Report on Business Strategy of Tyson food Inc

Running head: BUSINESS STRATEGY
Tyson Food Inc.
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1BUSINESS STRATEGY
Business strategy of Tyson food Inc is effective as they play an important role in the meat
processing industry. Tyson is known as the second largest exporter of beef in US as well as their
serving industries. The main competitor of the company is IBP. The company has taken
acquisition strategy, integrating it with growth strategy. They have acquired their next competitor
IBP Inc., which has affected their business revenue. As a beef packaging company, they have
also added value to their value chain in the industry (Munro 2013). This strategy helped them
immensely in making the business strong and vertically integrated as well as in forward
integration. This is the main operational strategy that helps them in competing in the business.
Going with their aggressive acquisition strategy, over the years they have also acquired Hudson
Foods Inc., Garret poultry, Hillshire Brands and different Brazilian poultry business. Expanding
in different key international places, they have also extended their branch in Tokyo, Shanghai,
Moscow, London and Dubai (Sector Trend Analysis - Livestock and Meat Trends in the Gulf
Cooperation Council - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), 2017). Their branch in Dubai
is known as Gulf food and is sponsored by different Dubai originated organisations (Tyson
Foods Inc. 2017). As a belonging to a food processing company and having the first mover
advantage their products are also differentiated than the competitors. The corporate strategy
includes growth in domestic value added chicken sales, food sales as well as enhancement in
chicken production. Their corporate strategy also included innovation in processing mechanisms
as well as increasing the innovation in packaging services. Increasing effectiveness in the
customer relationship management and getting more consumer insights in their product and
services should also be given emphasis in the new strategy. Cultivating the member’s and teams
performance is also part of their corporate strategy.

2BUSINESS STRATEGY
Food industry analysis - Food industry is one of the most growing sector in the US as
well as the international market. The domestic meat industry in UAE is not sufficient to meet the
expectations of the industry. UAE is one of the fastest growing industries stimulated by their
population growth, Urbanisation and rising incomes. In halal meat consumption, UAE is mostly
noted in the international market. Though the population is less, it is also one of the most
essential exporters of the halal meat from the Canadian livestock. As from the gulf corporation
trends the beef consumption is high in the country Sector Trend Analysis - Livestock and Meat
Trends in the Gulf Cooperation Council - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), 2017.
Figure: Meat import trends in UAE
Source: Sector Trend Analysis - Livestock and Meat Trends in the Gulf Cooperation Council -
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), 2017

3BUSINESS STRATEGY
According to the report on the imports of the country US ranks fourth among the importers of the
company. The main competitor of Tyson in exporting to UAE is Brazil and India. In poultry and
frozen beef, United stated has acquired the third position in UAE.
SWOT analysis - Strengths – Tyson Food Inc. is one of the largest meat processing industries in
US as well as in the international level. It also has strong position in the country and employs
around 115,000 people. They also have 300 facilities in the company around US and abroad
including Dubai. Their association with the largest brands of fast food sellers like McDonalds,
KFC and Taco Bells has also provided them with a distinct competitive advantage (Tyson Foods
Inc. 2017). The diverse group of supply partners are also strong advantage of the company
(Johnson, 2017).
Weakness – The brand faces immense competition from the local competitors of meat producers
and processors. They also have faced several lawsuits regarding water and air pollution. As the
industry’s nature the wastage of the companies are harmful if not processed. Their air and water
dumps were very harmful and they continued to dump the wastage harming the environment by
the report of United States Environmental protection Agency (EPA) (Johnson, 2017). They also
faced lawsuits in hiring immigrants without proper documents, which affected their face loss
between the prospective workforce as well as the brand reputation. The company also has limited
market share though being in the global market (Cavusgil et al., 2014).
Opportunities – the company is one of the most experienced in the industry but their branding
activities are very less. The brand visibility is also less in the country. They can strengthen their
relationship with their suppliers as well as with the purchaser like McDonald’s and Taco Bells.

4BUSINESS STRATEGY
Associating with other global brands like Dominos and other bulk sellers of meat in the
international market can provide a competitive advantage for the company. Their main aim to get
involved in the common household kitchen also can be utilised as an opportunity (Cavusgil et al.
2014). There national food outlets and restaurant chains can also be used for increasing the
profitability or brand awareness of the company.
Threats – the change in the customer preferences, vegans and their influence in other meat eaters
are very harmful for the industry as well as Tyson. Economic fluctuations and fall in the prices of
fast food can also affect the company’s bottom line (Johnson, 2017).
Corporate social responsibility -However, the company has been facing different lawsuits they
have also invested in the different renewable energy projects. As after processing they are left
with vast supply of fats and animals leftovers, they use it as a resource of Bio fuels. Their joint
venture with ConocoPhillips to produce and use the biodiesels in truck fleets can also be used in
the process, helping them save fossils fuels (Cavusgil et al. 2014). Tyson also contributed
millions of dollars in the non-profit organisations and was listed among the Forbes magazine for
their generous campaign all across America. They also contributed in the rescue mission
campaign in Mexico. More than 8 million dollar was donated in the previous fiscal year through
different hunger relief camp, health and nutrition camp, different sustainable agricultural
projects, and community development projects of the company. This corporate social
responsibility helps them in increasing sustainability, managing risk with compliance and
strategic value creation (Pai et al. 2015). The philanthropic part like charities in this case is also
part of the process. This thinks also helps them in maintaining a proper relationship with their
suppliers as well as the customers. This also helps them in mitigating operational risk among the
company.

5BUSINESS STRATEGY
The competitive advantages of the company are, their cost structure and investment
decisions until now have proven to be efficient and added value for the company. The diversified
suppliers chain and pricing mechanism has provided the company with certain advantages in
increasing efficiency. Investing and acquiring companies in their forwardly integrated company
made them effective in reaching to their customers. The retail chain and food service has
upgraded their product mix strategy in the company. They are also into rapid innovation of their
products and acquiring Hillshire brand for Category Captaincies. The company has also invested
in the buy versus grow strategy in chicken processing. Their rapid quality improvement activities
have helped them in value addition.
Growth through acquisition -The Company has used aggressive acquisition strategy over the
years. They have strategically backwardly integrated with companies that have provided them
with the proper supply chain advantage (Adamides, 2015). Their strategic integration with IBP
Inc. was a better plan to reach the end customers as well as expanding while growing in the
industry. Their ventures with the largest and established brands like McDonalds and KFC was
part of their growth strategy. The company has also increased their service market in Hudson
Foods, Garrett Poultry, Honey bear foods, Wright brand food Inc and several others. Having
access to a huge asset, they have used that in biding and winning against their competitors like
BEF-Brazil Foods, Pilgrim’s Corp and Cargill incorporated. Venturing with ConcoPhilips has
also provided them with the proper strategic advantage of using the renewable Biodiesel for
transportation.
Stakeholders Issues - The multinational corporation is one of the largest competitors in
the industry. The internal stakeholders, for examples they maintain a proper relationship with
their suppliers and employees. The company has faced several lawsuits for employing the

6BUSINESS STRATEGY
immigrants without documents in the company (Rugman & Verbeke, 2017). Their steady
corporate social responsibility activities have provided them with proper reputation among their
customers as well as the suppliers. They were accused of being involved in employee abuse. The
animal abuse was also major matter of killing in improper manner. These incidents affected the
brand reputation of the company. Despite those incidents, they have a positive brand identity
among their stakeholders. To eliminate the issues faced by the company, alleviating public
relations in the media should be considered. First, a framework involving the planning should be
strategized (Rugman & Verbeke, 2017). A proper way of handling is also through talking and
maintaining the transparency. If there is some mistake that have occurred during any process, it
should be acknowledged. Then a reform against the matter should be implemented. In this case, a
standard procedure in employee rights and human rights should be implemented and made
effective strictly for the office purpose (Adamides, 2015).
Political and legal trends -The international market of meat is growing though there have
been a reduction in the red meat industry according the article published by Fortune’ Annual US
meat consumption statistics. The poultry and chicken have shown steady growth in the country.
The political trend in food industry is growing with no proxy for this kind of consumption
(KPMG 2016 UAE Food & Beverage Report, 2016). There is no direct threat from the political
aspect in this industry as the company is expanding towards the naturally processed chicken
products. The market analysts have recognised that the big players in the industries are acquiring
the small organic firms. The food should be labelled with the “healthy” and “safety” according to
US food and drug Administration. According the Bioengineered Food Disclosure standard the
genetically modified organisation used in the processing should be mentioned in the label and
according to the law standard of USDA.

7BUSINESS STRATEGY
The social as well as cultural trends in this industry are tending towards using less or no
meat in the recent years. Though there is no proper substitute of meat, any kind of meat is being
rejected in small communities of vegetarian. People are getting more conscious about their health
and their preferences are changing. The processed red meat sales are being declined in the
international market according to the report published by WHO (World Health Organisation),
though the US market independently showing no such trends and the sales are increasing
comparing with the last year sales (KPMG 2016 UAE Food & Beverage Report, 2016).
The human resource strategy of the company is in need of evaluation as the company has
faced an issue regarding the abuse of human rights in the office premise. The framework of the
company’s human resource strategy is consisting of the societal factors including the code of
conduct in the office premise (Silverman, 2016). Their standard procedures and organisational
code of conduct is in need of reform to increase their brand reputation among the labour
industry. The damage due to unsafe nature of work in the factory needs proper safety
formulations by the human resource management, which would also help in increasing the
proper environment for the company culture and environment (Pedersen, 2015). The high
performance and proper adoption of leadership strategy is significant role in company culture
and process of work.
Core Competency - The Company is long driven by their innovative strategies and were
sustainable in implementing those strategies. Their different strategies also increased with their
growth. The product differentiation, operational effectiveness, sustainable corporate social
responsibility related strategies were some of the core competencies (Purce, 2014). They are also
opening different branch in different key metropolitans in an international base. The recent
venture in Dubai with gulf food poses a challenge as well as opportunities for the company.

8BUSINESS STRATEGY
Their products are very different from their competitors. Their deliverables to their competitors
are relevant. 21 % of their service is from the food service industry from retails and their
restaurant chains (Silverman, 2016). The scalable supply chain management is also a part of their
competitive advantage.
Evaluation and Control - The Company has gone by the Accelerate, Innovate and Cultivate
international strategy while giving the value added product. They have also expanded in the
international market (Purce, 2014). To evaluate their internal process and proposed strategies to
alleviate their corporate culture, the process that can be suggested are reporting sessions after
assessing the cultural environment, Collecting information on the change procedures should be
given emphasis in this evaluation process (Tai & Chuang, 2014). The change management
process can do the control of this new change. Communicating the new plan with the employees
and then after implementation, the feedback should be taken by surveying the staff. This would
also ensure the employees are in harmony with the company’s operational procedures (Appel-
Meulenbroek 2014). As the company is operation from its headquarter in US, the central body
should review the current procedures of code of conduct and address the need in all of its
branches across the world.

9BUSINESS STRATEGY
Reference
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making. Cambridge University Press.

10BUSINESS STRATEGY
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