Business Project Management: Arcadia Group's Analysis and Strategies

This project provides a comprehensive analysis of Arcadia Group's business project management, focusing on its competitive strategies and challenges within the retail industry. It begins with an introduction to business project types and then delves into a comparative analysis of Arcadia's business model, highlighting its competitive advantages over traditional fashion retailers like Zara and River Island. The project explores Arcadia's unique approach to stocking clothes, manufacturing locations, and customer value creation. It includes a product perceptual map and market positioning analysis, along with a SWOT analysis comparing Arcadia with its competitors. The second part of the project discusses the future prospects of Arcadia based on the findings of the analysis. The project uses frameworks such as SWOT and PESTLE to assess the internal and external environments, providing a detailed understanding of Arcadia's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as the political, economic, social, and technological factors influencing its operations.

BUSINESS PROJECT
MANAGEMENT.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................2
a. Comparative analysis of the ways in which Arcadia competes and its competitive advantage
and how effective it is ................................................................................................................2
b. The various challenges that a company can face while trading across the borders................8
Part 2: Future Prospects of Arcadia...............................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
Reference List:...............................................................................................................................18
Appendices:....................................................................................................................................22
Appendix 1: Ansoff Matrix.......................................................................................................22
Appendix 2: SWOT analysis for Topshop................................................................................23

INTRODUCTION
A business project is aimed to achieve a specific business objective and business project
is generally comprises three basic types. The first type of business project is strategic project, its
aim is to fulfil, and accomplishing determined objectives while going through the strategic
process. The second type of business project is operational project and these projects are started
for business reasons. It is not aimed towards achieving strategic objective of the business. The
third type of business project is known as repeating project and most of the project-planning
repeat itself frequently. In this current assignment, the organisation Arcadia Group limited has
been taken for discussion. Arcadia Group Limited is a British Multinational Retail Company
whose headquarter is situated in London. This Arcadia Group has owned high clothing retailer
brands namely Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop and Wallis.
The Group possesses more than 2600 outlets across UK market.
In the present study, a British multinational company of retail sector is taken as a base
which is Arcadia Group Limited. In the present times the selected business operates in the UK
market majorly and has various franchises across the world. Arcadia is very old firm which was
founded by Montague Burton. Further, it was the cross tailoring at the initially and gradually
enters in the manufacturing of men's cloths. In the year 1929, Arcadia group was listed in
London stock exchange market and at that time it has 400 stores, mills and factories (O'Reilly
and Tushman, 2013). Further, as years passed then grab new market of international economy
with the help of franchises.
The selected business of retail sector considers basically two approaches in order to
produce powerful minds of the employees and enhance productivity of company. Further, such
considered two approaches include holistic and pragmatic by Arcadia group. At majority of the
times, the chosen enterprise uses holistic approaches in order to meet basically three key goals.
Moreover, key areas of the Arcadia company are like employ right activities, meet key
competencies as well as create mind of employees highly powerful. When looking at the
financial overview then performance is at the moderate level. The Arcadia generates profit and
sales each year but not always with the high or positive growth rate.

In the first part of the assignment, the learner has tried to make a comparative analysis
and the way it is competing. It has also defined the competitive position of the organisation and
tried to state how much competitive advantage the company has gained. While making
competitive analysis of Arcadia the business model of Arcadia Group has been discussed. The
second section of the first part is concerned with discussing various challenges that a company
needs to consider for trading across borders. For achieving this objective, this assignment has
made an internal analysis of Arcadia group where the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats of the organisation are identified. Then PEST analysis is conducted for defining political,
economic, social, and technological aspect of the places where it wants to expand its trade. The
second part consists of describing the future prospect of this organisation based on the
investigations made in the earlier part.
PART 1
a. Comparative analysis of the ways in which Arcadia competes and its competitive advantage
and how effective it is
The unique business model of Arcadia compared to traditional fashion retailers
Developing a strong business model is important for ma business to stand above
competition. Hollensen (2015) stated that a company could not gain market share without the
presence of a strong business model. A business model is also capable of gaining large amount
of market share if it stands out in comparison to the rest of the competition because they operate
differently than the rest companies. Arcadia is considered as one of the largest international
companies. Because of its distinct and sound strategies it can be stated that the business model
that Arcadia has adapted is quite different from traditional models. First, Arcadia stocks clothes
in a scanty numbers. It runs out of stock when the clothing design runs out and they do not order
more stock-in. Ashley and Haysom (2016) says that they do not encourage their consumers to
keep waiting for the clothes. Secondly, as the factory of Arcadia is situated in Europe therefore
there are chances for new designs to get into the store in less than two weeks. Whereas other
retailers face difficulties in shipping their products from China and for shipping the products,
more than two months are taken.

Compared to other traditional fashion retailers these two strategies have proved quite
advantageous for various reasons. Arcadia does not order new merchandise once a clothing line
is sold out and therefore the customers do not wait for further discounts and order products right
then. Loorbach et al. (2014) stated that in European industry fashion holds a significant position
and everyone in the continent is more concerned about their dressing sense and fashion.
The next advantage of Arcadia is that their manufacturing factories are situated in Europe
rather than China. Therefore, they can update the stock of their products more quickly compared
to other retailers of Europe. There are different manners in which Arcadia creates value to the
customers. Zara provides most up-to-date fashion line for their customers. On the other hand,
due to the existence of its manufacturing centre in Europe it does not keep their customers waited
for two long months for getting their desired clothes. In Europe where people always keep
themselves updated with new fashion line Arcadia helps them in meeting this need as they
provide customers the most current clothing design (Hessels and Parker, 2013).
Product perceptual map for Arcadia
Arcadia group owns numbers of reputed brands including Top man and Top shop. The
products that Topshop sells are affordable to everyone. It sells high quality dresses and due to its
unique collection, the dresses of this brand are featured on catwalks. On the other hand, the basic
products of these brands are quite affordable. At the same time there are certain products sold by
these brand which are both fashionable and of high quality (More and Basu, 2013). On the
contrary, its primary competitor Zara also sells high fashionable clothes but the cost of these
dresses is almost similar. It has basic clothing in low prices and expensive clothing. On the other
hand, one of the most significant competitors of Arcadia Group namely River Island sells
products of same ranges as well but its basic clothing does not possess good fashionable features
and expensive clothing are made of very high quality materials.
Market positioning of Arcadia Group
All the competitors of Arcadia Group include Zara, New Look, Primark, Urban
Outfitters. Ayling (2013) stated that New Look, Primark, H&M and Urban Outfitters is just

above good styling and down with low prices. Therefore, it can be said that these brands do not
come in close competition to the reputed brands of Arcadia Group. On the other hand, American
Apparel and Warehouse possess products with high price range but not too close competition to
Arcadia Group brands like Topman and Topshop. In the product map, Topshop and Topman are
positioned with its high styling range but still possess the edge on competitors. Through
analysing market position, it can be stated that its close competitors are Zara, All Saints and
Urban Outfitters. This can be implied that these competitors of Arcadia Group have the same
targets and with same price range, they try to sell similar products (Rothaermel, 2015).
Figure 2: Market Positioning of Arcadia
(Source: Adbrands.net, 2017)

Customer Proposition
The competitors of Topshop cover various types of clothing. The clothing ranges of
H&M cover everything starting from sportswear to party dresses and cater to all the
contemporary fashions (Thakur et al. 2012). On the contrary, stated that Evans possesses
clothing line with traditional attires appropriate for special occasions.
Figure 3: customer proposition or market position of Arcadia
(Source: Topshop Blog, 2017)
In order to make comparison among two or more businesses at the same time then there
are different ways and methods involved. Apart from this, by considering base to the various
perspective also an effective comparative analysis can be done. Further, some perspectives are
like financial, marketing, internal business, products, values, brands etc. In the present case
scenario, internal business analysis aspect is taken as a base which helps to make an appropriate
comparison among firms. At the current study, three companies are taken among then base firm
is Arcadia Group limited. Another two firms or competitors which are undertaken for the
comparative analysis are Zara and River Island. These both the entities are having high level of

market presence in the worlds and operate in retail sector (Ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk, 2017). Further,
these all the businesses providing clothing products to the customers at different level of
markets. For making comparative analysis on the basis internal business, SWOT framework is
considered. Under this specific model, only strengths as well as weaknesses only these two
factors are taken into account. Further, comparison between Zara, Arcadia and River Island is
explained below:
Strengths:
The main company chosen for the study which is Arcadia has the greater presence in the
UK market and having franchises across the world. When looking at the products then it has
better and appropriate size as well as range of the clothing. In the operating market, Arcadia has
the brand image in terms of clothing which is well known by majority of the people. In addition
to this, services provided by it to the consumers are also one of the effective as compared to its
competitors (Topshop Blog, 2017). Location of its all the shops are near to transportation area of
the people like taxis, buses, luas etc.
When looking at the strengths of its competitor i.e. Zara company then it can be observed
that, it has 2000 stores across the world which are lower in comparison to Arcadia. Apart from
this, it is one of popular and well known brand in terms of apparels in the market. Cost of the
supply chain management of the Zara is highly cheap which lead to decline total expenses of
distribution and prices of cloths as well. Pricing strategy of Zara company is highly attractive in
the clothing industry as compared to both Arcadia and River Island (Hyseni, 2015). In addition
to this, Zara enterprise provides extremely fashionable, trendy as well designed cloths to the
market along with handbags. When making comparison it on the basis of fashions then River
Island and Arcadia not offers trendy and extremely fashionable cloths to the local community.
The second rival selected for the present study is River Island which has presence in
majority of the countries across the globe. Due to this, it has high and low level of market
presence in retail industry as compared to Arcadia and Zara respectively. Another major strength
of River Island is that it provides cloths for all the segments like kids, teenagers, youngsters etc
(Adbrands.net, 2017). Along with this, for both made and female it offers cloths with the high

quality. In terms of pricing and quality, River Island is the best and attractive as compared to
both another entities. Further, online stores of this company are easily reachable by the local
community in an appropriate and proper direction. When comparing it with both another firms
then River Island is better for customers in terms of product line, standard and prices.
Weaknesses:
Another measure which helps to the analyst in order to make an effective comparative
study among two or more businesses is weakness. When considering to the Arcadia company
then it can be found that, it not offers small size of cloths to the customers. Apart from this, it has
moderate quality of the products and services in the retail industry. Further, when looking at the
market presence then not having presence in the global marketing other than franchises which is
lower as compared to Zara and River Island. Apart from this, due to some specific aspects future
productivity of Arcadia is comparatively lower in the market than its rivals.
Major weakness of Zara retail industry is that it has limited number of marketing and
advertising in the country in comparison to another mentioned brands. Other stated firms of the
retail market are using wide range of attractive advertisement strategies and tactics for attractive
customers (Zara SWOT Analysis, USP & Competitors, 2016). However, the Zara firm not
considered such kind of tactics within working environment. Apart from this, as it has high brand
switching in the global market but due to high level of competition Zara has limited market
share.
At the last, River Island has major weakness is related to market share as well as the
rivalry level. Major competitor of this selected enterprise are H&M and Zara business due to
which market share is affected negatively (Angela, 2015). Therefore, market share of Zara
company then is at the high level as compared to another both stated firms. Apart from this, there
is lack of availability of the physical stores of River Island in the global market. Due to this
situation also market share level influenced up to the larger extent.
Product range:

When talking about the product range then Arcadia has very limited number of cloths in
the market for customers. In terms of this particular aspect, Zara comes at the second number
which offers cloths of extremely fashionable and trendy. Along with this, it provides handbags
also to the customers with better quality. Further, product range of River Island is highly better
where it provides cloths for all segmentations.
Pricing strategy:
On the basis of price of the cloths, the River Island company charges lower prices along
with the higher quality as compared to the Zara and Arcadia businesses.
b. The various challenges that a company can face while trading across the borders
Legal issues
While trading across the borders the company needs to be aware of the laws and
legislations of the countries it wants to expand its business (Urbancova, 2013). Schaltegger et al.
(2012) stated that the companies most of the time are required to pay extra taxes for expanding
its business across borders mostly if it imports product outside the country. Sometimes the legal
constraints prove it challenging resulting in penalties and fines if the company cannot manage to
get any suitable legal advice. When Arcadia Group Limited has determined to expand its
business in several countries of Asia like China, it can face the biggest problem regarding
maintaining its administrative and bureaucratic tasks. Lee et al. (2012) stated that governmental
policies are not flexible in China. As a result, while extending the trade in China arcadia can
confront problems in opening a bank account, registering the company and gaining approval for
products.
Language issues
Language is the biggest challenge that an organisation confronts while expanding its
business in Asia. While doing business internationally language barriers should always keep in
mind. Most of the time a translator is required for speaking about business contracts and this
often leads to miscommunication. Arcadia is a clothing company in UK and English is the
primary language. Though English is the international language, yet most of the countries in Asia

do not even consider teaching English. For example, in Bangladesh Bengali is the official
language, in China Mandarin. Japanese is the official language of Japan and in Malaysia
Malaysian. Therefore, language is the biggest constraint while determining the business of
Arcadia in these regions. Often they can take the assistance of interpreters, which can expose it
to grave misconceptions too (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). On the other hand the customers in
these countries can face problems in understanding whose official language is quite different
leading to the deterioration in business.
Cultural barriers
Different cultures are celebrated in Asia that possess different values and traditions and
this can prove huge obstacle for the organisation. Most of the countries in Asia celebrate
patriarchal culture and in such countries where women are not given equal rights (Perdana et al.
2012). The outfits that Arcadia designs and sells are western whereas in most of the countries in
Asia wearing western outfits is often associated with modernisation. India is considered cultural
hotbed and in Muslim countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan, wearing western outfits are
debarred strictly.
PEST analysis
According to Maurer and Degain (2012), in analysing the elements that stimulate success
Pest analysis is often considered a successful device. For the organisation like Arcadia that is,
thinking about expanding its business in Asia this PEST analysis is highly significant.

Political Factors  Tax policy and monitory policies of Government in the
operating area pose large influence in the business of
Arcadia.
 Arcadia is hugely influenced by the competition policy of
UK and EU regulating the attitude of market and more
specifically potential abuses of the power of market are
associated with competition policy of UK by the
organisations functioning individually (Williamson, 2013).
 The organisation rigidly pursues the regulations of the
government including human rights, human health and
protection of environment.
 Arcadia needs to follow the present Employment laws of
concerned countries for securing the rights of employees.
Economic Factors  The organisation is greatly influenced by the inflation,
currency rates and exchange rates of the countries where it
trades.
 It is affected by the fluctuation in the exchange rates and
importing and exporting goods costs.
 In UK due to the severe decline in income, unemployment is
increasing day-by-day. As a result, it is affecting the
expenditure of consumers in fashion industry.
 UK is influenced massively by the decrease in the rate of
VAT. The previous year has seen the fluctuation of VAT
from 18% to 21%.