://www.dandgshort.com/ (Accessed: February 13, 2023).
Haque, F. and Ntim, C.G., 2018. Environmental policy, sustainable development, governance mechanisms and environmental performance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(3), pp.415-435.
Ho, H. and Kuvaas, B., 2020. Human resource management systems, employee well‐being, and firm performance from the mutual gains and critical perspectives: The well‐being paradox. Human Resource Management, 59(3), pp.235-253.
Jin, S.V., Muqaddam, A. and Ryu, E., 2019. Instafamous and social media influencer marketing. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 37(5), pp.567-579.
Jordão, R.V.D., Novas, J. and Gupta, V., 2020. The role of knowledge-based networks in the intellectual capital and organizational performance of small and medium-sized enterprises. Kybernetes, 49(1), pp.116-140.
Mehralian, M.M. and Khazaee, P., 2022. Effect of Digital Marketing on the Business Performance of MSMEs during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Customer Relationship Management. In 37th Digital Marketing and Customer Behavior Science Conference (2022).
Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Sohrabi, C., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Iosifidis, C., Agha, M. and Agha, R., 2020. The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): A review. International journal of surgery, 78, pp.185-193.
Ons.gov.uk. 2023. Manufacturing and production industry (no date) Manufacturing and production industry – Office for National Statistics. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/manufacturingandproductionindustry (Accessed: February 13, 2023).
Patel, P., Ali, M.I. and Sheth, A., 2018. From raw data to smart manufacturing: AI and semantic web of things for industry 4.0. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 33(4), pp.79-86.
Sahni, N.S., Wheeler, S.C. and Chintagunta, P., 2018. Personalization in email marketing: The role of noninformative advertising content. Marketing Science, 37(2), pp.236-258.
Statista.com. 2023. Topic: UK politics, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/4666/british-politics/ (Accessed: February 13, 2023).
Transparency.org. 2023. United Kingdom (no date) Transparency.org. Available at: https://www.transparency.org/en/countries/united-kingdom (Accessed: February 13, 2023).
Voorveld, H.A., Van Noort, G., Muntinga, D.G. and Bronner, F., 2018. Engagement with social media and social media advertising: The differentiating role of platform type. Journal of advertising, 47(1), pp.38-54.
Watson, R. and Popescu, G.H., 2021. Will the COVID-19 pandemic lead to long-term consumer perceptions, behavioral intentions, and acquisition decisions?. Economics, Management & Financial Markets, 16(4).
Worldbank.org. 2023. GDP (current US$) – united kingdom (no date) Data. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=GB (Accessed: February 13, 2023).
Worldpopulationreview.com. 2023. Literacy rate by country 2023. Available at: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/literacy-rate-by-country (Accessed: February 13, 2023).
Yang, Y., Jia, F. and Xu, Z., 2019. Towards an integrated conceptual model of supply chain learning: an extended resource-based view. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 24(2), pp.189-214.
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