Strategic Analysis Assignment PDF

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 1
Strategic Analysis: Post-Holding’s Recent Acquisition of Weetabix
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STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 2
Strategic Analysis: Post-Holding’s Acquisition of Weetabix
Introduction
There is a conventional agreement among researchers, academicians, business leaders
and policymakers regarding the highly competitive nature of the international business arena.
Businesses tend to outperform each other through a broad range of competitive advantages
including low prices, advanced technology, diversification, specialization, and effective
customer service among others. Essentially, the promotion and maintenance of competitive
performance (perhaps dominance) in business necessitates organizational expansion: this
happens through venturing into new markets to enhance a business’s market share (Pelzman
2015). One of the commonest market expansion strategies in the business world is acquisition. It
is highly preferred by most multinational companies since it involves purchasing established
organizations to tap into their markets. When approached diligently, this strategy allows a
company to serve markets that would otherwise repel its products. The North American ready-to-
eat food brand Post Holdings Inc.’s recent acquisition of Weetabix is quite illustrious in this
matter.
Post Holdings Inc. is a company that deals primarily with consumer-packaged products:
it manufactures, promotes, and sells private and branded label cereal products. This United States
market leader has initiated a potentially successful strategy to promote its entry into the British
market through the 2017 acquisition of Weetabix Limited. Note that the move aims at
strengthening Post Holdings’ position in the British sphere now that it already emerges among
the leading breakfast cereal companies in the region. For now, it suffices to claim that the
acquisition is bound to trigger internal and external stakeholder transformations. In that regard,
there is a need to comprehensively evaluate the brand’s new market position to enhance the

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 3
management’s grasp of the emergent roles and objectives in the pursuit of a smooth transition as
well as global dominance.
On that note, the current paper presents a comprehensive strategic assessment of Post
Holdings’ recent acquisition of Weetabix Ltd. Immense focus will be placed on strategic
management frameworks to enhance the readership’s understanding of the dynamics in play with
respect to Post Holdings’ 1.8 billion dollar European market penetration strategy (Drakakis
2017).
Post Holdings’ Strategic Positioning
The most fundamental aspect of any strategic analysis is a clear definition of an
organization’s strategic positioning: it involves a comparative assessment of the brand alongside
its rival company in terms of service. Such a line-of-thought has also been expressed by Kumar
and Steenkamp 2013) as he believes that strategic positioning refers to a firm’s way of
differentiating itself from its rivals through unique utility allotment to the consumers. Similar
sentiments are made by Williamson. According to him, an organization’s unique position in its
product and target market is the most basic definition of its strategic position (Williamson 2016).
One should note that strategic position allows an analyst to understand the future position of a
SBU regardless of the highly transformative business environment. When viewed from this lens,
it is apparent that strategic positioning reflects an organization’s selected niche in a competitive
environment. Bowman’s Strategy Clock and Porter’s Five Forces Analysis are strategic models
that improve an analyst’s perspective on such matters.
According to Porter, the five forces assessment technique exposes the extant competitive
forces within an industry. Such a factor allows a company to understand the roots of profitability
(in the industry) as well as the opportunities to influence profitability and competition in the

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS 4
long-run (Wolff 2014). Porter’s model offers three generic strategy options that remain
applicable in most if not all industries and firms (Backaler 2014). These approaches include
differentiation, focus, and cost leadership. As far as cost leadership is concerned, it allows an
organization to create a competitive edge that attracts sales at the expense of its competition.
Cost leadership can be implemented by cutting the production costs. Such a move makes it
possible for a firm to make sales at relatively lower prices than its rivals. Below is a graphical
representation of Porter’s generic strategies: pay attention to the scope.
Meanwhile, differentiation promotes competition through the provision of products or
services that are more attractive than the ones delivered by the competition. Some of the
common differentiation techniques include enhanced product functionality and effective
customer care. Lastly, the focus strategy revolves around organizational concentration on a
specific niche (Zollo & Singh 2004). Such an approach calls for immense understanding of the
customer needs and the market dynamics at large. This strategy can be categorized as
differentiation or cost: they involve designing goods/services or pricing strategy – respectively –
to meet the needs of the chosen niche. At this point, it suffices to note that Weetabix utilizes the
differentiation focus approach to enhance its position in the British market. The company has