Strategic Management: A2 Milk Company Analysis and New Strategic Initiative

This report analyzes the strategic capability of A2 Milk Company and proposes a new strategic initiative for achieving a competitive advantage. It includes a VRIO framework analysis, discussion on generic strategies, and a marketing mix plan.

Strategic Management

Running Head: Report
Contents
Summary..........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Resources and capabilities of A2 milk company (VRIO framework).............................................4
Generic strategies.............................................................................................................................9
New Strategic Initiation: Marketing Mix......................................................................................12
Product.......................................................................................................................................12
Pricing........................................................................................................................................13
Suitability of new strategic initiative.............................................................................................17
Strategic implementation plan.......................................................................................................19
Required changes.......................................................................................................................19
Implementation and management of changes............................................................................20
Action Plan.............................................................................................................................21
Measurement of a strategic initiative.............................................................................................23
Balanced Scorecard....................................................................................................................23
Strategy map..............................................................................................................................25
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................27
References......................................................................................................................................29
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Running Head: Report
Summary
This report is compiled to analyze the strategic capability analysis of the organization named as
A2 Milk. The research also involves proposing a new strategic initiative for the organization that
helps in achieving a competitive advantage. On the basis of all the findings of this report, an
actionable strategy implementation plan is prepared and evaluated for the purpose of achieving
success. The implementation plan that prepared in the research is very realistic and achievable.
The main purpose of conducting this research is to demonstrate about the key strategic initiative
and a plan of strategic implementation that assists A2 Milk Company to achieve the sustainable
competitive advantage and evaluate the plan by following some measures such as balanced
scorecard. The report includes the identification of the resources and competencies of the
organization by using the VRIO framework. On the basis of the strategy statement and value
chain activities, the current generic type of business strategy implemented by A2 milk is also
discussed in this research project. A new strategic initiative for the organization to implement is
proposed and this initiative is a functional initiative related to the marketing of the company. The
evaluation of strategic initiative is done on the basis of the external environment of A2 company
its strategic capabilities and current business strategy. An implementation plan that going to be
developed is focusing on the need for strategic initiative and how to manage and implement the
proposed changes. At last, the main focus is given on how the proposed strategic initiative
measured by using the set of key measures and strategy map is drawn.
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Introduction
Any organization working in the market conditions is affected by many external factors which
affect the performance of the organization. With the changes in the market conditions, the
success of the organization is dependent on the ability of the company’s resources to evaluate the
internal and external conditions and a new strategic initiative to implement that shape the future
of the organizations. The good performance or successful competitive advantage is only
achieved through the continuous improvement in the organizations. Every organization has set
objectives for the future and to achieve those objectives, the strategy is used as an action plan.
The strategic planning and the operation is a new management process that organization adopts
in time to the changes in the external environment by effectively utilizing its current capabilities
and potential.
This report is compiled to analyze the strategic capability analysis of the organization named as
A2 Milk. The research also involves proposing a new strategic initiative for the organization that
helps in achieving a competitive advantage. On the basis of all the findings of this report, an
actionable strategy implementation plan is prepared and evaluated for the purpose of achieving
success. The implementation plan that prepared in the research is very realistic and achievable.
The main purpose of conducting this research is to demonstrate about the key strategic initiative
and a plan of strategic implementation that assists A2 Milk Company to achieve the sustainable
competitive advantage and evaluate the plan by following some measures such as balanced
scorecard. The report includes the identification of the resources and competencies of the
organization by using the VRIO framework. On the basis of the strategy statement and value
chain activities, the current generic type of business strategy implemented by A2 milk is also
discussed in this research project. A new strategic initiative for the organization to implement is
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proposed and this initiative is a functional initiative related to the marketing of the company. The
evaluation of strategic initiative is done on the basis of the external environment of A2 company
its strategic capabilities and current business strategy. An implementation plan that going to be
developed is focusing on the need for strategic initiative and how to manage and implement the
proposed changes. At last, the main focus is given on how the proposed strategic initiative
measured by using the set of key measures and strategy map is drawn (A2 Corporation Limited,
2012).
Resources and capabilities of A2 milk company (VRIO framework)
VRIO framework is a very useful strategic tool to analyze the internal resources of the A2 Milk
Company Limited and assess whether these resources and capabilities provide a sustained
competitive advantage. This VRIO framework also analyzes whether the resources and
capabilities of A2 Milk Company can be improved to provide a greater competitive advantage.
Valuable (V)
According to the Valuable element in the VRIO framework, it is analyzed whether the resources
of A2 milk add value to organizational success or not. Some of the resources of the A2 Milk
Company are also analyzed in the context to its value for the organization which is mentioned as
below:
Financial resources: The Financial resources of the A2 Milk Company are highly
valuable as they required by the organization to invest in external opportunities. The
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financial resources are must to grab the opportunities and also helps in combating the
external threats to the organization.
Local Food products: According to the VRIO framework, the local food products of the
company are highly valuable as they add value to customer satisfaction because of its
quality of differentiation. Product differentiation is playing a major role in gaining a
competitive advantage (Pesic, Milic, & Stankovic, 2012).
Employees (Human resource): Employees are always considered as valuable assets for
the organizations and they can contribute to achieving the set organizational goals and
objectives. The employees of A2 Milk Company are highly trained and skilled that helps
the organization to achieve high productivity levels. The rate of employee retention is
also high in the organization which shows that the company is much more capable of
retaining the employees for a longer period of time.
Patents: Patents are also very valuable resources for the company as they help the
organization to sell its products and services in a fair way and without any interference.
The patents also allow organizations to earn licensing revenue by giving these patents to
other manufacturers.
Distribution network: The distribution network of A2 Milk Company Limited is very
strong and considered as the valuable resource of the organization. The strong
distribution network is very essential to reach the customers quickly and improve the
customer services and ensure to achieve the high revenues for A2 Milk Company
(Jugdev, 2017).
Cost structure: it is observed from the VRIO analysis that the cost structure of A2
Company is not a valuable resource as the cost of production is much higher in
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comparison to the competitors. There is a need to work on the cost structure as it is a
competitive disadvantage and affects the overall profitability of the company.
Research and development: The research and development at A2 Milk Company are
very costly and does not add value to the company’s competitive advantage. The cost of
research and development is much higher than the benefits provided to the company in
terms of innovation. However, the company needs to adopt some innovative ideas for
gaining competitive advantage.
Rare (R)
The resources that only acquired by one or very organizations are said to be rare and contributes
to gain competitive advantages. All the resources and capabilities of the organization are
analyzed and evaluated. Not every organization has the strong financial resources for the
investments, but A2 Milk Company has these resources which said to be rare. Moving ahead, the
local food products of the A2 Milk Company limited are not considered as rare as they are
offered to the customers by many other competitors. Talking about human resource, then having
a skilled and trained workforce is the biggest strength for the organization as it is identified that
these resources are rarely found in many organizations. Low employee turnover is a positive
point for organizations. Patent as resources considered as rare as they are not processed by the
competitors and also not easily available. In addition, it is also very rare to find strong
distribution networks in the organizations because it requires a huge amount of investment as
well as time. There are very few companies in the industry having strong distribution networks
(John Wiley & Sons, 2012).
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Imitable (I)
This aspect of the VRIO analysis demonstrates how difficult it is for the organization to imitate
the resources. The financial resources in the organization are costly to imitate in the organization
as these resources are acquired by A2Milk Company from the longer period of time and there is
a less threat of new entrants because high financial resources are required to set up a competitive
business. In terms of the local products, it is not difficult to imitate as competitors can easily
acquire these products by investing some amount in the research and development of the
companies (a2 Milk Company Limited, 2018). Therefore temporary competitive advantage is
provided by this resource. Also, employees are not costly to imitate as other companies can also
improve the skills of their workers by providing proper training, better compensation and career
growth opportunities. Moving further, it is not legal to imitate a patented product and it is costly
to develop the same resources and getting patent for that. Talking about the distribution
networks, then it is costly to imitate. It is observed that the competitors of A2 Milk Company
need to invest an amount to imitate a similar network of distribution.
Organization (O)
This part of the VRIO framework analyzes how the resources are organized to capture value
from them. The A2 Milk Company has clearly organized its financial resources with the intent
to capture the value as the company makes use of these resources very effectively. The company
invests its money at right time and at right place. The organization is unable to capture the value
from patents as the company lacks in using the patents to its full potential. Also, the distribution
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network of A2 Company is organized to capture the value by mainly focuses on reaching out to
the customers (Pesic, Milic, & Stankovic, 2012).
Therefore, it is identified from the VRIO framework of A2 Milk Company that the financial
resources and strong distribution networks are key resources that provide sustained competitive
advantage whereas the employees provide the temporary competitive advantage. The
competitive disadvantage for A2 Milk Company is its research and development and high-cost
structures.
Key resources Valuabl
e
Rare Costly to
imitate
Organized Competitive
advantage
Financial resources Y Y Y Y Sustained
Local food products Y N N N Competitive
parity
Human resources Y Y N N Temporary
Patents Y Y Y Y Unused
Distribution
network
Y Y Y Y Sustained
Cost structure N N N N Competitive
disadvantage
R & D N N N N Competitive
disadvantage
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Generic strategies
The level of competitiveness in the infant formula industry is high but considerably lower than in
other industries. The industry is dominating by fewer major firms which influence the supply and
pricing of products. However, the intensity of competition between the existing players is still
high with product differentiation taking centre stage of marketing strategies. The current generic
type of business strategy of A2 Milk Company is the product differentiation to gain a
competitive advantage. The A2 milk company has set clear product differentiation to survive in
the increasingly competitive market. According to the porter's generic strategies model, there are
basically four strategies which can be applied by the organizations to gain the competitive
advantages cost leadership, cost focus, differentiation leadership and differentiation focus. From
the value chain analysis and strategy statement of the organization, it is analyzed that the
company mainly focusing on the differentiation strategy and less focus is given on the cost of the
production (Snape, 2016). The A2 milk company already set a competitive advantage on the
basis of differentiation. The Current differentiation strategy of the A2 milk company needs a
proper marketing strategy that focuses on the identification of the unique selling propositions. A2
Milk Company is offering protein-free milk which is the USP of the organization but the
company is lacking in marketing and maintaining the cost of production of the products.
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The differentiation strategy
The differentiation arises from creating a unique value for the customers through high quality,
superior delivery time and product features. Differentiation strategy basically involves the
production of the different products from its competitors and selling it to the customers by
emphasizing on the unique features of the products. The A2 milk company has excelled for years
because of its unique product features like a1 protein free milk which results in attracting the
maximum number of customers especially the health conscious people (Chege & Oloko, 2017).
The main focus of differentiation strategy of A2 Milk Company is on the development of brand
loyalty by offering some different and unique products. There are many ways with the help of
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which the company developed differentiation leadership such as reliability, benefits and
distinctive features of the products. On the other hand, it is also identified that the company
needs to focus on the marketing strategies as it's important to convey the USP of the organization
to its customers in order to increase the profitability level of the organization and to build the
brand image of the company. It is also observed that when pursuing the differentiation strategy,
it is essential for the organizations to create a higher value for the customers. The A2 milk
company provides various benefits to the customers by providing healthy milk products to the
customers. According to the competitive advantage model the company can develop an effective
market strategy by utilizing its resources and capabilities and leverage those competencies either
through cost or differentiation orientation (A2 Corporation Limited, 2012). This will help the
organization to create value.
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As the company is already focusing on the differentiation, so there is a need to focus on the cost
and marketing strategies to gain a competitive advantage.
New Strategic Initiation: Marketing Mix
From the above analysis, it is clear that the company's main focus is on the differentiation
strategy but the company lacks in implementing effective marketing strategies. With the help of
effective marketing strategies, the company will be able to convey its unique selling propositions
to the customers that result in increasing the customer base. The unique Selling proposition of
A2 milk company products is the highest quality, uniqueness and healthy. The identification of
USPs is not sufficient until A2 milk Company Limited will not implement effective marketing
strategies. Effective Marketing strategies of A2 Milk Company will depend upon the ability of
Management to communicate about the unique selling proposition propositions. Therefore, the
marketing mix model is applied to discuss the marketing strategy of A2 milk Company Limited
(Humphreys & Trotman, 2011).
Product
this element of the marketing mix model provides a solution to the needs of customers. The A2
milk Company Limited can gain competitive advantage by improving its product. The A2 milk
company has excelled for years because of its unique product features like a1 protein free milk
which results in attracting the maximum number of customers especially the health conscious
people. The main focus of differentiation strategy of A2 Milk Company is on the development of
brand loyalty by offering some different and unique products. The company needs to focus on
the product design, features and name to make its position in the competitive market. The A2
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milk company should consider important factors such as quality, variety, packaging, product
features and brand name while developing the product strategy (Issar, Cowan, & Wegener,
2008).
Pricing
the pricing marketing initiative requires an evaluation of all the products offered by the company
to its target audience or customers. This strategy of the company involves the setting of prices,
payment methods, credit terms and discounts. There are two pricing strategies available for A2
Milk Company which they can apply to gain a competitive advantage.
a. The first option that a company can apply is the price penetration strategy. According to
this strategy the company can set the lowest prices for the products in comparison to the
competitors. This will help the A2 company milk company to gain the market share on
the basis of discounted pricing. It's very important that management should aware of the
potential responses from competitors to avoid the situation of an undesired price war.
b. The second option that can be used by A2 Milk Company is the choice of skimming
strategy which mainly focuses on the clear communication of differentiation basis and
provides justifications to the customers about the high prices for high-quality products
(Bodnár & Hajzser, 2018).
From the above two options, the company can apply the skimming strategy because today's
customers are ready to pay a higher amount for high-quality products. The customers from the
niche market are not interested in knowing the price as their main focus is on the quality of the
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product and the total cost involved in maintaining that product including the cost of acquiring,
consuming and disposing of the product.
Place/distribution
This marketing strategy is important to make the products easily available to customers. There is
a need to make some important decisions before developing and implementing the distribution
plan. A2 milk company need to decide the mode of the channel to make the product available to
its target customer segments either through its channels or distribution partners. The company
should also decide whether to adopt the direct distribution or indirect and distribution. The direct
distribution of products does not involve any middleman whereas the indirect distribution
involves the retailers, wholesalers for the selling of products. The A2 milk company can also
adopt the online distribution network by developing the ecommerce website to sell the products.
The customers in this competitive world are looking for products that are easily available and
convenient for them. Before selecting the right distribution channel, it is essential for A2 Milk
Company to consider the characteristics of the products (Jugdev, 2017). The milk that offered by
the company is punishable in nature, so it will be better to take a wise decision by not involving
various middlemen for the distribution of perishable products. The distribution strategy is highly
dependent upon the preferences of consumers and the resources and capabilities of the
organization itself. For example, if the customers in Australia prefer shopping for dairy products
like milk, curd from traditional stores, then the company should utilize its resources to open
more outlets. For the development of an effective distribution plan, it is also important for the A2
milk company is to analyze the distribution strategies of its competitors. A cost-benefit analysis
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should be conducted before developing effective distribution plans. Therefore, it is
recommended for A2 Milk Company to use the direct distribution channels and establish more
about outlets by using its financial resources.
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Promotion
Promotional strategies are the most important elements in the area of marketing. The A2 milk
Company Limited has the opportunities to implement promotional strategies to achieve its
marketing objectives and to gain a competitive advantage. Some of the line promotion options
for the A2 milk Company Limited are radio, TV and print advertising. Some of the important
initiatives for the A2 milk company include catalogues, tradeshows and direct mail campaigns
(Ahmed, 2018).
The promotional plan of the A2 milk company is playing a very important role to convey the
message to its customers regarding the new product, its features and uniqueness. First of all, it is
very essential to define the unique selling propositions to customers by understanding their
needs. A2 Milk Company should take an initiative with regard to the direct selling of the
products by establishing advertisements that push the product into the market. The combination
of push and pull strategies can be used to attract the customers towards the A2 milk products.
The company also has the option to use social media marketing as the trend of social media has
been increasing from the last many years. The social media market will enable the organization
to reach the maximum number of customers in an economical way.
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Suitability of new strategic initiative
This new strategic initiative regarding the marketing of the products of A2 Milk Company is
suitable as it helps in grabbing the opportunities that exist in the external environment. From the
external environment analysis, it is observed that the population of Australia is increasing which
leads to an increase in the demand for the dairy products. The rise in population provides a great
opportunity for companies like A2 milk to increase its customer base and profitability levels.
With this effective marketing initiative, the company will be able to reach the customers through
different mode of channels (Veresová, 2012).
From the existing resources and capabilities analysis, it is found that the company has strong
financial resources and poor in research and development capabilities. Therefore, this new
strategic initiative in relation to marketing will enable the organization to invest some amount of
its financial resources on the marketing strategies for the development and introduction of new
innovative strategy ideas. From the above analysis, it is clear that the company's main focus is on
the differentiation strategy but the company lacks in implementing effective marketing strategies.
With the help of effective marketing strategies, the company will be able to convey its unique
selling propositions to the customers that result in increasing the customer base. The unique
Selling proposition of A2 milk company products is the highest quality, uniqueness and healthy.
The identification of USPs is not sufficient until A2 milk Company Limited will not implement
effective marketing strategies. Effective Marketing strategies of A2 Milk Company will depend
upon the ability of Management to communicate about the unique selling proposition
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propositions. Therefore, the marketing mix model is applied to discuss the marketing strategy of
A2 milk Company Limited.
It is also analyzed from the above strategic analysis review that the cost structure of A2 milk
company creates a competitive disadvantage for the company as the cost of production is higher
than the benefits. The marketing initiative will help the organization to convey the message to its
customers regarding the high price for the products because of the high cost of production and
high quality in comparison to the other competitors (The a2 Milk Company, 2016). It's very
important to utilize the strong distribution network of the organizations to provide better services
to its customers. The products of the A2 milk company produced through the scalable supply
chain model that has been developed for the supply of Australia for infant formula. The company
was lacking in the investment in sales, marketing and brand development. The increase in
investment for marketing enables to look upon the customer aspects that add value to the
organization. The below diagram shows the supply chain of A2 milk in Australian markets:
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From the above supply chain, it is clear that the company has a strong distribution network but
the company needs to focus on the online social media platforms as well for the promotion of the
products. The implementation of the effective marketing strategies in the organization will help
to build a strong brand image of the company and results in the higher profitability levels of the
A2 Company (Mongay, 2016).
Strategic implementation plan
Moving to the strategic implementation plan, first of all, it is important to understand that why
the organization need to bring changes to this strategy, what needs to be changed and how these
changes are going to be implemented (Satyanarayana, 2018).
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Required changes
There are many marketing issues has been found A2 milk company Limited. Some of the
marketing issues that faced by the organization include the understanding of customers needs,
attracting customers towards the product, delivery of the accurate message to the customers, and
lack of using innovative channels for the promotion of the products. There is a need to make
changes in the marketing strategies as previously the company was using the traditional methods
of marketing. To compete and survive in the competitive market, it is essential for the
organization to implement the marketing mix strategies to target the mass consumer segments.
There is no doubt the company has strong financial resources and offering unique products to the
customers, but still, there is a need to have effective marketing strategies to push the different
products into the market and to pull the attraction of the customers for the company (LaFrenz,
2018).
From the VRIO Framework, it is clear that human resources, cost structure and research and
development of A2 milk company leads to create a competitive disadvantage. Therefore, through
the affecting marketing strategies, the cost structure and Research and Development areas will be
improved. From the current generic strategies of the organization, it is clear that the company
adopted a differentiation strategy but less focus is given on the cost leadership. Through the
implementation of effective marketing strategies, the company will be able to create the value for
its customer by utilizing its available resources and capabilities (Kudova, 2008).
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Implementation and management of changes
There are many actions that need to take for the implementation of the marketing plan
effectively. Marketing planning is highly dependent upon adequate resources and expertise for
implementation. Some of the important factors that need to consider while promoting the
products of A2 Milk Company includes:
 Clear definition of unique selling proposition and understanding the needs of the
customer how the product of A2 milk company is different from the competitors
 Crafting the message content so that the customer has a clear idea about the offered
product. There is a need to consider the AIDA model that reflects the awareness, interest,
Desire and actions at the time of development of the content message (Muchdar, et al.,
2013).
 The A2 milk company needs to collect the target market information such as the age
Gender and income of the customers along with the price sensitivity levels.
 There is a need to conduct the cost-benefit analysis for the selected promotion
alternatives. The use of social media for the promotion of products will offer the
company to interact with customers by building a strong personalized relationship
through e-WOM to get better outcomes (Issar, et al., 2008).
Action Plan
i. Communication: The most important action is to involve the employees in the marketing
plan to communicate with them about the marketing initiatives and its contribution to the
company's profitability. The communication with regard to the new social media
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platforms for the promotion of the products is essential and explains to them how these
ideas fit with organizational goals and priorities. It is essential to delegate the tasks
according to the capability and skills of the employees and give them the opportunity to
develop their marketing skills as well (Limited, 2018).
ii. End goals: While implementing the marketing plans it is very important that marketers
should know end goals and unique selling propositions. The main goal of the
organization is to gain and sustain its competitive advantage (Group, 2018).
iii. Monitoring the progress: It's very important to monitor and review the marketing plan by
setting some of the questions. Some of the questions that help to review the progress
include:
 Are these strategies of marketing on target?
 Do the customers receive quality information?
 Do all the activities performed under the budget?
iv. Adjustments: At the time of reviewing and monitoring the progress, it is very important
to make adjustments accordingly. A2 milk company need to focus on the changes in the
technology, competition customer’s market conditions and any other external factors as
these will influence the consequences of the marketing plan.
v. Contingency planning: Marketing is a continuous growing and changing process because
of which reason there is a need to develop some contingency plans. According to the
contingency planning, there is a need to add some new steps into Action Plan to achieve
the marketing objectives efficiently and effectively (Barlow, 2014).
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Measurement of a strategic initiative
Balanced Scorecard
It is very essential for the organization to pay attention to the implementation of the balanced
scorecard framework to measure the overall performance of the organization. This Framework
will help your organization to understand each and every prospective such as financial,
customer, internal processes and growth. With the help of this balanced scorecard, it will
become easy for the organization to manage its risks. The balanced is used to analyze the overall
growth of the company by using different perspectives suggest financial, customer, internal
processes and growth. All these perspectives have a relationship with each other and have a
great influence on the financial performance of the company.
Financial perspective: The financial perspective in the balanced scorecard is used to determine
how A2 Milk Company wishes to be viewed by its shareholders. The marketing strategy of the
A2 milk company from the perspectives of financial of Balanced scorecard can be measured by
analyzing the cash flow generation, increase in the long term shareholder wealth and balance
sheet strength. According to this perspective of Balanced Scorecard, the success of the marketing
strategy implementation plan is highly dependent upon the profitability and revenue generation
(Woodford, 2007).
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Customer perspective: The performance of the organization can also be measured through this
perspective. This area of balanced scorecard identifies how the company wishes to be viewed by
its customers. This perspective measures the progress of the strategic marketing initiatives by
analyzing the value created for the customers and Organization. The market share is the best
determinant to measure the progress (Bodnár & Hajzser, 2018).
Learning and growth perspective: The organizational learning and growth perspective
describes the improvements and changes that the company needs to focus if they want to
translate its vision and strategies into organizational goals and measures. In this perspective, A2
Milk Company measures their ability to provide the employee capability and skills which is
necessary to support strategies of the organization. The organization is expected to increase its
investment in the marketing plans to attract, engage and retain the world-class customers to drive
the outcomes. These investments also include the better pricing and high quality of the products
with a strong focus on the long term growth and it is observed that these will help to achieve
competitive advantage.
Internal process perspective: The internal business process reflects the business processes are
planning and procedures that should be adopted by the organization with the purpose of customer
satisfaction and shareholders’ satisfaction. A2 Milk Company also follows business processes to
deliver customer value. The key internal process that described in the balanced scorecard
framework is the innovation with the help of which Wesfarmers develop new markets or group
business to create more wealth and revenue (Madsen & Stenheim, 2015).
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Strategy map
Strategy mapping is a tool created by the balanced scorecard that allows the organizations to
explain and communicate about its strategies. The below image shows an example of the strategy
mapping that includes all the perspectives of the balanced scorecard.
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In simple words, Strategy mapping basically helps the organization to create value by focusing
on growth and profitability. Strategy mapping is the best way to convey the employees regarding
the strategies that going to be implemented by the organization. It increases the engagement of
the employees as well as other stakeholders in the strategic process (Humphreys & Trotman,
2011). In the strategic marketing mapping, the most important things that involve are the
customer services, distribution partners, sales, strategic direction, marketing analytics and
marketing communication. All of these elements are represented in the form of a map which is
shown below:
(Allen, 2011)
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Conclusion
The good performance or successful competitive advantage is only achieved through the
continuous improvement in the organizations. Every organization has set objectives for the
future and to achieve those objectives, the strategy is used as an action plan. It is concluded from
the above report that the company need to focus on the marketing strategies as it's important to
convey the USP of the organization to its customers in order to increase the profitability level of
the organization and to build the brand image of the company. It is also observed that when
pursuing the differentiation strategy, it is essential for the organizations to create a higher value
for the customers. The A2 milk company provides various benefits to the customers by providing
healthy milk comments of the customers. According to the competitive advantage model the
company can develop an effective market strategy by utilizing its resources and capabilities and
leverage those competencies either through cost or differentiation orientation. This will help the
organization to create value. Therefore, it is identified from the VRIO framework of A2 Milk
Company that the financial resources and strong distribution networks are key resources that
provide sustained competitive advantage whereas the employees provide the temporary
competitive advantage. The competitive disadvantage for A2 Milk Company is its research and
development and high-cost structures. Therefore, through the affecting marketing strategies, the
cost structure and Research and Development areas will be improved. From the current generic
strategies of the organization, it is clear that the company adopted a differentiation strategy but
less focus is given on the cost leadership. Through the implementation of effective marketing
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strategies, the company will be able to create the value for its customer by utilizing its available
resources and capabilities. There are many actions that need to take for the implementation of the
marketing plan effectively. Marketing planning is highly dependent upon adequate resources and
expertise for implementation. The most important things that involve in the marketing planning
for the A2 Milk Company are the customer services, distribution partners, sales, strategic
direction, marketing analytics and marketing communication.
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References
A2 Corporation Limited. (2012). A2 Strategic Review Outcomes. Retrieved from
https://thea2milkcompany.com/newsroom/market-announcements/a2-strategic-review-
outcomes/
a2 Milk Company Limited. (2018). A transformative year: annual report. Retrieved from
https://thea2milkcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/A2M-Annual-Report-FY18.pdf
Ahmed, K. (2018). Marketing Plan The Marketing Plan: An Introduction. 10(1). Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/10057660/Marketing_Plan_The_Marketing_Plan_An_Introdu
ction_pp_A1_A2
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