A Comprehensive Analysis of Primark's Rise, Challenges, and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Primark, a prominent fast-fashion retailer, investigating its evolution, current market position, and strategic approaches. The report begins with an executive summary and terms of reference, outlining the scope and objectives. It then details the research methodology, including the sources used. The findings section explores Primark's history, product portfolio, store locations, and its approach to problem-solving, particularly concerning supplier issues. The report delves into Primark's planning, communication, monitoring, and review processes related to its supply chain. Furthermore, it identifies and describes current problems faced by Primark, assessing their nature, scope, and impact. The analysis incorporates SWOT, PESTLE, and stakeholder analyses to evaluate the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and external factors influencing its operations. The report concludes with an analysis of the root causes of Primark's problems, drawing conclusions and offering potential business options and recommendations for future development, with detailed appendices, acknowledgements, a reference list, and a bibliography. The report aims to understand Primark's strategies and challenges within the competitive fast-fashion market.

An investigation into the rise of Primark
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An investigation into the rise of Primark
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………………………………..2
1.0 TERMS OF REFERENCE..............................................................................................
2.0 PROCEDURE..................................................................................................................
2.1 BOOKS, WEBSITES AND JURNALS.............................................................................
3.0 FINDINGS........................................................................................................................
3.1 BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION.......................................................
3.2CURRENT PRODUCT PORTOFOLIO AND STORE LOCATIONS................................
Task 1 Compile a timeline diagram which outlines the major development the
organisation has faced since its launch in 1969....................................................................
Task 2 Describe its current product and store location portfolio...........................................
3.3 HOW PRIMARK HAS PLANNED,COMMUNICATED,MONITORED AND
REVIEWED PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO RESOLVE It'S PROBLEMS..............................
Task Investigate and discuss how Primnark has planed,communicated, monitored and
reviewed previous attempts to resolve problems whit suppliers.........................................
3.4 PRIMARK CURENT PRPBLEMS; NATURE, SCOPE AND IMPACT..........................
Task Describe the nature, scope and impact of any current problem/s facing Primark....
Describe a problem, its nature, scope and impact..............................................................
3.5 ANALYSIS OF PRIMARK..............................................................................................
3.5.1 SWOT ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................
3.5.2 PESTLE ANALYSIS....................................................................................................
3.5.3 STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS....................................................................................
PROBLEM SOLVING..........................................................................................................
4.0 CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................
Task Using your research information undertake an analysis of the causes of the
problem/s at Primark by using the following models...........................................................
4.1SITUATION OF ORGANIZATIONS................................................................................
Task Based on your analysis draw a conclusion that clearly identifies the main issues
faced by Primark..................................................................................................................
4.2 ORGANISTION CONCERN..........................................................................................
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4.3PROBLEM SOLVING.....................................................................................................
Gather and interpret information to solve a problem...........................................................
Evaluate options to make a decision...................................................................................
Plan, monitor and review the implementation and communication of decisions.................
5.0 OPTION.........................................................................................................................
5.1 PLAN FOR SUPLIERS..................................................................................................
Task Suggest possible business options that enables decision makers at Primark to
resolve the problems identified in your report......................................................................
6.0 APPENDICE..................................................................................................................
7.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................
8.0 REFERENCE LIST........................................................................................................
9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................
Bibliography.........................................................................................................................
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Executive summary
The purpose of the paper is to understand the existing state of the fast fashion
company, Primark through the identification of its problems, concerns and problem
addressing techniques. The paper discussed about the popular clothing and accessory
brand, Primark, which started its operation in Ireland. The brand expanded globally by
the strategy of offering trendy clothes with affordable pricing. The offerings of the
company is solely focussed on the changing fashion choices of target population. The
paper identified various problems of the company, ineffective communication strategy,
partially effective auditing process, inclusion of sustainability in the complete process of
supply chain and perceived notion about fashion brands, being unethical, lower quality
and unsustainable.
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1.0 Terms of reference
The CEO of PRIMARK requested a report to be written on the 5/6/2019. The purpose of
the report is to examine the fall and rise of PRIMARK. The researcher from COMZOO
CONSULTANS LTD completed this report. The problems are to be identified using a
SWOT analysis, PESTLE and STAKEHOLDER analysis. The conclusion will draw
together the analysis and identify the main problems. The report will also offer
recommendations for future development. The report will be completed by12/7/2019.
2.0 Procedure
The report for understanding the existent plans and strategies of Primark was
undertaken by researching about the company through secondary research followed by
the understanding about existent problems of the company.
2.1 Books, websites and journals
Gano, D. (2011) Seven steps to effective problem solving and strategies for personal
success. 1st edn. EBook: Reality Charting.
Belton, V. and Stewart, T.J. (2001) Multiple criteria decision analysis: An integrated
approach. 2nd edn. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Mayer, R.E. (1992) Thinking, problem solving, cognition. 2nd edn. New York:
W.H.Freeman & Co.
https://fashionunited.uk/primark-sustainability
http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/primark/engaging-with-stakeholders/what-is-a-
stakeholder.html
https://www.localdatacompany.com/blog/primark-whats-the-secret-to-its-success
https://stores.primark.com/index.html#
Essential
Adair, J. (2013) Decision making and problem solving strategies. 2nd edn. London:
Kogan Page.
Proctor, T. (2009) Creative problem solving for managers: Developing skills for decision
making and innovation. 3rd edn. New York: Routledge.
Recommended
Belton, V. and Stewart, T.J. (2001) Multiple criteria decision analysis: An integrated
approach. 2nd edn. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Mayer, R.E. (1992) Thinking, problem solving, cognition. 2nd edn. New York:
W.H.Freeman & Co.
McClelland, D.C. and C, D. (1988) Human motivation. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
Universitry Press.
SMART goals (2016) Available at: https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.php
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(Accessed: 25 July 2016).
Van Emden, J. and Becker, L. (2014) Presentation skills for students. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Websites
http://theproblemsite.com
http://www.studygs.net/problem
CMI (2012) Henry Laurence Gantt: the Gantt chart. Available at:
https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Campus%20Resources/Henry%20Laurence
%20Gantt%20-%20The%20Gantt%20Chart.ashx
Institute of Leadership and Management (no date) Https://www.I_l_m.Com/. Available
at: https://www.i_l_m.com
Poster presentation (2015) Available at:
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/assess/poster.html
3.0 Findings
3.1 Brief introduction of the organization
The Irish clothing distributor Primark is located on the regions like, Ireland, United
Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain. The main office of
Primark is located in Dublin. The fast fashion brand, Primark have expanded its
business with the popularity in Ireland. Primark expanded to United Kingdom after its
home country. The fashion company spread across the global with the strategy of
internationalization and the offerings of trendy clothes and affordable pricing. The
international fashion retailer offers beauty, homeware and fashion products through its
stores in 368 plus locations in the globe. It is known for offering high value of trending
clothing and accessories with affordable pricing structure. The fast fashion retailer
sources their garments from the factories of Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and China due
to the presence of lower cost of material and labour. Primark aims at satisfying the
changing preferences of the customers by sourcing from a strategic assortment of
factories/manufacturers of the world.
Task Compile a timeline diagram which outlines the major development the
organisation has faced since its launch in 1969.
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Timeline of Primark
(Source: Primark.com 2019).
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The fast fashion brand, Primark is based in regions of United Kingdom which is
known for its clothes, footwear and accessories. The company was founded in the year
1969 by Weston family. The fashion retail brand now possess 345 stores which are
situated in around eleven countries. The company targets the population who are
attracted towards low-priced clothing items with the association of recent trends. In the
year 2016, the net revenue of the company amounted up to 378.7 million pounds. The
net worth of the fast fashion brand, Primark was around 200 million pounds in the year
2011. In 2007, the market share of Primark in United Kingdom was 4.1 percent. The
market share rose up to seven percent in the year 2018.
The first store was established in the year 1969 in the regions of Ireland by
opening the first store in Dublin. Primark own a total of 38 stores in Ireland. In the year
1973, the very first store in United Kingdom was established and now owns 174 stores.
In the year 2006, Primark established its first store in Spain, Madrid. Presently, Primark
has 42 stores in the regions of United Kingdom. The fast fashion brand, Primark
established the very first store in the Netherlands with currently, 15 stores (PERRY and
WOOD 2018). The first store of Portugal, Liege and Germany was established in the
year 2009. The store of Austria was established in the year 2012. The Primark store of
France was established in the year 2013. In 2014, the fast fashion brand opened two
new stores in France. The USA store of Primark was established in the year 2015. The
store of Italy was first established in the year 2016. The largest store of Primark is
established in Birmingham high street with the area of 160,000 square feet that is of a
total of five floors. The largest store of Primark in Birmingham is accompanied by three
dining cafés, which includes Disney. It also consists of a barber shop and beauty studio.
3.2 PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF ITS CURRENT PRODUCT PORTOFOLIO AND
STORE LOCATIONS
Task: Describe its current product and store location portfolio
The portfolio of Primark in regards with its store location is presented below:
United Kingdom: The fast fashion brand Primark own 174 stores in United Kingdom. In
Britain, the stores of Primark are situated in the shopping centres and high streets. Very
few numbers of retail stores of Primark are located in retail parks, which could be
considered as an opportunity for the purpose of expanding Primark in Retail Park
(Stores.primark.com 2019).
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Ireland: The stores of Ireland are located in the regions like, Carlow, Athlone, Clonmel,
Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Dún Laoghaire, Ballina, Ennis, Galway, Castlebar, Drogheda,
Limerick, Longford, Letterkenny, Kilkenny, Portlaoise, Navan, Killarney, Newbridge,
Mullingar, Tralee, Sligo, Santry, Rathfarnham, Wilton, Wexford and Waterford
(Stores.primark.com 2019).
United States: The stores of United States are situated in Boston, Brooklyn, Braintree,
Danbury, Burlington, Freehold, Willow Grove, Staten Island and King of Prussia.
Austria: The stores of Austria are situated in the areas like, Graz, Innsbruck,
Vosendrof, Gerasdrof bei Wien and Pasching.
France: The fast fashion company, Primark owns numerous stores in France. The
stores are situated in Creteil, Dijon, Bordeaux, Le Havre, Lille, Marseille, Paris, Lyon,
Metz, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Serris, Metz, Evry, Toulouse and La Valette-du-Var.
Germany: The Primark stores of Germany are located in Bremen, Berlin, Cologne,
Bielefeld, Essen, Hamburg, Dresden, Dortmund, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt, Hannover,
Krefeld, Braunschweig, Ingolstadt, Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen, Münster, Stuttgart,
Weiterstadt, Kaiserslautern, München, Mannheim, Wuppertal and Saarbrucken
(Petersen 2017).
Italy: The stores of Italy are located in Brescia, Verona, Arese and Campi Bisenzio.
Spain: The stores of Primark in Spain are located in Algeciras, Almería, Barcelona,
Bilbao, Cadiz, Camargo, Armilla, Huelva, Badajoz, Albacete, Cordoba, Coruña, Las
Palmas, Logroño, Gran Canaria, Madrid, Churra, Malaga, Orihuela, Palma, Pamplona,
Murcia, Alicante, Roquetas de Mar, Castellón de la Plana, Ruzafa, Sevilla, Valencia,
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Santiago de Compostela, Majahonda, Santa Cruz de Tenerife,
Valladolid, Zaragoza, Oviedo and Tarragona.
Netherlands: The stores of Primark in Netherlands are located in Almere, Alkmaar,
Den Haag, Arnhem, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Dordrecht, Groningen, Nijmegen,
Enschede, Tilburg, Hoofddorp, Hilversum, Zoetermeer, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Venlo,
Zwolle and Zaandam (Stores.primark.com 2019).
Belgium: The stores of Belgium are situated in Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, Hasselt,
Liege, Bruxelles and Charleroi.
Portugal: The stores of Portugal are located in Almancil, Braga, Porto, Portimao,
Lisbon and Almada (Stores.primark.com 2019).
Slovenia: There are a single store in Slovenia which is Primark Ljubljana.
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Product Portfolio:
The product categories of Primark ranges from clothing category for women, men
and children, accessories, Homeware, confectionary, beauty products and footwear.
Primark also included Sephora products that are sold at a rate starting from 1 pound
from the year 2014. Primark included vegan options in the cafés for addressing the
increasing demand of target customers from the year 2018 (Rapley 2017). The
company is known for selling clothes and accessories at lower cost as compared to
other fashion brands like H&M, Forever 21 and Zara.
3.3 DISCUSS HOW PRIMARK HAS PLANNED, COMMUNICATED, MONITORED
AND REVIEWED PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS
Task: Investigate and discuss how Primark has planned, communicated,
monitored and reviewed previous attempts to resolve problems with suppliers
Primark have faced various allegations and issues in the past about supply chain
management. The fast fashion brand have incorporated the system of Global Sourcing
Map, which utilizes the online platform for implementing transparency in the system.
Global Sourcing Maps enables customers to develop the knowledge about the suppliers
and around 1071 factories. One of the spokesperson of Primark communicated that,
“For a number of years, we’ve been working closely with industry partners sharing
information about where Primark products are made. This has included, for example,
details of our suppliers, their factories, as well as our supply chain practices,” The
information about the suppliers of Primark is published through the implication of
sourcing map in the 31 countries, which includes addresses, names, gender categories
and number of factory workers (Lee and Vachon 2016). The company decided to
publish information about their supplier after the act of communicating the details of the
sourcing practices by around 98 percent of the factories, which are also involved in
manufacturing garments and accessories for other brands (Fütterer 2019). The director
of Ethical Trade and Environmental sustainability at Primark, Katherine Stewart
communicated the planning process and motive of implementing transparency in the
supply chain of the fast fashion brand, “Transparency for supply chain has always been
a critical agenda. This wasn’t a case of us not having the data, we know where our
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products are made (Binet et al. 2019). For us, we felt there was a natural cadence for
getting this information out and launching the website was the first step, with the Global
Sourcing Map following on as a second phase,” The reason for the implication was
responding to the preferences of stakeholders and increasing consumer base for
Primark.
3.4 DESCRIBE THE NATURE, SCOPE AND IMPACT OF THE CURENT PRPBLEMS
FACING PRIMARK
Task: Describe the nature, scope and impact of any current problem/s facing
Primark
Primark is a popular fashion brand, which is known for offering clothes and
accessories that are in trend with the association of lower price. Although the company,
Primark offers affordable fashion but negatively contribute to the environment through
carbon footprint. Primark has developed a pre conceived notion of being non-
sustainable and unethical in executing the operational activities (Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis
and Schönberger 2017). The company has adopted various initiatives towards the
factor of sustainability, the company is a member of Sustainable Apparel Coalition The
initiatives involves the transformation from plastic to paper bags and have aimed for
reducing the wastes from packaging and production process. The fast fashion brand
have tried to resolving the concerns by monitoring the greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the brand reflects minimum information regarding the report of greenhouse
gases and initiatives for negative environmental impact. The company have
experienced controversies regarding the collapsing of Rana Plaza, which reflected
safety issues. The current problem of ethical and environmental concerns of the
consumers have extended to the option of brand switch to other brands like H&M and
TK Max. The current problems of Primark reflects the scope of brand switching and may
lower customer conversion rates. The published information about the reports regarding
reducing the climatic impact is not available in the public forum, except energy efficiency
in stores (Cooper et al. 2015). The impact of the current problem can increase the
preconceived notion of the fast fashion brand of being unethical and unsustainable
(Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis and Schönberger 2019). The lack of communication regarding
set goals and objectives for minimizing the carbon footprint of the company, which
creates misunderstanding and unwillingness amongst target market. The company has
appointed a team of Ethical Trade and Environment Sustainability for monitoring the
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negative impact through the operational process (Bringezu and Bleischwitz 2017).
However, the auditing implemented as the form of sourcing criteria and at the final stage
of production, which cannot assure the quality attainment and fair labour practices in the
actual process of action. The company is moving towards complete sustainability by
incorporating practices of animal welfare but the business do not share the source of
raw materials of numerous product offerings.
3.5 ANALYSIS OF PRIMARK
3.5.1 UNDERTAKE A SWOT ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY WHY THE ORGANIZATION
IS FACED WITH IT’S CURENT PROBLEMS. IDENTIFY AREAS WITHIN THE SWOT
THAT MAY HELP THEM RESOLVE THESE PROBLEMS
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
1. It offers an extensive variety of clothing and accessories.
2. Primark started sourcing sustainable materials with a transparent supplier
management system.
3. It owns more than 300 stores.
4. It employs around 50,000 people from around the world.
5. It offers trendy fashionable clothes and accessories in lower cost in comparison
with the competitors like Zara and H&M (Lluesma and Ruiz 2018).
6. The company focusses on the practice of Ethical trading which covers the areas
like, avoiding labour exploitation, sustainability in production and employees
rights.
Weaknesses
1. Primark is majorly dependent on the application of word of mouth in place of
advertising, which can be a disadvantage for the fashion brand.
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2. The brand cannot assure the consistency of the apparels as it outsource the
materials from around seven countries (Primark.com 2019).
3. The brand have faced controversies and speculation regarding their supplier
information and sustainability practices, majorly due to the factor of fast fashion.
Opportunities
1. Communicating the value offerings through the medium of advertisement and
promotional tools.
2. Primark should be concentrating on opening stores in the manufacturing
countries as it will save costs on transportation and will monitor quality standard.
Threats
1. Threats for Primark are the competitors like H&M, Zara, Forever 21, TK Max and
ASDA.
2. Controversial and vulnerable supply chain.
3.5.2 PESTLE ANALYSIS OF UK
Political Factors
Political factors refer to the degree of influence and interference by the
government parties. The factors include terms like government policy, tax policy,
subsidy, GST, trade restriction and many more. All these factors have an effect on how
the organisation performs their business and all the organisations must therefore be
very dynamic in order to accept the challenges smoothly.
The Government of UK has taken a number of steps in the past in order to fight
with the deteriorating economy. It took several measures in order to revive the falling
banks and to restrict the unemployment that kept on increasing. Brexit created
numerous issues, political debates and uncertainties. The country is however relatively
a fair country that has a great influence on inner workings. The Government is proactive
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in nature. At present the country has a politically stable government. The country is one
of the most powerful countries of the world.
Economic Factors
The country’s economic landscape is one of the most important factors. It holds
the fifth position in terms of nominal GDP. The prices of the products and the services in
the shop started to increase drastically and the cost of imports also increased in UK.
The wages and the salaries of the employees on the other hand didn’t rise in terms of
the rise in the prices. There has been a rise in the inflation rate to 3.1 % in the year of
2017. UK market is however considered as a free market. The country has a huge
population that helps the small markets to become more profitable. Foreign Direct
Investment has also increased. There are certain unnecessary spending on providing
free medical services and financial support. The increasing population of the country
and the improving GDP, marks the development of economic structure of the country,
which will direct the company to focus on the perception of the population for fast
fashion and incorporate sustainability in the light of responding to the need of
sustainability awareness of consumers in free market.
Social Factor
The country provides with a number of free public services that are formed with
the motive of providing social welfare to the general public as well as to the backward
class people. The country has a very dense population. It has around 66.87 million
inhabitants in 2019. The country is open to migration. UK has a high standard of living.
The number of births in the country is more than as compared to the number of deaths.
The population is multicultural in nature. It is one of the top ten countries that have the
most educated population form around the world.
The multicultural population of United Kingdom can be responded by improving
the business communication plans of Primark for transforming the perception of
consumers or potential consumers about fast fashion brands, as they are perceived as
low quality products.
Technological Factor
UK is one of the most technologically advanced countries, London being the hub
of both financial and technological institution. The country is recognised as a MEDC
(More Economically Developed Country). It has a great quality of innovation skills and a
great expertise in information technology and science. A huge internal competition
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prevails within the country for the stimulation of growth. New and fresh talents are
coming in this sector and a lot of investment around 28billion pounds has been made in
this sector. Although it has been improving yet the country lags behind USA India,
South Korea, Japan and some other countries.
Environmental Factor
There are several environmental factors that affect the functioning of the
organisation. Extreme cold can affect the productivity of any organisation. The UK
government however has taken several strong steps in order to make the environmental
standards strong and thereafter protect the environment. The country faces challenging
climatic situations. The weather plays an important role when it comes to tourism.
Several tourists come to the place in the summer season when the weather is pleasant
and this tourism sector provides around 127 billion pounds to the economy.
Improving the operational activities with the incorporation of sustainable practices
can address the increasing concern of the country’s climatic condition and
environmental issues.
Legal Factors
There are several laws that prevail in UK, by which the companies needs to
abide by very strictly. The Employment Act 1196 protects the employees from getting
exploited as well as protect their rights. There is also the Equality Act 2010 that prevails
within the country that provides with equality and diversity in the workforce and
everywhere. Other than these there are maternity leaves, paternity leaves, minimum
wage act, pension, holidays, sick leaves and many such.
3.5.3 STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS
.
TASK: COMPILE A STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS DIAGRAM DEMONSTRATING
WHERE THE MAIN STAKEHOLDERS WOULD BE PLACED BY THE
ORGANISATION
A variety of methods have been used by Primark for engaging itself with its group
of stakeholders. One of the method for example that is being used by Primark for
communicating with the customers is by using its ethical trading website. It also uses
different initiatives one of which is engagement programs with community. It
understands the different needs and preferences of the different stakeholders (Kamal
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2018). There must be appropriate use of the channels of communication by Primark for
engaging with the different stakeholders group.
Stakeholders and Shareholders
Stakeholders are people who are directly or indirectly related to the organisation.
The stakeholders of Primark are Customers, Shareholders, Trade Unions, Government,
Non-Government Organization, Workers and the Communities and Suppliers (Ferretti
2016). The case study here represents how Primark engages itself with its important
external Stakeholders.
Shareholders are those persons or individuals who hold the shares of the
company by contributing their capital and they are owners as well. They receive their
part of profits as owners, which is called as dividend. Stakeholders on the other hand
are those persons who have direct or indirect interest or stake in the organisation. The
identification of the interest level, power and interest as well as the influence of the
different other stakeholders can be very useful. The company owners are directly
interested in the profits of the company and are very powerful and influential in terms of
company management (Primark.com 2019). On the other hand, the customers do not
have much interest in the company and possess a lesser power and influence over the
company decisions and management. But this however does not mean that Primark can
ignore the customers (Rodríguez-Peris and Segarra-Oña 2019). Any business that
neglects its customers will start facing declining sales and ultimately losses. Customers
that remain loyal with the organisation are valued the most. Big retailers like Primark
seek to understand the needs and preferences of the customers and accordingly take
important decisions.
Stakeholders of Primark:
o Customers- Concerned about ethically produced product offerings
o Suppliers- Factories producing goods and third party for transportation.
o Government- The local government in which the Primark outsourced factory and
own stores are operating.
o Non-governmental bodies (helps workers’ issues)
o Communities- Social environment
o Shareholders- Investors of the company (Primark.com 2019).
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o Employees- Both outsourced factory workers and employees of Primark. Primark
appoints above 7,00,000 employees. It includes various functional managers and
team for facilitating areas like sales, marketing, production and finance. They
include branch managers and sales teams. Primark faced allegations of not
restricting child labour or unfair labour practices. After facing controversies and
allegations, Primark appointed a team for Ethical Trade and Environmental
Sustainability.
o Supplier- Primark attempts at maintaining a good relationship with the suppliers.
Primark have faced concern about the unethical practices like child labour and
unfair labour practices. Primark invests in providing training to the suppliers and
guidance towards labour practices (Primark.com 2019).
o Customers- Primark understands the needs and preferences of the customers by
offering trendy clothes and accessories at lower price. However, Primark needs
to invest efforts and financial aids for transforming the perception of the
customers.
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Non-governmental bodies Employees, Suppliers (In
case of Primark)
Government (Local) Customers, Shareholders,
communities
Interest of stakeholders
Influence of stakeholders
Low High
High
Fig. Stakeholder analysis
(Source: Created by author)
3.5.4 USING THE STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS DIAGRAM DESCRIBE HOW
PARTICULAR STAKEHOLDERS MAY HELP RESOLVE THE PROBLEMS THE
ORGANISATION IS CURRENLY FACING
Suppliers: The suppliers associated with Primark can be linked with the customers, in
terms of promotion and preference investigation. This strategy will help the company to
facilitate the investigation regarding the customers’ changing preferences of the
customers. Suppliers’ link with customers will also assure the communication of ethical
and sustainable practices. It will also enable the strategy of sustainability with the
suppliers’ knowledge and awareness regarding concerning issues of the customers.
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The distance of the supplier with the countries where the products are sold will be
responded through the incorporation of digital media.
Employees- The employees including, higher management, middle and workforce can
be involved with the aim of improving the operational process of the organization by
changing the functional areas of the company. The incorporation of selective marketing
communication strategy can facilitate the transformation of preconceived notion of the
customers/potential customers of Primark.
Customers- Although, the company direct its focus on satisfying customers but
customers can play a major role in bringing change in the operational process of the
company. Customers can share their valuable feedback and concern regarding the fast
fashion clothing retailer through the medium of social media for ensuring ethical and
sustainable practices.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Task: Using your research information undertake an analysis of the causes of the
problem/s at Primark by using the following models
The causes of the problems experienced by Primark through the analysis of the
models/frameworks like, PESTEL, SWOT and stakeholder analysis. Main cause of the
problems is the brand’s selection of communication media, they majorly depend on
word of mouth that cannot transform the perception of the fast fashion brand. Ineffective
communication channel cannot respond to the preconceived notion and communicate
the improvements of the company regarding ethical and sustainable practices.
Although, the company have appointed an auditing team for responding to the
controversies and issues with the manufacturing factories. However, the stages and
applicability of auditing process majorly concentrates on the initial and output phase of
the manufacturing process, which does not exert control over fair and ethical working
conditions.
4.1 PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT SITUATION OF ORGANIZATIONS
IN TERMS OF STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES OF IT’S PRODUCT PORTOFOLIO.
HAVE PAST POOR DECISIONS IMPACTED ON THIS PORTOFOLIO
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Task: Based on your analysis draw a conclusion that clearly identifies the main
issues faced by Primark.
Therefore, it can be concluded from the paper that Primark have experienced
numerous controversies and negative reactions for the concerns regarding sustainability
and ethical practices. The company have experienced issues regarding the
preconceived notion for fast fashion offerings of being unsustainable and unethical.
Consumers/Potential consumers of Primark doubt the practices undergo behind the
operational process for constructing affordable offerings. Primark was blamed for
involving or not restricting the association of child labour in the factories of developing
countries, where the Primark products are manufactured. The incident of the destruction
of Rama Plaza caused negative impact on the target consumers of Primark as it
indicated the avoidance towards the safety concerns of Primark (Stanwick and Stanwick
2015). Although Primark is involved with Sustainable Apparel Coalition for responding to
the negative environmental impact (Perry, Fernie and Woods 2018). However, the
company have not set specific targets and objectives for improving the current position.
Another major concern in relation to Primark is the lack of communication regarding
adopted initiatives through published materials. The issue of maintaining lower price
range with sustainable and ethical practices for responding to the misconception of
associating unethical behaviour with affordable fashion.
4.2 BASED ON YOUR ANALYSIS UNDERTAKEN USING SWOT ETC HIGHLIGHT
THE MAIN AREAS OF CONCERN TO THE ORGANISTION
The main areas of organizational concern can be highlighted through the extracted
data from SWOT analysis and PESTEL framework. The main concerns of the
organization, Primark can be the established perception of the customers and potential
customers about a fast fashion brand. The perception of low quality and unethically
produced materials associated with the affordable fast fashion brand. Another major
concern of the brand can be the dependency on numerous garment manufacturers from
around the world. Although, sourcing garments and products from areas with affordable
materials and labours can be profitable and a great response to the changing fashion
preferences of the customers. However, the assurance of quality in all the factories and
the initiatives of maintaining the working conditions of the factory workers is very
challenging. Primark have experienced controversies regarding the allegations for
supplier relationship and assuring working conditions and environment of factory
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workers. The concern of false perception is enhanced by the ineffective selection of
communicating media, as they are majorly dependent on the factor of word-of-mouth.
4.3 USING THE ANALYSIS SECTION IDENTIFY THE MAIN AREAS OF STRENGTH
AND STAKEHOLDERS WHO COULD ASSIST THE ORGANISATION IN RESOLVING
IT’S PEOBLEMS
The strengths that can act as a support for resolving the problems in organization are:
 Positive initiation towards sustainability can majorly contribute towards the
problem resolution of the company.
 The clothing and accessory retailer owns more than 300 stores, which can be
utilized for promoting the improvements and transforming the perception about
fast fashion association to mass population.
 The company is already investing in understanding the changing preferences for
clothes and accessories, for offering up to date style, the same medium can be
used for understanding the concerns and issues building the negative perception
of Primark.
The stakeholder who can assist in the process of problem resolution includes-
 Customers by sharing valuable feedback and concerns regarding fast fashion
retailers.
 Employees in improving the operational and auditing functionality of Primark
 Suppliers in improving the whole process of manufacturing for an ethical and
sustainable supply chain process.
5.0 OPTION
The options that may be considered in the process of addressing the existent
and potential organizational issues can be the improvement in the selection of media.
Selecting communication media for effectively showcasing the improvement and
sustainable practices in association with the increasing concern of customers. The
concerns of negative perceived notion about fast fashion companies can be addressed
by the option of strategic selective media. Another options can be employing a strict and
structured auditing plan for the auditing team for the purpose of monitoring the whole
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process of manufacturing, like working conditions, environment inside the factories and
practices involved for employing workers. Another option for addressing concerns can
be setting standards for quality assessment for ensuring the inclusion of sustainability.
5.1 PLAN FOR SUPPLIERS
The plans for suppliers for the purpose of incorporating sustainable practices are
highlighted below:
 Being respectful and flexible of the ownership, practices and policies of the
suppliers for bending the process of monitoring the quality and sustainable
practices
 Closing the loop by associating suppliers with customers through the channel of
promotion, as it will make the supplier aware of the increasing needs of
sustainable development
 Being accountable by supporting and recognizing the existent efforts of the
suppliers of Primark can be a major step for sustainability
 Creating a close community with all the suppliers with the stimulation of trust and
acceptability can be an effective plan for suppliers.
Task: Suggest possible business options that enables decision makers at
Primark to resolve the problems identified in your report.
The problems identified with respect to Primark can be responded by adopting following
measures:
Improving the process of promotion by adopting selective promotional techniques
like online platform for communicating the ethical and sustainability aims for the
customers to replace the image of an affordable unethical brand (James and
Montgomery 2017).
The company should increase its sustainable practices by introducing complete
eco-friendly garments and accessories, by setting minimization targets in regards
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with carbon footprint and resource wastage and execution of a strict structure for
policy implementation and resource management (Adair 2019).
The company should be involved in auditing the operational in each step of
supply chain process for ensuring a 100 percent sustainable and ethical process
(Rutter, Armstrong and Cano 2017).
The company should introduce an online campaign “#Transparentprocess”,
which will involve the communication regarding the policies and procedure
regarding sourcing criteria, quality assurance, manufacturing process,
transportation and labour involvement (Welford 2016).
Setting a strict code of conduct in each and every stage of production process for
the purpose of ensuring fair, ethical and sustainable practices of the supply chain
process (Dubey et al. 2017).
6.0 APPENDICE
London- Store locations
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Netherlands- Store location (Stores.primark.com 2019).
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Europe- Biggest store locations (Stores.primark.com 2019)
Stakeholder analysis:
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Non-governmental bodies Employees, Suppliers (In
case of Primark)
Government (Local) Customers, Shareholders,
communities
Interest of stakeholders
Influence of stakeholders
Low High
High
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7.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the support I received from my professors, librarians and
the system of the institution, which enabled my efficiency in executing my efforts for
formulating the report. I would like to express appreciation to my classmates for
collaboratively creating a positive environment in the classroom that helped stimulating
a learning atmosphere for all. I would like to express my gratitude towards the support
of my subject professors for offering assistance in every phase of constructing our
knowledge and productive practices. Librarians helped with the enormous flow of
educational materials through offline and online materials.
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