BUSN20016 Research: Analyzing Coles' Declining Profits in Australia

This report investigates the factors contributing to the declining profits of Coles Supermarket in Australia amidst intense competition from rivals like Woolworths and ALDI. The study uses a descriptive research approach, employing interpretivism philosophy and inductive reasoning, with data collected from secondary sources such as peer-reviewed journals, articles, and Coles' annual reports. Thematic analysis is used to identify the root causes of the profit decline, including the rapid expansion strategies of competitors and the growing online retail sector. The research aims to provide insights and recommend strategies for Coles to improve its profits, growth, and market share in the Australian retail landscape. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Running head: RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
Research in business
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Table of Contents
Problem Statement...........................................................................................................................2
Aim and objective............................................................................................................................2
Methodology....................................................................................................................................3
Data collection and analysis............................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

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Topic: Analyzing the factors responsible for declining profit of Coles in Australia
Problem Statement
The retail industry is Australia is booming and there is intense competition among the
companies in the market. Coles is one such supermarket retail company capturing large share in
the market. However, in the recent years, the profits of the organization have been declining and
have failed to maintain their momentum due to the fierce competition from Woolworths and
ALDI (Nakos, 2017). These two companies are the biggest rivals of Coles and have been able to
increase their growth and share in the market.
This study is focused on identifying the various reasons which are responsible for the
decline in organizational growth, sales and market share. The organization has been making
efforts to transform the organization in terms of service, quality and value. However, the
organization has not been successful in their efforts which are reflected in their organizational
growth, sales and other financial data. The rapid expansion policy used by the competitors in the
market is something which Coles was unable to counter that reflects on their financial year. The
online retail industry is also expected to grow at a rate of 12.4% in the upcoming five years so
this is a crucial period for the organization as they can bounce back and regain their competitive
advantage in the market (Chung, 2017).
Aim and objective
The research will aim to identify the different factors responsible for the declining profits
of Coles Supermarket. The different factors responsible for organization performance will be
identified to provide relevant findings.

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 To identify the different factors responsible for declining profits of the organization
named Coles Supermarket
 To evaluate these factors to identify the root cause of these problems faced by Coles
 To recommend suitable strategies required to improve the profits, growth and market
share of Coles
Research questions
 What are the different factors responsible for declining profits of the organization named
Coles Supermarket?
 What is the root causes for the declining profit of Coles Supermarket in Australia?
Methodology
This study will use a descriptive research where the study will explore different research
literature. The methodology for the study is chosen based on the nature of the study. Research
philosophy deals with providing awareness about the different methods in the study. The
research philosophy that will be used is interpretivism (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).
Interpretivism is a philosophy which will explore relevant data to develop relevant theories
which may be applicable to the study. Therefore, subjectivism is the basis of the research and is
dependent on using secondary data for research. Therefore, the study will use inductive approach
where the study will aim to develop new theories and generalizations based on the acquired data.
The study will use non-probabilistic sampling method for collecting data as the data set is small
(Flick, 2015). The reliability and the validity of the study will have to be kept high and
therefore, the results will be cross checked using other material sources. It is essential to
maintain the ethical aspect of the study in this context by using only relevant articles (Ikpeze,

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2015). The data that will be used should not be manipulated to form desired findings and
conclusions.
Data collection and analysis
In this study, secondary data will be collected from different peer review journals, articles
and websites. The study will use mono method and thematic analysis is the basis of developing
relevant findings (Humphries, 2017). In thematic analysis, the study will analyze similar cases to
identify exact reasons for the cause of decrease in profit margin. Moreover, the patterns within
the data collected will also be analyzed to develop relevant findings in the study (Palinkas et al.,
2015). The study will also include quantitative data collected from the annual report of Coles.
The data collected from the annual report of Coles will provide a different dimension to the
study.

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References
Chung, F. (2017). ‘Coles continued to execute its customer-led strategy’. NewsComAu. Retrieved
28 March 2018, from http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/coles-profit-falls-
135-per-cent-to-16-billion/news-story/3ab5ec55c22f92f7829b86ed8e18e6ba
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Humphries, B. (2017). Re-thinking social research: anti-discriminatory approaches in research
methodology. Taylor & Francis.
Ikpeze, C. H. (2015). Data Collection and Analysis. In Teaching across Cultures (pp. 29-37).
SensePublishers, Rotterdam.
Nakos, N. (2017). Coles market share in Australia has declined | Australian Food
News. Ausfoodnews.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2018, from
http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2017/10/18/coles-market-share-in-australia-has-
declined.html
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015).
Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method
implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health
Services Research, 42(5), 533-544.
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.

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