Role of Strategic Investment in Business Transformation: A Case Study of Greggs' PLC

HOW A WELL-DEVELOPED
STRATEGIC INVESTMENT CAN
TRANSFORM A BUSINESS INTO A
COMPLETE SUCCESS

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Background of the organisation............................................................................................................................3
1.3 Overview of Topic................................................................................................................................................4
1.4 Research focus......................................................................................................................................................5
1.5 Research structure.................................................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................................................8
2.1 Introduction of literature review...............................................................................................................................8
2.2 Literature Gap.......................................................................................................................................................8
2.3 Strategic investment in context of an organisation...............................................................................................8
2.4 Advantages of strategic investment in improving business capacity of Greggs’ PLC.........................................9
2.5 Challenges that may face by Greggs’ PLC while using strategic investment technique in transformation of
their business workings.............................................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................13
Research Approach...................................................................................................................................................13
Research Philosophy.................................................................................................................................................13
Research Choice.......................................................................................................................................................14
Research Strategy.....................................................................................................................................................14
Time horizon.............................................................................................................................................................14
Data collection..........................................................................................................................................................17
Sampling...................................................................................................................................................................17
Ethical consideration.................................................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS/ FINDINGS.........................................................................................................................18
CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH OUTCOMES...................................................................................................................31
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION....................................................................................33
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................33
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER 7: REFLECTION AND ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGY................................................................34
Reflection..................................................................................................................................................................34
Alternative Methodology..........................................................................................................................................35
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................................................36

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
In this competitive business world, a business survival depends mostly on how the
company learns and knows to adapt to continually changing market, customer behaviour,
economic and political environment. Retailer businesses are facing now big challenges and has
undergone significant changes with consumers’ become more sophisticated in their choices,
competition get more intensified and new technologies.
A recentstudy made by PwC and the Local Data Company, shows that 1,234
stores of the British first five hundred high-streets were closed in the first six months of 2019.
Fashion retailers, followed by restaurants and pubs, met the biggest decline (Akdil, Ustundag and
Cevikcan, 2018).Lisa Hooker, consumer markets leader at PwC, mentions that retailers should
make their stores more relevant to today’s consumer. It is a suggestion that there is an increasing
necessity for businesses to adapt to new market environment, and often this involves making
afferent investments accompanied by efficient long term business and functional strategies.
Because cultural, technological and economical factors change, businesses must accept
these changes and adopt and follow a strategic plan. Johnson (2017) defines a strategic planas
asystematic analysis and exploration to develop an organization’s strategy. A functional strategy
is the one that defines how the components and resources of an organisation to deliver
effectively business level strategies in terms of resources, people and processes. Effective
strategies will imply, most of the time, some level of investment in business’s capital or assets.
Investment is considered to be a compulsory element of a functional strategy. Kaplan (2001)
describes investment as an input of resources with the aim to gain future profits. It involves
commitment of resources in the hope that some benefits will arise in future.
1.2 Background of the organisation
Greggs’ PLC is the UK number one bakery and at the same time food on the go retailer.
Greggs’was first opened in 1939 by John Gregg.Initially it was operating as a bakery.Only in
1951,first Greggs store was opened. Until 2013, Greggs’ main product line was bakeries and
pastries.Company mainly specializes in selling of savoury products such as sausage rolls,
sandwiches, backed goods and sweet items including vanilla slices and doughnuts. The number

of shops grew over time, but the main expansionwas as a result of the acquisition of other
bakery stores across in UK, including the purchase of Bakers Oven, in 1994,
company’sfirstcompetitor, Bakers Oven (Greggs, 2019). The downwards direction of the
company was changed in 2013, when Roger Whiteside became CEO (BBC, 2014). Under his
directive the company made a lot of amendments in its customer approach, bychanging its
specialization mainly as a bakery to “food on the go” market.
Now the company has 6 centers of excellence and the company has just inaugurated its
2,000th store. The number of employees is over 22,000 and weekly 6 million customers are
being served (Greggs.co.uk, 2017).In 2013 Roger Whiteside was appointed as a new Greggs’
CEO. Under his management Greggs has decided to undertake a £100 million major investment
program, lasting for the next 5 years. The scope of this investment was to create a new Greggs
and leave behind the decentralized traditional bakery into a new, centrally run food-on-the-go
business. The major purposes of this program were:
- Brand reposition. Creating a new image of the company, leaving behind the take-home
food position and develop a food-on-the-go strategy.
- Development and gaining the ownership of their supply chain. An important aspect in
business centralization program was the creation of centers of excellence both in
manufacturing and distribution channels.
- Changing and adapting Greggs’ range of products in line with the new consumers
preferences,
- Modernization and renovation of Greggs’ store.
1.3 Overview of Topic
This project is based on strategic investment and its impact on business success. Strategic
investment introduces as a transaction that is directly related with joint venture. It is an effective
technique, in which an individual organisation makes an investment in another organisation
(Appiah-Adu, Okpattah and Amoako, 2018). These two organisations enter into a written
agreement to serve shared goals. In addition, strategic investment means investment by an
organisation that is planned to make it much more successful over time, for instance investment

in a new company that provides new market or that is implementing new products. Investment is
an essential modern technique that needs to use Greggs’ range for expanding their business and
raising capital. This is needed to enlarge the business, to become competitive in term of quality
of product, technology and to fulfill customer’s needs and market demand.
There are different advantages and disadvantages of using strategy investment, and their
impact on overall success of Greggs’ range. One of the main benefits of well-developed
strategic investment is it decrease the risk and provides an effective chance for diversification of
capital. As it turn to support an organization by increasing their returns and profitability. One of
the biggest drawback of strategic investment is it tend to be large and thus investment process
consumes maximum time (Damhuis, 2019).
1.4 Research focus
Aim of the research
Main aim of this research is to identify the role of well-developed strategic investment in
transformation of business capacity to accomplish overall organisational activities. A study
on Greggs’ PLC.
Objectives of the research
 To develop basic understanding about the strategic investment in context of an
organisation.
 To identify the advantages of strategic investment in improving business capacity
of Greggs’ PLC.
 To analyse the challenges that may face by Greggs’ PLC while using strategic investment
technique in transformation of their business workings.
Research questions
 Explain about the strategic investment in context of an organisation?
 How well developed strategic investment helps Greggs’ PLC in transformation of its
business capacity to high standard working?
 What are the several challenges that may face by Greggs’ PLC while transforming their
business workings through use of strategic investment technique?

1.5 Research structure
This is an important part of project as it helps reader in identification of information about the each
chapters required to complete dissertation. These chapters will be explained as below:
Introduction: This is a first part of the report that includes overview of the topic, background of the
organisation, research aim, researcher objectives, research questions and many other sub activities. These
activities support reader in identification of main purpose and importance for doing this investigation
(Guadaim, 2019).
Literature review: This is another main activity that is completely based on secondary sources.
These sources are books, magazines, articles, journals, publication research etc. All these are considering
most useful sources under this section. As these provides detailed and in-depth information about the topic.
Main purpose of this section is to find out the gaps in previous study.
Research methodology: This section of the dissertation helps reader in identification of best method and
approaches of data collection. Under this part of the report, researcher will require number of methods such
as qualitative and quantitative method, primary and secondary sources of data collection, sampling
techniques, research approach, research philosophy, time horizon etc. These are main layers of research
onion framework that will be used by researcher for completing research methodology section in systematic
and effective manner (Li and et. al., 2019).
Data collection and interpretation: This activity of the report is based on data collection and data
analysis. For collecting information regarding the topic, questionnaire will be used because it facilitate in
collecting of valid and quantitative data. In order to analysis quantitative data coding will be followed
because it support researcher in making of patterns on each and every questions.
Conclusion and recommendation: This is a main part of the project that include entire summary of
the report. This section helps reader to identify research aim is achieved or not. Along with this, conclusion
and recommendation of the project is mainly related with the research findings (data collection and
interpretation). As it support in completion of each activities of dissertation in effective manner.
Reflection and an alternative research methodology: Reflection statement will be develops by an
individual for exampling their experience and overall journey in performing current project. Alternative

methodology is a part of methodology that is suggested to the researcher to could use in future. Interview is
considered as an alternative methodology that will be used in further research (Ma and Jin, 2019).