Business Analysis and Reflection Report on Dr. Martens Operations

This report offers a comprehensive business analysis of Dr. Martens, a British footwear brand. It begins with an introduction to the company and its operational environment, followed by a PESTLE analysis that examines political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting Dr. Martens. A SWOT analysis then identifies the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report identifies key business problems and proposes a solution: expanding into international markets. The second part of the report reflects on the learning experience, using the Kolb reflective model to evaluate the process of creating the report, highlighting the skills developed and areas for improvement. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and insights gained.

Report and Reflection

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1: Business Analysis.............................................................................................................3
PESTLE Analysis of Dr. Martens...............................................................................................3
SWOT Analysis of Dr. Martens..................................................................................................5
Business Problems at Dr. Martens and Recommended Solution................................................6
PART 2: Reflection on the Learning Experience............................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The business environment in which a business organisation operates in is a multi-
dimensional, complex environment that keeps changes frequently based on various internal and
external forces that are present within the business environment (Hamilton and Webster, 2018).
This report assesses the external and internal factors present within the business environment and
problems of business organisation Dr. Martens, which is a British clothing and footwear brand
that operates from its headquarters in Northamptonshire, UK. Dr. Martens was founded in 1947,
an astonishing 73 years ago and operates primarily within the footwear industries. Though the
early 2000s were not kind to Dr. Martens’s operations, expansion of its operations to Asia have
significantly increased Dr. Martens’s productivity and profitability in the following years.
PART 1: Business Analysis
There are present multiple internal and external forces that can have immense impact on
the performance, efficiency, productivity and profitability of a business organisation such as Dr.
Martens. These factors can provide Dr. Martens with numerous opportunities to grow and
expand business operations in addition to threats which have the potential to jeopardise the
operations and productivity of the Dr. Martens. Based upon the case study provided, it is evident
that Dr. Martens have been able to increase their operational profits by 70% through the
introduction of vegan range of products, but Dr. Martens can further improve their productivity
and profitability by thoroughly analysing the business environment in which it operates in
(Prajogo, 2016). In order to evaluate the external forces in the business environment which can
impact Dr. Martens’s operations and functions, the report performs PESTLE analysis for the
organisation.
PESTLE Analysis of Dr. Martens
The PESTLE analysis is an analysis of various political, economic, social, technological,
legal and environment factors that can influence Dr. Martens operations. These are as follows:
Political Factors: The political instability currently present in UK due to Brexit can have
immense impact on the operations, productivity and profitability of Dr. Martens. Though the
exact changes to trading and taxing laws post Brexit are still contentiously debated by analysts

and economists, they still haven’t been explicitly announced to the public, adding to the
confusion. Brexit can have a positive impact on Dr. Martens’s operations and functions as it will
scrap complex and opaque international trading laws of UK and replace them with transparent
ones, improving the trading operations of Dr. Martens.
Economic Factors: There has been announced a reduction on the amount of corporate tax that is
levied on business organisation’s profits from 19% to 18% by the UK government from April
2020 onwards (Perera, 2017). This change in the economic policy of UK will certainly have a
positive impact on Dr. Martens’s profitability as now it would have to pay lesser taxes to the
government on the same amount of profits generated as previous years.
Social Factors: There has been a steady rise in the number of consumers opting to shop digitally
instead of visiting retail shops in traditional sense. This social trend can have a negative impact
on the productivity, market share and profitability of Dr. Martens unless Dr. Martens’s
leadership and management update their operations to align with the social trends of consumers
in the UK.
Technological Factors: There are multiple technological factors that can have a significantly
positive impact on the operations, performance, efficiency and profitability of Dr. Martens.
Through the use of new technology, Dr. Martens can upgrade its manufacturing equipment to
increase their performance and efficiency. Dr. Martens can also make use of new digital channels
of marketing to market their products to a larger audience.
Environmental Factors: As one of the most popular products in Dr. Martens’s range of
manufactured goods are their high quality leather shoes and apparels, changes to UK laws and
regulations concerning the treatment of animals or methods of procuring leather can increase the
supplier’s prices of leather which Dr. Martens has to procure for its operations (Christodoulou
and Cullinane, 2019). This can have a negative impact on the profitability of Dr. Martens.
Legal Factors: There are multiple legal factors also present in the business environment in
which Dr. Martens operates in that can have an impact on their productivity and profitability.
Changes to UK government’s mandated laws regarding the minimum wage for labours, health
and safety laws, taxation laws can have a negative impact on Dr. Martens’s profitability in the
consumer markets.

SWOT Analysis of Dr. Martens
Strengths:
 Brand: Dr. Martens enjoys a high brand value and reputation in the consumer markets
that is also widely recognised by consumers in the global markets, owing to their long
operations in the footwear industries.
 Range of Products: Dr. Martens manufacturers a wide variety and range of products that
provides its customer base with a plethora of choices in order to satisfactorily meet their
requirements and please them.
 Universal Appeal: Dr. Martens’s products are designed to appeal to all consumers
irrespective of their gender, culture, race, ethnicity, demographics etc.
Weaknesses:
 Pricing Strategy: Dr. Martens has had difficulty in the past in relation to the pricing of
their goods and products, with their products being outcompeted by their rivals based on
the prices charged in the consumer markets (Gürel and Tat, 2017).
 Foreign Manufacturing: In an effort to increase their profitability, Dr. Martens moved
their manufacturing operations to Asia, but this has also had a negative impact on
consumer perception of Dr. Martens’s operations owing to the ideas of underpaid labour
and unhygienic working environments that are regularly found in Asian manufacturing
plants.
 SEO: Dr. Martens online website and blogs do not have a sufficiently high SEO ranking
meaning that it is not able to satisfactorily attract interested consumers to its online
websites for promotion purposes.
Opportunities:
 International Expansion: Expanding to international markets has the potential to
dramatically increase the productivity and profitability of Dr. Martens in addition to
diversifying tis operations and increasing its market share.
 Technology: Innovation in manufacturing technology has immense potential to decrease
Dr. Martens operational costs and increase its manufacturing equipment’s operational

performance and efficiency resulting in increased profitability for Dr. Martens
(Büyüközkan and Ilıcak, 2019).
 Online Customer Service: Dr. Martens can significantly improve the level of customer
service provided to their customers by providing customer services online and using
CRM software in order to increase their customer’s loyalty and satisfaction metrics.
Threats:
 Competition: One of the biggest threats to Dr. Martens’s operations, productivity and
profitability in the consumer markets is the intense competition it faces from its rivals
within the footwear industries.
 Consumer Purchasing Power: Decrease in consumer’s purchasing power post Brexit can
have immensely negative impact on Dr. Martens’s productivity and profitability in the
UK markets (Phadermrod, Crowder and Wills, 2019).
 Supplier’s Prices: Increase in the prices of raw material by suppliers that are procured by
Dr. Martens for its operations poses a threat to Dr. Martens’s productivity and
profitability in the consumer markets.
Business Problems at Dr. Martens and Recommended Solution
Based upon the multiple factors present in the business environment of Dr. Martens, there
are several problems that Dr. Martens currently faces. The high competition in the UK’s
footwear industries makes it harder for Dr. Martens to increase their profitability and market
share in the consumer markets. In an effort to increase their profitability, Dr. Martens has moved
its manufacturing plants to Asia, but this also has had a negative perception amongst its
consumers as Dr. Martens’s products are no longer made in UK (Gaganis, Pasiouras and
Voulgari, 2019). One solution to all these issues plaguing Dr. Martens’s UK operations would be
to expand and grow their business operations by transitioning into global markets. Expanding to
international markets can have immensely positive impact on Dr. Martens’s profitability as their
brand value is high is easily recognised amongst the consumers due to their long operations in
the footwear industries. Expanding to international markets will allow Dr. Martens to diversify
its operations, capture new market share and customer base thus resulting in increased
productivity and profitability for Dr. Martens.

PART 2: Reflection on the Learning Experience
In this part of the report I have made use of the Kolb Reflective model to perform
reflection of the learning experience of making this report efficiently. My overall experience of
completing this report was a highly positive experience as I ended up learning a lot not just about
the topic given to me by my teachers, but also about my own strengths, capabilities and the areas
in which I still need to improve. When I was first given this topic, I was a quite nervous as I had
no inkling about what a business environment even is and the factors in business environment
that can impact a business organisation’s performance, efficiency, productivity and profitability
in the consumer markets. But with a little guidance from my teachers, superiors and help
classmates within the team, I ended up learning a lot in my effort to successfully complete this
report (Rastogi and Trivedi, 2016). As the report required extensive research of the business
environment of UK’s footwear industries, me and my team members consulted various academic
sources both from books in libraries and from online journals to effective conduct research upon
all the internal and external factors that influence the functioning of business organisation
operating within UK’s footwear markets such as Dr. Martens. Making the report also required
constant communication between me and the team members in addition to my teachers who were
consistently available for any guidance. As the report was being completed, it required great
coordination and teamwork from me and the other team members to coordinate together all of
our individual researches, findings and data into a cohesive report which was able to effectively
articulate the purpose of the topic assigned to us by our teachers. Finally, though we were able to
complete the report on time, we did not leave ourselves any additional time to review and make
any changes prior to the deadline of the assignment submission.
Through making this report I learned immensely about the various factors which impact
the productivity and profitability of a business organisation operating in the UK’s footwear
markets through my extensive research. Making this report also highlighted to me that I prefer
learning by reading and writing method as opposed to visual or auditory alternatives. As I had to
consult various academic sources both traditionally via libraries and digitally, this had an
immensely positive impact not just on my researching skills, but also on my problem solving and
analytical skills .Through my research on the internet, my familiarity and confidence in making
use of information and communication technology also improved quite a bit and I was pleasantly

surprised with how effective and efficient I had become with the use of information and
communication technologies by the end of the report. Same was not the case with my use of the
English language while writing the report and during my research I had to constantly and
consistently make use of dictionary owing to my unfamiliarity with the English language and my
limited vocabulary. Working as part of a team to cohesive accomplish the given task also
enhanced my cooperation and teamwork skills and I ended up gaining new appreciation for the
value that effective teamwork provides. Our team was able to appropriately function as an
effective team exactly based on the Tuckman Group development theory’s various phases
(Natvig and Stark, 2016). At first there was a lot of individualism within the members with not
everyone understanding their own particular role within the dedicated team. But as time went on,
everyone gained a strategic appreciation for their individual role within the team and how it
contributes towards all of our collective objectives. Our teacher also assigned individual roles to
us on the basis of our initial skills, but also gave us unfamiliar topics so that we could personally
and professionally develop further. There weren’t many conflicts amongst the team members and
the few conflicts that did arise were sorted very effectively and efficiently. By the end all of us
had become good friends and shared the workload effectively with each other, helping those
team members who were facing problems with their delegated roles in order to effectively
complete our report. Though our team was able to perform and accomplish the given task
effectively, none of us were able to manage our time very well, as there was absolutely no time
left for me or the team members to review our report and make any further changes that might
have been required.
From making the report it became evident to me that I needed to improve my
communication skills in relation to using English language effectively for both writing and
speaking functions, as my unfamiliarity with the English language became a major constraint for
me during this assignment and hindered my ability to perform at my optimum levels. I also need
to improve my time management skills so that I can have some time to review my future
assignments and not submit projects that are below my own standards because of the timing
restrictions.
For these purposes I have created a personal development plan according to the SMART
framework where I have detailed specific skills that I need to improve by doing measurable

activities that are relevant to my personal and professional development within the specified time
duration (Grit, 2019). All these goals are achievable by me with discipline and hard work.
Development
Objectives
Activities Recommended to Improve Required
Resources
Time
Duration
Time
Management
As time management is also one the key issues that
affect my personal and professional growth and
development, I can create dedicated schedules to follow
and track my timing constraints in order to effectively
manage my time. I can also practise working on my
future assignments on a timing constraint to improve my
management of time in a stressful scenario. Improving
my time management skills will allow me time at the
end to review and assess my own assignments so I can
make any necessary changes which was not possible
during my previous projects.
Dedicated
time
schedules,
time
managemen
t routines,
clock.
2-3 Months
Communication
Skills in English
As English is my second language, there are several
steps I can take to improve my vocabulary and
confidence in using the language. I can take coaching
classes to become proficient in making effective use of
English. I can read books, novels and newspapers in
English language to improve my familiarity with various
words of English language which currently stifle me.
Further in order to improve my English speaking skills, I
can practise speaking English with my friends and
colleagues on a daily basis.
Coaching
classes,
English
newspapers,
books,
novels etc.
3-4 Months
CONCLUSION
Based on this report, it can be concluded that, there are multiple internal and external
factors present in the business environment in which Dr. Martens operates in. These factors
provide Dr. Martens with numerous opportunities to grow and expand their business operations
and also presents some threats to Dr. Martens’s operations that its leadership and management

needs to be aware of. This report performs PESTLE and SWOT analyses to evaluate Dr.
Martens’s business environment in order to evaluate the issues that Dr. Martens faces and
recommend solutions for the respective problems. The report further provides a reflection based
on the learning experience of writing this report using various models and theories.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Büyüközkan, G. and Ilıcak, Ö., 2019. Integrated SWOT analysis with multiple preference
relations. Kybernetes.
Christodoulou, A. and Cullinane, K., 2019. Identifying the Main Opportunities and Challenges
from the Implementation of a Port Energy Management System: A SWOT/PESTLE
Analysis. Sustainability. 11(21). p.6046.
Gaganis, C., Pasiouras, F. and Voulgari, F., 2019. Culture, business environment and SMEs'
profitability: Evidence from European Countries. Economic Modelling. 78. pp.275-292.
Grit, R., 2019. Managing your competencies: personal development plan. Routledge.
Gürel, E. and Tat, M., 2017. SWOT analysis: a theoretical review. Journal of International
Social Research. 10(51).
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2018. The international business environment. Oxford University
Press.
Natvig, D. and Stark, N.L., 2016. A project team analysis using Tuckman's model of small-group
development. Journal of Nursing Education. 55(12). pp.675-681.
Perera, R., 2017. The PESTLE analysis. Nerdynaut.
Phadermrod, B., Crowder, R.M. and Wills, G.B., 2019. Importance-performance analysis based
SWOT analysis. International Journal of Information Management. 44. pp.194-203.
Prajogo, D.I., 2016. The strategic fit between innovation strategies and business environment in
delivering business performance. International journal of production Economics. 171.
pp.241-249.
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.