Strategic Analysis of Morrisons: Environment, SWOT, & Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Morrisons, a major player in the UK food retail industry. It begins with a background of the organization, detailing its history, mission, and operations. The report then delves into an environmental analysis, examining both internal (micro) and external (macro) factors that influence the business, including product issues, marketing challenges, customer dynamics, supplier relationships, competitive landscape, and PESTEL factors (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental). A SWOT analysis is conducted to identify Morrisons' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Finally, the report offers recommendations for Morrisons to leverage its strengths, address weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and mitigate threats, focusing on areas such as investment in research and development, improving logistics, adopting new technologies, enhancing workforce training, and innovating organizational structure. The analysis concludes that understanding both internal and external factors is critical for Morrisons to maintain profitability and achieve strategic success.

Individual Report
Assessment 1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Background of organisation........................................................................................................1
Environmental analysis...............................................................................................................1
SWOT Analysis..........................................................................................................................3
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
References:.......................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
The concept of environmental analysis is procedure for determining impact on companies
which influences directly or indirectly functioning of business. This is strategic analysis with the
purpose of assessing level of risk in several environmental factors along with business
opportunities. The internal insight helps in assess employee performance, maintenance cost etc.
The external metrics benefits in responding in positive manner to environment and align
strategies in accordance to organisation objectives (Chaudhary, 2020). For the report Morrisons
is selected in which report will cover background of company, its environmental analysis and
SWOT analysis. Further, recommendation is provided for improvement.
MAIN BODY
Background of organisation
The selected organisation is Morrisons in food retail industry which is 4th largest chain of
supermarkets in UK. This company was established in 1899 by William Morrison. Its
headquarter is situated in Bradford, West, England. The company employees 110,000 employees
and serves to 497 stores. The Morrisons deals in food, drink, clothing, petrol, books, magazines
and home ware etc. The purpose of Morrisons is to make healthy food food everyone which can
be affordable by having low prices and to sell plenty of fruit and veg (Chen, and et.al., 2019).
The company wants to offer healthier options by reducing salt, sugar, fat mad calories in its
products. It also focus on meeting strict standards by selling food safe. The vision of Morrisons
to create and provide food to more and more people so that they can afford to enjoy eating well.
It wants to became leading dealer in advance optoelectronic materials.
Environmental analysis
In business environment with help of environmental analysis it helps in assessing
potential influence on specific aspects of business and in terms of strength & weakness the
company identifies threats & opportunities. It comprising of micro which is related to internal
factors and macro which is related to external factors in business environment.
Internal factors
There is direct influence on the organisation which is related to micro environment
comprising of competitors, customers and many more which is important for the company in
monitoring and analysing. In context to Morrisons various elements is been discussed below-
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 Product issues- It is related to potential safety hazards or unsafe conditions caused by
such product. The Morrisons face issues related to quality product, manufacturing design
in packaging, labelling of products etc.
 Marketing issues- This issues are related to misuse of marketing strategies in business.
The change in consumer preference and choices creates the issue for Morrisons. The in
effective marketing hampers business functioning in communicating the product to
customer and meeting their expectations. The creating of budget for growth is issue
(Giriviriyose, 2019).
 Management issues- The Morrisons face several issues in company to operate its
business functions smoothly such as decrease of performance level, performance
pressure, time management etc. In organisation this issues are related with decision or
investigation by employer involving in particular appraisal, pay reviews.
Micro analysis
 Customers- In micro environment it constitutes an important segment that helps in
business existence. The company have different types of customers such as producers
households, retailers and many more. In context to Morrisons customer come for fresh -
products at lower prices and it regain its identity by focusing on fresh foods by using
modern methods (Zhang, and et.al., 2019).
 Suppliers- They helps in offering the inputs such as raw material, power etc. along with
helps in smooth conducting of business. The sales and profits of Morrisons are affected
with the increase in price of inputs so firm should be aware of supplier policies. The
production schedules are also affected with shortage of supplies.
 Competitor- In micro environment it is considered as important part as firms compete
for capturing large market share. The competitors of Morrisons are Aldi. For Morrisons it
is required to keep close watch on the competitors in order to survive in competition. The
competitor analysis also helps in maintaining and improving market share & position
(Vardhan, and et.al., 2019).
External factors
It is Macro environmental analysis which includes PESTEL that enables in evaluating
and identifying opportunities and threats affecting business. In context to Morrisons following
factors are mentioned below-
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 Political factor- This exert strong impact on business and evaluates long term
sustainability of organisation by involving the factors of taxation policies and trade
regulations that government levy. The Morrisons is affected with the change in policies
affecting performance of business and decision making becomes challenging, The
customer and investor are influenced with the political stability having high influence on
economy. Die to some internal and external conflicts the Morrisons is experiencing
political insatiability (Lim and et, al., 2020).
 Economic factor- It has direct affect on there business ability in aim of achieving
economic objectives for which Morrisons needs to have deep understanding of several
factors. The high financial market have positive relationship with overall economic
growth which Morrisons requires to selects countries with high efficient financial
markets. In making international expansion there is need to review of economic growth
rate. There is decrease in purchasing power and discourages consumer spending on goods
because of rising inflation.
 Social Factor- This represents to key demographics characteristics, social values, norms
etc. the high disposable income of an individual provide opportunity to Morrisons by
introducing new product or services which leads to high chance of revenue growth. The
Morrisons is required to conduct extensive research for gaining local customer
knowledge.
 Technological factor- The advancement in technology is accelerating and organisations
extensively investing in emerging technologies which becomes important for Morrisons
to anticipate exiting and future technological trends. The supportive infrastructure makes
easier for firm in achieving cost reduction, innovation and value creation objectives for
Morrisons (Maroun, 2018). The overall market and industry is affected by technological
innovation rate and development which makes Morrisons understandable in new product
development rate, product life cycle etc.
 Legal factor- It provides the information related to different rules and regulations which
involves employment law, health and safety law, intellectual property law etc. In context
to Morrisons it should make proper environment safety. The company gets help from
effective compliance with employment law in strengthening employer brand image,
which is important for attracting and retaining top talent from market. The strict
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compliance with intellectual property law makes business environment safer for firms
such as Morrisons.
 Environmental factor- This gives the importance of increasing vigilance of stakeholders
towards sustainability and environment protection. To avoid lawsuits and reputation harm
in market the Morrisons is required to have in depth understanding of environmental
regulations. The Morrisons is required to adopt sustainable practices of production for
encouraging responsible consumption practice among targeted consumers and improves
brand image. The Morrisons needs to evaluate the technological infrastructure
supporting the use of renewable technologies for capturing environmental trends.
SWOT Analysis
This refers to situational assessment which assist individual in organisation to know its
strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. This is technique of strategic planning which
consider both internal and external factors. The SWOT analysis is been done in context to
Morrisons.
 Strength- This is related to differentiating or separating company from its competitors by
having unique technology, customer base and strong brand. The company Morrisons has
strength of efficient supply chain and distribution network. The large product portfolio is
offered by Morrisons to its customers such as food, beverages, music and many more. It
has strong point of being big supermarket company in UK which has 500 stores with
employee strength of over 130,000 (Özceylan and et, al., 2017).
 Weakness- In organisation it creates difficulties by having weak brand, inadequate
supply chain etc. which business wants to improve to remain competitive. The Morrisons
have weak point of having limited geographical reach in comparison to other big brands.
The alleged past issues pertaining to farmer rights affecting company brand image.
 Opportunities- It provides external favourable factors to have competitive edge in
business. The opportunities for Morrisons is growing market for organic products and
international expansion of stores which boosts the overall business. The rise in demand
for private labels is catered by company. The acquisition of small companies and
strategic partnership helps in growth of business (Shabbir, and Wisdom, 2020).
 Threats- This defines to potential which harms organisation. The change in government
polices and increase in taxation affects the business which is threat for Morrisons. The
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more business by e-commerce has great affect on the business physical retail stores. The
increase in competition is threat for Morrisons as its competitor are Tesco, Aldi,
Sainsbury etc.
Recommendations
From the above analysis of environmental and SWOT some recommendation is provided
to Morrisons for overcoming from its weakness and threats. To Morrisons it is recommended it
should make large amount of investment in research and development and automation to
improve its product and services for offering quality products. It is suggested to improve its
outbound logistic and check out facility that can help company in competing with its
competitors. The company is suggested to take use of updated technology for enhancing its
productivity and growth in sales. The better training facilities should be offered to its workforce
so that they can work with new software with ease and enhances knowledges and skills. The
Morrisons is also recommended to bring innovation in organisation structure to have better
performance and business expansion.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above analysis that business environment involves
internal and external factors which helps organisation in identifying the forces that can impact
the business profitability along with strategies and success. The internal issues such as
marketing, management etc. affects business functioning. In macro environment PESTEL is been
considered which provides understanding of general environment in business. The SWOT
analysis done on company provides favourable opportunities to over come with the threats and
weakness that is faced. For the business it becomes significant for conducting environmental
analysis to determine the favourable and unfavourable elements efficiently and effectively.
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References:
Books and Journals
Chaudhary, 2020. Green human resource management and employee green behavior: An
empirical analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 27(2), pp.630-641.
Chen, and et.al., 2019. Environmental awareness and environmental Kuznets curve. Economic
Modelling, 77, pp.2-11.
Giriviriyose, 2019. An Organisation Study Report on SAFETEX GROUP, UAE. Journal of
Commerce and Management Thought, 10(3), pp.263-269.
Lim and et, al., 2020. Advanced soft materials, sensor integrations, and applications of wearable
flexible hybrid electronics in healthcare, energy, and environment. Advanced
Materials, 32(15), p.1901924.
Maroun, 2018. Modifying assurance practices to meet the needs of integrated reporting: The
case for “interpretive assurance”. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal.
Özceylan and et, al., 2017. A closed-loop supply chain network design for automotive industry in
Turkey. Computers & industrial engineering, 113, pp.727-745.
Shabbir, and Wisdom, 2020. The relationship between corporate social responsibility,
environmental investments and financial performance: evidence from manufacturing
companies. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27(32), pp.39946-39957.
Zhang, and et.al., 2019. Emotional component analysis and forecast public opinion on micro-
blog posts based on maximum entropy model. Cluster Computing, 22(3), pp.6295-6304.
Vardhan, and et.al., 2019. Strength, permeation and micro-structural characteristics of concrete
incorporating waste marble. Construction and Building Materials, 203, pp.45-55.
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