Strategic Changes That Reversed Sainsburys Fortunes Management Essay

Strategic Changes That Reversed Sainsburys Fortunes Management Essay In the last two decades of the twentieth century the UK supermarket chain, Sainsburys, suffered from an almost continuing decline in its corporate fortunes, which its management of the time seemed unable to stop. Not least important of these events was the loss of its competitive position within the UK supermarket sector. From a position of being the market leader by 1995 Sainsburys had relinquished this spot to its rival Tesco (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2005) and even this second position was lost to Asda, a brand that had been strengthened as a result of its takeover by the American giant Wal-Mart.(BBC News, 2006).As a result of the corporations problems, during the early part of this decade it began to look very likely that the Sainsburys brand would either disappear from the UK or be acquired by new owners as investors became increasingly disheartened with the business returns and performance. Justin King, the current CEO of Sainsburys, joined the business in March 2004 (Sainsburys 2005), at a time when, due to lack of competitiveness and poor performance in comparison with rivals, Sainsburys had become a constant target for potential takeover bids (Hutchings 2004). Contrary to expectations at the time of his appointment, during the course of the past five years King has been seen as responsible for the reversal of Sainsburys fortune, which can be evidenced by the fact that a 2007 takeover bid valued the business at  £10.6 billion, more than twice the  £5 billion bid considered three years earlier (Mail online 2009). It is the changes in Sainsburys fortunes that form the focus of this essay. The intention is to both analyse and evaluate the strategic choices the corporation has adopted under Kings leadership in order to improve its response to changes that occur within the industry and its marketplace. Strategic changes at Sainsburys post 2004 Research into corporate strategy, once concerned mainly with the internal operations of the business, has now been extended to include the impact of external forces and events (Johnson et al, 2005). Thus as Johnson, Scholes Whittington (2008) observe, it can be defined as an organisations abilities to renew and recreate its strategic capabilities to meet the needs of a changing environment. In this respect corporate strategy within supermarkets such as Sainsburys, was focused upon the creation of competitive advantage (Porter, 2004a), a position that was deemed as being achieved whenever it outperforms its competitors (Pettigrew, Thomas Whittington, 2002, p.55). However, as Grant (2004) and others have suggested, simply achieving competitive advantage is not sufficient. To sustain its success, a business has to continue to build upon its advantage to ensure is does not lose out to other competitors in the future, a situation which the management at Sainsburys had failed to address prior to 2004. On his appointment as CEO, King reviewed the current business strategy and introduced changes in several key areas as part of his three year programme aimed at turning the business around (Sainsburys 2005). The first task to be faced was to identify the core areas of potential business growth, which was deemed by King to be the UK market. This led to the sale of Sainsburys US supermarket chain and the use of the proceeds to acquire a number of Morrison stores that were sold as a part of regulatory conditions attached to its purchase of Safeway, as well as a planned expansion into the convenience store sector. As King said at the time, this was needed to strengthen our market position and deliver future growth (Food Drink Europe, 2004, para3). The second task was to decide where and how the business should refocus its drive for competitive advantage, which as Grant (2004) indicates, meant using either cost and/or differentiation as the main strategic drivers for success in terms of adding value for the customer and shareholder. It is clear from the latter part of this explanation that to create such an advantage it is important for the Sainsburys brand, to be seen as sufficiently different from those of its competitors so as to establish its own brand identification and customer loyalties (Porter, 2004b, p.9). In other words, as Tyreman (2009 para10) indicates within his study on marketing, the key and essential element of brand design and promotion is for the corporation to ensure that the chosen strategy of differentiation must be unique enough to enable it to stand out from its competitors. This is especially important in a case like Sainsburys which is competing for market share within a UK supermarket and grocery sect or, which is considered by many people to have reached a position of saturation over a decade ago (Q Finance,n.d.para15). In terms of cost, both Tesco and Asda had overtaken Sainsburys in the sector as a result of their low-price strategy. In addition, their quality of service and differentiation was perceived by the customer to be superior to the Sainsburys brand, which meant that Sainsburys new management team needed to develop a strategy that would address both of these issues. In relation to low-cost the business and marketing strategy was changed to concentrate more upon reducing prices. In addition to this impacting upon recognised brand goods, this led to a change of direction, which included the expansion and promotion of its low-price own brand alternatives within its stores, an area where competitors had built a significant advantage. To ensure that this approach did not have an adverse effect upon the financial performance of the business and the value being added for shareholders, this also meant that the business had to introduce a cost reduction and efficiency programme across the supply chain (Porter, 2004a). Improvements were therefore made to the supply chain processes, which included the introduction of new technology aimed at increasing cost efficiency, such as the implementation of IT knowledge and data management systems (Mari, 2009). As an integral aspect of this process the relationship with suppliers, and their influence upon the supply chain, particularly product design, cost and distribution were also re-evaluated in an effort to lower costs and improve delivery to the customer, for example with the adoption of a system geared towards the JIT inventory model (Just in Time). The effect of these changes was to aid the lowering of in-store prices whilst at the same time continuing to retain and grow business value. However, on their own these changes would not provide the change in fortunes required by the business unless they were accompanied by a process that would improve the relationship and brand image that it was promoting and marketing to both existing and potential customers (Wilson Gilligan, 2005). In terms of quality of service, this also meant that the business would require the commitment of its employees. As Sainsburys had learnt, through loss of market share, the relationship that a business builds and develops with its potential customer is essential to the long term success of the business and its ability to expand its share of the market(Lancaster Massingham,2001).As Kotler ( n.d. P.159) observes, the organisation that develops and implements the best tools to enable it to forecast where customers are moving, and to be in front of them, will be the one that gains the competitive advantage from these processes. Having failed to maintain its advantage in this respect, it was apparent that the existing approach to customer relationships at Sainsburys was another area of corporate strategy that King needed to address. Three main strategic changes were made within the business with regard to its relationship with customers. The first of these was to improve the communication process that existed between the business and its potential customer base, so that it could gain the required feedback that would help the business to understand the changing demands and needs of the customer (Lancaster and Massingham, 2001). This was achieved through a programme that included additional market research, which included in-store and external surveys and questionnaires. In addition, the management team was encouraged to spend more time in the corporations stores, talking to customers as well as employees in order to gain a better insight into how the business service and quality was perceived (Blackhurst, 2005). Secondly, driven by the results of this feedback, the business improved its employee training processes, particularly in the area of service quality, with the focus being on improving the customer shoppin g experience within their stores. One crucial element of strategy aimed at improving the customer shopping experience is reliant upon the management of the human resource function (Grant, 2005). In simple terms Human Resource Management (HRM) is defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisations most valued assets-the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives(Armstrong, 2006.p.2.). It is the considered opinion of most academics that the type of relationship that business management has with its employees will have an important effect upon the success of its aims and objectives (Grant, 2005). Therefore, in keeping with other competitors within its own and other retail sectors, Sainsburys has had to review its HR policies and processes as part of the strategic changes required following the appointment of King in 2004. This review included both the internal aspect of human resources as well as the benefits and disadvantages the se will have upon the external business environment. One option that was immediately chosen was to increase the number of employees by 3,000; most were engaged in customer facing positions (Sainsburys, 2005). In addition the internal HR processes were changed. As Armstrong (2006) observes, there is generally considered to be two alterative options to HRM in business. These are the hard approach, which considers the management of employees should focus solely upon the effect that the individual or group of employees have in terms of assisting in the achievement of corporate goals, in other words what value the employee adds to the business. Alternatively, there is the soft approach, which is based upon employee involvement and motivation (Armstrong, 2006). With this approach the business seeks to understand and address the needs of the employee as well, primarily because it is considered that this will improve motivation and, as a result, increase quality and productivity. In Sainsburys it had already become apparent by 2004 that its major competitors, Tesco and Asda, had embarked upon a process of employee involvement which, using an appropriate approach to leadership and team building, was enabling these businesses to improve the success of their respective businesses in the area of human relationship management (Pettigrew et al. 2002). As Armstrong (2006) indicates the chances of successful adoption of a corporate strategy are much improved if the business has developed a relationship with the workforce that encourages involvement and participation at all stages of its development and implementation. It is not surprising therefore, that King and his management team decided the corporation needed to introduce a more robust HR regime and system; one that paid more attention to the importance of employee involvement and satisfaction within the decision making process of the business. Taking into account that it is the business front line employees who have the closest contact with the customer they therefore designed a strategic change that was designed around the soft approach. This change was achieved to a large extent by copying their competitors systems. In other words, they made management more accessible to the employee, involved them to a greater extent in business decisions, through a process of individual store and regional meetings and encouraged the employee to submit innovative and new ideas to their management team at all levels (Sainsburys, 2005). Finally, Sainsburys made significant changes to its approach in relation to the marketing and promotion of the brand. As Lancaster Massingham (2001) rightly observe, when any change in strategy is introduced it is important to communicate that message to the existing and potential customer. Therefore a new style of campaign has been developed by the corporation over the past four years that has concentrated upon delivering a message that focuses upon the low-price and customer service quality of the business offerings and shopping experience. This focused upon two main areas of the new strategy. The first, using a low-price approach, which concentrated on the promotion of its value brand and Meal for  £5, emphasised its commitment to a low-cost approach. The second, using celebrities such as Jamie Oliver to provide advice to customers about meals, using the companys products and portraying the friendliness of its employees, sought to reaffirm and build the business relationship wi th the customer. It is through the introduction of all of these strategic changes, culminating with the development of a promotional campaign, which includes the use of household celebrities that Sainsburys has sought to reposition the brand and increase its competitive advantage over other market players. The intention of this new approach has therefore been to improve its brand image, incorporating its new low-price focus with an improved range and choice of products and services. The objective being to change the customers previously held perception of the business. Impact of the Strategic changes Having analysed and discussed the various improvements that have been introduced at Sainsburys since King became CEO, the question that remains is to assess how positive the impact of these strategic changes has proven for the business and in this respect an evaluation of subsequent results produces mixed results. As will be discovered from the following comments, not all of these are positive. In relation to the change in Sainsburys market share within the supermarket sector, although there has been some improvement in this area resulting from the changes made to the corporate strategy, it still remains in third position (figure 1). This is in spite of the fact that in the past two years Sainsburys has improved its market share of the industry by almost 1% (BBC News 2006). Figure .Market Share Comparison Source: BBC News (2008) What is equally apparent from the decade comparison is that, when judged against its two main competitors, even taking into account recent improvements, it is noticeable that Sainsburys has still lost significant ground, in the case of Tesco by over 12%. It therefore follows that, in order to narrow the gap still further, and indeed to re-secure its position as the second biggest competitor in the sector, Sainsburys will have to continue to develop its strategy in a manner that provides it with a level of competitive advantage that remains superior to that of its rivals. Another aspect to consider in evaluating the success of strategic changes made from 2004 onwards, is the extent to which the strategic changes have delivered on expectations and predictions made at the commencement of the term of the new management team. In part it is these predictions that were responsible for the failure of the takeover bids being made for the business at that time, as investors considered that, if delivered, the return on their investment was likely to be improved. In the CEOs report within the 2005 financial statement, King suggested that the business had embarked upon a three-year programme designed to grow sales by  £2.5 billion by the end of 2007/08 and return Sainsburys to sustainable growth in both sales and profitability.(Sainsburys,2005).The subsequent financial results (figure 2) show that, this has been achieved, if one views this improvement from the 2005 results and, furthermore, that the improvement has been continued in subsequent years and, up to the year end for 2009 at least, seems to be defying the impact of the recent economic and financial crisis. Figure . Sainsburys Turnover 2001-2009 Source: Sainsburys (2005 and 2009) This potential improvement can be measured in another way, namely the performance of the share price for the same period of time. Figure .Sainsburys-10 Year Share Price Source: http://markets.ft.com/ft/markets/interactiveChart.asp It is confirmed from this comparison that, from its lowly position when King was appointed, Sainsburys share performance improved dramatically until around the end of 2007, when a new bidder for the business was rumoured to be occurring (Peston,2007). At that stage its performance almost matched those of Tesco and Morrisons. However, since the 2007 bid was aborted the adverse share performance between Sainsburys and the others has widened considerably, meaning that shareholders value is now a little more than 15% better than it was five years ago. Future Focus and Strategies Since 2004 Sainsburys has adapted and embraced change to secure its survival and prosperity. In todays challenging trading conditions it continues to focus on capitalising on these changes by identifying consumer trends and forecasting where such trends are leading, always with the end goal of securing trading success (Wilson Gilligan, 2005). In this current economic crisis Sainsburys has shown it has managed not only to ride out the recession but to emerge from it a winner with like for like sales in the quarter to January 2010 increasing by 4.2% .Analysts in 2010 are now saying that Sainsburys strong performance shows just how far the supermarket chain has come since March 2004 under King and acknowledge that his strategic changes have broadened the brand appeal of Sainsburys and turned its future around (Hall, 2010). With its future plans to focus on estate development and to step up its on-line resources in both food and non food, the support of its suppliers will be crucial to sustain Sainsburys future growth. To this end in March 2010 a Sainsburys Trade Briefing will be held to give all suppliers the opportunity to ascertain how they can work in tandem with the retailer in the testing year ahead to everyones mutual benefit. Conclusion In conclusion therefore, whilst it would be correct to say that the strategic changes made following the appointment of King have, to some extent led to a reversal of its former fortunes, certainly in respect of the comparison of its own revenue streams, in other areas the improvements have not been as beneficial as investors and the management anticipated. Gains in market share sufficient for the business to recover second position have changed little between 2005 and 2008, which means that the brand image and its promotional message needs to be improved to encourage more customers to choose Sainsburys in preference to other competitors. Similarly the share performance indicates that the business has still not totally convinced the markets that it can sustain its recovery.

School Age Observation

I observed Mark in his fourth grade classroom during a science lesson. Mark is an intelligent ten year old child, but he has a difficult time paying attention to his teacher. He likes to get a lot of attention and when he gets bored he turns his focus to other destructive matters, such as, throwing pencils up into the ceiling. Throwing pencils in the ceiling has gotten him in trouble many times, and once he was kicked out of the classroom for it. When he becomes uninterested he stops paying attention to instruction completely. When he is bored, he needs to find another activity to fill the void, and that activity will be something that distracts the teacher and his classmates; two characteristics that make it interesting and entertaining to him. From my observations, I believe Mark’s behavior problems are the result of a lack of attention and disinterest from the people in his life, and a general sense of laziness and intimidation for tasks that seem difficult. Mark comes to school with an unclean appearance (dirty clothes, messy hair, looking like he has not bathed) and without the proper tools to actively complete his assignments. For example, he comes to school without any pencils or paper and his backpack is a mess of old crumpled papers. Mark’s behavior problems decreased as his teacher had time to give him one on one attention and break down his tasks into smaller assignments while giving him encouragement and the sense of working hard and having accomplished something. Mark read well, but at a slow pace that would become frustrating to him. He stumbled over words and his classmates had annoyed looks on their faces as he took so long to read a paragraph aloud. His teacher also realized this and later took the time to explain the textbook pictures and figures to him so he could visualize the content he was reading about. His teacher told him that if he becomes bored of the assigned work of looking up vocabulary words then he should switch tasks for a few minutes so he can take a break. When he would start to lose interest he would start trying to talk and get the others’ attention. He would stop his work, look around, and then call out, â€Å"This is boring! to the kids around him. There was a boy sitting next to him at his table that he would poke with a pencil and laugh at when the boy would get mad. He also spent a lot of time staring out the window and digging a groove into his pink erasure with his pencil. When his teacher was able to come and give him one on one attention he was attentive and looked at the teacher as she talked. Mark’s teacher creates a â€Å"to do† list for him so that he can check things off as they are completed. At the end of the section Mark was able to check off several things from his list, and he was proud that he was able to complete so many things. He bragged to his classmates at his table by showing them his list so they could see everything that he had finished. Mark is not a mean child, nor does he want to hurt others, but he needs more positive attention in his life. With the absence of positive interest from those around him, he seeks out anything he can get, which naturally ends up being the negative attention. His teacher does not always have the time during a lesson to cater to Mark, but she tries to check on him frequently because of the results it brings. After he was given extra help and saw what he was able to accomplish when he set his mind to a task the effects began to show in the classroom. Of his own initiative, Mark took out a piece of paper and started taking notes once his math lesson began. He teacher commented to me that that does not happen very often.

The Way That Women Earned Respect And Value Was First...

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Cause And Effect Of Climate Change Essay - 1220 Words

Cause and effects of Climate Change. General purpose: to inform. Specific purpose: After hearing my speech my audience will know what climate change is, what causes it and its effects now and in the future. Thesis Statement: Climate change is a very important issue that affects all of us. Organization pattern: Cause and effect. Introduction: I. (Attention-getter): How do you explain that 30 years ago we had a different weather than today? When you look at yourself in a dirty mirror; can you see your image very well? The same occurs when the sun rays reflect on the sea and that reflection can’t be released into the space because gasses in the atmosphere block their exit causing the planet to get warmer. II. Climate change is how the weather has changed in a specific area over a given period of time-usually 30 years. That means that changes in the weather could be variable or extreme depends on the region you are. We are seeing these changes every year as the seasons changing; I.e. Usually we compare the weather of the season this year and the weather of the season from the past year. III. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), â€Å"Climate change† encompasses global warming, but refers to the broad range of changes that are happening to our planet. That means the reason of Climate Change is because of global warming that could be produced due to natural processes, such as changes in the Sun’s radiation, volcanoes or internal variability in theShow MoreRelatedCauses And Effects Of Climate Change1706 Words   |  7 PagesDiscuss the causes and effects of climate change. Present any solutions that are relevant to these issues. Probably the most anxious threat to our earth in these two decades is climate change. Climate change refers to any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time. In other saying, climate change includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns, among other effects, that occur over several decades or longer (Epa.gov, 2015). The rateRead MoreClimate Change : Causes And Effects934 Words   |  4 Pages Climate Change Paper Kaitlyn Yinger 4-17-15 Erin Reese Biology 122: 10:30-12:45 Climate Change What really causes climate change? Is it human cause or is a natural process that is happening? I think that us as humans contribute more to climate change then natural causes. Human Causes Humans affect climate change in different ways, three main ways that humans caused climate change is deforestation, greenhouse gases and Agriculture. Deforestation causes change to the landscapeRead MoreThe Causes And Effects Of Climate Change1084 Words   |  5 PagesAs a result of climate change, natural disaster has increased extremely, especially droughts and floods around the world. In the past several years, it can be seen that various news concerned critical climate variability and extreme weather. For instance, the United States Department of Agriculture (2013) pointed out that the US agricultural land suffered from drought about 80 percent in 2012, while BBC (2015) reported that one of four districts in Myanmar, which were warned of flooding caused byRead MoreCauses And Effects Of Climate Change Essay1260 Words   |  6 PagesCommunication 11, Section D23 Informative Speech 14 November 2016 Causes and effects of Climate Change. General purpose: to inform. Specific purpose: After hearing my speech, my audience will know more what climate change is, what causes it and its effects now and in the future. Thesis Statement: Climate change is a very important issue that affects all of us, we need to know more about this issue. Organization pattern: Cause and effect. Introduction: I. (Attention-getter): When you look at yourselfRead MoreThe Causes And Effects Of Climate Change1690 Words   |  7 Pagesdebates about the pros and cons of climate change and what are the causes and effects of climate change. There are those who argue that the rising levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases in our environment are as a direct result of human activities. Some activities that are at the top of the list include but are not limited to the burning of fossil fuels, the cutting down of our forest, these activities are causing significant and increasingly severe climate changes which include global warming. GlobalRead MoreClimate Change : Causes And Effects1113 Words   |  5 Pages Climate Change: Causes and Effects Student’s Name: Institutional Affiliation: Climate Change: Causes and Effects According to Adger (2010), the combined effect of climate change and limitations of resources is serving as a threat to the sustainability of the current social-economic systems and is poised to affect our way of life. Climatic change is more than global warming. The rise in temperatures is but part of the broader changes leading to extreme temperatures, drought, floodingRead MoreClimate Change : Causes And Effects1347 Words   |  6 Pagesdebated topic of climate change. Climate change is no myth; it’s a further analysis of how our planet is suffering the negative effects of human carelessness, which can be observed through the glaciers worldwide. Due to fossil fuel consumption and deforestation, greenhouse gasses are beyond regular amounts and affecting the glaciers, causing them to melt and increase ocean and sea levels. To further understand Climate Change, one must recognize what it is. When people ponder about climate, they thinkRead MoreClimate Change : Causes And Effects1781 Words   |  8 PagesClimate change, either caused by humans, or naturally occurring, is beginning to affect several areas around the world and is causing human environmental insecurity in some already weakened states and regions. Climate change is defined simply as changes in the earth’s weather patterns. Change in climate becomes a security concern, for example, if decreased rainfall equates to decreased crop production in what was once a dependable food source that has now disappeared. The lack of this resourceRead MoreClimate Change : Causes And Effects Essay1856 Words   |  8 PagesClimate change: Climate change is caused mainly by increase of human activity and industrialisation. For example, activities such as driving cars, farming, burning coal and cutting down forests produce greenhouse gases – mainly carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide which are emitted into the atmosphere, which create a layer of greenhouse gases around the earth and trap the sun s heat. The earth over its 4.5 billion-year history has naturally fluctuated from ice ages to extreme droughts, howeverRead MoreClimate Change : Causes, Effects And Solutions1774 Words   |  8 Pageslately on the causes, effects and solutions of global climate change. Nearly every day, scientists and politicians speak about the subject, or we hear about it in the news media. On September 23, 2014, President Obama remarked at a U.N. 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Human Wildlife Conflicts Free Essays

ANIMAL ‘RIGHTS’ OR HUMAN ‘DUTIES’? – A JURISPRUDENTIAL QUAGMIRE ON ANIMAL RIGHTS (HUMAN RIGHTS vs. ANIMAL RIGHTS- JURISPRUDENTIAL FRONTIERS) ABSTRACT Our ecosystem is a sophisticated organization which includes multitude of flora and fauna that coexist harmoniously without disrupting the sacred equilibrium. Homo-sapiens have topped this ladder of species by virtue of the sixth sense of thought. We will write a custom essay sample on Human Wildlife Conflicts or any similar topic only for you Order Now Even though humans do possess this exceptional faculty of reason, they cannot thrive in solitude but can only sustain by placing them amongst the rest of the organization. When humans started organizing themselves, attained civilization and improved their standards of living, they unfortunately undermined the relative importance of the co-organisms which make up the system, thus giving rise to the emergence of an anthropocentric society. The Research Problem The jurisprudential quagmire is the question whether animals too require ‘rights’ analogous to that of human rights. Human rights are those inalienable, universal and egalitarian fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled merely by reason of his or her birth as a human. In the light of this definition, â€Å"animal rights† is an absolute misnomer. In jurisprudential terminology, a right is an interest recognized and protected by law. A right unlike an interest is a valid claim or potential claim, made by a moral agent under principles that govern both the claimant and the target of the claim. It presupposes two legal persons, viz., the subject of the right and subject of the duty. Animals cannot be the bearers of such rights because the concept of rights is essentially human; it is rooted in and has force only within a human moral/legal world. Moreover, by no stretch of imagination, animals can be regarded as legal persons. In fact, it is not the interest of the animal but the interest of the human beings that animals should also coexist with them. According to Leon Duguit, your ‘right’ is a byproduct of the other person preforming his duty towards you. He says there is no right but only duty. If the other has a duty towards you, you feel like having a ‘right’. Viewed in the light of Duguit’s theory, the mounting problem of protection of wildlife is actually a human rights issue and not an issue of animal rights. Animalright is, in fact, an illusion created by human beings performing their duties to animals, to the ecosystem, to the nature and to the society effectively. If law is about balancing of conflicting interests as pointed out by Rudolf Von Ihering and later developed by Roscoe Pound, the conflict involved here is the conflict between the interests of those who indiscriminately destruct the ecosystem for personal motives and of those who are concerned about the mother earth. The Scheme of the Article This article seeks to explore the true nature of the jurisprudential basis of the legal protection of wild life and endeavors to put in correct perspective the need for eco-governance. It argues that animals cannot have ‘rights’ in the jurisprudential sense; that right of an animal is an illusion created because of the presence of human duty to protect it; that if human beings acquire human rights by birth, they also incur absolute human duties by birth; that the ultimate objective of wild life protection law is to save and protect the ‘animals’ and not their ‘rights’. It concludes that human beings are reckoned to be morally upright species and causing pain and suffering to animals puts them in a position much lesser than that of human. ADHEENA BIJU IVth Semester B.Com., LL. B (Hons) School of Legal Studies CUSAT Kochi-22 How to cite Human Wildlife Conflicts, Papers

Journal of Academy of Marketing Science - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Questions: 1. How well did Amazon respond to changes In Macro and microenvironment factors and how well did it manage its value chain? 2.Comment on Amazons approach to international business strategy by evaluating its structure, resources, and culture. Answers: Answer 1 Amazon, a name that was synonymous to wildlife and nature some decades ago, has been remolded as something entirely different to its previous association. Amazon is now a household name for online shopping catering to the needs of customers worldwide. In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon and launched it a year later (Smith, Rupp and Offodile 2017). Beginning initially as an online bookstore, Amazon soon expanded its business by including other items as well. It is the first of its kind e-commerce business that revolutionized the way shopping is done. With the changing era, Amazon.com molded itself to suit the current generation. This section provides an analysis of the macro and micro-environmental factors that affected Amazon since its inception until 2015 and how it responded to the changes (Khan 2016). Amazon has been in the business for over 20 years and operating in almost every country in the world Salam (2016). Numerous factors influence the business and this can be analyzed by applying PESTLE. This model would help in presenting the macro-environmental factors that include political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors affecting the company. Political factors In any country, businesses are bound to be affected by the political situation concomitant in the present age. Amazon.com too had to face issues related to political factors. Policies implemented by governments in different countries might restrict or broaden a companys profits. During the early 90s, when Amazon put its first step in Washington, economic globalization had just begun to spread its feathers and this provided the company a great opportunity to extend its business. However,Amazon.com profits from a countrys political stability. The absence of stability especially in developed countries might prove a threat to the business. Economic factors Economic factors relate to the economic trends that affect a business in any country. To Amazon, the economic pattern of countries where it operates its online retail business directly influences its overall business. However, centered mainly in and on the US, Amazon garners profit largely from countries within the continent. Hence, the companys profits and revenues depend on the economic trend prevailing in most of the American nations. Social factors: Social and cultural factors that affect Amazon include wealth disparity in under developed and developing countries, rise in consumerism and rise in buying habits of people amongst others. While some factors pose a threat to Amazon the disparity in wealth others provide an opportunity as well increased consumerism and buying habits. With the advancement in technology, more people are having access to the internet and providing more opportunities for Amazon to expand. Technological factors Amazons business is entirely dependent upon technology and it is obvious that factors relating to technology will affect it. In the initial years, Amazon had limited customers within the US itself, as many did not have access to the internet. With the emergence of information technology, the business reached its zenith with its customer base growing rapidly. It however needs to be mentioned that this factor, although one of Amazons biggest strength, might prove its biggest weakness as well. This is because the company depends heavily on technology for adding and retaining customers, maintaining and optimizing services and so on. Legal factors The norms and regulations that have to be followed by a company come under this category. These factors can be linked to political factors because the government is involved. Globalization has helped Amazon to increase its customer base, as governments have eased import and export regulations. The companys corporate social responsibility (CSR) regulations are also designed in a way that adheres to the rules that ensure environmental protection. Environmental factors Amazons CSR policy states the importance of developing a business model that encourages sustainability. The company looks to incorporate clean technologies meaning less impact on environment. However, the company has faced criticism for its neglect of CSR, the sustainability issue in particular. In its 20 years, Amazon has never published a report on sustainability and has always avoided talks on corporate responsibility, published a leading daily (Theguardian.com 2017). The company nonetheless looks forwards to change this image. It has appointed people with expertise in this field. Figure 1. Amazons PESTLE Analysis (Source: Created by author) Changing environment influences companies to change or update their strategies from time to time. Amazon has been able to adapt to the changing trends but it still lacks in certain areas. Through Porters Five Forces Analysis, the changing industrial environment can be evaluated. Figure 2. Porters Five Forces (Source: Created by author) Competitive forces This indicates the rivalry of Amazon with existing e-commerce businesses. The situation was different in the 90s when Amazon was launched. Fewer online retailers were there and Amazon too was only involved in selling of books. Its main competitors were Walmart and e-Bay. However, with the changing era, competition increased at an alarming pace owing to increased access to internet. Threats of new entrants Globalization opened the gates for business especially online retailers to spread their business and earn unprecedented revenues. This put Amazon in a vulnerable position has it faced tough competition from the new entrants like Jabong, Flipkart and so on. The new online firms affect Amazons market share that reduces gradually. Customers can easily shift to a new firm as it does not cost them anything and it would not have any negative affect as well. However, Amazon has established a reputation that would be difficult for new companies to match. Threats of substitution Similar to the previous factor, substitute sites are present in abundance that allows customers to switch easily from Amazon. Customers have gamut of options to choose from thus placing Amazon in a vulnerable position. The company thus aims to strategize its future growth keeping this in mind. Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers have the power to bargain for costs with the company when there is limited availability of suppliers. Thus, a company must ensure that their suppliers base is strong enough to ensure cost effective strategy. Amazon in this regard has an advantage over most companies. Bargaining power of buyers The consumers have the power to switch to other firms when they feel Amazon demands higher prices for similar products. Abundant options are available for consumers to shift from Amazon and choose another company. This shows that Amazons customer-centric strategy is apt to overcome this challenge. After a thorough analysis of the Five Forces, it is evident that Amazon has managed to maintain its position in the ever-growing competitive market. This can be further explained through its value chain analysis. Amazon has shown exceptional growth by managing the value chain efficiently over the years. The value chain can be categorized into primary and support activities. The primary activity includes inbound logistics, outbound logistics, operations, marketing, sales, and services. Firm infrastructure, human resources, technology development and procurement are included in support activities (Ritala, Golnam and Wegmann 2014). Primary activities Figure 3. Amazons Value Chain Analysis (Source: Created by author) The overall analysis of Amazons micro and macro-environmental factors bring forth its strengths and weaknesses and also its threats and opportunities (Holweg and Helo 2014). This could be better understood by doing the SWOT analysis. Figure 4. Amazons SWOT Analysis (Source: Created by author) Amazon has not limited its business to online shopping only and has carried out strategic conglomerations and deals to expand its business. Its growth strategies can be understood from the Ansoff Matrix (Thijsen, Tong and van Leer 2014). Products Existing New Market Penetration Generating revenues from existing markets by launching loyalty programs and reducing prices Product development With existing capabilities With new capabilities Beyond current expectations Introducing Kindle, Kindle Fire, Echo etc. Market Development New segments New territories New uses With new capabilities Beyond current expectations Expanding to countries beyond the US like India, China, Sweden and Poland Diversification With existing capabilities With new capabilities Beyond current expectations Acquiring IMDb, Zappos and other such products, launching Amazon Web Services (AWS) Markets Figure 5. Ansoff Matrix demonstrating Amazons growth strategy (Source: Created by author) Amazons growth strategy reveals that the company has made smart use of the Ansoff Matrix to relate the strategies to its SWOT strategy. A close look at the opportunities presented to the company reveals its market development strategy to expand to new countries (Hinterhuber and Liozu 2014). Answer 2 Amazon managed to reach the position it is in now by implementing all its strategies systematically and in accord with the changing environment. This was possible because of its customer-centric strategy and hybrid business strategy. An analysis of its mission and vision statement gives an insight into the companys long-term success. Reaching globally, giving customer first priority and offering wide range of products come under its vision statement and results do show that the company has achieved its vision (Laudon and Traver 2013). The mission statement focuses on offering lowest prices, superior selection of products and making those available at extreme convenience. This has also been achieved by the company and the commitment is still there to achieve it further. Amazon successfully managed to retain its top position in the e-commerce business and held 38% market share in 2016. The company earned revenue of USD 135, 987 in the last fiscal year, which is close to 28 per cent increase from the previous year (Fortune.com 2017). This trend seems to continue for the company in the current year as well, report leading business sites. These statistics further strengthen the fact that Amazon has been successful in implementing its strategies in accordance with its goals. This success of Amazon could be attributed to its smart use of technology that helped reduce cost. To cite an example, the company initialized the use of Kiva robots from the year 2014 to help in the processes of picking and packing and cut operating costs down to almost twenty percent (Statista.com 2017). In addition, the company announced the launch of drone delivery services under its Prime air program last year that is estimated to save shipping costs to an unimaginable extent. T he Prime air program would prove highly cost-friendly for both the customer and the company believe experts. Izogo and Ozo (2015) argue that despite Amazons success in the e-commerce industry, it is still under pressure from the growing competition. Emerging markets in the online retail industry are giving a stiff competition to the e-commerce giant. The brick-and-mortar retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart, Target, other e-commerce sites like Flipkart, eBay are some top competitors. However, Amazon has managed to maintain its position in the ever-growing online market. One of the prime reasons for its success is the implementation of the sustainability measures. Although the company did face backlash for its neglect of sustainability issues but it has come a long way since then. Rooftop solar systems, wind farms, installation of LED lights in all its offices across the globe are some initiatives taken by Amazon to encourage sustainability while doing business (Amazon.com 2017). These measures have been taken to develop and maintain the business in the competitive market. Amazon has also managed to survive the bleak e-commerce market by applying innovative ideas to attract customers (Al Sayyed 2016). To illustrate, the company started as an online bookstore but now offers service ranging from movies, music to gaming and more. Amazons intentions to expand and penetrate into every market concerned with technology can be clearly seen from its announcements in recent years. Starting as a humble online store selling books, the company has now expanded to every aspect of technology providing services from Prime air to Echo and such (He 2015). The hunger to expand globally is evident from the measures mentioned in the previous segments. Amazon is structured as a transnational organization that operates in other countries with headquarters based in Seattle, US. Its international strategy is better understood from the Bartlett and Ghoshal matrix (Gershon 2016). According to the matrix, a transnational organization aims to achieve local responsiveness and at the same time target global integration as well. This type of strategy has high pressure for both local responsiveness and global integration. Amazons strategy is in accord with this type of international strategy where it focuses on global expansion while maintaining local base. Sumantra Ghoshals organizing framework for global strategy explains the issues managers face in the global economy and ways to tackle them (Rothaermel 2015). Three basic factors that help tackle these issues include Attaining effectiveness in existing activities Managing risks related with performing these actions Developing inner learning means enable innovation and acclimatize to future changes Evaluating Amazons global strategy, one can clearly see its close link to the above three factors. The company consistently focuses on lessening national differences to stress on global expansion. Further, Amazon follows a hierarchical structure of organization with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) leading the group. Figure 6. Amazons Organizational Structure (Source: Created by author) The Resource Based View model provides a thorough explanation of the resources and competencies of Amazon. The RBV helps in exploring the abilities of a firm to implement and maintain effective national and global strategies. After evaluating the resources and competencies of Amazon, it is important to understand its work culture in order to analyze its international strategy. Amazon.com boasts of an excellent work culture involving employees from different cultural backgrounds. Nonetheless, it has been criticized for having a work culture that pressurizes people to work for long hours and reply to emails or text messages even after midnight. In addition, it has also been accused of discriminating against unwell employees who are supposedly fired for not being able to deliver (Bbc.com 2017). Viewing from Hofstedes five cultural dimensions, three in particular, the workplace culture of Amazon could be better understood. Focusing on individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity and power distance index gives evidence of Amazons unforgiving or brutal culture (Rallapalli and Montgomery 2015). Amazon is mainly a US based company and hence its workplace culture would uphold traditions popular in the US. Employees from other backgrounds thus find it difficult to adjust into the companys culture. With all these factors in mind, Amazon strategically implements its plans and succeeds in expanding globally. In fact, it has managed to penetrate into almost arenas of technological market that was seen impossible some decades ago (Day 2014). References: Al Sayyed, S., 2016. Strategic Marketing. A Live Case Study on Amazon Marketing. Amazon.com (2017).Sustainability-Energy and Environment. [online] Amazon.com. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/gkkwdp34z5ou7ug [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017]. Bbc.com (2017).Amazon defends workplace culture. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33957484 [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017]. Day, G.S., 2014. An outside-in approach to resource-based theories.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,42(1), pp.27-28. Fortune.com (2017).Amazon.com. [online] Fortune. Available at: https://fortune.com/fortune500/amazon-com/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017]. Gershon, R.A., 2016. Intelligent Networking and the Transnational Corporation: Redefining Business Work Space. InMedia Convergence Handbook-Vol. 2(pp. 17-31). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. He, Z., 2015, August. External Environment Analysis of Commercial-use drones. In2015-1st International Symposium on Social Science. Atlantis Press. Hinterhuber, A. and Liozu, S.M., 2014. Is innovation in pricing your next source of competitive advantage?.Business Horizons,57(3), pp.413-423. Holweg, M. and Helo, P., 2014. Defining value chain architectures: Linking strategic value creation to operational supply chain design.International Journal of Production Economics,147, pp.230-238. Izogo, E.E. and Ozo, J.U., 2015. Critical evaluation of how well placed amazon is to sustain its historical in online retailing.British Journal of Marketing Studies,3(6), pp.31-42. Khan, L.M., 2016. Amazon's antitrust paradox.Yale LJ,126, p.710. Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2013.E-commerce. Pearson. Rallapalli, K.C. and Montgomery, C.D., 2015. Marketing Strategies For Asian-Americans: Guidelines Based on Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions. InMinority Marketing: Research Perspectives for the 1990s(pp. 73-77). Springer, Cham. Ritala, P., Golnam, A. and Wegmann, A., 2014. Coopetition-based business models: The case of Amazon. com.Industrial Marketing Management,43(2), pp.236-249. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education. Salam, M.T., 2016. Devising a Business Model of Amazon's 1995-2004 Journey.Browser Download This Paper. Smith, A.D., Rupp, W.T. and Offodile, O.F., 2017. Amazon. com, Inc.: Retailing Giant to High-Tech Player?. Statista.com (2017).Topic: Amazon. [online] www.statista.com. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/846/amazon/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017]. Theguardian.com (2017).Can Amazon's new 'dream team' fix the company's sustainability reputation?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/02/amazon-sustainability-edf-epa-best-buy-walmart-apple-microsoft-csr-child-labor [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017]. Thijsen, T., Tong, T. and van Leer, J., 2014. Ansoff Model.Marketing.