Business Strategy

This study explores the impact of macro environmental factors on Morrison’s business strategy, internal capabilities, and the application of Porter’s five forces model. It also discusses strategic directions and provides justification for growth platforms.

Business Strategy
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Table of Contents
Business Strategy.............................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART A...........................................................................................................................................3
Macro environment influence on Morrison’s and their tactics..............................................3
Internal capabilities and environment of chosen MNC..........................................................6
Application of Porter’s five forces model..............................................................................8
PART B..........................................................................................................................................10
Strategic directions accessible to company..........................................................................10
Justification and suggestion based on right tactics and growth platforms...........................12
Development of strategic management plan in context of Morrison’s................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
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INTRODUCTION
Business tactic can be considered as set of competitive actions and moves that companies
in recent time use to gain attention of new buyers and sustain venture for long term period within
specific industry. It can be developed for several purposes that relate to success and excellent
progress of organizations. The current study will be based on Morrison’s, which falls under
category of leading multinational corporations in the United Kingdom. This study will explain
impact of macro environmental factors on chosen brand and their venture strategies.
Furthermore, it will define internal competencies and environment of company by using right
strategic concepts. This report will justify application of porter’s five forces framework to gain
competitive edge and clarify suitable strategic direction for selected MNC. Moreover, this
assignment will define different concepts, models and theories and then development of strategic
plan for firm operated within retain industry for longer period of time.
PART A
Macro environment influence on Morrison’s and their tactics
Mission-
The mission statement of company defines its concern towards consumer safety and
satisfaction. They want to deliver quality food items on time.
Vision-
Morrison’s vision is to become the best food provider and specialist for all its existing
and new consumers.
Objectives-
 The main objective of supermarket is to become more competitive
 To serve their services and products even better to everyone
 To enter into profitable market for increasing profitability and productivity
Mean of strategy-
Tactic can be described as a developed action that management within MNC like
Morrison’s would take to attain specific organizational aims in effective manner.
Role of tactics to achieve above elements-
Strategies play vital role in success and growth of company as it helps to achieve desire
outcomes and support to work according to plans.
Strategic planning approaches-
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There are range of techniques relate to above term has been accessible in the world of
business that Morrison’s can use. It include balanced scorecard, Pestle, VRIO framework,
strategy map, SWOT, porter’ five factors etc.
Stakeholder analysis-
High power and interest- Keep satisfied
National and local authorities in UK who develop rules and policies have strong power in
context of decision making and high interest in growth of Morrison’s business because it is one
of its income sources (Kneale, Rojas-García and Thomas, 2019). Organization should always
satisfy them by following governmental rules and regulations, which in return help to achieve set
objective and aims of venture on time in systematic manner.
High power and low interest- Manage closely
Customers can be considered as second stakeholders who are able to increase price of
each grocery items according to their needs that define its power, but are less interest within
specific thing because of alternative goods accessibility (Glaveli, 2020). In order to sustain
business within retail industry and increase profitability for longer period of time, firm have to
manage their buyer’s needs more closely as they can influence current pricing strategy in
negative manner.
Figure 1Stakeholder Matrix
(Source: Types of Stakeholder Matrix, 2019)
Low power and high interest- Monitor
There are some stakeholders available in market that have low power to take decision,
but has highly interested to work with well reputed company like Morrison’s. Manager is one of
them, who could not be able to take judgement about hire applicants, but he or she want to work
with firm for long, they can impact current hiring strategy of supermarket by executing it.
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Low power and interest- Keep informed
Morrison’s as Multinational Corporation needs to inform workers about any plan or tactic
because they are not interested to perform in firm as they have a lot of employment opportunities
in market where they can earn more than now. Applicants in company do not have power to
operate business functions according to themselves.
PESTLE analysis-
Political factor-
High trade rate is a political element that put negative impact on existing trade related
strategy of Morrison’s (Cao and et.al., 2019). As it drives company to pay high amount as per
rule of government that affect financial budget of business and overall functions negatively. This
factor could make barriers in procedure of new market entry.
Economic factor-
High rate of unemployment influence and impact recruitment strategy of chosen
supermarket positively. It gives excellent change to management in context of hire talented and
experienced workers who can perform even better than existing employees at workplace. It
affects in positive manner and gives opportunity to firm to develop strategy to enter into
profitable market (Carr, 2020).
Social factor-
Healthy diet culture drive everyone towards considering healthy food items that help to
keep fit free from harmful disease. This factor impact production and supply chain strategy of
Morrison’s negatively as it put high pressure on manager to change overall practices of business.
Because of this thing company can reconsider entire inventory management process as well.
Technology factor-
It is one of the best factors that always influence and impact Morrison’s marketing
strategy and plan positively. With advanced technologies company can promote products and
business functions all over the world without making many attempts. Digital marketing
platforms give the great opportunity to firm which they can grab and generate brand awareness at
global level.
Legal factor-
Changes in health and safety law give negative experience to Morrison’s as it drive
manager to make modifications within health & safety policies relate to workers, which is
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actually very essential to do. Government require that firm have to follow principles of this act
that help to protect people from harmful hazards and save their life as well.
Environmental factor-
Customers and government attitudes towards green and safe environment influence
current business strategy relate to product packaging of Morrison’s positively. For example,
company take major step to reduce their carbon foot prints and for that they start using paper for
packaging purpose instead of plastic use. This factor contributes building positive brand image of
supermarket in market.
Internal capabilities and environment of chosen MNC
Strategic capabilities and its key elements-
This term refer to capability and ability of Morrison’s to harness all their resources as
well as business functions such as marketing, supply chain, production, operations etc. to gain
competitive edge and survive within retain industry for long (Parnell, 2018). Key resources like
machines, workers, and strategies & competences are the two major components of supermarket
strategic capabilities. A venture strategic ability is a main element in keeping financially viable
and progressing despite existence of rivals in similar sector. With following models these things
can be analysed in effective manner.
VRIO framework-
Value-
Not every company are financially strong, like Morrison’s. And it is valuable for chosen
organization. In simple words, financial resource of company is an example of precious asset,
which give firm an internal ability to beat competitors and invest in profitable projects. This
element make supermarket stronger even before (Parvatiyar, Moorthy and Donthu, 2020).
Rare-
Skilled employees and financial resource of organization can be considered as rare
because only few firms in retain industry have these resources or internal abilities that make
overall environment positive (Deng, 2020). These two elements drive sales of business rather
than before and also contribute in achieving goals as well as strategic objectives.
Imitable-
It includes those things that are not easy to copy or imitate by any other brands. Financial
resource of firm, experienced workers and effective distribution network are quite difficulty to
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take by TESCO, and other supermarkets. Morrison’s is able to manage their key assets in
effective manner.
Organization-
In order to gain all benefits organization invests in beneficial project because it allows
management to improve their financial position even better and also enhance performance level.
The internal environment of supermarket is quite profitable where leader motivate staff and
encourage working and accomplish each task on time.
SWOT-
Strengths-
The biggest strength of Morrison’s is its pricing strategy, organization set each item cost
under low cost strategy that helps to retain buyer and attract new one as well (Haleem and
Jehangir, 2017). They provide affordable products and services to consumers who seek to
purchase quality items. This tactic aids company to manufacture at a low price and sell their
items in same manner, which make things affordable for everyone in the UK. Financial position
is other strength of chosen Multinational Corporation.
Weaknesses-
Lack of diversity is one of Morrison’s weaknesses that put negative impact on
productivity and profitability of venture. Human resource management in company is focused
with hiring mostly local people and low amounts of applicants from other racial backgrounds.
This weakness makes it complex for candidates to adjust themselves in workplace as it lead loss
of skilled and talented employees. Lack of quality administration and control also influence sales
and profits margin of firm negatively.
Opportunities-
Technology advancement is the best opportunity for Morrison’s which they can use to
control quality and monitor production as well as supply chain activities appropriately. It can be
analysed that this element comes with a lot of benefits for operations and functional department
of supermarket. As it give change to marketing team reach at global level and generate
organization products awareness at similar base that is quite beneficial for business.
Threats-
Competition level within retain industry is very intense as it put negative impact on
existing plans and strategies of Morrison’s (Nguyen, 2019). TESCO, ALDI, Sainsbury and other
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supermarkets are giving tough competition to each other by developing excellent techniques and
using approaches to grab competitive edge. Furthermore, Second threat at impact overall
environment and practices of firm is taste change of buyers and drive them towards consider
other items. As it also affect buying decision making of people.
Critical evaluation of weakness and strength of above analysis-
It has been critically analysed that internal environment analysis is quite beneficial as it
help to identify strength and abilities of Morrison’s and also permit to gain deep analysis about
its capabilities. The weak point of these analyses is that is consuming a lot of time and attempts
and provides outcomes after so long. Moreover, it also requires more investment to gather
appropriate data about internal abilities of firm.
Application of Porter’s five forces model
Balanced scorecard-
It is one of the best strategic plans and administration systems that can be used in context
of Morrison’s by communicating with management about what they are attempt to accomplish
and achieve. This tool link with performance measures of supermarket and consider key factors
such as consumer perspectives, internal perspective, learning & innovation as well as financial
assets of firm.
Porter five forces model-
Bargaining power of buyer-
The degree of this force is high because accessibility of alternatives things is high, which
gain attention of buyers towards buy (Ghosh and Eriksson, 2019). It can negatively influence
sales and profitability of Morrison’s and drives management towards developing strategic plans
to retain potential consumers for long.
Bargaining power of suppliers-
The extent of this factor is low because available of food products suppliers within retain
industry is high. Morrison’s can work with other suppliers who deliver quality products to them
and do not make changes within their activities time to time which directly influence supply
process of firm in negative manner.
Threat of substitute products and services-
Degree of this force is high because different individual groceries provides in similar
sector providing organic goods to buyer at low cost as compare to Morrison’s. Furthermore, they
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give people chance to make bargaining which is quite profitable for people as they need that
thing while purchasing goods from market or supermarket.
Threat of new entrance-
The entrance of new companies is not possible within retain sector because it needs a lot
of investment and attempts to beat existing players like Morrison’s, Asda, Sainsbury and TESCO
who have strong brand image in market. Current supermarket builds their excellent position that
threatens new firms to enter.
Rivalry between existing supermarkets-
In sector where Morrison’s operated its business since years ago is highly competitive.
All major supermarkets within industry give competition to each other that increase rivalry
between them much high than any other sector.
Ansoff matrix-
Market penetration-
Firm can gain all competitive benefits and achieve set aims as well as objectives in
effective manner, when they use this tactic. Company can make improvement in existing goods
and then efforts to sell within current market place where developed target segment exist (Lévay,
Drossinos and Thiel, 2017).
Product development-
With strong market reputation and position company can use this strategy and obtain
success by producing new items which make them able to increase market shares and profits
margin even better. This tactic firm can use effectively because they has excellent consumer
base.
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Figure 2Ansoff Matrix
(Source: Ansoff Matrix Strategies, 2020)
Market development-
With this strategy Morrison’s can take major step to develop current market instead of
new one because it required a lot of efforts and money to set up everything newly. Firm with this
approach can consider new customers to pitch goods to different segment of buyers in a attempt
to enhance performance and increase profit margin.
Diversification-
Morrison’s can apply and implement this strategy when management and top authority
take decision to delivery totally new item to target market who always seek to purchase
something new and unique from existing one. Firm can then introduce those items that help to
maximize profitability and productivity.
PART B
Strategic directions accessible to company
Porter’s generic strategies-
Cost leadership tactic-
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Along with all the strategic approaches and methods, cost leadership strategy also help
Morrison in gaining competitive edge and achieving set goals. This tactic can develop benefits
that gets firm and takes it higher from its rivals. There are two different manners of applying this
strategy by supermarket. For example, when company use this approach they can reduce
products prices and charge less than other supermarkets, which in return increase profitability.
Furthermore, it can be said that supermarket can implement this method by charge low cost that
increase market share.
Differentiation strategy-
This strategy of porter’s generic is quite different from other one, because it drives
manager towards developing or creating services or goods better than other companies who are
operated in similar sector. Morrison’s can get success through this tactic when production and
supply chain management provide unique item that is totally different from existing and
alternative ones which in return attract new buyers and force current segments to retain with
purchase from chosen supermarket. Firm can use this approach by including attractive features in
current items and make innovative changes within it that gives unique look to them.
Focus strategy-
By focusing on niche markets and comprehending key features of that market,
supermarket gets success after implication of this strategy. It helps company to serve buyers
uniquely and strengthen management to build excellent brand image all over the world. This
tactic also helps to gain competitive edge, increase shares, profits and enhance organization
performance even better. It also includes target people who cannot be able to purchase high
quality products with high pricing tag. The main concept behind this strategy is creating,
marketing and then selling grocery products to niche segment.
Bowman’s strategic clock-
Hybrid strategy-
It seeks continually to achieve low cost and differentiation relative to rivals. When
Morrison use this method, they can get great success which is depend on capability of firm to
deliver excellent benefits and value to target consumers with low prices. It is quite effective
approach when firm use appropriately by adding value to items and offered continually on daily
basis. This tactic on Bowman’s clock is mostly valuable because items in within it are low prices
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and unique. As outcomes, each grocery goods have high extent of perceived value by buyers and
are therefore in more demand by people who like it a lot.
Diversification-
With this tactic firm needs to concentrate on differentiating their services and goods from
rivals by adding excellent obtained value. It has huge spectrum from entire things diversity
through to different aspects within a core item. Morrison opt for diversification tactic of this
model attempt there level best to delivery items that high on realms of quality at an medium cost
and desire to provide their target consumers highest degree of perceived added features that
make goods distinctive determine in segment. It is corporate tactic that firm can utilize to enter
into new items, with market entry within new locations or region.
Horizontal or vertical integration-
Morrison’s can implement this approach by increasing manufacture procedure of
products at same duration of supply chain management. Horizontal integration is the best and
most appropriate strategy, which in return increase revenue of company, profits margin of
business and allow gaining market shares rather than before. Undergoing tactic can benefit
company and usually take place when they compete in retail industry. Furthermore, along with
these benefits horizontal strategy permit supermarket to reduce competitive level and create
economic of scale. With above strategies, this brings many advantages to firm.
Justification and suggestion based on right tactics and growth platforms
Morrison's can apply and implement any strategy which is profitable and suitable for its
develop plans. They should use differentiation because it is giving them opportunity to attract
people in new market place who are capable to invest in quality goods without thinking too
much. It permit supermarket to compete in industry with quality and value added products
offered in low prices. Another reason behind using this strategy by company is that it helps to
build unique qualities of items and also aid to create list of features that contains excellent
aspects of products. With differentiation tactic, organization can consider that demand for their
goods get increased rather than other brands items in market. Hybrid strategy is also useful and
beneficial in context of chosen firm, when they use it as it helps to develop strong customer’s
base.
Development of strategic management plan in context of Morrison’s
Executive summary-
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Strategic management plan is one of the best ways that can be developed for Morrison’s
in order to support in gaining competitive edge, increasing profitability and productivity as well
as help to become global leader. Here, supermarket by using suitable and relevant tactics
obtained desire outcomes in effective manner.
Vision-
The vision of Morrison’s is to become international player within retain industry and
achieve their desire outcomes.
Mission-
The mission of supermarket is to satisfy their existing and new consumers by delivering
quality products according to their needs.
Objectives-
 To increase profitability
 To beat competitors
 To enter into most profitable market
Strategies-
Ranges of tactics are available in the world of business that has been used by many
companies and give several opportunities to its ventures, which is actually very essential to
obtain. Morrison’s must used mixture of two excellent strategies such as differentiation and
hybrid from two different models like porter’s generic and Bowman’s strategic clock.
Furthermore, supermarket should consider more profitable approaches when they need it for
specific purpose. Along with this methods or models, company can recognize other as well like
horizontal integration, which is quite beneficial in term of building strong brand image and
increasing financial budget of firm.
Tactic-
Morrison’s and its management can apply suitable tactics in order to get success of
applied strategies. They should divided role and responsibilities relate to develop plan equally
that help firm to achieve above set objectives and goals and also permit manager to obtain desire
results. Furthermore, it can be analysed that management should consider more things such as
hire skilled and talented applicants, who can contribute in competitive environment.
Monitoring and controlling-
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It is really very important for management and leaders to monitor and control implement
plan procedure which helps to reach target segment and allow gain everything that is profitable
for Morrison’s. Firm can use Key performance indicator to measure success of their plan and
also apply benchmarking through which they can compare other players strategy success with
their own one as it aid to identify things that would not be considered by mistakes. Furthermore,
success of plan can be determined by recognizing increasing profits margins.
CONCLUSION
From above discussion, it has been concluded that Morrison’s management by following
and implementing above strategic directions effectively obtained competitive benefits while
operating within retain industry. Workers as strategic capability of supermarket contributed in
achieving set goals and objectives of business. They work very hard to support firm in context of
reaching at international level. Furthermore, it has been summarized that organization by
conducting depth market investigation gained more knowledge about current and new customers,
which is really quite significant to do. By using stakeholder matrix firm effectively identified
their stakeholders and manners through which they managed them in effective manner.
Moreover, it has been determined that by taking right decision and considering differentiation
and hybrid as strategic directions, organization give tough competition to its rivals and
successfully become a global leader. With the help of KPI and benchmarking tools, firm
monitored success of their developed strategic management plan.
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REFERENCES
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<https://www.smartdraw.com/ansoff-matrix/ >
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