This report analyzes the retail industry in Malta and the internal and external environment of Lidl Malta. It includes a Pestle analysis, Porter's industry analysis, mission and vision, VRIO model, and business canvas model.
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STRATGIC MANAGEMENT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3 Pestle Analysis.............................................................................................................................3 Porter’s industry Analysis............................................................................................................5 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6 Mission and Vision......................................................................................................................6 VRIO Model................................................................................................................................6 Business Canvas Model...............................................................................................................8 TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10 Porter’s Generic Strategies........................................................................................................10 Bowman Clock Model...............................................................................................................12 Horizontal and vertical Integration............................................................................................14 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16
INTRODUCTION The process ofstrategic managementbasically involves analysis of internal, external and competitive environment so that strategies can be developed for the organisations accordingly (Barney and Hesterly, 2020). Lidl Malta is a part of famous retail brand Lidl and opened in the Maltese retail segment in the year 2008. The following report will present the analysis of the retail industry of Malta and the external as well as internal environment analysis so that appropriate strategies can be suggested and formulated for the expansion of Lidl Malta. MAIN BODY TASK 1 Since Lidl Malta is operating in the retail industry of Malta, the entire external environment relevant to the industry can be analysed using the two models i.e. Pestle Analysis framework for analysing the external market forces and Porter’s five force model to analyse the industry framework. Pestle Analysis Pestle analysisframework involves analysis of the six different factors that constitute the external environment of an industry and affect the decision making and strategy formulation of the company as well (Ward, 2019). These can be evaluated in following manner: Political Factor: While analysing the retail industry of Malta, it can be adequately said that the political stability of the country is very well maintained and the rules and regulations are also in favour of the retail industry (Hruska and Maresova, 2019). There are no trade barriers that have been developed by the government and also the taxation rates are at a stable level. Lidl Malta can use the opportunity to easily establish themselves in the market and therefore target increased number of customers for the company. This is a favourable position for the company and for the retail market segment which can support the company in its expansions and implementation of o9ther strategic plans that they want to carry out. Economic Factor: factors like the purchasing power of the consumers, inflation and interest rates, GDP of the economy etc. are evaluated in this factor (Best, de Valence and Langston, 2017). Here all the economic aspects that can affect the working of an industry are taken into consideration. The economy of Malta is emerging as a very strong and stable economy with abundant of resources and in need for greater exposure to the branded products. For Lidl Malta, this is an extremely profitable chance of establishing their brand successfully because Lidl is 3
already a renounced brand in the external markets of UK etc. and now the retail industry of Malta can also be captured. Social Factor: The society of the country in which industry is a very critical factor in evaluating that whether the industry is favourable or not because only when people approve the products that are being sold or marketed, only then can a company grow in that particular industry. Since retail is that industry which fulfils daily requirements and additionally, Lidl Malta has placed their good quality products at very affordable rated within the market of Malta and therefore their products are highly preferred by local people (Shieh, 2017). This has placed company in an extremely favourable position where they can easily gain the additional market share and confidence of the people thus establishing themselves as a superior brand. Technological Factor: the technological advancements taking place in the retail industry all over the world have been very quick and this has impacted the manner in which retail stores all over the world are operating currently (Lewis, 2017). The retail industry of Malta is not very well developed in context of technological advancement and they are not so quick in adopting the different advancements. Lidl Malta therefore has an opportunity to enhance the shopping experience of the people of Malta because they have all the advancements and therefore can be implemented at Lidl Malta as ell thus giving them a huge competitive advantage as well. Legal Factor: Legal compliance and following the different policies and rules that have been developed by different countries is necessary to ensure that the working of the company is not interrupted and they can perform their business activities satisfactorily (Fozer and et.al., 2017). Although there are not many restrictions in the retail industry that is operating in Malta and mostly the licenses regarding store locations etc. are obtained easily, but Lidl Malta still needs to ensure that the compliance is not compromised with. Therefore, special precautions need to be maintained in case any legal risk might arise from the activities. Environmental Factor: People have become highly environmental conscious now where they are regularly evaluating the products of the company in their sustainability aspect (Hill, Jones, and Schilling, 2016). This has affected retail industry as well because the products that they sell are in bulk and mostly involves energy consumption as well. Lidl Malta can ensure that they are using sustainable and renewable energy sources even if they have to charge a little higher price because customer will pay more money if they find that the efforts of the company are truly making a difference. 4
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Therefore, collectively the external market proves to be favourable for the Lidl Malta and their strategies can be further implemented with lesser market risk of failure. Porter’s industry Analysis Apart from the external environment analysis, it is necessary to perform an analysis of the industry itself as well and the Porter’s Five force model is most appropriate in identifying the trends and competiveness in the retail industry of Malta: Existing Rivalry (Average):Majority of the retailers operating in Malta are not with huge brand name and only surrounding or local residents are aware of such retail stores (Zhang, Leng and Zhou, 2020). Comparatively, Lidl Malta s a branch of Lidl and the brand name of Lidl is extremely well developed and advertised. This given an upper hand to Lidl Malta thus making them attracts more customers simply because of a better brand name that is already very well established. However there is a risk that people might rust and support their local retailers more than Lidl Malta and therefore it is necessary that Lidl Malta presents themselves as one amongst the local people of Malta ready to serve them. Therefore, the risk of this factor is average for Lidl Malta. Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Low):There are a wide number of suppliers that are available in the retail industry and additionally, Lidl Malta also has access to its international suppliers. This therefore gives the company a favourable position to operate in and the impact of suppliers reduces in the pricing decision (Meyer and Cohen, 2018). Therefore, the managers of Lidl Mata has the opportunity of easily shifting over to the next best supplier in case any problem arises and therefore this turns the factor into their favours thus making the threat of this factor low. Bargaining Power of Buyers (Low):There are lot of retail stores operating in the retail industry of Malta and they can easily switch between different retailers according to the pricing mechanism (Lasserre, 2017). But still the bargaining power of buyers in context of Lidl Malta is lower because the brand presents extremely good quality products are very affordable prices that are in synchronisation with the prices charged by local retailers. Additionally, the variety of products presented by Lidl Malta is also extensive thus putting this factor in favour of the Lidl Malta. Threat of New entrants (High):The market of Malta is open to everyone and like Lidl Malta, there are many brands that can enter the retail industry very easily (Moreno-Izquierdo and et.al., 2016). In this scenario, the brand positioning of the company might weaken and present a 5
possible threat of the other company capturing the market share of Lidl Malta in the retail industry. Therefore, the threat of this factor is extremely high because the target market of Lidl Malta can be easily taken over by some other new entrant. Also the local retailers also present a bigger competition of the company this proving this factor to be the one with higher risk. Threat of Substitute Products (Low):This factor is not so risky for the company because the products that they sell cannot be easily substitutes in terms of their quality, pricing and brand name (Lewis, 2017). Even if a product belonging to the similar variant is presented by the competitors of Lidl Malta, the quality and taste that Lidl Malta sells cannot be matched easily. Therefore, the threat of this factor is substantially much lower for the company. TASK 2 Mission and Vision TheMissionof Lidl Malta is to always put their client’ need first and offer best products in the best prices to enhance the customer satisfaction which is their primary goal as well. This helps the company in targeting a larger customer segment and meet their demands effectively by presenting good quality products to them (Lidl Malta, Quality Costs Less, 2020). Also, the people of Malta need such higher quality brands who can present before them an assortment of such well developed and differentiated products. The Vision of the Lidl Malta is to simplify the shopping experience of the customers at their store and ensure sustainability in the business prospects and products or services offered by them. By this vision, the company acknowledges the need for overall development and therefore, their vision helps them in achieving such collective development of society and company (Lidl Malta, Quality Costs Less, 2020). People of Malta are becoming increasingly aware of the impact on the environment surrounding them and therefore offering eco- friendly products will help in satisfying their demands positively and raise goodwill as well. VRIO Model Vrio Analysishelps in identifying the internal resources that are available to the company and then categorise them into different categories as below: Valuable: This aspect helps in ascertaining that whether the resources or capabilities which are in possession of the company are valuable to the company or not i.e. whether or not they contribute in increasing the value of the company (Hernández and Garcia, 2018). When a resource is not classified under this category, it symbolises as a competitive disadvantage for the 6
company. it is therefore necessary to evaluate this aspect of resources regularly in context of internal and external environment’s factors. Rare: Rarity of a resource is evaluated in the context of the ease with which it can be acquired by other competing companies as well. When it is difficult to acquire such resources, then they are termed a rare for the organisation (Mahoney and Pandian, 2017). If a company has more of those resources under their acquisitions which can be termed as rare, then they are automatically in a position to exercise more power over their competitors because of the added advantage. Imitable: When the resources held by one organisation cant be easily imitated i..e duplicated by the competing organisations that they are termed as difficult to be imitated and this can lead to the company gaining huge competitive advantage (Ramos‐Rodríguez and Ruíz‐Navarro, 2017). However, if a resource can be easily duplicated than it is termed as imitable and holds lesser value for the company. Organised: Even when a company has adequate resources available with them, it is very important to organise their consumption and usage because other than that, they cannot be utilised fully if their use is not justified and organised (Vargas-Hernández and Garcia, 2019). Therefore, the organisation aspect helps in evaluating how organised these resources are in a company. For Lidl, the analysis of their resources can be done in a following manner by the applicability of VRIO analytical framework: ResourcesValuableRareImitableOrganised Human Resources✔✔✔ Technology✔✔ Patentsand Trademarks ✔ Financial Resources✔✔ Local Products✔✔ Distribution Network ✔✔ Researchand Development ✔✔ Cost Structure✔ 7
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Therefore, it can be ascertained that the resources and capacities of Lidl Malta are the major contributors in giving it a competitive advantage and helping operating successfully. Business Canvas Model In order to evaluate the entire process through which the company creates and delivers valuetoitscustomers,thebusinesscanvasmodelofthecompanycanbetakeninto consideration: Key Partners Themajor partners of Lidl Maltaarethe localsuppliers and producers at Maltasothat theycanbe encouraged. Thecompany signs a code of conductwith themdothat theycancarry outwork effectively. The local people andconsumers ofMlata, Maltese governmentare themajor stakeholders. These will help Key Activities The local farmers and people of Maltese are the major producers or the products sold by Lidl Malta. The salesmen at the stores of Lidl Malta are properly trained and educated and these are local people (Barney and Hesterly, 2020). Their knowledge f local culture and traditions help in satisfying the Value Proposition The integration of local products along with the Lidl differentiated products helps ni creating a unique value proposition for customers. Technological advancement is also major contributor in value proposition. Since Lidl Malta is properly owned by Maltese people thus creating value. Customer Relationships A simplified but enthralling experience is provided to customers with all the latest use of technology (Ojasalo and Ojasalo, 2018). Staffs are available for assistance patiently at all times. Customer Segments All categories of customer segments are targeted because at Lidl Malta, something is there for everyone who visits. The local people of Malta are the most important customer segment because they are the main visitors for 8
in increasing the acceptanceof the company at locallevels amongst people. needs of the customers. Although local retailers are a competing threat to the business, Lidl Malta ensures that they ensure good quality in affordable pricing so that customers can be retained. the store and their satisfaction is of highest priority. Key Resources Human resource involving local people is the most critical resource required at Lidl Malta. Technologically skilled people for maintaining the systems that are operating. Adequate back plans for cost management in case of any crisis situation that might occur in the business is also necessary. Channels Stores of Lidl Malta have been opened and convenient and accessible location (Hruska and Maresova, 2019). The company is also active on online websites and e- commerce websites to facilitate product sale. Personal Selling is also adopted especially in cases of older patients. Cost Structure The major cost involved is in the procurement of the resources that are required and the Revenue Streams Major revenue is earned through the sale of products available at the Lidl Malta 9
manufactured products that are sold (Joyc, and Paquin, 2016). Technology is also a major contributor in the cost incurred. The products are sold at feasible rates and therefore revenue generation is usually higher in Lidl Malta stores. stores. Due to the eco- friendly and mostly organic products with high quality, consumers are willing to pay more thus adding on to the revenue stream. Lidl Malta has recently begun real estate business as well due to the lucrative industry real estate is in Malta. This is also contributing in revenue generation. TASK 3 In order to ensure that the strategies that are adopted by company are profitable and helps in continuing and addressing the core business activities, it is necessary to formulate these strategies after elaborate considerations (Priem and Butler, 2016). This can be done by using different strategy formulation and choice models and applying them for Lidl Malta. Porter’s Generic Strategies Porter generic model is a strategical tool emphasis over taking competitive advantages by implementing certain strategies. This is a well diversified model emphasis over both long term as well as short term competitive advantages in respect to the corporate organisation. Strategies suggested under this model can be summarised in the following ways. Cost Leadership strategy:Cost leadership strategy is a strategical tool focuses over taking competitive advantages in the target market with the support of cost leadership approach. This strategical tool focuses over taking competitive advantages in two ways either by charging the industry average price or by charging the lowest possible price range (Arianty, 2018). Charging average industry price will increase the profits of company as company will be able to generate more sales revenue in target market. Price of products is among the primary factor which attracts customers easily. Cost leadership strategy also focuses over expanding company’s sales by charging the lowest possible prices. In this strategy by enhancing the high sales turnover organisation can achieve high profitability. Both the strategies effective implementation of promotional campaigns in order to project the discount strategies. The main aim of cost 10
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leadership approach is to improve the sales by charging fewer prices as compare to other market competitors. Differentiation strategy:Differentiation strategy is also an effective strategy suggested under Porter generic strategy. This satirical tool focuses over taking competitive advantages by establishing a unique image in the target market. This involves making the products look different and attractive from other competitors in the target market. In order to build a unique product image in target market organisation can focus over research and development activities. Innovation also play crucial role in generating a unique product identity in target market. This strategy also requires abilities to deliver high quality products under the target market. In order to take competitive advantages with the use of this strategical tool effective promotional campaign alsorequire.Differentiationstrategyisaneffectivestrategyenablesorganisationstaking competitive advantages under target market. Cost Focus Strategy:In order to take short term competitive advantages in target market cost focus strategy is an effective strategically tool. Focus of this strategical tool is on a specific niche in the target market. This strategy involve launching a similar products launched at higher prices at the low price range (Ndugo, Kyongo and Njoroge, 2018). By reducing the advantages of such similar higher price category products similar products reflects some of the features of the higher price range products can be launched under target market. Most of the organisation uses this strategy to take competitive advantages in target market. Differentiation Focus Strategy:Differentiation focus strategy is also an effective strategical tool used under the Porter generic strategy. This strategy aims to make a unique image in front of the selected target customers in the market. By attracting the selected group of customer with the differentiationstrategyorganisationcantakecompetitiveadvantagesundertargetmarket segment. Management of Lidl Malta can utilise thecost leadership strategyin order to take competitive advantages in the target market. Retail sector is highly competitive market sector and the products range in also similar so by applying cost leadership strategy company management can take competitive advantages in the retail market of Malta Bowman Clock Model The Bowman Clock Model is a prominent model for evaluating the strategies that are available to the companies and helps in developing most profitable strategies (Bowman's 11
Strategic Clock (Strategic Positioning),2019). It can be used for Lidl Malta in following manner: Figure1: Bowman Clock Model Source:Bowman's Strategic Clock (Strategic Positioning),2019 Price of the product and its perceived value by the targeted customer segment are two dimensions on the basis of which the products are positioned in the market. There are eight different positions that can be used to evaluate the different positioning strategies for products of Lidl Malta: Position 1- Lower Price and low value addition: Companies at this position are not competitive at all because the products are priced extremely cheap and the perception regarding the products is also very low (David and David, 2016). Lidl Malta simply cannot adopt this strategy because this will lead the company to become a failure rather than the success. Position 2- Low Price: This position is for the low cost leaders in the industry where the companies exercise economies of scale thus helping them in pricing their products at the lowest rates and increase overall profits. This strategy cannot be adopted by Lidl Malta because the prices charged are not this lower where company can become cost leaders. Position 3- Hybrid: This positioning involves a mixture of low to high pricing and the value perception of the customers is still high because of a combination of goods that are offered by the company. Lidl Malta can use this strategy where the consumers can be persuaded to 12
acknowledge the perceived value is higher when combinations of goods are purchased at a reasonably lower pricing. Position 4: Differentiation: Under this strategy, the perceived value of the consumer is at its peak and the products are offered at a affordable rate (Lasserre, 2017). The brand loyalty and awareness are two critical points for implementation of this strategy where the added value that is offered at the reasonable prices is the major attracting figure. This strategy is not a feasible option for Lidl Malta because if they go for it they would not be able target all the customer segments. Position 5: Focused Differentiation: This is the strategy where profits earned can be huge because prices are high and the perceived value is also very high. However, this strategy can be adoptedonlybyluxurybrandswhocanexercisepremiumpricingstrategyandhavea particularly niche market usually. For Lidl Malta, adopting this position is not a favourable option because their philosophy is to offer something of value to everyone who visits and at affordable prices. Position 6: Riskier High margins: The risk here is very high as the prices charged are high and the perceived value is not met i.e. nothing extra is being offered to the customers (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne, 2018). However, if consumers are buying products even at this stage, then profits can be extremely high but failure is unavoidable if customers eventually shift away. Lidl Malta offers no such product whose price is high and no extra value is offered because affordable pricing is their goal. Position 7: Monopoly Pricing: This is an unrealistic but heavily profitable situation that a company can adopt where they are the only sellers of the product. The perception of the consumers, irrespective of it being high or low, is not taken into consideration and the prices are kept high. For Lidl Malta, this is a fairly impossible situation because they operate in retail segment where products can be easily copied. Also, monopolies are strictly regulated by governments. Position 8: Loss in Market share: This is the worst position that can be adopted by any company as the pricing is also lower and the expectations of the consumers is alsovery low collectively this indicates a failed product or service (Rothaermel, 2016). For Lidl Malta as well, this is the worst strategy that can be adopted and needs to be avoided at all costs. 13
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Therefore, it can be said that the best strategy that can be adopted by Lidl Malta would be to position them atHybridwhere the cost charged is also average and the perceived value is also kept at high thus increasing the targeted customer segment and presenting a profitable strategic positioning to the company in Maltese retail industry. Horizontal and vertical Integration This technique helps in analysing the partnerships and integration activities thaw the company should enter into so as to assure availability of better strategic availability of resources and garner higher profits: Horizontal Integration: Under this company tries to expand their current level of operation by merging or acquiring other companies that are in the similar industry. Lidl Malta can apply horizontal integration with the local retailers so that their overall revenue can be increased in the market. This strategy will help in expansion of the market and increase revenue simultaneously. Vertical Integration: Vertical integration can be done either backwards or forward (Bourgeois, 2018). Under backward integration, company acquires those companies whose output act as input in the existing company i.e. acquiring supplier’s business is backward integration. Forward integration on the other hand signifies acquisition of the industry to which product is supplied to i.e. output of existing industry acts as input for another. For Lidl Malta, only backward integration strategy can be adopted because they are the ultimate retailers selling products to consumers and thus forward integration is not possible. CONCLUSION The above analysis of different models and theories relevant to the analysis of the external and internal environment in which Lidl Malta is operating shows that the retail industry of Malta is strong and in favour of the company. After application of different strategic cvhoice models it can be concluded that the best strategy for Lidl Malta would be to keep presenting quality products at affordable rates and expand in the market by either horizontal or vertical integration in the retail industry of Malta. 14
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