Business Strategy Report: Woolworths Strategic Plan Assessment 1

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Woolworths' internal and external environments, focusing on strategic planning. It begins with an introduction to Woolworths, including its vision, mission, and values. The report then delves into a PEST analysis, examining the political, economic, social, and technological factors affecting the company globally. A competitor analysis of Walmart and Tesco is included, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. A detailed SWOT analysis of Woolworths is presented, identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report outlines strategic objectives, including digital marketing, product development, quality control, and after-sales service, along with corresponding strategies, implementation schedules, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Risk management plans, addressing potential issues such as product failure and cyber security, are also provided. The report concludes with recommendations and a summary of the findings, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning for future growth and global recognition. The report references various sources to support its analysis.

Develop and implement strategic plans
Assessment 1
Submitted by:
<Student name>
<Student Id>

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Introduction:
The project analysis is about external and internal environment of the company
“WOOLWORTHS”. The internal environment is concerned with strength, weakness,
opportunities and threat. On the other hand, the external environment is more concerned with
the external forces that affect the functioning of the business to a greater extent and
accordingly the strategies are formed for the progress of the company (Leslie Hamilton,
2018). Woolworths commenced their business on 5 December, 1924, founder CEO of the
company was Percy Christmas. Three years later in 1927, Woolworths got into the chain by
branching out their 2nd store. The products offered by the Woolworths are considered best
when it quality also the company is one of the top corporate firms in Australia
(WOOLWORTHS, n.d.).
Organisations vision:
Transpire among the globe’s most responsible retailers contemplates our pledge of
benefitting the society, globe and the clients by fulfilling the needs in the required manner.
Organisations mission:
Assists to achieve the income and job security by providing various types of financial
services including loans, priced savings etc.
Organisations Values:
The value system of Woolworths is constructed of the values such as being responsible,
inspirational, quality concerned, team spirit, and customer obsessed. These reflect the
working of the all parts of the organisation also helps in achieving the goal of serving the
people in the best way (WOOLWORTHS, n.d.).

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Analyse political, economic, social and technological (PEST) developments
in a global context: Political environment:
The political factor or the political pressure stands out at odds with the retail markets
but they don’t affect business organisation to larger extent as the as mostly the political
environment in the country is stable. Economic environment:
Also the liberalised entries to retail markets can lead to a very competitive situation in
the economy. The reason behind the same is the duopolistic essence of the retail
markets which after a certain extent becomes a hindrance. The Australian markets
emerged as a chief support for the business. Social environment:
A business firm has to consider all the social constraints when it comes to global
marketing. Different customers have different purchasing behaviour especially when
it comes to the context of global markets, either they are lacklustre or very inspired.
Considering all the social aspects of the countries they serve in global markets,
Woolworths started to trade some of the products on discounts or at lowered prices. Technological environment:
Technology is the important aspect in the development of any firm and research &
development is initial step towards that type of growth. Similarly, Woolworths
Innovated self-service retail stores after the thorough research of the markets (Brander,
2018).

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Strengths and weaknesses of competitors and allies (at least 2)
 Competitor 1: WALMART (ZHANG, 2018)
 Strength : Recognised Globally
 Weakness: Tough Competition
 Competitor 2: TESCO (TESCO, n.d.)
 Strength : Diversification
 Weakness: Low profits
SWOT Analysis of your business (Sarsby, 2016) Strength
The Woolworths offer a vast range of goods and services which proves to be the large
acceptance of the organisation in the Australian market. The company is the oldest retail
market of Australia. The CSR program of the company is also very effective which
eventually helped the company gain the sustainable advantage in the Australian markets.
 Weakness
The company has less global recognition, the company suffers due lack of potential to face
the tough competition as the company also faces backwardness in the e- market sections,
these weaknesses turn out to become the obstacles in the growth of the company.
 Threat
The major threat that the company is facing is the instability of the prices due to tough
competition in the economy, following that the increasing expansion of the competitive
firms in the markets also the sedate enhancement in the e-market or the online stores of the
company.
 Opportunities

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The use of strong promotional strategy might act as an opportunity to gain back the
customer base that of in FY14 also the growth of the retail markets in the developing
economies is a major opportunity for the expansion of the retail brand in those developing
economies to gain the global recognition.
Strategic objectives and strategies needed for the future (at least 2) Strategic objectives 1:
The primary strategic objective is successfully placing the brand in the global market at
the first place.
 Strategy needed 1: DIGITAL MARKETING
Priority: To make the customer aware of the brand in the online retail markets
Timeframe: 6 Months
Responsible party/person: E-Marketing departmental Head
KPI (measurable performance indicator): Social- media traffic
 Strategy needed 2: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Priority: To provide the customers a vast and diverse range of the products
Timeframe: 1-2 Years
Responsible party/person: Production department Manager
KPI (measurable performance indicator): Inventory Turns
 Strategic objectives 2:

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Another strategic objective is to serve the customers with best quality to attract new
customers and that of competitors.
 Strategy needed 1: ESTABLISH QUALITY CONTROL STANDARD
Priority: Total Quality Control
Timeframe: 1-2 Months
Responsible party/person: Production and the Quality control Department
KPI (measurable performance indicator): Performance level
 Strategy needed 2: AFTER SALES SERVICE COMMENCEMENT
Priority: Customer Satisfaction
Timeframe: 1 Month
Responsible party/person: Customer Care Department
KPI (measurable performance indicator): Customer Retention
The implementation schedule: (Verweire, 2014)
Digital Marketing Strategy Schedule:
Task Undertaking
Department
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3
Recognising
objectives and
tools
Departmental
head of e-market
X

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Analysing the
channels of
digital
marketing
Management
team of e-
market
X
Commencing
marketing and
beginning the
working of
mobile
marketing.
Employees of e-
market
department
X
Product Development Strategy Schedule:
Task Undertaking
Department
0-6 Months 1 year 1.5-2 years
Research work R&D
department
X
Finalising the
product
Production
Department
X
Launching Head manager X
Establishing Quality Control Standards Strategy Schedule:
Task Undertaking Month 1- week(1) Month 2- week (1)

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Department
Formulating
standards
Quality control
department
X
Implementing and
ensuring the
fulfilment of
standards
Inspection
department
X
After Sale Services Strategy Schedule:
Task Undertaking
Department
Month 1 Month 2
Establishing Targets Sales Head X
Deciding the
Services to be
Offered with respect
to the product
Management Team X
Beginning the
services
Employees X

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Methods for monitoring the implementation of the plan:
The basic methods used to monitor the performance of the plan are evaluating the qualitative
as well as the quantitative results to compare the output with the formulated standards
(Meléndez, 2019). The strategies based on the financial results should be evaluated on the
quantitative aspect whereas strategies based on the quality results must be evaluated on
qualitative aspect.
Risk Management Plans:
Risk Identified Level of risk
(high/moderate/low)
Risk mitigation strategies
PRODUCT FAILURE HIGH Launching the product at
the correct time in the
target market with
competitive pricing and
ensuring the product
quality.
CYBER SECURITY
ISSUES
MODERATE By installing the anti- virus
software and be careful
before opening unknown
sources for collecting
information, and avoiding

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emails from suspicious
sources.
DEFAULTS IN QUALITY
CONTROL (Paul Hopkin,
2012)
LOW Adhering to the quality
standards and control
measures.
Final Recommendation:
Implementing these strategies according to the plans will help the company to experience
rapid growth and development in the target markets. These strategies mainly focus on the
increased profits and the recognition of the brand in the global markets, this will
automatically help to build the goodwill in the markets.

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Conclusion
The project concludes that scanning the internal and external environment of the
company assists in having the deeper insights about the working of the company and the
future prospects. In this case the PEST (political, economy, social, technological) aspects
and the SWOT analysis is being used to formulate the strategies for the future growth
and development of the company and accordingly, the implementation schedules,
methods are prepared and decided respectively. Along with that the possible risks are
also been identified and suggestions for the mitigation of the same are provided.

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References
Brander, , 2018. Market Analysis for New Potatoes Varieties.
https://wmgroup.org.au/sites/wmgroup.org.au/files/docs/NVAP%20-%20Case%20Study
%20Market%20Analysis%20for%20Potatoes.pdf. West Milands Group.
Leslie Hamilton, P.W., 2018. The International Business Environment. Oxford University
Press.
Meléndez, J.W., 2019. Planning Theory & Practice. Learning in Participatory Planning
Processes: Taking Advantage of Concepts and Theories Across Disciplines, 20(1).
Paul Hopkin, I.o.R.M., 2012. Fundamentals of Risk Management: Understanding, Evaluating
and Implementing Effective Risk Management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Sarsby, A., 2016. SWOT Analysis.
TESCO, n.d. HOW WE DO BUSINESS. [Online] Available at: https://www.tescoplc.com/
[Accessed 13 JUNE 2019].
Verweire, K., 2014. Strategy Implementation. Routledge.
WOOLWORTHS, n.d. strategy and ojectives. [Online] Available at:
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/our-approach/strategy-and-objectives/
[Accessed 13 June 2019].
WOOLWORTHS, n.d. The woolworths story. [Online] Available at:
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/The_Woolworths_Story/
How_We_Were_Founded/ [Accessed 13 June 2019].
ZHANG, J.-W., 2018. BIG DATA IN RETAIL BUSINESS APPLICATIONS—WALMART
CASE.

Student Name Student Id