Consultants Strategic Report: Oak Tree Inn Case Study (BM633)

This report presents a strategic analysis of Oak Tree Inn, a hotel in Scotland, UK, aiming to provide strategic recommendations for future success and competitive advantage. The analysis includes PESTEL, Porter's Five Forces, VRIO, and SWOT analyses to assess the external and internal environments. Two strategic options, expansion and innovation, are identified based on the SWOT analysis and evaluated using a SAFe analysis. The report recommends an expansion strategy to enhance profitability and achieve a strategic edge. This comprehensive report provides a detailed overview of the company's current situation, the challenges it faces, and strategic options for future growth and sustainability. The document examines the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors affecting Oak Tree Inn. It also assesses the competitive landscape, internal resources, and capabilities. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations and strategic options for the company's management team.

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BM633 Strategic Agility
CW1: Consultants strategic report and
recommendations for Oak Tree Inn (case study)

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A brief overview of Oak Tree Inn
Strategic Agility refers to the ability of the organization to be able to ensure that it is
able to identify the way in which the attainment of the future goals and objectives can be carried
out in an appropriate manner which will help them in ensuring that the attainment of the
sustainable level of success can be done in a proper manner (Al Humdan, Shi and Behnia,
2020). This report will focus on Oak Tree Inn. It is a hotel which is located in Scotland, United
Kingdom. It has to frame its strategy in order to attain a strategic and competitive advantage
over its competitors in the future. In this report, a detailed and specific discussion on Oak Tree
Inn’s strategy will be made which will help it in attaining sustainable level of success in the
future. Oak Tree Inn is a hotel which has to frame its strategy in such a manner so that it can
make sure that it attains a strategic and competitive edge over its wide range of competitors in
the market in a proper manner. It has to make sure that it applies its strategies in such manner so
that it is able to manage out its particular needs and requirements and thus make sure that the
fulfillment of these needs and requirements can be made out in a right way.
External threats and opportunities/challenges the Oak Tree Inn is
facing from both the wider macro and micro/competitive
environments
PESTEL
Political factors- Political situations in a country keep on changing and thus in this way
this makes these factors quite important and the Businesses are required to make the required
adjustments according to them (Barahma and et.al., 2020). Oak Tree Inn therefore is required to
make sure that it assesses the political climate and takes suitable decisions accordingly.
Economic factors- These are crucial factors because the economic situation in the
country keeps on changing and thus it is quite crucial that the consideration is provided to the
changing economic conditions in a proper way. Oak Tree Inn therefore needs to make sure that
it attains the wide range of economic goals and objectives which are set by it for the future in a
proper way.
Social factors- These are important to be considered because the customers have
changing social needs and requirements which are to be considered (Darvishmotevali, Altinay
and Köseoglu, 2020). For Oak Tree Inn, it is quite crucial that the required level of attention is
paid to these factors so that the organization can progress ahead in the market and attain
sustainable level of success.
Technological factors- These are also important to be considered because the
technological changes which keep on happening in the Business Environment have to be
implemented for helping the organizations sustain in the market in a right way. For Oak Tree

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Inn, it is absolutely important that these factors are considered so that the company is able to
manage out is particular technological needs and requirements quite appropriately.
Environmental factors- The customers are nowadays environment-friendly and
therefore it is important that the products and services are provided according to the
environmental rules and regulations. Oak Tree Inn has to adopt the environmental rules and
regulations of the Government which will help it in sustaining in the market.
Legal factors- An organization is required to follow the legal rules and regulations of
the country where it is functioning (Dubey and et.al., 2021). Therefore, it is quite important
because this will ensure that the legal compliance is ensured. Oak Tree Inn therefore is required
to make sure that it abides by the legal rules and regulations.
Porter’s 5 Forces Model
The 5 forces are-
Competitive Rivalry- This refers to the competition in the market and therefore it is
necessary for the organizations to take a strategic action accordingly. This force creates a high
power for Oak Tree Inn because in the hospitality industry there are a lot of players which are
present and provide a high-level of competition to the hotel.
Supplier Power- This means the influence created by the suppliers on the price of the
different types of products. For Oak Tree Inn this force creates a low power because in the
hospitality industry this force does not impacts the organizations.
Buyer Power- Buyers create a certain level of influence in the market (Fahad, 2020).
This force creates a high power for Oak Tree Inn because the customers have a high-level of
priority in the hospitality industry and therefore this can create a particular level of impact on
the operations as well as functioning of the organization.
Threat of Substitution- This refers to the power of substitute products in the market. In
the hospitality industry there is no particular influence created by this force because it is a
service-based industry and thus this force does not impacts Oak Tree Inn.
Threat of New Entry- This means the power which is created by the new players in the
market. In the context of Oak Tree Inn, it is quite important that this particular force is assessed
which will be quite useful in ensuring that the firm takes the right strategic actions in the future.
Justification- 3 out of 5 forces has a high power and the remaining 2 forces have a low
power. Thus, it can be said that Oak Tree Inn operates in the market where it is able to ensure
that it can take the right strategic actions for the purpose of attainment of the strategic goals and
objectives in the future quite effectively and efficiently in a proper manner.

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VRIO analysis
The VRIO analysis for Oak Tree Inn is as follows-
Resources Valuable Rare Inimitable Organized
Brand Image    
Goodwill   
Skilled
Employees
 
Customer Base 
Valuable Resources- Brand Image is valuable because it is created after making a lot of
efforts. Goodwill is valuable because it is created through providing good services to the
customers in the market. Skilled Employees are valuable because they are required for the
purpose of providing the best services to the customers. Customer Base is valuable because it is
essential for the purpose of enhancing the overall level of profitability (Gligor and et.al., 2020).
Rare Resources- Brand Image is rare because it is not easy to replicate an
organization’s Brand Image. Goodwill is rare because it is created only after providing good
services to the customers. Skilled Employees are rare because they are not easy to find.
Customer Base is not rate because it can be created by other organizations also (Hoeft, 2021)
(Hong and Ping, 2020).
Inimitable Resources- Brand Image is inimitable because it is not easy to imitate it in
the market. Goodwill is not inimitable because other organizations also have it. Skilled
Employees are not inimitable because they are present in other companies also. Customer Base
is not inimitable because they are present in other companies.
Organized Resources- Brand Image is organized because it has been created with a lot
of efforts. Goodwill is not organized because it is affected due to the influence of the different
types of factors. Skilled Employees are not organized as they can shift to other organizations.
Customer Base is not organized because the customers can also shift to other companies.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
 The organization has a good
customer base in the market which
therefore helps it to be able to
enhance the overall level of
profitability in the market.
 The company has a presence of the
different types of resources which
can be used as per the needs and
requirements so that the goals and
objectives are attained.
 The company is weak in the use of
marketing strategies and therefore
this is leading towards an impact on
its strategic and competitive edge in
the market over the wide range of
competitors.
 The organization is not able to make
the use of Innovation regularly
which is affecting it a lot as
nowadays the customers prefer
innovation in the services.
Opportunities Threats
 The organization can identify the  The organization is facing a threat

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opportunity of expanding its
Business to a number of locations
which will be quite helpful in
ensuring that the overall level of
profitability is enhanced in a proper
manner.
 The organization has an opportunity
of making the use of Innovation in
the services so that it is able to make
sure that it can enhance the overall
satisfaction level of the different
types of customers in the market
quite effectively and efficiently.
due to higher-level of tax rates which
have been levied by the Government
and therefore this is impacting its
overall level of profits.
 The organization is facing a threat
from the new players in the market
because these new players are
offering low prices and therefore this
is impacting the customers a lot.
Two potential strategic options from your SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis of Oak Tree Inn was done in order to assess the overall internal situation
of the organization. The two potential strategic options for the firm from the SWOT analysis
are as follows-
 Expansion- Oak Tree Inn can consider this option as this will be highly viable option
for the organization to consider because it helps in increasing profits (Hyun and et.al.,
2020). Therefore, through this particular option the organization will be able to set up
the business in the different locations and enhance the overall level of profitability in
a proper manner.
 Innovation- Oak Tree Inn can also consider this option as well because using it will
help in ensuring that the new products and services can be introduced so that the
company earns more profits (Ouma, 2020). Therefore, it can be said that the use of
innovation is recommended for the organization so that it is able to ensure that the
overall goals and objectives are attained and thus strategic and competitive edge is
obtained over the competitors.

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SAFe Analysis on Two potential strategic options
It is quite important that a SFA analysis is conducted to determine whether the strategy
which will be used by the organization will be useful in the future or not. Therefore, for Oak
Tree Inn it is important that its usage is made in the following manner-
 Suitability- It refers to the suitability of the strategy. The strategic option of expansion
is suitable because it will help in enhancing profitability. The strategic option of
innovation is suitable because it will help in attracting new customers towards the
organization in the future.
 Feasibility- It refers to the feasibility of the strategy. The strategic option of expansion
is more feasible as compared to innovation because innovation requires making the use
of higher amount of funds.
 Acceptability- It refers to the acceptability of the strategy. The strategic option of
expansion is more acceptable as compared to innovation because the use of innovation
requires a higher amount of expenditure.
Thus, it can be said that Oak Tree Inn’s managers should make use of Expansion Option
because through its use the management will be able to ensure that it can facilitate
expansion in the different locations which will thus lead towards attainment of a higher
level of profitability effectively and efficiently and therefore helping in acquiring a
strategic and competitive edge over the wide range of competitors which are present in
the market. This will help the company to grow in the future.

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Recommendations and conclusion
From the above analysis it can be recommended to the management of Oak Tree Inn that it
should be able to ensure that it makes use of the appropriate strategic options to be able to attain
higher level of profitability. It should make use of the expansion option to attain a strategic and
competitive edge over the competitors in the market. The above report concludes that Strategic
Agility is required from the organizations to be able to implement their strategies in a proper
way. It is therefore essential for the management to make sure that the strategic decisions are
taken appropriately so that the overall level of profitability can be improved and thus the
organization makes progress in the future.
References

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