Metro Inc. Corporate and Business Level Strategies: A SWOT Analysis

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Introduction
Due to the dynamic nature of the business environment, it is essential for companies to
analyze corporate strategies so as to respond positively to market competitiveness. This
assignment is secondary research which provides information about business activities and
operations of an organization. The report is based upon Metro Inc. and will define its
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Summary of the organization
The present research is conducted for Metro Inc. which is a Canadian retailer company
presently functioning within the shires of Ontario and Quebec. It was founded in 1947. The
leadership and persistence of management and subordinates have permitted the organization
to chase its growth through innovations, mergers and acquisitions. Presently, it is
acknowledged that the organization is leader in food and pharmacy. There is across more
than 600 food stores of Metro under the banners of Food Basics, Metro Plus, Metro and
Super C. In order to ensure its potential market growth and viability, Metro’s fundamentals
are relies upon competent and qualified team that makes it able to meet challenges of external
environment. The business organization offers a wide range of food products through
discount stores, supermarkets and retail outlets. In addition to this, the prime goal of Metro
Inc. is to lift the food industry to a new level by taking advantage of the unique opportunity in
the target market. Apart from this, this research is conducted to get brief information about
the organization and its operations. It will include a customer base of Metro Inc. as well as its
mission, vision and core values; all these things help the company to build up effective
corporate and business level strategies. At last, a SWOT analysis will be conducted as it

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addresses the firm's capability and its products or services thus to compete in the target
market.
Customer base
As a leading retailing company of Canada, Metro Inc. has a wide range of customer base
which helps it in increasing sales revenues and profitability. Customers’ of the company
plays a critical role in achieving vision and mission statement of Metro Inc. Hence., to satisfy
the needs of target audiences the business organization has classified customers’ from
different market segments, such as – geographical and demographical market segmentation.
On a demographical basis, Metro Inc. targets people on the ground of age, gender, family,
size, ethnicity, education, race, religion, occupation, income etc. Apart from this,
geographical segmentation classifies customers’ on the ground of nations, states, regions etc.
As a multinational company, Metro Inc. has targeted people who live in urban areas; to
satisfy their needs the organization focus on producing innovative products with appropriate
quality to attain and retain customers for a long run. Most of the customers’ of Metro Inc. are
adults who live a modern lifestyle as well as prefer new or innovative products.
Mission and core values
The mission statement of Metro Inc. is to fulfil the promise of providing a thrilling
experience to customers through distinct quality products at affordable prices, delivered these
products to them by dynamic and dedicated employees who are directed by the core values
passed by top management of the company (Sparks, 2014, pp - 100 para - 4). On the other
hand, core values of the company represent the brand name, i.e. M – it stands for making our
customers happy, E – it refers to engage with our communities, T – Take care of the

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environment, R – returns of our shareholders and O – it represents our people is our partners.
It denotes that the organization commit itself to generate unique value propositions which
driven up its vision, mission, services, operations and product development.
Vision
The vision statement of Metro Inc. is to become a multi-former retailer who is best in sales
and class; margins and OPEX per square meter of net selling space, profitability operating in
strategic locations. In order to achieve its vision statement, the organization is always
emphasized on the innovation of new products so as to satisfy the needs of target audiences;
it turns in increasing sales revenues and profitability. Hence, it can be said that the vision
statement of the company interrelates with its mission and core values; to achieve this Metro
Inc., is investing in research activities and improving the quality of products.
Corporate level strategies –
With an aim to obtain a competitive edge, every business organization has a corporate level
strategy; it is a plan which formulates to hit specific target market in order to accomplish
desired goals and objectives. Metro Inc., is also having specific corporate-level strategies for
long term perspectives, by making some adjustments in the management can easily respond
to market conditions. There three main types of corporate-level strategies, such as – growth
strategy, diversification strategy and stability strategy. Among these strategies, Metro Inc. is
following growth strategy the reason behind this the business reached market saturation, and
now it's the time to diversify survival.
There are two major kinds of growth strategies, i.e. - vertical and horizontal strategy. A
vertical growth strategy intends to seek growth by taking over several components used in the
production process. For instance – Metro Inc. decides to produce its raw material, thus by

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taking over part of the supply chain the organization will be able to control quality. On the
other hand, horizontal growth strategy entails expanding the business as its products can
reach in new geographical areas. For instance – Metro Inc. is also serving its products or
services into new regions, areas or states.
Business level strategies –
The core competencies of a business organization are focused on satisfying customers' needs
in the best possible manner. It can be done by implementing effective business strategies.
These tactics are the specific actions which are taken in order to render value to target
audiences as well as gaining a competitive edge. The business level strategy of Metro Inc. is
concerned with improving its market position in the retailing industry of Canada. In this
manner, there are four types of generic strategies which help the organization to establish
competitive position over the marketplace, such as – cost leadership, differentiation, focused
low cost and focused differentiation. Among all these strategies, Metro Inc. followed focused
differentiation and focused low-cost strategy in which focused differentiation strategy aims to
beat competitors’ prices; it allows the company to put marketing efforts in a specific way
(Ketcherside and Menon, 2014, pp – 60, para - 5). On the other hand, focused differentiation
allows Metro Inc., to add value in products and services as well as target a niche market in
Canada which is profitable for the business.
S.W.O.T. Analysis –
The analysis aims to identify strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of products or
services of the company. As Metro Inc. is a leading food retailer of Australia, thus following
is defined SWOT analysis of the company -

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Strength – The major strength of Metro Inc., is having a well-qualified and skilled workforce
which assists to add value in its offered products or services. Managers organise several
training and learning programs for staff members; resulting in enhancing quality of goods or
services. Furthermore, the strength of the company is having reliable suppliers in Canada of
raw materials which enable the organization to get rid out from the bottleneck of supply
chains. Over the years, Metro Inc. has invested hugely to build up a strong brand portfolio
and focusing on generating new product categories. It always tries to come in the market with
fresh food products for customers.
Weaknesses – The major flaw of Metro Inc. is having inadequate triumph in external core
business areas as the industry is facing hurdles while entering in other product sections.
Moreover, the net contribution percentage and profitability ratio is less than the total industry
average (Martikainen, et. al., 2014, pp – 320, para - 3). In Canada, there is enormous
competition between retailing companies; hence there is required to invest more in
technologies and innovation. It has been overviewed that still Metro Inc., uses some
traditional methods in the production process which consume more time and money.
Opportunity – There are numerous opportunities for Metro Inc. in the domestic and
international market. Economic uptick and an increase in customer spending after recessions
provide higher market growth to the industry. Emerging markets and online platforms will
help in increasing sales revenues and profitability. Online marketing and communication
channels will help the company to reach a full range of customers in a certain period.
Threats – Liability in laws or legislation in different countries affect the import and export
process of the company. There is a risk of political instability and economic downturns which
may also reduce sales and profitability Metro Inc.

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Conclusion
From the report mentioned above, it gets concluded that Metro Inc., used several corporate
and business level strategies to ensure market position as well as gain a high competitive
edge. It stated that by identifying existing strength, weaknesses, market opportunities and
threats companies' can easily overcome challenges as well as achieve desired outcomes.

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References
Baumgartner, R. J. (2014). Managing corporate sustainability and CSR: A conceptual
framework combining values, strategies and instruments contributing to sustainable
development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 21(5), 258-271.
Ketcherside, C. L., & Menon, M. (2014). Valley Metro Organizational Integration:
Advancing the Future of Transportation in the Metropolitan Area of Phoenix,
Arizona. Transportation Research Record, 2420(1), 55-61.
Köseoglu, M. A., Topaloglu, C., Parnell, J. A., & Lester, D. L. (2013). Linkages among
business strategy, uncertainty and performance in the hospitality industry: Evidence
from an emerging economy. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 34,
81-91.
Martikainen, A., Niemi, P., & Pekkanen, P. (2014). Developing a service offering for a
logistical service provider—Case of local food supply chain. International Journal of
Production Economics, 157, 318-326.
Saebi, T., & Foss, N. J. (2015). Business models for open innovation: Matching
heterogeneous open innovation strategies with business model dimensions. European
Management Journal, 33(3), 201-213.
Sparks, L. (2014). The rise and fall of mass marketing? Food retailing in Great Britain since
1960. In The Rise and Fall of Mass Marketing (RLE Marketing) (pp. 74-108).
Routledge.

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