Strategic Analysis and Presentation for Big W Company (BHR103)

This presentation provides a strategic plan for Big W, a major Australian discount department store. It begins with an overview of Big W and its market position, followed by an analysis using Porter's Five Forces framework to assess the competitive landscape. The presentation then examines key success factors and conducts a value chain analysis to identify primary and support activities. Key strategic issues, such as the lack of online presence and competition from category business stores, are highlighted. A strategic plan is proposed, outlining steps for Big W to overcome these challenges, including clarifying the vision, gathering information, formulating and implementing the strategy, and ongoing evaluation. The presentation concludes by summarizing the strategic issues and the proposed solutions, referencing relevant industry reports and academic sources.

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
BIG W

Introduction
• The purpose of this presentation is to present the
strategic plan for Big W Company to analyse the strategic
issues that are raising challenge for it.
• To analyse the strategies the presentation has performed
the external as well as internal audit of the company.

Overview of Big W
• Big W is one of the divisions of Woolworths Limited which
is one of the leading supermarket chains of the Australian
market. As per the reports of 2019, Big W operated
around 182 stores (Woolworths Group, 2019).
• Big W is the discount department store chain of Australia
established in the year 1964

Porter Five Force Framework
Porter five force framework is a strategic management tool
that guides in defining the competitive landscape of every
industry (Indiatsy, Mwangi and George, 2014). The five
force of the framework are:
• Threat of Substitute Products – The threat of this force is
low due to unavailability of substitute of daily consumable
products.
• Threat of new Entrant – This threat is low due to
availability of huge players in the market which restrict the
entry of new players.

Porter Five Force Framework
• Competition among Existing Players – The threat of this
force is high due to availability of number of huge players
who offer variety of products at low prices (Brook, 2019).
• Power of Suppliers – The suppliers in the market have
moderate bargaining power.
• Power of Buyers - The power of bargaining of the
customer is high as there are increased number of
discount stores and supermarkets that offer general
merchandise products to the consumers.

Key Success Factors
• Marketing and Distribution Channel - The marketing
strategies and policies and network of distribution attract
different investors as well as customers to take the
experience.
• Market Position - The Australian department store industry
is dealing with the tough environment with weaker than
the expected sentiment of the customer and the growth of
the digital players is anticipated to endure for the coming
five years (EuroMonitor International, 2019).

Key Success Factors
• Diversification – The companies involved in the industry
are regularly getting involve in diversifying their layout of
store, products, strategies and policies.

Value Chain Analysis
Primary Activities
• Inbound Logistics
• Operations
• Outbound Logistics
• Marketing and Sales
• Service

Key Strategic Issue
Support Activities
• Firm Infrastructure
• Human Resource Activities
• Procurement
• Technology

Key Strategic Issue
• Lack of Online Presence – The increasing trend of online
shopping and lack of online presence of Big W has
resulted in impacting its market place as well as financial
position in the industry (Mortimer, 2019) .
• Departed Department – The departed department
structure of the business is being challenged by the
category business stores like JB Hi-Fi, etc.

Strategic Plan
• In the coming three years it is anticipated that most of the
customers will get involve in online shopping due to which
the business of retail stores like Big W will be impacted.
Further, the competitors of the company are regularly
increasing their online presence which is decreasing Big
W’s market share.

Strategic Plan
Steps of the strategic plan that must be adopted by Big W
for overcoming the identified strategic issues:
• Clarify the vision
• Collect and Analyse Information
• Formulate strategy
• Implement Strategy
• Evaluate and Control

Conclusion
• The about presentation has discussed regarding the
strategic issues for the Big W Company in the Australian
market.
• With the support of Porter Five force analysis and Value
Chain Analysis it has been identified that company has
limited online presence as well as competition for
category business retailers.

Reference
• Brook, B. (2019) Kmart, Target, Myer: Performance of big name
department stores in the spotlight [online]. Available from
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/kmart-target-
myer-performance-of-big-name-department-stores-in-the-spotli
ght/news-story/f702a9a493e23f2c3755cef35a0cf925
[accessed 1 August 2019]
• EuroMonitor International (2019) Retailing in Australia [online].
Available from
https://www.euromonitor.com/retailing-in-australia/report
[accessed 1 August 2019]
• Indiatsy, C.M., Mwangi, M.S., and George, G.E. (2014) The
application of Porter’s five forces model on organization
performance: A case of cooperative bank of Kenya Ltd.
European Journal of Business and Management, 6(16), pp.75-
85.

• Mortimer, G. (2019) The trouble with Big W: don’t blame
online for killing discount department stores [online].
Available from
https://theconversation.com/the-trouble-with-big-w-dont-bl
ame-online-for-killing-discount-department-stores-114630
[accessed 1 August 2019]
• Woolworths Group (2019) About BIG W [online]. Available
from
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/our-b
rands/portfolio-businesses/BIG_W
[accessed 1 August 2019]