Strategic Analysis of Maliban Biscuit Manufactories

Table of Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................1
1.1 Company Overview..........................................................................................................1
1.2 Vision and Mission Statements of the Company..............................................................1
1.3 Key Products of Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Limited.......................................1
2 Strategic Analysis.....................................................................................................................3
2.1 Porter's Five Forces Model...............................................................................................3
2.2 SWOT Analysis................................................................................................................5
2.2.1 Strengths....................................................................................................................5
2.2.2 Weaknesses................................................................................................................6
2.2.3 Opportunities.............................................................................................................6
2.2.4 Threats.......................................................................................................................6
2.3 PESTEL Analysis.............................................................................................................7
2.4 4Ps strategy analysis of the Company.............................................................................10
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1. Introduction
1.1 Company Overview
Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Limited is the pioneer and one of the most popular taste of
biscuits manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. The Maliban is the most trusted and also the high-
ranking brand that lasts 60 years ago in Sri Lankan Confectionery industry which has a
production capacity of over around three thousand metric tons per month with over seventy-four
thousand (74,0000 outlets island wide. Maliban manufactures range of crackers and wafers
which sold over the island and sold over thirty-five (35) countries across five countries in
international market. (Lakmini, 2016)
1.2 Vision and Mission Statements of the Company
The vison of the Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Limited is “To be the most successful and
respected Biscuit company in Sri Lanka” (Maliban, n.d.).
The mission of the company is “To win the Hearts and Minds of Consumers by delivering food
propositions with exceptional quality, safety & value whilst being environmentally & socially
responsible, creating employee satisfaction and returning optimum value to stakeholders”.
(Maliban, n.d.)
1.3 Key Products of Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Limited
The Maliban (Pvt) Limited is the most popular biscuit production company in Sri Lanka, and it
has the attract the taste of the 99% of the Sri Lankans by producing different kinds of varied
flavors to match different level of ages and people’s perception for flavors.
So, in the Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Limited there are number of kinds of biscuits
available and few of them are listed below.
 Gift assortments
o Tea Time Assortment
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o Classique Biscuit Assortment
 Health and wellness kind of biscuits
o Sugar Free
o Bran Cracker
 Wafer
o Chocolate Wafers
o Vanilla Wafers
o Lemmon Wafers
 Sweet Biscuits
o Milk Shortcake
o Nice Sorties
o Gold Marie
o Ginger Light
o Marie Premium
o Marie Chocolate
 Savory
o Krisco
o Cheese bits
o Chick Bits
o Snackers
o Cheese &Chellie Snackers
o Masala Snackers
o Spicy Onion Bitsy
 Cream Biscuits
o Orange Cream
o Custard Cream
o Real Double Chocolate & Vanilla Real Double Strawberry &Vanilla Chocolate
Cream
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2 Strategic Analysis
The strategic analysis is an essential factor for any organization to analyze the hidden and urging
issues within a company and then to recreate strategies matching to the organizational goals and
objectives.
As the initial step for the strategic analysis, the business context should be clearly analyzed and
understand in order to develop powerful strategies for the organization.
The strategic plan should be developed after a though analysis on both the micro-environment
and the macro environment of the organization. The strategic analysis for the micro environment
of the organization was conducted by applying the Potter’s five force model and the macro
environment analysis was conducted using the PESTEL analysis and the SWOT analysis.
2.1 Porter's Five Forces Model
The porter’s five forces support the assess of the company’s micro level factors in order to assess
and evaluate the competitive strength and position of a business organization. According to the
porter’s five forces, there are five factors that affect the strategy and the continuation of the
business process. According to that the five forces are;
 The bargaining power of customers
The customers’ perception and their wiliness to the pay and their capability to the pay affect the
business. If the customers are not ready to pay for the product, then it creates a bargaining power
by customers of the business continuation. So, for the Maliban company, the customers
perception regarding the flavors create impact on their business products. Therefore, the Maliban
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as it has done already should be able to produce different flavors that matches the different
groups of customers.
 The bargaining power of suppliers
The demand and the pressure release from the suppliers also have an impact over the business.
The bargain power of the suppliers for the budgets and the supply of the adequate resources on
time create considerable impacts on the strategic plan of the organization when continuing the
business process.
 Threat of new entrants
The new entrants to the market also create an impact to the business as it creates the division of
the market and the competition for the business. For example, the entrance of the new biscuit
production companies such as Munchee, Cherish, Diana, Crown create threats for the market
strategy of the Maliban company.
 Threat of substitutes
The presence of the substitute products in the market should be considered attentively when
developing the strategic plan for the organization. For the Maliban, the biscuit production should
be done in an advanced unique way, ensuring that no other flavor or substitute can replace the
need and taste gaining from the Maliban biscuits. The availability of the fresh bites, bakery
products, fresh fried items such as wade, samosa, Cake manufacturers, homemade snacks and
foods create the threat of substitutes for the Maliban company.
 Competitive rivalry
The main driver is the number and capability of competitors in the market. Many competitors,
offering undifferentiated products and services, will reduce market attractiveness of the Maliban
brand. For example, the rivalry of the Munchee biscuit has a great impact for the Maliban. The
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Munchee tries to compete the Maliban by however producing the same flavored biscuits with far
more similar kinds as of Maliban.
Figure 1
2.2 SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis is another major tool that support the strategic analysis of an organization.
The SWOT analysis provides an in-depth analysis into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and the threats for an organization. The SWOT analysis provides a macro environment analysis
to the organization as this is a is a method for analyzing the internal strengths and weaknesses,
and the external opportunities and threats facing the enterprise.
2.2.1 Strengths
The strengths include the company’s capabilities and resources that enable it to provide value
and generate competitive advantage. According the Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Limited
the strong brand name and the image that have been built by the Maliban is a great strength for
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Porter's
Five Forces
Model
The
bargaining
power of
customers
The
bargaining
power of
suppliers
Threat of
new
entrants
Threat of
substitutes
Competitive
rivalry

the company. Further, the strong market presence as well as the established sales and distribution
network are the strengths for the organization. In addition to that the strengths such as set of
loyal customer base and the quality, the capability and the effectiveness of research and
development adds strengths to the organization.
2.2.2 Weaknesses
The weaknesses are issues that limit the company’s ability to exploit its strengths. The Maliban
company’s inability to acquire scarce raw materials such as wheat flour and the Dependance of
suppliers for that, insufficient production capacities of some products such as Bran crackers, the
unavailability of energy and cost saving approaches, low profit margins of some products make
the business wakens its smooth flow.
2.2.3 Opportunities
Opportunities provide an organization with the chance to improve its competitive position. The
introduction ideas of new production by Research and Development center such as Portion cake.
The ability to geographically expand the seller network, the opening of own sells stores in cost-
saving modes, the opening of North East markets following the war, and trade agreements with
foreign nations to enter into international markets like India were better opportunities that were
created for the Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Limited over time.Threats
Threats may come from competitors, individuals, organizations’, regulatory bodies, or other
factors in the greater business environment. The threats that coming from the competitive brands
that are more similar to the Maliban such as Munchee creates a huge impact on the
organization’s strategy. Further, the changes in the economical stability create a threatful impact
for the company as it creates customers buying patterns and needs. Further few threats that may
occur for the Maliban company are listed below.
 Entrance of international and highly established brands into biscuits industry (Britannia,
Kist biscuits)
 Free trade agreements with countries
 Entrance of international producers to local market
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 Price competition of some products
 Rising of health concerns by the society (sugar free products)
Figure 2
2.3 PESTEL Analysis
The PESTEL analysis support the macro analysis of the organization by providing an emphasis
into the situational analysis of the organization.
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Strengths
Strong market precence
Strong distribution network
Brand loyalty
Supplier network
Tecknological capabilities
Effective R&D
Weaknesses
Dependance on suppliers
Insufficient production capasity
Unavilability of energy and cost
saving approaches
low profit magins
lack of market communication
Opportunities
Introduction ideas of new
production by R&D
Enter into international market
(India)
Geographical expansion of seller
network
Opening of own sells stores
incost saving
Threats
Entrance of international and
highly established brands in to
biscuites industry (Britania,Kist
biscuites)
Free trade agreements
withcountries -
Entrance of international
producers to local market
Rising heath consers (sugerfree
products)