Business Communication Report: Analysis of Boots' Strategies & Models

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Boots, a UK-based health and beauty retailer, focusing on its business communication strategies. The report begins with an introduction to business communication and its importance, followed by an overview of Boots. It then identifies and discusses the key stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and competitors. The application of various business models is explored, including PESTEL analysis to assess political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors affecting the company, and Porter's Five Forces model to evaluate its competitive position. The report also highlights the key issues and challenges Boots faces, such as intense competition and the shift towards online business. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of effective communication and the utility of the applied models in understanding the company's performance and challenges. The report references various sources, including books, journals, and online articles, to support its analysis.

FOUNDATION OF
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS...................................................3
Key stakeholders.........................................................................................................................3
PESTEL analysis.........................................................................................................................4
Porter's five forces.......................................................................................................................5
Key issues faced by company.....................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Business communication refers to as a system wherein a person shares information, data
and message within the organization with other person either within or outside the company.
Communication is very important within the companies in order for the successfulness. In the
present report company Boots is taken (Holmberg, Driscoll and Calnan, 2019). It is a UK based
beauty and health retailer along with dealing in pharmacy and has more than 2485 stores which
employs around 62,000 people. The present study will deal with the data relating to the industry
and also the key stakeholders of the company. Further it will outline the internal and external
factors with the help of SWOT analysis. Next it will discuss the competitive position with the
help of Porter's Five forces model. At last the report will highlight the key issues and challenges
faced by company.
APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS
Key stakeholders
Key business- The company is one of the largest retailer of beauty and health products
and is also a market leader in the field of skincare, haircare, dental, baby toiletries, fragrances
and many other products and services. The Walgreens Boots Alliance has put more than 200
stores within 2 years. The company is planning to close its 200 stores.
Customers- the consumers are the end users of users for which the company designs and
produces the products and services. The main target group of consumer is the upper middle class
group of consumers. Also, the another major target consumer group is women because the
company also deals in beauty products so it targets women and housewife.
Suppliers- it can be defined as an individual or a company which provides something or
some raw materials to some other companies and business organizations. There are many
suppliers for Boots because it operates with branches around 2500. The examples of suppliers of
Boots are like L'Oreal, Panasonic, Johnson's, Strepsils, Gillette and many others. Boot has its
own supplier assessment team which goes and checks and audits the quality of material given
and provided by the suppliers (Woodward, More and Van der Heyden, 2016). This is done
because the quality of products produced by Boots is totally dependent on the quality of raw
materials.
Competitors- these are the companies which also deals in similar product line and gives
competition to others. Boots is a leading brand in the field of health and beauty so there are many

competitors for the company. The major competitors of Boots are Lloyds Pharmacy, Superdrug,
Debenhams, ASDA and many more.
Performance- the profits of company is £317 million in 2018 which is a fall of around
18.3 % as compared to last year. Also, the revenue of company decreased by around 2.3 % that is
to 6.8 billion (Boots profits plunge as high- street slump hits chemist chain, 2019)
PESTEL analysis
The PESTEL analysis is a technique which is used in order to study the impact and
influence of changes in different macro factors on the working and operations of company. The
PESTEL of Boot company for analysing the reason for the closure of 200 stores is as follows-
Political- this factor is crucial behind the successfulness of any business. Since there are
many fluctuations in the political systems of different countries so Boots has decided to shut its
200 stores all over the world where it has branches. Political factors includes political instability,
corruption,
Economic- these are the factors which includes rate of exchange, inflation rates, interest
rates, taxation, disposable income and many other factors. This is also a reason behind closure of
200 stores of Boots. The major reason was the reduction or decrease in the disposable income of
the consumers because of which the consumer cannot afford such products.
Social- these are the societal and cultural factors which affects or impacts the working of
business. Like for example, now- a- days people are becoming more conscious relating to their
health, so they are avoiding medications which is also a reason behind closure of 200 stores.
Technological- it is a fast changing phenomenon. If the company adapts to the changing
technology then it will go on the path of success. In contrast, if the company is not able to adapt
to the changes then it will a threat for the company. Like for example if company not opts for
social media marketing then it will lose its customers as they will think that company has
become obsolete. This can also be a reason behind closure.
Environmental- it is the factor which relates to the environment of the region where
company operates. For the company it is very necessary for the company because if it will not
look after the environment then society will not favour the company.
Legal- it includes all the laws and rules and regulations which are to be followed by
companies (Rastogi and Trivedi, 2016). Since the company works in many countries so it has to

abide by many kinds of laws so it may be very much confusing and a burden for company to
abide by such laws.
Porter's five forces
It is another technique which is used in order to analyse the competitive position of the
company (Mathooko and Ogutu, 2015). This model is also used for identifying and studying the
structure of the whole industry and accordingly make the strategies.
Supplier power- Boots have a strong base of supplier since it works in many countries
across the world. So if the supplier shows power then the company can switch over to another
supplier.
Buyer power- the consumers are the king of the market. So they have all the powers in
their hands that whether the company will be a success or not. If the consumer will not like the
products of company then they will not use them and company will not run profitably.
Threat of new entrant- it is a major threat because if new companies will enter then the
competition will be more intense and tough.
Threat of substitute- this is also a major threat because if consumers are nor satisfied
then they will switch over to their substitutes. So for this Boot provides a wide variety of product
options so that customer does not go for substitutes.
Rivalry- it includes all the competitors of the company and there are many competitors of
Boots like Superdogs, Lloyds and many more.
Key issues faced by company
Since the competition is so tough and intense that there are many issues and challenges
which the company faces in the global market. The major challenge or issue which Boots faces is
that because of hard competition many competitors have gone for online business which is a
major challenge for the company (Carraher, 2018). Another issue is that there is a decrease in the
prices of medicines and drugs which is a major issue for the company.
CONCLUSION
With the analysis of the above assignment it was interpreted that communication is very
necessary for the business to be successful as no work can be done without communicating.
Also, it was analysed that application of some different models and theories is very necessary for
understanding the impact of changes in the environment and surroundings on the operations and
working of business. In the report, firstly a discussion relating all the stakeholders was done and

was concluded that customers, suppliers, competitors are major stakeholders. Furthermore, it
discussed that PESTEL analysis is a major model for studying the impact of macro factors on the
company. Also, for analysing the competitive position within the market another technique that
is Porter's five force model is used. At last the report discussed some issues faced by company.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Carraher, S.M., 2018. An examination of an instrument to measure Porter’s Five Forces Model.
In International Journal of Arts & Sciences Conference at Harvard University.
Coombs, W.T., 2015. The value of communication during a crisis: Insights from strategic
communication research. Business Horizons. 58(2). pp.141-148.
Holmberg, C.M., Driscoll, D.H. and Calnan, M., 2019. Seven Hills Foundation: Facilitating
Effective Communication.
Mathooko, F.M. and Ogutu, M., 2015. Porter’s five competitive forces framework and other
factors that influence the choice of response strategies adopted by public universities in
Kenya. International Journal of Educational Management. 29(3). pp.334-354.
Rastogi, N.I.T.A.N.K. and Trivedi, M.K., 2016. PESTLE technique–a tool to identify external
risks in construction projects. International Research Journal of Engineering and
Technology (IRJET). 3(1). pp.384-388.
Woodward, I., More, E. and Van der Heyden, L., 2016. 'Involve': The Foundation for Fair
Process Leadership Communication.
Online
Boots profits plunge as high- street slump hits chemist chain. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/13/boots-profits-plunge-as-high-
street-slump-hits-chemist-chain>