Comprehensive Analysis of Atlantic Superstore's Business Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business strategies employed by the Atlantic Superstore, a Canadian supermarket chain. It begins with a summary and proceeds to conduct a SWOT analysis to evaluate the company's internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Furthermore, a PESTLE analysis is undertaken to assess the external political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors influencing the company. The report also explores the importance of stakeholders, organizational structure, and employee motivation within the Atlantic Superstore. Finally, it offers recommendations for improving the company's operations, including control mechanisms and strategies for enhancing its competitive position in the retail industry. The report references several academic sources to support its findings.

Running Head: BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 1
BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC
SUPERSTORE
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BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 2
Contents
BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE..........................................1
Summary....................................................................................................................................3
SWOT Analysis.........................................................................................................................4
Strengths:................................................................................................................................4
Weakness:..............................................................................................................................4
Opportunities:.........................................................................................................................4
Threats:...................................................................................................................................4
Environmental Constraints.........................................................................................................4
Stakeholders...............................................................................................................................6
Organizational Structure and Design.........................................................................................6
Motivating Employee.................................................................................................................7
Recommendations......................................................................................................................7
Controls and Recommendations................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 3
Summary
Atlantic Superstore is a Canadian supermarket chain operating across 54 stores across
Canada. The company offers various products in the retail industry. There is a varied range of
products that are offered by the company. It caters to a large customer base. The report
analyses the internal and external environment of the company. Through SWOT analysis the
internal business strategy of the company is decided and stated in this analysis. PESTLE
analysis determines the external environment, which enables an understanding of the various
constraints faced by the company. The reports also identify the importance of stakeholders
and employee motivation. It also helps in identifying the appropriate organizational structure
for Atlantic Superstore. Recommendation and controls are discussed for improving the
operations of the Atlantic Superstore. Thus, this report will give a view of the internal and
business strategy of the Atlantic Superstore.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 4
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: The major strengths of the Atlantic Superstore are the employee base that
possesses reliable experience and training. The expertise of the employee will be used to
cater to the requirements of the customers while also tackle their issues efficiently.
Weakness: Some of the weaknesses of the Atlantic are high rents and complex
management structure. The company will focus on selling larger quantities by offering
special benefits for loyal customers. This will help the company to earn high profits while
also managing its high rent. In this view, complex management can be cured through the
recruitment of efficient management personnel, who will be able to manage the 24/7
operations of the Atlantic Superstore effectively.
Opportunities: The firms use market opportunities for expanding their operations in the
region (Kajanus et al, 2012). In this view, high employment and increased purchasing power
in Canada have helped the firm in expanding its operations. The firm will adopt techniques
like Home delivery and online operations that help will further increase its service as well as
the customer base.
Threats: Identifications of market threats help firms in surviving high competition in the
region (Görener, Toker and Ulucay, 2012). Currently, Atlantic Superstore has been facing
high competition from other retail firms that operate in Canada. Thus, the company should
enhance its services to attract its customers. Atlantic Superstore will also offer special
benefits like offers, discounts, home delivery services for its loyal customers for retaining its
market strength.
Environmental Constraints
PESTLE Analysis

BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 5
Political: Canada has been ranked 18th by The World Bank for the ease of doing business
(Nandonde, 2019). The corporate taxes are low while the educated workforce enhances the
growth opportunities of the firm. The political environment is highly conducive for
businesses in Canada.
Economical: The region has been estimated to grow at a rate of 1.5% in the year 2019
(Santander, 2019). In this view, the unemployment rate is low (5.4% in 2019) that indicates a
strong labor market in the region. Financial Stability of the population will help retailers like
Atlantic Superstore in gaining market strength.
Social: Social factors also help in determining the external environment of the firms
(Perera, 2017). Thus, in this regard, 40-50% of the total population is the working class of the
economy (Santander, 2019). Thus, purchasing power is high that further helps business units
like Atlantic Superstore in earning profits.
Technological: The region has a strong R&D that drives innovation which further helps in
international expansion (Ward, 2016). Thus, technical advancement will enhance the
operational efficiency of the Atlantic Superstore.
Legal: Canada has ranked 114th in the contract enforcements this will further help Atlantic
Superstore to function smoothly.
Environmental: Governments of Canada has also passed several environmental acts to be
followed by the business units to maintain environmental standards (Fasken, 2017). All such
regulations will be followed by the Atlantic Superstore.
There are two major environmental constraints in Canada. Atlantic superstore pays high
electricity bills as their prices in the region has grown by 71% (Hokkanen, 2019). Thus, the
privatization of electricity in the province will reduce the high costs for Atlantic Superstore.
This is a major economical constraint faced by the company. Canadian banks and insurance
companies offer good investment opportunities for firms. Such financial benefits will further

BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 6
help Atlantic Superstore to expand its operations worldwide. This is a major opportunity
present in the macro environment of the company.
The other constraint is the increasing rate of cybercrimes that further challenges the
privacy of the Atlantic Superstore. Cybercrimes have increased to 160% (Hokkanen, 2019).
This is a major technological challenge faced by the company. Therefore, the company has
planned to install advanced software to protect customer data as well as its operational
privacy.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders can majorly be divided into two categories that are primary and secondary
stakeholders. The primary stakeholders have strong financial control as their income is
majorly dependent on the profitability of the business. For instance, if the firm expands its
operations, the profitability of the invested funds might decline for the primary stakeholders.
Furthermore, secondary stakeholders are not directly impacted by the operations of the
business.
Atlantic Superstore must focus on its primary stakeholders that are vendors and
suppliers who help the business to succeed. Thus, the organization should manage its primary
stakeholders.
Organizational Structure and Design
Organizational structure majorly refers to the framework through which the company
exercises control (Ashkenas et al, 2015). In a mechanistic structure, all the decisions are
based on a centralized network. This structure is also known as a bureaucratic structure where
the hierarchy managers are only responsible for decision making (Kortmann, 2012). This
structure is best for companies that operate in a stable environment. On the other side, in an

BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 7
organic business structure, each member is a responsible decision-maker (Burns, 2010).
Communication and decision making in the organic structure is rapid that help organizations
quickly adapt to the changes. Atlantic Superstore works on the organic structure. The store
has functional areas like a warehouse, customer care, billing counters, and others. Each
department has its manager who is also the decision-maker.
Motivating Employee
Needs theory of Motivation by Maslow can enable identification of internal factors
through which the employee can be motivated (McGrath and Bates, 2017). Needs theory of
motivation comprises five aspects such as physiological, safety, self-actualization, social and
self-esteem. Therefore, managers at the superstore should fulfill the Physiological needs of
water, food, and shelter by providing an appropriate salary. Furthermore, Safety needs
include security from accidents, health, and financial crisis. They can be fulfilled through
insurance schemes, financial assistance and other employee benefits of the organization. In
this view, social needs are fulfilled through love and care gave by the managers to the
workers. Esteem needs are the needs of self-respect and esteem that the managers can uplift
through appreciations and recognitions. Furthermore, self-actualization can be met by giving
challenging work, participating in decision making.
Recommendations
There many competitors of the Atlantic superstore in Canada. Hence, the company should
broaden its customer base. Currently, the firm caters only low and middle-income groups but
it should target high earning classes. The company should sell a premium range of products

BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 8
to satisfy high earning individuals. This will enhance its customer base and strengthen its
market position.
The company needs to combat its high costs. The efficient management of the resources
should be done by the managers to ensure low cost of operations. Low-cost operations
include efficient use of manpower, electricity.
In retail organizations, employee motivation should be high as they are directly linked to the
customers. Atlantic superstore should use the Needs of Theory to enhance employee
motivation that will further yield high customer service by the workers. Employees can be
highly motivated through participation in decision making.
Controls and Recommendations
To monitor business activities three types of approaches like feedback, feedforward, and
concurrent controls can be used. In this view, feedback provides information on how the
company has been working but feedforward controls are the disturbance variable through
corrective measures that can be taken before they harm the entire process. The third aspect
involves concurrent controls that include the identification and prevention of problems. Thus,
in the business model of Atlantic Superstore, concurrent controls and feedforward will be
applied. In this regard, concurrent controls will help to manage quality control standards
while feedforward would improvise employee services before they harm the company’s
mission and vision.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE ATLANTIC SUPERSTORE 9
References
Ashkenas, R., Ulrich, D., Jick, T., & Kerr, S. (2015). The boundaryless organization:
Breaking the chains of organizational structure. John Wiley & Sons.
Burns, P. (2010). Entrepreneurship and small business: Start-up. Growth and Maturity.
Palgrave Macmillan.
Fasken. (2017). The Canadian business and investment environment.
https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/doing-business-canada/2019/06/the-canadian-
business-investment-environment/
Görener, A., Toker, K., & Ulucay, K. (2012). Application of combined SWOT and AHP: a
case study for a manufacturing firm. Procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 58, 1525-
1534.
Hokkanen.G. (2019). Top 10 challenges of doing business in Canada. https://www.tmf-
group.com/en/news-insights/articles/2018/may/top-10-challenges-of-doing-business-in-
canada/
Kajanus, M., Leskinen, P., Kurttila, M., & Kangas, J. (2012). Making use of MCDS methods
in SWOT analysis—Lessons learned in strategic natural resources management. Forest
Policy and Economics, 20, 1-9.
Kortmann, S. (2012). The relationship between organizational structure and organizational
ambidexterity: A comparison between manufacturing and service firms. Springer Science
& Business Media.
McGrath, J., & Bates, B. (2017). The Little Book of Big Management Theories:... and how to
use them. Pearson UK.
Nandonde, F. A. (2019). A PESTLE analysis of international retailing in the East African
Community. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 38(4), 54-61.
Perera, R. (2017). The PESTLE analysis. Nerdynaut

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Santander.B. (2019). Canada: Economic and political outline.
https://santandertrade.com/en/portal/analyse-markets/canada/economic-political-outline
Ward, S. (2016). Setting Up and Doing Business in Canada.
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/do-business-in-canada-2947118