Strategic Management Plan: Analysis of Morrison's Business Strategy

This report presents a strategic management plan for Morrison's supermarket, a major UK retailer. It begins with an introduction to business strategy and the company's mission, vision, and objectives. The analysis includes a PESTLE analysis to assess the macro-environmental factors impacting Morrison's, examining political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental influences. The report then applies SWOT analysis to evaluate the company's internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, followed by a VRIO analysis to assess its resources. Furthermore, the report utilizes Porter's five forces model to analyze the competitive forces within the market, including the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, rivalry among existing competitors, and the threat of substitution. Finally, the report concludes with a summary of the findings and references.

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
PLAN

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Applying macro environment frameworks on a organisation................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2 Analysing the internal environmental capabilities of organisation using appropriate
frameworks..................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P3 Application of Porter's five force model to evaluate competitive forces of a given market..7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P4 Application of theories, models and concepts in strategic planning for organisations. ........8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERNCE...................................................................................................................................11
Books & Journals...........................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Business strategy is a term which is denoted by using some competitive forces which can
be used by organisation in attracting customers which can strengthen overall performance. This
helps them in getting a competitive advantage and achievement of objectives laid down by the
organisation. This act as a basic guideline in achievement of objectives of company(Morton,
Wilson and Cooke, 2015). This report is based on Morriosn, which is a supermarket brand
having presence in UK. Its headquarters are located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
There are approximately 110,000 employees working in this company. Various topics being
discussed in this report include analysing macro environmental factors in formation of strategies
of company, applying porters five force model, analysing internal environment of business.
Lastly, various theories, models and concepts which are applied on the company which can help
them in planning their overall actions.
TASK 1
P1 Applying macro environment frameworks on a organisation
 Mission: Major mission of Morrison is that they are able to provide their customers the
best for the money which they are paying. This will help the company in having a
competitive advantage as compared to their customers.
 Vision: The vision statement of Morrisons is that they want to be leaders for construction
of a sustainable future(Milovanovic, 2015).
 Objectives: Morrisons have a objective to become more competitive. Serve their
customers in a better way, finding more solutions to problems. Development of useful
services and they also have a major objective that they want to make the core
supermarket very strong.
PESTLE Analysis: PESTLE analysis is a tool which helps in developing a deep understanding
of the various macro environment factors which can have an effect on company and its
operations. Major factors are political, social, environmental, legal, technological, economical.
This helps in determination of the various business strategies which can be formed by the
Morrison. Below mentioned is the macro environmental analysis done of Morrisons which will
have in understanding of overall impact of macro environmental factors on this company.

 Political: This factor is related to a various political environment factors which can have
an effect on Morrisons, such as Brexit was a major political environment factor which
had a effect on Morrison in such a way that there were lot of changes in the overall rules
and regulations. This leads to many modifications to be done in the policies of the
company by Morrisons.
 Economical: Changing factors of the economy also have a huge impact on the
companies. In case of Morrisons the changes taking place in the personal disposable
income of the country leads to increase in buying power of people and this leads to
increase in sales of Morrsiosn and if the vice versa situation happens then there is decline
in the overall sales of the company(Linn, Sanden, and Piekkari, 2014).
 Social: There are various social factors which are related the society and its people which
are, growing education and health related factors of consumers will have a positive or
negative effect on Morrisons. The purchasing habits of consumers are affected by many
social factors which can have a positive or negative impact on the sales of Morrisons.
 Technological: There are many technological factors such as investment in the updated
technology will lead to increase in effectiveness of the company but at same time this
can lead to incurring of huge cost by them. Usage of digital data can help Morrrison in
collecting information related to their target customers which will help in forming of
future strategies of the company. Also, there is a urgent need that companies are
focussing on research and development activities, which can help them in building
software systems and help Morrisons in making various innovations.
 Legal: Legal factor is related to various safety & legal standards which are issued by
FSA and they have to be compulsorily adopted by the companies so that they are able to
have compliance with various regulations which can help the company in ensuring
integrity and fairness in their overall operations. In the year 2016, there were around 1000
ethical trade audits which lead to compliance of various laws by the company(Lee, 2014).
 Environmental: This includes various factors which are protection for the external
environment in which the company is operating. Such as with the advent of terms such as
corporate social responsibility and sustainable development has become more important
for them to adopt such measures. This helps the companies in growing and having
concern for environment at same time. There is also a restriction by the government on

the usage of plastic poly bags by companies which helps them in protecting the
environment.
TASK 2
P2 Analysing the internal environmental capabilities of organisation using appropriate
frameworks
SWOT analysis is applied on Morrisons to understand various strength, weakness,
opportunities and threats associated with the company. This is a tool which helps in developing a
understanding of the internal factors of the company. Morrison is amongst the largest four
retailers company of Britain and has achieved a competitive position in the market. Below
mentioned is the SWOT analysis of this brand:
Strength weakness
 Morrison is having strong distribution
network which helps them in covering
a wide area of market.
 Morrison is having a large portfolio of
products in which they are dealing this
helps them in providing large number
of options to their customers(Lee and
Smith, 2018).
 Morrison is having limited geographic
presence, which means as compared to
other competitors of Morrison they are
not having very large presence across
many countries.
 This company is having delayed in
responding and adopting to changes
taking place in the external
environment.
Opportunities Threats
 The company is having an opportunity
to expand themselves globally and
become largest retailers of grocery in
UK.
 Morrison can spread themselves in
more countries and also start a online
mode of presence which can help them
in adopting latest technologies in their
 Competition in the industry to which
Morriosn belongs is growing very fast
and many new supermarket chains are
emerging which can lead to increase in
threat for them.
 Changing of technology and rules and
regulations are leading to increase in
threat for Morrisons.

business operations.
VRIO Analysis: This framework is used by organisations for evaluation of strength and
weakness of the company. There are basically four aspects which are part of this analysis such as
Value, rarity, inimitable and organization. These four resources will be used by Morriosn which
are competent workforce, global presence, differentiation, cost strategy.
 Valuable: All companies have some resources which are valuable for attainment of
organisational goals & objectives. Having a competent workforce helps in achievement
of various objectives which have been made by the top department of the company.
Global presence helps in having presence across different parts of the world which leads
to large coverage of market. Cost strategy helps in having a strength as compared to
other competitors in the market, this helps in attracting more number of customers as
products are available at reasonable cost. Differentiation Strategy will also help
company in offering something different to their customers(Kohtamäki, and et. al.,
2012).
 Rare: Having a presence at global level is not a rare phenomenon as it is adopted by
many companies who want to have reach all customers across the world. All other
features of Morrisons such as differentiation Strategy is something rare which may not
be seen in other similar brands. Competent workforce is also a rare feature which is
being developed by Morrison which is developed because of adequate training being
provided to them. Cost strategy is also something which can help in capturing a good
part of market and this is also a rare concept.
 Imitable: Having a Global presence and competent workforce is a phenomenon
which is adopted by companies. Differentiation Strategy & cost strategy ate two
features which can be considered as factors which cannot be easily imitated by other
companies(Knott, 2015).
 Organization: All the factors have to be kept organized so that there is smooth
functioning taking place and there is no barriers in achievement of overall objectives.
Competent workforce, cost strategy and global presence are the three main factors
which have to be organized by companies but differentiation strategy is a aspect which
has to be compulsorily adopted by the companies.

Resource valuable Rare Inimitable Organized
Competent
workforce
Yes Yes
Global presence Yes
Cost strategy Yes Yes yes
Differentiation
strategy
Yes Yes yes Yes
This is a aspect which can be used by companies to asses which resources can be adopted by
companies sop that they can make evaluation which resources are necessary for companies(Kim,
Lee, and Shin, 2015).
TASK 3
P3 Application of Porter's five force model to evaluate competitive forces of a given market.
Porter's five force model is a strategy framework which is used for strategic decision
making by companies. This is a tool which is used by companies so that they are able to analyse
various strategic forces which affect a company. Below mentioned is the strategic forces which
affecting Morrison's:
 Threat of new entrants: New entrants bring innovation by adopting new ways of doing
work. Such new entrants will put a pressure on Morrison in having a lower pricing
Strategy as other companies will give competition to Morrison based on prices of
products. There are many brands emerging in this industry which can give huge
competition to Morrisons.
 Bargaining power of suppliers: There are many suppliers in the market which are
affecting Morrisons. This bargaining power is decided by the number of suppliers present
in the market. If the suppliers have high bargaining power then it may lead to decrease in
the profit margins of Morrisons. Suppliers use their negotiating powers so that they are
able to increase their overall profit margins(Hoque, 2013)). The impact of high
bargaining power of suppliers can lead to lowering down of profitability of the

supermarkets. This can be reduced by Morrison by building a effective supply chain
which can help them in dealing with various suppliers in the market.
 Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers are demanding best offers so that they are able to
get maximum benefits for the prices which the are paying for the products. Morrison is
also trying to maintain competitive advantage so that they are able to deal with
competition and reduce the bargaining power of suppliers. This will help them in
maintaining their customers for a longer period of time. Large base of customer will help
in increasing opportunities of growth for Morrisons.
 Rivalry in the Industry: There is rivalry among the existing brands in the supermarket
industry to which Morrison belongs. This industrial rivalry is tackled by Morrison's by
developing a sustainable differentiation which can help them in fighting with the
competition in the market. Also, there is a option of collaborating with various
competitors in the market which will help Morrison's in having a large share of market.
Increase in the rivalry in the market can have a high negative impact on Morrisons.
 Threat of substitution: When a existing product or service is not able to meet the
customers needs then in this case they try to look for substitutions for it. This is a huge
threat for companies as this leads to decline in their overall sales. Morrisons is a brand
which needs to tackle this threat in a smart way so that they are bale to maintain their
present sales and this can have a growth in context of future sales also. Morrisons can
also try to make attempts by improving the quality of their services so that overall
satisfaction level of customers can increase(Eason, 2014).
Above mentioned are forces which is affecting every company and is very relevant for them in
understanding them and future development of strategies.
TASK 4
P4 Application of theories, models and concepts in strategic planning for organisations.
Generic model of Porter:
This model deals with various strategies which are cost leadership, differentiation and focus
strategy. There are three basic strategies which are pat of Generic model of Porter as discussed
below

 Cost leadership: This is a strategy which is developed by Porter in which companies are
willing to take cost advantage by providing products at low prices. This can be achieved
by providing products at low prices. According to this Strategy, Morrison can adopt it by
providing products at low prices in comparison to other competitors of the market.
Morrison is a super market company which is also laying emphasis on becoming a cost
leader so that they are able to provide strong competition to other brands(Cserhátiand
Szabó, 2014).
 Differentiation: This is dealing with having some difference in the products and
services. Morriosn needs to make adequate research before adopting a particular strategy
so that they are able to differentiate their product. There must be high quality products
should be offered to the customers which can help Morrisson in developing a
differentiation advantage as compared to their competitors. Morrison can also adopt new
innovations which can help them in having a differentiation in their products. Such as
there is a opportunity for Morrisons that they can add additional services to their
supermarket stores such as playing area for kids, cafeteria for the people to spend some
good time for their customers(Cacciolattiand Lee, 2016).
 Focus: This is also a strategy which is used by Morrison in which the company is trying
to focus on a niche marketing Strategy. They try to focus on a very small segment of
market which can help them in making their strategies according to the requirements of
that small segment of customers. There are basically two types of focus Strategy which
are cost focus or differentiation strategy. In cost focus Morrison will try to reduce their
cost so that they can provide their products to he customers at low prices in comparison
with other competitors. In case of differentiation strategy the company is willing to
provide something different to their customers. So that they are able to get a
differentiation advantage.
Cost focus is helping Morrriosn's in focussing on their prices and this will help in decreasing
price of their products which will help them in Minimization of cost so that profit margin of
company can be maintained and sales can be increased.
Strategic Management Plan
This management plan an be defined as various tactics, objectives and strategies of
organisation. They are helpful in achievement of overall mission and vision of companies. This

strategic management plan can be defined as a document which is used for communicating with
the whole organisation. This includes goals of the organisation, focus energy, priorities and at
same time it is being ensured that stakeholders and employees are working together for
attainment of common objectives(Burgess and Radnor, 2013). With context of Morriosn, all the
employees and the top management is working together for achievement of common objectives.
Following mentioned is the strategic management plan which is developed:
 Mission: Mission of the company is that they are able to provide products at low cost as
compared to other brands who are offering similar category of products. This will help
them in becoming cost leader in the market and providing products at affordable prices.
 Vision: Main vision of Chilly's is “ To keep their customers satisfied by providing high
quality products ”.
 Objectives: Morriosn's as a supermarket brand is willing to provide products with better
quality and at same time at affordable prices. The major objective is to enhance the
customer's level of satisfaction.
 Extensive Marketing: A special marketing team is created by Morrison which will help
them in formulation of strategies and attracting more number of customers. The
innovation which they are trying to bring in the company in terms of the prices will
surely have a positive impact on the present level of sales of the company.
 Market research: Morrison is conducting a very effective and detailed research which
will help in identification of the needs of customers. This will help in reaching to the
customers who can be a target segment of customers for Morrisons. Market research is a
very important function which helps the organisation in drawing various conclusions
about the prospective behaviour of their customers. According to that forecasted
information various marketing strategies can be prepared by them(Aubry and et. al.,
2012).
 Tactics: For achievement of overall set targets and objectives it becomes very necessary
for Morrisons that they are able to provide increased value to their customers. This can be
in terms of quality or the prices at which this brand is offering its products. Tactics are
very important for achieving success in the overall marketing plan of companies.

CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned information, it can be analysed that effective strategies it is
important for organisations for achieving success for long term. Every organisation needs to
develop some growth strategies which will help in ensuring survival in the market for a longer
period of time. There are various tools which are used for this purpose such as PESTLE analysis,
SWOT analysis, Porters five force model, Generic model of porter all these together is very
helpful for companies in forming various strategies. A strategic plan is also developed in which a
particular set of objectives are prepared by the company which will help them in making
innovations in their existing products and services.