Portfolio Paper: Boots SWOT Analysis, Drivers & Functional Areas

This portfolio paper presents a SWOT analysis of Boots, a health, pharmacy, and beauty retailer. The report examines both internal and external environmental factors impacting Boots' operations across multiple territories. The SWOT analysis identifies Boots' strengths, such as its dominant market position and trusted brand, and weaknesses, like limited growth and basic store ambience. It also explores opportunities, including expansion of services and strategic alliances, and threats, such as competition from supermarkets and the need for investment. Furthermore, the report discusses key drivers impacting functional areas like marketing and human resource management, highlighting their roles in influencing sales, customer loyalty, and overall company performance. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of environmental analysis in strategic planning and its impact on business performance. The report includes references to relevant academic sources.

Portfolio Paper Boots
Swot Analysis

Executive Summary
Business environment tends to undertake factors factors with it such as both internal and external
environmental factors that has major impact on the running and functioning of company and also
impact the business operations. In terms of this, it tends to undertake effective identification of
risk factor with the help of prominent frameworks such as SWOT and PESTLE that are useful in
examining significant risk and also tends to find effective strategies to overcome it.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
SWOT Analysis......................................................................................................................1
Drivers that has impact on the functional areas......................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Business environment undertake the marketing term and consider significant forces and
factors that leads to impact the capability of company and tends to develop effective customer
relationship. It is considered as the effective collection of both internal and external factors that
prominently impact the functions of company and how they tends to work directly that impact
the overall condition of business environment (Kuznetsova and et. al., 2017). To carry forward
this report, boots company is considered which is a health, pharmacy and beauty retailer
company that undertake various territories considering Italy, Ireland, Norway, Thailand and
Netherlands. Along with this, report tends to cover the prominent SWOT analysis by examining
the ways of key drivers that has impact on the significant functional areas.
MAIN BODY
SWOT Analysis
This framework is useful in conducting strategic planning techniques which useful for
company in identifying the significant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which is
related to business competition and project planning. The prominent analysis in context of Boots
is mentioned in below table:
Strengths Weaknesses
 It is the biggest chemist chain and has
around 2500 chemist shops considering
the strategic alliance with pharmacies
that offer effective share in market.
 Along with this, the ethical image of
Boots is one of the most trusted brand
in UK that tends to reflect the healthy
heritage and good ethical image in the
pharmacy operations.
 Boots has various highly regarded and
well established brands and also sell
products under its own label brand.
 Boots is quite dominant and also does
not find its growth which is hard to find
in the market of UK. Moreover, the
downside is that it has pharmacy
business and many of the stores are
clinical regarding the ambience and it is
also quite basic (Vrontis and et. al.,
2017).
 Furthermore, the pharmacy business
should be close to its customers and
also tends to decline in the high market
area. It also consider online shopping
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Moreover, most of the products are
manufactured at factor of Boots on its
Nottingham site.
that leave boots towards the effective
global presence.
 Despite from the beauty, healthcare and
other products, Boots also face struggle
to increase its sale in terms of lifestyle
including photographic, beauty and
baby.
Opportunities Threats
 Boots tends to have various
opportunities regarding its services
including it tends to discredited by
Boots in terms of poorly executed and
well being of services under the
provision of healthcare services of
consumers that remains an opportunity
of company (Antamoshkina and Zinina,
2019).
 Company tends to develop its product
considering the effective improvement
in personal health and well being of
offered plenty of significant products
for Boots that leads to offer beneficial
new products like anti-ageing
treatments.
 For this, the effective merger with the
pharmaceutical wholesaler tends to
develop strategic alliances and also
undertake current deals that offer
effective scope for purchasing
economies.
 It depicts that the prominent chain tends
to get fail that has much impact on
Boots and also offer strong discount
against their competitors such as
Bodaycare towards the branded
toiletries.
 For this, the supermarket chains tends
to enhance the cosmetics in current
years and also tends to open pharmacies
in some cases (Deasy and et. al., 2016).
 Boots also face risk factor from the
current merger with Walgreens
business and also tends to drag its focus
regarding the need of investment.
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Drivers that has impact on the functional areas
There are various drivers that has prominent and effective impact on the significant
functional areas of company. These drivers tends to impact the establishment of brand, growth of
target market, effective development of customer loyalty against their competitors. For this, few
drivers are mentioned as: Marketing: This factors is significant in terms of promoting and advertising product in
market and also plays an important role in attracting and influencing customers towards
the increment of sales and revenues of company. It is considered as the base concept and
essential in terms of identifying and examining the upcoming threats and other
concerning factors that put major impact on the running of company (Leonidou and et.
al., 2017). In terms of Boots their marketers identify market with the help of related
prominent tools like PESTLE, SWOT and also use various marketing techniques.
Therefore, this functional area is important in terms of influencing the prominent
profitability, sales and growth of company.
 HRM: This unit is also important for Boots in terms of recruiting and retaining effective
and efficient workforce who is talented and skilled towards its overall performance.
Along with this, the HR department of Boots also tends to perform various functions
including career planning, employee development, performance management, training
and so on (Delgado, 2018). For this, their major role is to hire efficient candidates for
different departments by coordinating and communicating with them in terms of making
them strong and also beneficial for the development of growth and reputation of company
in dynamic business environment and also undertake employee benefits as well.
CONCLUSION
By undertaking the above discussion, it is identified that environmental analysis is the
strategic tool that has prominent impact on the running and functioning of company and also
tends to impact the overall performance of company. This analysis tends to assess the prominent
level of opportunity and threat that are present in business and it is identified in this report with
the help of SWOT analysis. Therefore, businesses are prominently influenced by the
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environment and its purpose is to identify the potential impact on the specific aspect on the
general and operational factors.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Antamoshkina, O.I. and Zinina, O.V., 2019, May. A methodology for assessing the prospects of
modifying business strategy of an enterprise in the external environment. In IOP
Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 537, No. 4, p. 042023).
IOP Publishing.
Deasy, S and et. al., 2016. Controlling use of a business environment on a mobile device. U.S.
Patent 9,247,042.
Delgado, M., 2018. Firms in context: Internal and external drivers of success. The new Oxford
handbook of economic geography. pp.324-344.
Kuznetsova, N.V and et. al., 2017. External environment as a factor of ensuring the
competitiveness of organizations in the regional market of medical services.
Leonidou, L.C and et. al., 2017. Internal drivers and performance consequences of small firm
green business strategy: The moderating role of external forces. Journal of business
ethics. 140(3). pp.585-606.
Vrontis, D and et. al., 2017. Ambidexterity, external knowledge and performance in knowledge-
intensive firms. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 42(2). pp.374-388.
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