Strategic Management of H&M: Analysis, Strategies, and Future Recommendations
Verified
Added on 2022/12/29
|13
|3436
|44
AI Summary
This report analyzes the strategies followed by H&M, examines the external and internal environment, and provides future recommendations for the company's growth.
Contribute Materials
Your contribution can guide someone’s learning journey. Share your
documents today.
Strategic Management
Secure Best Marks with AI Grader
Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3 1. Strategy of H&M....................................................................................................................3 2. Strategic tool to analyse external environment.......................................................................4 3. Strategic tool to analyse internal environment........................................................................5 4. Strategic direction tools..........................................................................................................6 5. Critical evaluation and justification of future strategy for H&M...........................................8 6. Future Recommendations.......................................................................................................9 CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................9 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
INTRODUCTION Strategic management refers to the goals and objectives that are achieved by the organization along with analysis of external and internal environment (Ansoff, Kipley, Lewis and et.al., 2018).H&M is Swedishmultinational clothing — retail company known for its fast — fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. This report will analyse the strategies which H&M follows with aid to external and internal environment. It will also analyse the strategic tools used with proper examination. Critical evaluation along with justification of future strategy will be explained more appropriately. Last but not least, future recommendations will be made for the company to run effectively and efficiently. MAIN BODY 1. Strategy of H&M H&M follows different ways of strategies which defines company's focus towards growth and development - Collection of style (COS) offers customers a combination of timelessness and distinctive trends for both men and women. Arket and Afound are two recent additions to the brand portfolio of the company (Giertz-Mårtenson, 2020).There is consistency provided to customers by making some products available over long — time which is emphasized as Arket. Afound is an innovative off — price marketplace that offers selected range of discounted products from both external brands and the H&M groups own. H&M has perused its growth strategy by increasing the number of stores by 10 -15% per year and also the company has scaled back its physical expansion and closed some of its existing stores. Digital expansion by H&M has laid more focus on the collaboration with the Alibaba in order to reach more customers and target market. The core strategies which H&M follows is to keep everything simple (Delirium, 2017). Constant improvement in its products and services leads to innovation and engage customers more so that the brand popularity is increased and the company is able to achieve its set objectives and goals. H&M is cost conscious about its products and
services. Because buying process depends on the customers as how much they are likely to buy the product. H&M strategy is to recruit local people wherever it opens a new store. H&M looks for the people who have right personality and potential to understand and adopt core values of the organization. CSR strategy of H&M has increased the company's importance. CSR takes several actions throughout its value chain to keep away actual criticism. The company has formulated seven commitments called H&M conscious actions which adopts ethical practices and involves other factors for improving working conditions and using natural resources naturally. 2. Strategic tool to analyse external environment The external environment of H&M is examined through PESTLE analysis - Political —As this brand is operating number of stores across the globe political risk is very important to be measured (Iacovidou, Busch, Hahladakis, and et.al., 2017).The franchised outlets in number of markets which are politically unstable including Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt monitor any changes which are closely related to each other dealing with any political instability which is feasible for both the stakeholders ofcompany. Thus, political factor plays main role in the company's rules and regulations. Economic —In 2019, H&M planned addition of 335 new stores of which 240 were H&M stores. Customers spend more on the items which are luxurious and deliver premium clothing. Corporate tax norms of H&M vary accordingly therefore they have to follow specific rules and regulations. H&M is a profit making company which largely focuses on the areas of expansion of its business and gain customer engagement. Thus, economic factor plays major role in analysing external environment which H&M holds for its growth. Social —H&M has diversified its market through social media marketing which enables promotion of products and services to increase at large rate (Ulubeyli, Kazancı, Kazaz, and et.al., 2019).For this the company has made pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube. These social media applications promote H&M's collections and campaigns, finding out what's new, locating stores and making discounted purchases online.
Paraphrase This Document
Need a fresh take? Get an instant paraphrase of this document with our AI Paraphraser
H&M has also collaborated with various celebrities and other brands which helped it in marketing done along with 200 — in house collaborations over years. Technological —Different technological advancement ways are adopted by H&M which are automated online warehouses, RFID, advanced data analytics and AI competencies which helps toanalyseandunderstandcustomerpatterns.Thisleadthegrowthanddevelopmentof technology in H&M company. Digital campaigns also play a very important role in the technology factor as this being very prior form of promotion and marketing works for the enhancement in brand reputation and diversification in its products. Thus, technology plays key role in H&M's growth. Legal —The regulatory policies of H&M is the main concern for the company to follow it. Because through that the company will abide by the rules and regulations which are being implemented in the external environment (Fosher, 2018). The legal risk factors may include the changes in the company's policies which are applicable in different countries. The company's expansion and internationalization depends on infrastructure, purchasing power and demographic structure along with the legal factors which are in practice since the company was being formed. Environmental —As per the environmental concerns, H&M being the textile industry pollutes the water bodies as high amount of water wastage is done which results in deadly diseases. The environmental concern is an important aspect for the company to take care of it so that there is no amount of wastage or pollution which directly affects the environment. Thus, in growth and development of the company, environment should be considered prior to set up different production stores which harms less the public. 3. Strategic tool to analyse internal environment SWOT analysis are the business analysis are made to make a thing or person to sure that the objectives and the factors of the project are properly defined and identified (Gürel and Tat, 2017). SWOT analysis shows the present data of the organization. SWOT analysis of the H&M examine the brand, performance and benchmark of the company. Strength —H&M are the one of the largest global clothing retailer in the world and have strong brand name and reputation in the world (Vlados, 2019). Enterprise have capability to stand in the competitive world and the strength of H&M is that they not on only have customer from their country or city but also they have customer from worldwide. Organization are also associated by
the celebrities and the designers, and they offer quantity and trendy clothes at an affordable price and have variety of product that attracts more consumers. Organization has efficient supply chain to connect with their suppliers and consumers. The biggest strength of H&M is they work as a team they have belief on their employees, and they also have extra focus on their employee involvement. Weakness —They have week internal communication system and have high cost product which is not purchased by every person. Firm have invested a lot of capital in their maintenance of machinery and the amount they are spending on machinery and other goods they should invest on their trainee and employee. Enterprise are mainly dependent on hiring parties from the outside the company to perform their services. The biggest weakness of H&M is that they cannot make decision at their own they have to consult to their employees. Opportunity —Seller offer them variety of products with that they can earn more. Firm have opportunities to increase there popularity from online stores (Phadermrod, Crowder, and Wills, 2019).They have opportunities to know what needs of the customer are not fulfilled, and they have opportunities to take business training so that more and more people will come to know about their products. Implementation of new technology can be beneficial for H&M and it can be helpful for them to take competitive advantage. New demands of the people leads to more opportunities for the company to increase there profits and sales. Threat —H&M not only have pressure of their competitors and local artisans but also on their overall sales and profits. As H&M is operated in so many countries they have to face the political climate of the number of markets across the world. They have several agreements that could be a threat to their exiting pro0ducts and biggest threats is changing global gesture reduces the sales and profits of the company. If any customer or suppliers complains about the company that there product have damaged there skin and clothes are not good then company have to face the rules and regulation of the agreement as decided before. Change in regulation leads to change in agreement. 4. Strategic direction tools Strategic tools which are used for H&M is - Porter's Five Force model -
Threat of New Entrants —The production process is costlier for new entrants but H&M can tackle this threat by fighting through the cost advantage (Bruijl, 2018). H&M can tackle the threat of new entrants by producing differentiated products through innovation. Strong marketing strategies can be adopted by the company so that it does not lose its customers to new entrants in the market. Bargaining Power of Suppliers —H&M can purchase raw materials from its suppliers and can switch the suppliers because the switching cost is low. To ensure efficiency in the supply chain of H&M products, the company can refer to different suppliers to different geographic locations. Bargaining Power of Buyers —To attract more buyers H&M should focus on innovation in the products (Firman, Putra, Mustapa and et.al., 2020). As bargaining power of buyers is weak, H&M should focus on more building large customer base through marketing. H&M should sell low prices to low — income buyers. Threat of Substitutes —The substitutes of H&M are Zara, Gap, Marks and Spencer which produce similar products residing in the same industry. To decrease threat of substitutes H&M should produce better quality products at low prices. Rivalry among Existing Firms —H&M should conduct proper market research so that they are able to analyse their rivals in the market and plan according their next step towards expansion and innovation on whole. H&M should focus on new customers to engage them on large platforms. VRIO analysis - Valuable —Employees of H&M are a valuable source to as without them the organization would not function. The key source to which the company stands on is due to number of employees in the organization (Hernández and Garcia, 2018). The distribution network which H&M operates is valuable as it determines the value chain with warehouse, distribution centres and the stores around the globe. Rare —The products which H&M produces is rare as more effort is put into researching the market trends. The technology which the company uses in producing its products is rare which includes data analytics, AI competencies etc. as company's focus is on the employees, they focus on their performance to deliver the best of what they acquire for betterment of organization. Imitable —The products of H&M is an imitable factor because there are various other competitors of the company in the market. But still H&M has improved its methods and has
Secure Best Marks with AI Grader
Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
innovated new product segments in the market which emphasis on the quality of the products made. Thus, the imitable factor emphasis on the similarity of products which H&M produces and vary accordingly. Organization —The patents and financial resources of H&M are well — organized. Along with this, the management of the company and the store operation process is also properly managed which ensures that the organization is working effectively and efficiently. Thus, the organization factor refers to H&M organized processes and operations which are valued for the growth and the development aspect progressively. 5. Critical evaluation and justification of future strategy for H&M H&M being the biggest retailer of fashion in the market faces the challenges of competing with the other companies similar in the same segment production of products (Segran and Elizabeth, 2019). The companies which are competing with H&M are Zara, Marks and Spencer, Gap etc. due to such tough competition in the market the company has to invent certain future strategies which helps the company to expand its businesses on profitable terms. The challenges which the company faces are -First,at the higher end, H&M is seriously challenged by Zara's rapid expansion in the emerging marke. At the other end, H&M is challenged by even lower — cost sellers such as UK's Primark. Second,consumer behaviour has changed more dramatically than many anticipated with tremendous growth of online fashion retailers like Zalando and Asos in Europe, Amazon in the USA and Alibaba in China. ThesedevelopmentshaddrasticconsequencesforH&Mwithdecliningsalesgrowth, substantially eroding margins and investors lost faith in the company. Future strategies - Diversification —H&M should produce such innovative products which help the product to seek heights by giving tough competition to its competitors (Gyan, Brahmana and Bakri, 2017). Diversification in the products should be done so that the company is able to prove its competencies and skills in the market. This strategy will help the company to review its past products and compare them with the new products which will prove its existence.
Understanding the needs of potential customers —The needs of customers can only be fulfilled when the products and services offered to them satisfy their requirement. H&M should focus on its customers as what their needs and wants are. By fulfilling these factors the company will be able to analyse the consumer behaviour and the challenge will turn into strength for H&M. Thus, this strategy should be positively followed. Justification for the used strategy - These two strategies are used so that the company does not face any difficulties which it has been facing as given in the study. These strategies when formulated will help H&M to reinvent its structure and innovate new plans and procedures which will help to expand its business more effectively and efficiently. 6. Future Recommendations Future recommendations for H&M company is -Product developmentshould be done in such a manner that it becomes inimitable by H&M's competitors.Target marketshould be analysed beforehand so that it becomes easier for the company to evaluate current marketing trends and techniques.Social media marketingapplications should be utilized skilfully in order to assist for the future marketing campaigns which are to be formulated for the product promotion.Technology advancementshould engage recent technology trends which enhances the product in effective form.Supply chain and demandfor the product should be adjusted so that H&M is able to produce what they can sell to its consumers. Conscious choicescan be made by the consumers during this pandemic to make available the services run effectively and efficiently. CONCLUSION Thus, it is concluded from the above report that background strategy helps in providing information relevant to strategy. The external and internal environment explained PESTLE and SWOT analysis which assisted in the strategic capabilities of the H&M company. Strategic tools
like Porter's Five Force model and VRIO analysis was done to ensure the strategic affectivity in reference with the company. Critical evaluation and justification was done in order to analyse the future strategies and challenges the company is facing. And finally, future recommendations were denoted to ensure smooth functioning of the business in the organization and the company as whole.
Paraphrase This Document
Need a fresh take? Get an instant paraphrase of this document with our AI Paraphraser
REFERENCES Books and Journals Ansoff, H.I., Kipley, D., Lewis, A.O. and et.al., 2018.Implanting strategic management. Springer.
Giertz-Mårtenson, I., 2020. H&M: How Swedish entrepreneurial culture and social values created fashion for everyone. InEuropean fashion. Manchester University Press. Delirium, P., 2017. Marketing Strategy H&M.Retrieved March.3.p.2018. Iacovidou, E., Busch, J., Hahladakis, J.N. and et.al., 2017. A parameter selection framework for sustainability assessment.Sustainability.9(9). p.1497. Ulubeyli, S., Kazancı, O., Kazaz, A. and et.al., 2019. Strategic Factors Affecting Green Building Industry:AMacro-EnvironmentalAnalysisUsingPESTELFramework.Sakarya Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Dergisi.23(6). pp.1042-1055. Fosher, H., 2018. Understanding the Marketing and Management of trails using PESTEL Analysis. Vlados, C., 2019. On a correlative and evolutionary SWOT analysis.Journal of Strategy and Management. Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R.M. and Wills, G.B., 2019. Importance-performance analysis based SWOT analysis.International Journal of Information Management.44.pp.194-203. Gürel, E. and Tat, M., 2017. SWOT analysis: a theoretical review.Journal of International Social Research.10(51). Bruijl, G.H.T., 2018. The relevance of Porter's five forces in today's innovative and changing business environment.Available at SSRN 3192207. Firman, A., Putra, A.H.P.K., Mustapa, Z. and et.al., 2020. Re-conceptualization of Business Model for Marketing Nowadays: Theory and Implications.The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business.7(7). pp.279-291. Hernández, J.G.V. and Garcia, F.C., 2018. The link between a firms internal characteristics and performance:GPTW&VRIOdimensionanalysis.RevistadeAdministração IMED.8(2). pp.222-235. Segran and Elizabeth, 2019. H & M, Zara, and other fashion brands are tricking shoppers with vague sustainability claims.Fast Company.8. Gyan, A.K., Brahmana, R. and Bakri, A.K., 2017. Diversification strategy, efficiency, and firm performance: Insight from emerging market.Research in International Business and Finance.42.pp.1103-1114.