Reflective Report for Business Strategy

This report evaluates the major strategic decisions made by a shoe making company during six rounds of BSG simulation and the round that stood out. It also discusses relevant theoretical frameworks applicable to understand various components and the impact of an emerging technology on the future of the business.

REFLECTIVE
REPORT FOR
BUSINESS STRATEGY

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Mission:........................................................................................................................................3
Vision:..........................................................................................................................................3
Values:.........................................................................................................................................3
Corporate objectives:...................................................................................................................3
EVALUATION OF MAJOR STRATEGIC DECISIONS MADE BY THE ORGANIZATION
DURING SIX ROUNDS OF BSG SIMULATION AND THE ROUND STOOD OUT ALONG
WITH REASONS AND KEY LESSONS:.....................................................................................4
Performance in all six rounds and decisions made:.....................................................................4
Round that stood out:...................................................................................................................5
RELEVANT THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS APPLICABLE TO UNDERSTAND
VARIOUS COMPONENTS:..........................................................................................................6
Internal environment:...................................................................................................................6
External environment:..................................................................................................................7
Competitive environment.............................................................................................................8
IMPACT OF ONE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AND ITS IMPACT ON THE FUTURE OF
THE BUSINESS AND SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE MANAGERS:............9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of this report is to present deeper insights of the performance of shoe making
company. The report has applied some models such as SWOT, PESTEL, and Porter's five forces
in order to reflect the prevailing circumstances of the organization. At the end, the impact of one
emerging technology has been articulated to evaluate the role it can play in context of the
organization and how some better practises could be installed with the help of making some
favourable shifts.
INTRODUCTION
The report will be discussing various aspects of the organization. The way it has
performed in the undertaken six rounds. With this regard, all the quantitative and qualitative
information are to be imparted (Cherunilam, 2021) Then external and internal environment of the
organization along with competitive environment will be discussed. Report articulates one
emerging technology and what could be potential impacts it can bring to the entity with some
recommendations for future management.
Mission:
The mission of the footwear company is “To bring motivation and higher innovation to our
clients across the nation”.
Vision:
The vision of the shoe wear organization is “We seen a nation where everybody has luxury but
cheap shoes which fulfil their different requirements in one short”.
Values:
The values of our organization are to bring the best set of practises to our customs,
offering them higher level of innovation in the form of our products, be honest, fulfil all legal
and ethical requirements and aligning with welfarism policy (Sołoducho-Pelc and Sulich, 2020)
Corporate objectives:
The corporate objective of our organization is to be number one in the shoe wear market
and becoming the most drastic organization for the customers who are not ready to sacrifice with
their choice.
The company is striving to have market share of around 15% which is not a small thing
to made. Yet with proper efforts and aligning with innovation the organization would be able to
curb it (Abu-Rumman, 2021)

EVALUATION OF MAJOR STRATEGIC DECISIONS MADE BY THE
ORGANIZATION DURING SIX ROUNDS OF BSG SIMULATION AND
THE ROUND STOOD OUT ALONG WITH REASONS AND KEY
LESSONS:
Performance in all six rounds and decisions made:
In the year 2012 the first year of the round, organization has made some key decisions in
order to be competitive and highly profitable in the market. To ace the vision of providing
something better to the customers in the first round the company has enhanced its compensation
by 1.25 per pair so can augment the morale of employees in North America facility(NAF) . The
number of models in NAF were jumped from 300 to 350. in Asia Pacific Facility(APF) the
fringe benefits raised form 1250 to 1500. These efforts are living testimony that the organization
has made great efforts in order to satisfy its customers and also taking their belief higher (Cepel,
2019)
The second year of the round 2013 is known for the jump in organizational efforts in term
of marketing. In this year the marketing expenses escalated form 13000 to 14500. this decision
of making more investments helped organization in many ways. Along with this decision, the
base wage in NAF also got hiked to 1%. and incentive payments on per pair were 1.25 but they
came to 2 per pair in the year 2013.
In the year 2014, again branded productions were reduced in its NAF units. Since it did
not find it lucrative so again the pair number which were earlier 6000 now came to 5600 which
was lowest in last two years. The incentive pay was kept as same as it was. The fringe benefits
were new closed in the all facilities such as NAF, EAF(Europe Africa Facility), APF, and
LAF(Latin America Facility).
In 2015, again some drastic changes were implemented by the organization. This time,
incentive payment turned down to 0 which had been always positive in last four years. The
prices which were hiked from last four years this time reduced to 85 per pair. One of the most
prominent change was made keeping the outcomes of the year 2014 was to reduce the wholesale
prices. This idea of keeping wholesale prices lower was intended since the organization wanted
to expand its operations and it was only possible with the hyper sales. On the other hands, the

brand advertisement in North American Market were hiked in order to keep it fostering
(Christodoulou, and Cullinane, 2019)
The decisions made in the year 2015 got reflected in the year 2016. in this year again some
strategic changes were introduced in order to make such short term gains to a long run outcomes.
In this year again a slight surge in the wholesale prices was experienced. In the North American
market it was 60 and in Europe Africa market 67 which was earlier 62. Form this trend it can be
articulated that the organization has made some radical decisions in attempt to make its
performance higher.
2017 which has been the last year of this round. The all decisions made in last five round
have their crystal clear reflection on this round. The organization go the highest ranking this
time. One of the factor that in this year the prices got stabilized. Earlier they were kept lower and
some times kept higher but now it has been balanced. The number of models was kept 500. The
retail prices were also taken to 87 to North American market, in Europe Africa market it was 94
and in Latin America was 104. These efforts of organization brought some better outcomes to it
(Gupta, Gupta and Gupta, 2019)
Round that stood out:
The year 2017 can be cited as a year which stood out form the remaining parts. Since in
this year the performance of the organization had been drastically changed and came to its
favour. There are ample instances and notions to support the arguments. It can be deciphered on
the basis of the S/Q ratings. It was highest in the year 2017. for North America market it was 6.8
in 2017 but in the all last five years it never crossed the brim of 6.6. in Europe Africa market the
rating was 6.7 and in Asia pacific 6.5, in Latin America 6.1 so with respect of wholesale
marketing related ratings the year 2017 was standing out (Saari, M., 2022)
In the year 2017 the retail prices kept by organization got its stabilized position. It can be
seen that in the last five round it was shifting drastically but in 2017 the retail prices became
stable. On the basis of this stability citing the year 2017 an outstanding year would not be an
unfair remark.
Form this evaluation some key lessons also got learned. That the very first thing any
organization which is engaged in innovative business have need to be fit in the market frame. If
the organization is not aware that how to deal with the market dynamics then would not be able
to perform on its merit. On the other hands, the second key lesson was that the expenditures

made for marketing must align with the market needs. As it was seen that the market had better
scope and if more amount is being invested then better outcomes may come. Keeping this notion
in mind organization spend its amount and grab greater share. So form the year 2017 these all
lessons can be learnt.
RELEVANT THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS APPLICABLE TO
UNDERSTAND VARIOUS COMPONENTS:
Internal environment:
Internal environment refers to the factors which prevails inside the organization and impact its
ability of performing. With this respect, SWOT model is being used as-
Strength:
 The organization is having its great market name.
 The internal policy of the entity is aligning with democratic rule which makes it better
place for employees (Jafari and Othman Soleiman, 2020)
 There is a separate policy for employee compensation which paves the way to have a
highly efficient workforce.
Weaknesses:
 One of the biggest weakness is the rigidity of organizational regimes. All the acts are
being performed in a pre intended manner which affects its ability of taking due
advantages.
 The organization is having great expenses on its marketing which may be proven as a big
issues since it is contributing a big sum of overall revenues.
Opportunities:
 The biggest opportunity is the expansion of market. Now the economy of UK shoe
market is around 8.1 billion USD by the year 2020 and a radical growth is expected to
take place (Begishev, Khisamova and Vasyukov, 2021)
 At the same time people are ready to make buy of products which offer them ample
choice in and also come up with sort of innovation. The company may take this
advantage too.
 After heat of Covid-19 the market is experiencing growth and with innovative and new
shoes the company can enhance its diaspora.

Threats:
 There are number of competitors in the market such as Nike, Adidas etc. who may impact
the performance of the company.
 With the introduction of online marketing there is great chance that online stores and
online shopping will bring negatives to the performance of the organization.
External environment:
External environment is the combination of all those elements which stand out form the
organization but they are having ability to bring impacts on its operational and strategic abilities.
To analyse the impacts it brings, PESTEL model is being applied as-
Political environment:
 The political outlook is being appeared in the favour of the organization. As it can be
seen that any shoes cost over 135 USD then there will be 2.5% import duty. This political
decision will help organization to cope up with the outside country products (Elsabeh,
2021)
 At the same time, after Covid-19 the government has loosened its regulations so from the
evaluation it would be fair to conclude that the political dynamics are seeming in favour
of the company.
Economic environment:
 The UK market is supposed to be grown with the rate of 6.78% by the year 2027. It can
be deciphered that in such predicaments the company will be experiencing great blow up.
 The shoe market of UK, is having a great size of around 8 billion USD. It shows that the
market is still having great potential to accept new and innovative ideas.
Social environment:
 The society is also getting changes, now people are more likely to spend more on such
things. They are now hugely influenced by consumerism so if there are new types of
shoes with cheaper prices then they will go for buy.
Technological environment:
 The present technology is not much higher which is used by the company but at the same
time there is ample choice available for the organization.

 The shoe industry is also using number of modern technologies so the organization may
face sever challenges with this respect.
Legal environment:
 The legal factors are in side of the shoe making companies. The VAT charges are also
quite lower.
 At the same time, the lows pertaining to salary and compensation are well structured so
without any issue a perform the legal practises.
Environmental environment:
 The nation is also striving to fulfil the SDGs by the year 2030. So the company is needed
to abide with the environmental rules in order to be highly profitable (Bademosi and Issa,
2021)
 At the same time, in the upcoming years there may be severe challenges in term of more
rules and regulations to make the practises prone to environment.
Competitive environment
The competitive environment refers to the business environment where all the aspects
which have potential to fetch hyper competition to the organization are taken into consideration.
To analyse the competitive dynamics Porter's five forces model is being applied as-
1 supply power-
The market is showing great recovery. After the hit of pandemics the suppliers now ready to
fulfil demand. For shoe company there will be need of row material so the market seems to have
that capacity.
2 Buyer power-
The buyers of UK shoe market are also looking in favour. The per capita income of UK is
around 47620 dollars as per the figures of 2019. it shows that they are ready to spend more.
3 Competitive rivalry-
In UK there are number of organizations are getting operated such as Adidas, Nike etc. and they
are having great ability to give tough fight to such small organization. With this regard, for the
company there is a hyper competitive rivalry is prevailing.
4 Threat of substitution-
In the market, there are number of new brands are also available and the fact can not be rejected
that there is good possibility that the organization may face the problem of substitution. But the

way it is coming up with cheaper shoes with luxury characteristics so would be able to confront
it.
5 Threat of New Entry-
In the shoe market the new entrants can not be expected specifically at this point, since there are
already some giant players and after pandemics the market is not suitable for making entry.
Form the above application of Porter's five forces model it can be summarized that the
competitive market is seeming under control of the shoe making organization. Form these
applied frameworks some key decisions were made. Such as organization enhanced its salary and
compensations in order to make the employees highly productive. At the same time, on regular
interval the prices were augmented in order to take advantage of the market dynamics. It can be
summarized that these applied frameworks have been quite rational and lucrative to make
decisions pertaining to the business operation (Raj and Seamans, 2019)
The decision of hiking marketing expenditure was hugely driven by the facts which got
reflected form the PESTEL analysis. At the same time, the organization addressed the issue
which was found by SWOT analysis that there is hyper competition in the market. Keeping this
idea into focus some better decisions were made and ultimate aim was to satisfy customer had
been achieved. It is sufficient to enumerate that the decisions were comprehensively shaped by
the applied models.
IMPACT OF ONE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AND ITS IMPACT ON
THE FUTURE OF THE BUSINESS AND SOME
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE MANAGERS:
Robotics is one of such new and emerging technology which is being used by many
organizations. The future of shoe business can not be abstained form this inception. The Robotics
is highly useful since it is making various tasks quite simple and handy. At the same time now
different activities can be handled by these operational robots which will change a number of
proportions.
The biggest threat is on the employment. Now for performing different activities in shoe
business such as Raw material handling, cutting, stiching, sole manufacturing, assembling
different parts, shining and giving it final touch etc. These all activities are now being performed

by workers mainly but with the use of robotics it can be performed ten and more times better
(Begishev, Khisamova and Vasyukov, 2021)
There will be some positive impacts. Such as with the use of robotics it will be handy to
reduce human error and same set of products keeping higher level of identifiability can be
produced. At the same time, cost reduction which is the most prominent notion can be grabbed.
Robotics will offer great scope to the organization. Now the market is highly opened and the
company can hike its production. Robotics technology will be helpful to augment the level. At
present the business is prevailing only in the nation with the help of robotics the organization
would be able to argument its level and can go for hyper production.
The dark side can not be ignored. Since the robotic technology is been seen as a threat by
employees they are horrified that if it is imparted then would be dropping their jobs. The
organizations will be more likely to go with robotics to manage their operational works,
management works, selling and distribution, quality management, accounting, administrative
works etc. Then there would not be such job alternatives for employees. It may affect their
morality and belief system, these threats may lead them to restrain with the new and innovative
practises of the organization (Bademosi and Issa, 2021)
Robotics is specifically known for its efficiency and the cheaper technology it is, but for small
sized organization it is not handy and affordable. They would not be able to install it but at the
same time if giant organizations are instilling it then there will be a big issue of being
competitive in the market and somehow it brings this obligation to go through the same. Here, it
is also suggested to the future managers that they are going through the phase of hardship. They
are supposed to fetch better understanding to the organization and can make it thrive with strong
reflection to the present issues.
With this respect, there are some recommendations for the future managers in order to
make them competent to deal with the perils this new and emerging technology is coming up
with. They will be able to wipe out all these cons. Firstly, there is need to win the belief of
employees, and getting them ready to comply with the new technology. If market is experiencing
boom then they are suggested to implant their new and innovative ideas which can be analysed
by the applied models such as SWOT and PESTLE (Raj and Seamans, 2019)
The foremost task is to wipe out the fear they have. The management may assure them
about their job safety so they can work with full potential. It is not a healthy or rational idea to

see every innovation as only against manual work. If organizations are able to manage a good
balance then it would be in benefit of the organization so it is recommended to fabricate a policy
for the use of robotics in order to assure employees.
CONCLUSION
From the report above, it can be summarized that the mission and vision of the company
are highly relevant keeping the present market circumstances into focus. In this report, the
performance of the shoe making entity have been evaluated for all six years of rounds and it was
also found that one year has stood out due to some drastic decisions made. Then external and
internal, competitive business environment was deciphered in order to look up its suitability for
the organization. At the end, robotics technology and the impacts it brings had discussed along
with some improvement recommendations.

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