Contemporary Analysis of Strategic Influences on the Organizational Effectiveness of Woolworths

This report analyzes the impact of strategic influences on the organizational effectiveness of Woolworths, including cost leadership, strategic alliance, and product differentiation. It discusses the company's overview, mission and vision statement, strategic approach, values, internal environment, cost leadership strategy, strategic alliance, product proliferation, and strategic goals. The report also provides recommendations for Woolworths to enhance its organizational effectiveness.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Contemporary analysis of strategic influences on the organizational effectiveness of
Woolworths
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
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Executive summary
Strategic alliance with the contemporary brands is apt in terms of reducing the intensity of the
competition levels between the companies and organizations. Adhering to the terms and
conditions of contracts, deals and trades is apt in terms of enhancing the stability in the
professional relationships. These aspects are applicable in the business strategies of
Woolworths, which includes cost leadership, product differentiation and strategic alliance.
Offshore marketing is effective in terms of expanding the cultural diversity in the workplace.
Introducing app service would reflect the advent of technological advancement. Ensuring that
the clients and the customers have access to conduct online shopping would be fruitful in
terms of gaining large scale customer satisfaction. This is through the means of installing
privacy cookies and policies.

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Table of contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Aim.............................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the company......................................................................................................3
Mission and vision statement.................................................................................................3
Strategic approach..................................................................................................................4
Values.....................................................................................................................................4
Internal environment..............................................................................................................5
Cost leadership strategy.........................................................................................................5
Strategic alliance....................................................................................................................5
Product proliferation..............................................................................................................6
Strategic course of action.......................................................................................................6
Offshore marketing............................................................................................................6
App services.......................................................................................................................7
Statement of strategic goals...................................................................................................7
Impact of the goals on the organizational effectiveness........................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Recommendations......................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................12
Appendix..................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
Management of the activities is crucial for enhancing the organizational effectiveness.
Strategic approach towards regulating the activities systematizes the activities according to
the priorities. As a matter of specification, strategic approach proves beneficial in
systematizing the tasks according to the priorities. Strategies are effective for proper handling
of the external influences (Ansoff et al., 2018). Emerging successful in this direction is
fruitful for achieving large scale customer satisfaction. Adopting appropriate managerial
techniques assist in regulating the activities according to the requirements. This report
attempts to assess the impact of strategic influences on the organizational effectiveness of
Woolworths.
Aim
The aim of this report is to analyse the impact of strategic influence of the
organizational effectiveness of Woolworths.
Discussion
Overview of the company
Since its inauguration in 1924, Woolworths has achieved accolades and glory by
emerging as the largest supermarket chain in Australia and New Zealand in terms of sales
revenue. Catering to the needs, demands and requirements of 28 million customers in a week
has resulted in the accumulation of 31% market share. The company operates under many
brands including Woolworths Safety Supermarkets, Dick Smith Electronics, Big W, Dick
Smith Powerhouse and others (Woolworths.com.au, 2019). The company has 840 outlets
across Australia, 156 supermarkets in New Zealand and 22 retail stores in the threshold of
India under the joint venture with supermarket chain of Tata.

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Mission and vision statement
Woolworths envisions the provision of right shopping experience for the achievement
of loyalty, trust and dependence from the clients and the customers.
The mission statement of Woolworths is “Passion and commitment helps in better
understanding of the customers’ needs and serving them better.”
Strategic approach
According to the strategic priorities, Woolworths emphasizes on the generation of
multi-option retailing at low price. This helps in the provision of quality goods and services
to the customers. Store purchases is apt in terms of meeting the requirements of the clients in
an efficient and effective manner. The company has emerged successful in reaching AUD$ 1
million sales revenue benchmark by the end of 2014 financial year (Woolworths.com.au,
2019). The aim is to cross the benchmark by the end of 2020. For this, the main focus is laid
on some of the following priorities:
 Expand the scope and arena of leadership in the category of food and beverage
 Revising the marketing campaigns for generating value in the store operations
through the supply of fresh products
 Division of the sales growth point
 Developing policies on the portfolios for maximizing the shareholder value
 Restructuring the dynamics of the electronic business
Values
 Responsibility for the transaction of the right products and services
 Preservation of the individual rights of the workers
 Sustainable marketing practices
 Respecting the trust of customers, suppliers and community people
 Honesty

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 Integrity (Woolworths.com.au, 2019)
Internal environment
By the end of the 2012 financial year, Woolworths operated 3329 stores in the
threshold of Australia and New Zealand. The skills and efforts of 195206 staffs has enhances
the standards and quality of the services, making it one of the most trusted brands. Skilled
and efficient staffs are preferred for managing the store operations. As compared to Coles,
Woolworths has more skilled and efficient workers. Training and development is the
keystone towards enhancing the skills, competencies and abilities of the employees. Mention
can be made of 2011, when the company invested $60 million in investments for learning and
development (Woolworths.com.au, 2019).
Cost leadership strategy
Implementation of sales up-cost down policy has reduced the operational costs for
Woolworths. Consistency in this approach has assisted in strengthening the customer base.
As a matter of specification, cost leadership strategy has assisted in effective management of
the transactions in the supply chain network. Technology has helped in digitalizing the
business, reducing the unnecessary wastage and expenses. Stock replenishment programs are
assistance in terms of developing the sales forecasting for regulating the supply and demand.
In this, one of an evident challenge is that of the long distance between the stores and the
suppliers. If the performance is poor, the storage cost is likely to be high
(Woolworths.com.au, 2019).
Strategic alliance
Woolworths indulges in strategic alliance with Coles, which results in enhancement of
the profit margin. Mention can be made of the alliance with Caltex, where applications were
sent for discounts upon availing the services. In this, alliance with the Visa International is an
additional advantage in terms of levying the exact discounts to the customers in accordance to
the investments. Conducting reward programs is beneficial in terms of extracting the real

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benefits of the strategy. This strategy is unproductive, as it has short term impact on the
revenue. However, long term planning on the customer loyalty programs is assistance in
terms of levying proper information about the ways and means to collect the reward points
(Woolworths.com.au, 2019).
Product proliferation
This strategy has helped Woolworths in causing the advent of innovation within the
products and services. Reference can be cited of the acquisition with the Dan Murphy Liquor
store for attracting new customers. Mention can be made of the customer oriented
development practices, which helps in catering to the specific needs, demands and
requirements of the customers. Agreement with the Australian Government in 2012, where
diversity management was seen in recruitment and selection of the staffs. This approach has
resulted in overcoming the knowledge gaps (Woolworths.com.au, 2019).
Strategic course of action
Offshore marketing
Offshore marketing would be beneficial for Woolworths in terms of seeking an
insight into the prospective clients, who can contribute in increasing the sales revenue and
profit margin. This can be done through the adoption of flexible internet connection helps in
conducting the operations smoothly. Installing security cookies and policies is assistance for
averting the cases of information leakage. Conscious approach in this direction proves
beneficial for maintaining confidentiality in the private data. Rosenbaum-Elliott, Percy and
Pervan, (2015) opines that incorporation of Data Protection Act (1998) would be fruitful in
terms of preventing the cases of misusing the organizational properties.
Offshore marketing would also be beneficial for diversifying the scope and arena of
the business. As a matter of specification, interacting with the clients from diverse
background would expand the scope and arena of business. Involving the staffs in group
discussions and forums would enhance their thinking skills and judgmental capabilities

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towards innovating the products and services. On the other hand, Gomes, Barnes and
Mahmood, (2016) argues that sharing the ideas of innovation through emails would enhance
the stability in the professional relations with the clients and the customers.
App services
Fast downloading services can be provided to the customers for increasing the ease in
making the purchases. Monitoring the activities of the customers online would enable the
managers to conduct sales forecasting for supply and demand curve in the upcoming financial
years. In this, strategic alliance with the telecommunication service providers would be
beneficial in terms of expanding the scope and arena of the business. However, Carroll,
Primo and Richter, (2016) proposes that GPRS sensors would be effective in terms of
tracking whether the customers are being able to access the services properly.
Statement of strategic goals
 To conduct market research for gaining an insight into the software helping in
conducting the transactions
 To indulge in strategic alliance with the telecommunication industries
 To rate the number of visitors availing the services through android apps
Impact of the goals on the organizational effectiveness
Market research would enhance the awareness of the Woolworths personnel about the
software ruling the market. This needs to be in alignment with the financial assessment for
averting the instances of straining the budget. Conducting keyword search would directly
take the personnel to the page, which provides information about effective software in
reasonable rates. All the aspects needs to be verified before making the purchases. According
to Peppard and Ward, (2016), rationality in making the purchases would be effective in terms
of generating utility value within the products and the services. In this, time management is
effective in terms of systematizing the tasks according to the priorities.

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Strategic alliances with the telecommunication service providers would expand the
scope and arena of the business. For this, the means of contracts would be effective in terms
of strengthening the professional relationships. Along with this, alliance with the statutory
bodies of law would be fruitful for upgrading the quality of the businesses according to the
standards and protocols of the recent marketing legislations. Chen, Delmas and Lieberman,
(2015) assumes that conducting seminars and lectures would be effective in terms of
enhancing the awareness of the readers about the recent trends and issues.
E-commerce platforms are effective in terms of increasing the trafficking of the
audience towards the brand image. Uploading the information of the services on the websites
and the social networking sites would help in detecting the approaches of the customers
towards the levied services. Privacy cookies and policies is vital in this aspect because of
averting the instances of leakages in case of the private and confidential data. Rating the
number of visitors would be an approach towards enhancing the parameter of brand loyalty.
Displaying it on the websites would let the visitors know about the popularity of the brand.
This would be something more than the incident of rise in the profit margin (Abc.net.au,
2019)
Conclusion
Strategic alliance is assistance for retailers like Woolworths in terms of expanding the
scope and arena of the business. Cost leadership is useful in terms of providing quality
products and services at low prices. Product differentiation is assistance for attracting new
customers within the local markets. These strategic influences is fruitful for enhancing the
organisational effectiveness. Offshore marketing can be proposed in terms of interacting with
large number of clients and customers. If app service is secured through the installation of
security cookies and policies, it would be assistance in terms of achieving large scale
customer satisfaction, loyalty, trust and dependence.

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Recommendations
 At the initial stage, training and development plans need to be conducted by
Woolworths. This is in terms of making the staffs acquainted with the recent business
trends. Taking post training tests seems beneficial for the managers to measure the
ability of the employees in performing the tasks. Using balanced scorecards is helpful
for making estimates for sales forecasting.
 Revising the recruitment and selection policies would be effective in terms of
enhancing the cultural diversity in the workplace. However, rationality would be
reflected through the incorporation of Ethical Code of Conduct into the process.
 Considering Industrial Organization Theory (IO) would be effective in terms of
increasing the industry attractiveness. For this, performance management systems like
checklists and templates can be a wise step towards uplifting the standards and quality
of the business. Proper utilization of the checklists would yield better results towards
making estimates towards forecasting the type of the sales demand curve.
 Indulging in meetings, discussions and open forums with the associate partners would
be effective for deciding on the prospects, which can enhance the organizational
effectiveness. Adherence to the terms and conditions of contracts would be assistance
in terms of averting the illegal instances and scandals, which can spoil the reputation
of Woolworths.
 Hiring IT experts after adopting the software would help in conducting the lab tests
for quality controls. Consciousness and rationality in hiring the experts would act as
an agent in reducing the instances of defects, malfunctioning and virus attacks,
resulting in the loss of the private and confidential data.
 Social media marketing along with the app services would be effective in terms of
expanding the customer base. Uploading the plans and trends on Facebook, Instagram
and YouTube would be assistance in achieving large scale customer satisfaction.

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 Meetings are crucial in terms of conducting evaluation and audits regarding the
developed strategies. Consideration of statistical data and reports would be effective
in deciding the next course of action, which would help in increasing the sales
revenue and profit margin. Maintaining consistency in this direction would be
effective in enhancing the standards and quality of the services and products.

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References
Abc.net.au (2019). Woolworths first-half profit surges 38pc to $969m. Retrieved 8th May
2019 from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-23/woolworths-half-year-results/
9472090
Carroll, R. J., Primo, D. M., & Richter, B. K. (2016). Using item response theory to improve
measurement in strategic management research: An application to corporate social
responsibility. Strategic Management Journal, 37(1), 66-85.
Chen, C. M., Delmas, M. A., & Lieberman, M. B. (2015). Production frontier methodologies
and efficiency as a performance measure in strategic management research. Strategic
Management Journal, 36(1), 19-36.
Gomes, E., Barnes, B. R., & Mahmood, T. (2016). A 22 year review of strategic alliance
research in the leading management journals. International business review, 25(1),
15-27.
Peppard, J., & Ward, J. (2016). The strategic management of information systems: Building a
digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Rosenbaum-Elliott, R., Percy, L., & Pervan, S. (2015). Strategic brand management. Oxford
University Press, USA.
Woolworths.com.au (2019). About us. Retrieved 8th May 2019 from
https://www.woolworths.com.au/

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Appendix
Fig 1: Business strategy of Woolworths
(Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2019)