Business Strategy: Individual Reflective Report for Desklib

This report presents an analysis of the major strategic decisions made by Ekletic ltd, a footwear company, over six consecutive years. It discusses the impact of external, internal and competitive environments on the company's decision-making and performance. The report also reflects on the role of theoretical frameworks, such as PESTLE analysis and Porter's Five Forces, in shaping the company's decisions. The report concludes with an overview of the impact of Robotics technology on the company's performance and some recommendations for the company to overcome potential challenges and take advantage of opportunities.

Business Strategy: Individual Reflective
report
SID: Type SID here
Word count:
(Excluding text in abstracts; data; tables;
figures; diagrams; in-text citations;
footnotes/endnotes used for reference
purposes and kept within reasonable
limits; references; appendices. Per ARU
Academic Regulations 12, 2019, §6.83).
Type word count here
Academic honesty: [By submitting this assignment, I declare that] I
understand that the piece of work submitted will
be considered as the final and complete version of
my assignment of which I am otherwise the sole
author. I understand both the meaning and
consequences of plagiarism and that my work has
been appropriately attributed unless otherwise
stated. I have not knowingly allowed another to
copy my work.

ANSWER OUTLINE
Executive summary
The report presented an analysis for Ekletic ltd which is a footwear company. Considering the data of six
consecutive years decision-making, their impacts and driving forces are discussed. Internal, external and
competitive aspects which are affecting the organizational practice are also broadly presented. At the end
of the report impact of Robotics technology on the organizational performance is overlooked along with
some recommendations, by using them the company can eradicate potential challenge and also take
advantage of it.

Table of contents
Table of Contents
Executive summary..........................................................................................................................................................2
Table of contents..............................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction - Mission, vision and values, corporate objectives (Group business statements).............................................4
Vision.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Values......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Corporate objectives..................................................................................................................................................................4
Macro-environment (External Environment)........................................................................................................................8
Meso-environment (Competitive Environment)...................................................................................................................9
Micro-environment (Internal Environment)..........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................... 11
References................................................................................................................................................................................ 12

Introduction - Mission, vision and values,
corporate objectives (Group business statements)
Mission
To enhance the footwear experience of the customers by providing high quality range of
comfortable footwear produced with sustainable processes. Providing the market the finest footwear that
meets the global standards at affordable prices.
Vision
Being a benchmark for the industry and instill inspiration and innovation in the customers. To have a global
reach successfully catering the needs of diverse consumers.
Values
 Fair competition in the market.
 Transparency in the operations.
 Passion driven approach for achieving excellence in the industry.
 Respect for employees, work, customers and society.
 Adherence to ethics, integrity and honesty.
 Environmental friendly methods for waste disposal.
Corporate objectives
 Increasing market reach through expansion in 10 countries.
 Hiking the revenues to 40% by 2016.
 Enhancing the customer experience by providing maximum satisfaction to them.

1.Evaluate the major strategic decisions made
during the six-round BSG simulation. Reflect
on one round that stood out, why and key
lessons learnt.
a. Reflect and report on the general activities and decisions of the 6-year
strategic business decision making.
 What key decisions were made as an organization -
Ekletik is one of the prominent organization in the footwear sector. In the year 2011 it has
taken some prominent decisions such as hiking its revenues by giving surge to the sales. As
the strategy of the organization is to be leader in the sector and extending value to its
customers. So revenue it forecast was 529,856 and it actually achieved 528,239. There was
deviation of -0.3% yet it achieved well (Calabrese, 2019)
In the year 2012 the efforts of 2011 worked and turned out revenue of 6,29,471, and also got
4 positive rating points. It has been among 4 key organizations of the sector who got some
awards.
In 2013, it has not performed good and the expectations of investors went down by -12. In the
year even credit rating was also B+, so for taking competitive advantages in the market,
entity is striving to soar its revenues (Özemre and Kabadurmus, 2020)
2014 has shown some recovery since for the corporate objective of fulfillment requirements
of customers and hiking earnings of shareholders, upsurge in revenues was much-needed. In
the year higher standards were set and had been behind the aim from -8.3% but got A credit
rating.
For expansion of market share in 2015 company decided to take a lead and set 794,777,
achieved 801,535. Here experienced favorable variance.
In the year 2015 Ekletik also got Bull's eye award which motivated the entity and it had made
decision to go for further improvement.
The company kept the conviction of pursuing higher revenue alive and in the year 2016 it had
been behind the target. 803,349 was set and achieved 759,931, (Nieto, 2019) where -5.4%
deviation has been notched up due to poor sales yet achieved the highest rewards among the
key competitors.
 Why were the decisions taken – Give examples.
The organization is engaged in footwear sector and over the time it has observed its
competitors performing higher and the entity felt like losing market share since the expansion
decision has been made. As per score board it was on 3rd in the year 2011 and rolled down to
6th in the year 2012 where company found itself losing control from the market. At the same
time the competitors were hiking their position. It would not be unfair to say that falling
performance compares to the competitors made Ekletik to form new strategy and augment its
revenues.
In the year 2013 the rating of the company went down and it has been even in negative yet it
decided to set better targets since all key competitors were achieving their target. The
company also got +2.5% higher than the intended aims. This was the reason that organization
took decision to ma43.86%ke more revenue at any cost by hiking its sales which would
ultimately place challenge to the competitors in the market (Rahimnia and Molavi, 2020)
Getting success in the year 2013 made the entity to go for higher targets in 2014, so this time

internal aspects of the organization were behind higher target. Due to higher targets
organization faced negative variance more than last year it came to -34.9 from -30.6.
Keeping the fact that there is a great scope of expansion since other competitors were hiking
their revenues company took decision to for higher sales and revenue in the years 2015 and
2016 the organization kept its notion of higher revenue alive. It was due to learning of
previous years when others were getting higher profits despite fluctuations in their revenues.
As the information below presented that the stock prices of the company are going upwards
due to the decision made. Company is still far away from its competitors yet the performance
is a living testimony of the decision.
 What was the outcome of the decisions – Evidence of
outcomes must be included here – e.g. screenshots of results.
The decision of expansion and providing value to the customers worked here and to certain
degree it has been achieved by the organization. As organization decided to go for expansion
and hiking revenues at any cost.
The outcomes were literally favorable for instance- in 2011 when the revenues of the entity
were 528,239 and in the year 2016 759,931. So in the duration of six years the growth in the
revenues had been around 43.86%. Here it can be concluded that the entity achieved its goal
of augmentation to certain degree.
Other evidence which are substantiating such as EPS of the Ekletic are also showing positive.
It was not leading the industry but due to the decision of expansion in the year 2013 it came
up to 5.23 and became one among top five. Then in the following years the EPS of the
company has been 4.65, 5.23, 4.04, 6.71, 8.30. As the growth of EPS is showing there has
been rapid growth in the EPS of the entity (Trad, 2020)
ROE of the company is a bit lower and did not go hand in hand with EPS. It was 33.9% in the
year 2011 but came down to 28% in 2016. For the purpose of expansion and hiking revenues
company deployed more funds and which has been one of the reason behind its falling ROE.
From the evaluation above it can be concluded that the organization has been in advantage by

making such decision which paved way for its rapid growth in the market.
b. You must clearly identify and state the year (round) being
reflected on and give examples of events being discussed.
In the year 2016 the organization has performed well and this was the year when it is looking
like standing out. The main cause which made this year out of the others was the advantage
of higher performance in last years. From the year 2011 to 2015 when Ekletic was striving to
hike its market share in term of revenues and for achieving the purpose it put intensive efforts
which made it possible (Strauch, 2019)
For making the objectives come true, Ekletic decided to make more sales and higher revenues
so can take competitive advantages too. As other competitors were not only boosting up their
revenues but their grasp on the market was also going up so the entity made decision to
extend value to the customers and expand the market grasp.
It happened due to higher targets of the entity. In the year 2014 it had been -9.3% behind the
set target yet in 2015 the organization kept its target higher and due to this belief it not only
achieved the intended revenues but also notched up growth of +0.9%.
One lesson which can be learned from the year 2016 that company should keep its goals
higher since the market environmental factors cannot be controlled and in different situations
sudden expenditures and losses may be occurred but higher goals would make the
organization perform better and grab the aims.
2. Reflect on relevant theoretical

frameworks applicable to understanding the
internal, external and competitive
environments of your business; and discuss
how these frameworks helped in shaping
decisions made in your BSG.
Macro-environment (External Environment)
The set of situation that prevails in the whole economy and affects the business indirectly
are referred to as macro environment (Chaouk, Pagliari and Moxon, 2020). It is very important
for every organization to analyse its macro environment for maintain a good position in the industry.
Pestle Analysis: Pestle analysis is a framework that is used by the company for understanding
the impact of macro factors on the environment of business.
Political Factors: The impact of government policies and actions that affects the environment
of the business are covered in political factors.
 Tax Policy: Implementation of policies by the government increasing the tax rates will
adversely impact the Etletik (PESTEL Analysis, 2022). It will result in increase in cost of
production of the company forcing it to increase its selling price.
 Trade Restrictions: Excessive trade restrictions by the government will hinder the company's
aim to expand its market.
 Tariffs: Reduction in tariffs will be in the favour of the company.
Economic Factors: The various aspects of the economy that impacts the functioning of the
Etletik are included in the economic factors.
 Interest Rates: Reduction in the interest rates will enable the company to arrange more
funds for the expansion purpose at the lower cost.
 Inflation: Rise in inflation will make every material expensive for the firm resulting in
increased level of selling prices.
 Economic Growth Rates: High economic growth rate will be beneficial for the
company as growing economy is linked to higher money in the hands of the
consumers for spending.
Social Factors: It is inclusive of all the trends regarding the culture and demography in the
society.
 Perception of the society: How the society perceive the changes impacts the Etletik. Society
with high degree of supporting mindset regarding innovations will allow the company
to experiment with its products and services.
Technological Factors: The totality of all the factors that are linked to industrial
technological innovations are categorized as technological factors.
 Research and development: Through effective research and development activities Etletik
can bring about innovations in its products satisfying the needs of the customer and
increasing the overall sales.
Legal Factors: All the factors that impacts the firm and are related to changes in laws comes
under the legal factors head.
 Labour laws: Non adherence to labour laws will have negative impact on the company.
 Industrial Regulation: Increasing acts and amendments in the concerned laws will create
complexities in the legal aspect of Etletik.
Environmental Factors: The sum total of all the factors that relates to the environmental
concerns are included in environmental factors.
 Sustainability: Etletik follows all the laws that are made for conservation and

protection of the environment. Products of the company are sustainably produced or
manufactured and proper waste disposable techniques are adopted by the company.
Meso-environment (Competitive Environment)
Meso environment is a systematic setting in which various firms within an industry competes
with each other by adopting different strategies regarding marketing, promotion, pricing, etc
(Vinholis and et.al., 2021).
Porter's Five Forces: It is a model used by firms for determining and analysing that
competitive forces that shapes the industry.
Competition in the industry: The first competitive force is competition in the industry. It is
very important for Etletik to keep an eye over the performance and strategies adopted by its
competitors to maintain its competitive edge and stand out in the market (Porter's Five
Forces - The Framework Explained, 2022). The company faces major competition from the
Athleta Footwear, Balanced Foot and Comfy fashion group. There is high competitive rivalry
in the market thus it is very essential for the company to maintain effective pricing policy to
remain in the market.
New Entrants in the Market: The entry of new entrants in the market dilutes the power of
existing firms in the industry. Thus firms within the industry tries to put barriers for resisting new
firms to enter.
Power of Suppliers: The high bargaining power of the suppliers is there for the company as
there are limited number of suppliers that supplies the sustainable raw materials to the company
forcing the company to earn low profits due to high cost of production.
Power of Customers: The customer bargaining power is also high for the company as there
are various alternative companies available in the market leading to inability for the firm to rise
prices.
Threat of Substitutes: As the company's product are completely
environment friendly there are fewer substitutes available and because of
effective marketing brand is easily recognizable to consumers.
Micro-environment (Internal Environment)
All the factors that directly impacts the organization (Wu and et.al., 2021).
SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
 High brand recognition among
consumers.
 Environmental friendly products.
 Wide range of products for all age
groups (SWOT Analysis, 2022).
 Tough competition in the industry.
 Company finds itself incapable to earn
more profits by rising the price.
Opportunities Threats

 Earning high profits by expansion in the
global market.
 Laws and policies in different countries
hindering the expansion process.
3. Critically evaluate the impact of ONE
specific emerging technology on the
future of your business and make useful
recommendations to future managers.
Robotics is one of the emerging technology which is somehow making way for its strong in
the market. Over the time the market structure and business environment are getting changed
and in the market different innovations took place which open new doors of growth and
betterment (Wooldridge and Cowden, 2020)
With the evolution of industrial revolution 4, the robotics technologies also started expanding
its approach in the market. In footwear industry where now in the age of consumerism the
customers are more likely to make purchase on frequent basis. Consumerism is offering a
great market where more products can also make place for them with better quality.
With the use of robotic technologies companies of the sector would be more likely to hike
their productivity, production, reduction of cost, and foremost thing is eradication of human
errors.
With the help of robotics in production function robots can be deployed and human factors
can be eliminated. Each human error costs the business, specifically shoe wear which is
matter of luxury in the society and people are very conscious about it. In such circumstances
robotic technological evolution would be changing the methodology of production.
Besides employment changes the readiness of the business and ability of fulfillment of short
time demands would also be carried out. Since in functions like carrying the products,
packaging, labeling, other activities like cutting, giving shape, and various value additive
operations in the organization will also be performed by the robotics (Al-Bahri, 2020)
But this evolution in the technology may also affect the organization, since due to application
of robotics the workforce of the organization may get disheartened. Digitized technology and
robotics are already abused by the work forces and specifically in footwear market where
importance of labor is very much high and their involvement in the process of production is
valuable. After adaptation of the robotic technology human aspect will go down and the value
they bring with their manual work will also be affected.
Due to great size and widely expanded operations of the organization finance management,
account management, report generation, extension of reports these all key functions would
also be eases with the help of robotics. Other forms of scientific developments like AI and
Machine Learning are also helping Robotics to augment its abilities of performing work
which would be helping the organization.
Robotic technology will also participate in finance management and other forms of
management, where always human being has shown their great ability to perform work. With
this regard it would be creating over dependence of the organizations on robotics and human
aspect will somehow wipe out. In management dependence on technology cannot be justified
since human behavioral aspects are very prominent for the organization and in absence of

them the entity may experience severe damages.
Better quality, high productivity, low labor cost, low wastage, higher standards these all are
the advantages companies may experience with the help of robotic technology. The market is
opened and higher capabilities will be making organizations more intensive, and they would
be able to fulfill requirements, abiding with customized requirements of the customers too.
But manual work and its efficiency, quality and value can never be replaced. Robotic
technology comes with notion of total eradication of such manual employment which will
also cause quality related concerns as well. For a big segment in the market more than prices
better quality matters which can satisfy them which is not possible with robotic technology.
The higher management of the organization is suggested to abide with a few
recommendations suggested below in order to maximize their outcomes and take advantage
of the technology. Also they would be able to diminish the negative effects of such evolution.
The higher management is suggested to decide the priority of the organization for the
upcoming future, as they want to tighten their command on which type of market. There are
multiple segments like- people who want shoe wear on cheaper prices, people who are not
ready to compromise with the quality and still believe in manual work.
Here the higher management is suggested to form their policies as per the requirements of the
market segments. Any organization cannot keep it away from the technological evolution and
in the modern market where digitization, robotics is rapidly taking place so for taking
competitive advantage the higher management of the organization is suggested to practice
such technology, yet they need to keep other aspects in mind.
With this regard they can fix the role of robotics in their business so the employees who are
the biggest affected party with the decision may get in believe. Employees must be given
chance to be heard so with respect to robotics their opinions can also be taken into
consideration.
The biggest peril with the technology is eradication of human behavioral aspect so the higher
management is recommended to trace such areas where human aspects are prominent such as
stock management, project developments, finance management, where for maintaining
productivity and also surging the performance a good combination can be decided.
So abiding with the recommendations Ekletic Ltd can improve its performance and also
nullify the potential trouble makers in the market.
Conclusion
From the report above it can be concluded that Ekletic ltd has performed well as it has
decided. In the report for the company various aspects like the key decisions it had made in
last six years were looked up, reasons behind the decision-making and their outcomes have
been discussed. For the purpose set of data like revenue, EPS were taken. Aspects like macro-
environment, competitive environment and micro-environment with respect to the
organization had been evaluated. At the end of the report in context of the company how
Robotics technology would impact the business, what possible threats company might have
faced were discussed further some recommendations also extended to the higher management
of the organization so can eradicate potential troubles and take advantage of the technology
for betterment of Ekletic ltd.
References
Ahmed, 2020, November. Machine learning for strategic decision making during covid-19 at

higher education institutes. In 2020 International Conference on Decision Aid
Sciences and Application (DASA) (pp. 663-668). IEEE.
Al-Bahri, B., 2020, June. Evaluate the Role of Big Data in Enhancing Strategic Decision
Making for E-governance in E-Oman Portal. In 2020 8th International Conference
on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization (Trends and Future
Directions)(ICRITO) (pp. 914-917). IEEE.
Calabrese, A., 2019. Integrating sustainability into strategic decision-making: A fuzzy AHP
method for the selection of relevant sustainability issues. Technological Forecasting
and Social Change. 139. pp.155-168.
Chaouk, M., Pagliari, R. and Moxon, R., 2020. The impact of national macro-environment
exogenous variables on airport efficiency. Journal of Air Transport
Management. 82. p.101740.
Nieto, Y., 2019. Usage of machine learning for strategic decision making at higher
educational institutions. IEEE Access, 7, pp.75007-75017.
Özemre, M. and Kabadurmus, O., 2020. A big data analytics based methodology for strategic
decision making. Journal of Enterprise Information Management.
Rahimnia, F. and Molavi, H., 2020. A model for examining the effects of communication on
innovation performance: emphasis on the intermediary role of strategic decision-
making speed. European Journal of Innovation Management.
Strauch, M., 2019. Process matters–How strategic decision-making process characteristics
impact capital allocation efficiency. Long Range Planning. 52(2), pp.202-220.
Trad, A., 2020. Applied Mathematical Model for Business Transformation Projects: The
Intelligent Strategic Decision-Making System (iSDMS). In Handbook of Research
on IT Applications for Strategic Competitive Advantage and Decision Making (pp.
269-308). IGI Global.
Urbig, D., Muehlfeld, K. 2020. Strategic decision-making in a global context: The
comprehension effect of foreign language use on cooperation. Management
International Review. 60(3). pp.351-385.
Vinholis, M. D. M. B. and et.al., 2021. The effect of meso-institutions on adoption of
sustainable agricultural technology: A case study of the Brazilian Low Carbon
Agriculture Plan. Journal of Cleaner Production. 280. p.124334.
Wooldridge, B. and Cowden, B., 2020. Strategic Decision-Making in Business. In Oxford
Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management.
Wu, P. and et.al., 2021. Adaptive mechanisms of tumor therapy resistance driven by tumor
microenvironment. Frontiers in cell and developmental biology. 9. p.357.
Online
PESTEL Analysis. 2022. [Online]. Available
through:<https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/pestel-
analysis/>
Porter's Five Forces - The Framework Explained. 2022. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm>
SWOT Analysis. 2022. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm>