Strategic Management: Coles Group Limited, Australia Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive strategic analysis of Coles Group Limited, an Australian retailing company. It examines both internal factors, such as product marketing and financial planning, and external factors, including competitors like Woolworths and Aldi, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. The report highlights major challenges faced by Coles, including technological changes and government regulations related to its duopolistic market position. It suggests approaches to address these challenges, such as employee training, effective product strategies, and adapting to consumer behavior. The analysis underscores the importance of adapting to internal and external factors to ensure the company's continued success in a dynamic market environment. The report also includes references to support the analysis.

RUNNING HEAD: Strategic Management
Coles group limiteed, australia
Strategic Management
Internal And External Factors Analysis

Strategic Management
Executive Summary
This report is detailed analysis of internal external factors affecting the environment of the Coles
group limited. This report analyse the effects of suppliers, customers, employees and governing
bodies with the challenging technologies. Coles group is a retailing company owned by the
Wesfarmers in 2007. The major competitors in supermarket of Australia are Woolworths and Aldi
supermarket groups. This report suggests suitable approaches to deal with the internal and
external factors that make the operations more challenging for the organisation.
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Strategic Management
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Coles group limited, Australia...........................................................................................................3
Internal affecting factors........................................................................................................................3
Product marketing.............................................................................................................................3
Financial planning.............................................................................................................................4
External factors......................................................................................................................................4
Competitors.......................................................................................................................................4
Corporate social responsibility..........................................................................................................4
Major challenges faced by the firm.......................................................................................................5
Technology changes..........................................................................................................................5
Regulations of the government against the duopolistic nature...........................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................................................7
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Strategic Management
Introduction
Organisational culture is a collection of internal and external factors that affect the every
single operations of the organisation. Success of failure of an organisation always depends on
the culture it follows and the way it treat the challenges and challenging factors. An
organization like Coles group limited, Australia faces many internal and external challenges
(Adeoye & Elegunde 2012).
Coles group limited, Australia
It founded in 1914, formed as a very challenging and competitive retailing company in
Australia. Coles operates the retailing and departmental stores that facilitate the Australians
to purchase groceries and household items including food and liquor as well in the cheaper
price and also sale the products online with the door-step delivery. This is division of the
Wesfarmers, an Australian company acquired in November, 2007 (Coles 2015).
Internal affecting factors
Internal factors of an organisation include those factors that affect the internal operations of
the organisation directly. These in Coles group limited are its customers, suppliers,
stakeholders and employees dealing to operate different functions (Knox 2015).
Product marketing
Marketing never get finished, this is a continuous task need new techniques and strategies.
Whether product is a famous in the market still it needs strategies to manage its unique aspect
to maintain the demand in the market (Budisantoso 2013). This is the most challenging factor
in the organisation, because maintaining the brand and position in the market needs high level
of planning and skills to deal the upcoming threat in form of product replacement (Brewer &
Terence 2016).
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Strategic Management
Financial planning
Financial performance of an organisation reflects the overall success achieved by the
organisations comparing to its last years financial reports. The financial activities include the
management of the cash flow in an organisation to make the effective adjustment in current
asset ratio with the liquid asset ratio. Coles put great efforts to maintain the financial
activities to ensure the long term profitable growth (Fernie & Sparks (eds.) 2018).
External factors
Owned by the Wesfarmers Coles is leading the continuous success in the challenging external
competitive environment in Australia. These challenging factors that affect the over-all
operations of an organisation without entering the operations are external factors (Gupta
2013). Examples of external factors are its competitors, shareholders, legal bodies,
communities and governance (Adeoye & Elegunde 2012).
Competitors
Competitors are those organisations dealing in the same services and delivery like the Coles
group limited. The major affecting external factors to the Coles are the other supermarket
performing better in retail business. List of the competitors in retailing for the Coles are Aldi
group of supermarket and Woolworths supermarket. These two are the core competitive
organisations dealing in the challenging competitive strategies to lead the level of
competitions in retailing (Knox 2015).
Corporate social responsibility
Community is the most challenging factor affecting the internal and external both factor
directly as well as indirectly. The Coles group limited received the fair-trade retail chain of
the year for the effort made to minimise the food insecurity issues in the community. As the
community development is the most challenging factor Coles group limited deals to help the
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Strategic Management
children and young to fight the cancer. To focus the external development corporate social
responsibility affects the over-all operations of the Coles group limited (Merrett 2019).
Major challenges faced by the firm
Now day’s challenges faced by the leading organisations are increasing with the emergence
of new technologies, strategies and new entering competitors firms with fresh and
challenging strategies. Newly emerged challenges in front of the Coles group limited are
related to the technology, infrastructure and legal regulations imposed by the regulating
authorities (Adeoye & Elegunde 2012).
Technology changes
Technology never remain constant for the long period of time, it keeps updating with the new
emergence and expansions. Every organisation faces difficulties to make the effective
collaboration with the new improved technology (Ariyawardana 2017).
Regulations of the government against the duopolistic nature
Governing bodies of a country keeps changing rules regarding the business policies and
regulations (Andriof 2017). Organisation faces challenging to apply the new laws and orders
to make the operations of the organisations in proper valid form. Proposed approach to face
the challenges
 Train employees to keep up with the updated technologies
 Make the effective planning and strategies to keep the products in demand
 Keep the suppliers updated with the effective policies.
 Understand the consumer behaviour and plan the next step accordingly
 Use expert opinion to deal the threat of the new entering challenges.
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Strategic Management
Conclusion
This report is based on analysis of two factors affecting the operations of Coles group limited
operating in retailing. These are internal and external factors need to be updated with the
suitable policies and strategies. This report deeply analyse the two internal and two external
most challenging factors in the environment of Coles supermarket and it suggest approaches
to deal the emerging threat of the new entering competitors and technologies.
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Strategic Management
References
Adeoye, O & Elegunde, A 2012, 'Impacts of External Business Environment on', British
Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, vol 6, no. 2.
Andriof, J,&WS 2017, 'Unfolding stakeholder engagement.', Unfolding stakeholder thinking,
pp. 19-42.
Ariyawardana, A,GK,&MMY 2017, 'Consumers' trust in vegetable supply chain members
and their behavioural responses: A study based in Queensland, Australia', Food control, pp.
193-201.
Brewer, EC & Terence, LH 2016, 'Customer Service Challenges in Omni-Channel Retailing'.
Budisantoso, T,&TTT 2013, 'Shopping experience and their influence on satisfaction in
Australia and Indonesia', Proceedings of the International Conference on Managing the
Asian Century, pp. 583-589.
Coles, CD,KJA,TEASDC, 2015, 'A Metacognitive Strategy for Reducing Disruptive
Behavior in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: G o FAR Pilot', Alcoholism:
clinical and experimental research, vol 39, no. 11, pp. 2224-2233.
Fernie, J, Sparks, L (eds.) 2018, Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new
challenges in the retail supply chain, 3rd edn, Kogan page publishers, London and
Philadelphia.
Gupta, A 2013, 'Environment & PEST analysis: an approach to the external business
environment.', International Journal of Modern Social Sciences , vol 2, no. 1, pp. 34-43.
Knox, M 2015, Supermarket monsters: The price of Coles and Woolworths' dominance, 6th
edn, Black Inc.
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Merrett, DT, 2019, 'The Making of Australia's Supermarket Duopoly, 1958–2000', Australian
Economic History Review.
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