Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd: Exploring Business Context, SWOT, & CSR

This report delves into the business context of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd., a UK-based apparel and textile company specializing in school uniforms. It presents a SWOT analysis, highlighting the company's strengths like its employer of the year recognition and specialization in affordable apparel, weaknesses such as reliance on bank loans and limited market share, opportunities including e-commerce expansion and product range diversification, and threats from competitors and high interest rates. The report also examines Rowlinson Knitwear's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, including its ethical culture and international efforts to provide clean water in Bangladesh. Furthermore, it discusses the role of innovation in enhancing productivity, communication, and competitive advantage, citing the launch of the Performa 25 product line as an example. The report concludes by recommending market expansion through new product launches and leveraging the company's existing goodwill.

Context of Business
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
SWOT analysis of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd..............................................................................3
Use of Corporate Social Responsibility at Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.........................................5
Innovation at Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.......................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
The business context develops an understanding in aspect of various factors that tend to
have impact on the business in various perspectives. It includes the various types of perspectives
such as decision making and its process. It also includes the goals that the organization has
aimed to achieve. The context of business is mostly used by Information Technology in order to
identify the important implications in order to smoothly execute the strategic initiatives
(Bejinariu, 2020).
Rowlinson knitwear is a UK based medium scale organization. The organization falls
under the consumer discretionary sector. Rowlinson knitwear Ltd. deals in production of
apparels and textile products. The organization is specifically known to produce school uniform
and knitwear for school students. The organization was founded in the year 1972. The report
revolves around the study of business context of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd. The study focuses
upon the innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility concept at Rowlinson Knitwear. The
report also conducts a SWOT analysis of the organization (Braslauskas, 2020).
MAIN BODY
SWOT analysis of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.
The SWOT analysis of the Rowlinson Knitwear aims to highlight the various strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization. The SWOT analysis of Rowlinson
Knitwear Ltd. is explained below-
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 The organization has been recognized
as the employer of the year for the year
2018 at the Stockport business awards.
 The organization has attained
specialisation in terms of independent
retailers by providing functional,
affordable and durable apparels in the
market to its customers at appropriate
 The organization has raised funds from
the source of bank loans from HSBC
hence the organization owed high rate
of interest which is a drawback of the
organization (Corallo, Lazoi and Lezzi,
2020).
 The organization has captured only a
limited amount of market share which
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price.
 The organiztaion is in partnership with
the organizations that fully comply with
the various health, safety and the child
labour regulations in the industry.
 The organization has been recognized
as the best workplace in the UK among
the small and medium enterprises of the
region.
proves as a drawback for the
organization.
 The organization has a limited sales as
it deals only in the selected range of
apparels. The organization only deals in
school uniforms and the corporate
apparels which is a shortcoming for the
organization (Leminen and et.al.,
2020).
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
 The organization has a good
opportunity to opt for dealership with
the various e commerce platforms
which include flipkart, amazon, etc in
order to sell the products of the
organization through the online
platforms. This will help the
organization to have a virtual reach of
the customers.
 The organization can aim at increasing
the strength of its employees in order to
motivate them to perform better at the
workplace and come up with innovative
ideas (Zybareva and et.al., 2021).
 The organization has an opportunity to
expand its product ranges in order to
capture the market in a better way and
have an increased market share. This
will help in attracting more number of
people towards the product of the
 The organization has well established
competitors in the market. The
competitors like marks & Spencer and
River island can be a threat to the
organization if their market share
increases.
 The organization has raised funds from
the source of HSBC which has resulted
in diminishing of the profitability of the
organization as they need to pay high
interest on the loans. The higher rate of
interest is a threat to the profits of the
organization.
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organization.
Use of Corporate Social Responsibility at Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.
Corporate social responsibility can be referred to the concept wherein the organizations
make efforts in order to establish a positive impact upon the society and environment. The term
CSR introduces policies and practice that are to be performed by the organizations that are to
have a positive impact upon the global environment. The organizations aim to maximize profits
and apart from this they work upon achieving the Corporate social responsibility goals
(Mahmood and et.al., 2020). The study revolves around the CSR policy in aspect of Rowlinson
knitwear Ltd.
Rowlinson knitwear Ltd has been awarded for its contribution in the Corporate Social
Responsibility twice. The organization has raised the bar for all the organizations in the industry
by being bold and actively taking part in the Corporate social responsibilities of the organization.
The organization tends to have a good engagement among the employees and communication is
treated as a priority. The corporate social responsibilities fulfilled by the organization are as
follows-
 The organization has a commitment towards an ethical culture which is also people
focussed. Rowlinson aims to establish and work out its CSR policy in the context of Real
Living Wage Accreditation.
 The corporate social responsibility is fulfilled by Rowlinson Ltd across the international
borders too. The organization has takes initiatives in order to provide clean and filtered to
the people residing in Bangladesh in order to promote good health. The organization has
gifted water filters to the various factory workers of Bangladesh. The activity is an
outstanding example of promoting the CSR initiatives.
Innovation at Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.
Innovation is referred to the concept of introducing changes in the existing products and
services of the organization or bringing changes in the production process of the organization.
The innovation at the organization facilitates the organization to deliver a better level of
satisfaction among the customers. The innovation can help the organization to tackle with the
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rising demands in the market in a prominent and cost saving manner (Shayganmehr and et.al.,
2021).
In order to expand the business of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd., the organization needs to bring
innovations in its products or need to switch upon the alternative or innovative ways so that the
organization can bring down the cost of production in the organization. This way the
organization can sell its product at more affordable prices and have better profits. The innovation
at the business organization will have various effects on the business. The impact of innovation
upon Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd is as follows-
 Enhances productivity- The innovation in the industry will lead to effective utilisation
of the resources further leading to minimal wastage of resources in the industry. The
innovation in productivity saves the time of production which increases the production
level of the organization.
 Effective communication process- Innovation will help in providing online platforms
for the organization to communicate with its audience. The innovation in the
communication strategy will impact the organization to have a wider reach among its
customers in the market. The communication could be enhanced with the help
introducing technologies in order to increase online reach.
 Competitive advantage- The introduction of various new products or designs of the
apparels can help in having a competitive advantage to the organization. As the
innovation will introduce something new in the market.
Rowlinson knitwear Ltd has introduced a new product in the market named Performa 25. The
product was launched after proper research and consideration of feedbacks. The product has
various features of an ultra lightweight product which is fully fit V neck pullover and cardigan.
The product is available in the colour options of navy, black and grey. The product aims to
provide cotton comfort along with colour fastness and durability (Sivarajah and et.al., 2020).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the study that business context is a very important concept for the
business organization. The business context develops an understanding in aspect of various
factors that tend to have impact on the business in various perspectives. It includes the various
types of perspectives such as decision making and its process. The study focuses upon the
business context of Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd. The report focuses upon the strengths, weaknesses,
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opportunities and threats of the organization in light of the SWOT analysis. The study also
highlights the Corporate social responsibility practices performed by Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd.
Along with the innovations that take place in the organization. In order to recommend ways for
the organization to expand its market, the organization can launch new products in the existing
market apart from the knitwear and school uniforms. The pre existing goodwill of the
organization in the industry will boost the confidence and probability of the organization to
expand successfully. Hence the organization is recommended to expand its market by launching
various apparels in the market under its brand name. The organization can bring innovation in
order to expand its Market and reach in the industry. The innovation will have various positive
impacts upon the organization. The innovation in the organization will have a positive impact
upon the productivity of the organization while reducing the level of wastage and enhancement
in the equality of the products.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bejinariu, R. M., 2020. Sustainable Business Performance and Risk Management: Risk
Assessment Tools in the Context of Business Risk Levels Related to Threats and
Opportunities. Springer Nature.
Braslauskas, J., 2020. Effective creative intercultural communication in the context of business
interaction: theoretical and practical aspects. Creativity studies. 13(1). pp.199-215.
Corallo, A., Lazoi, M. and Lezzi, M., 2020. Cybersecurity in the context of industry 4.0: A
structured classification of critical assets and business impacts. Computers in
industry. 114. p.103165.
Leminen, S. and et.al., 2020. Industrial internet of things business models in the machine-to-
machine context. Industrial Marketing Management. 84. pp.298-311.
Mahmood, M. and et.al., 2020. Effectiveness of business leadership in the Eurasian context:
empirical evidence from Kazakhstan. Journal of Management Development.
Shayganmehr, M. and et.al., 2021. Industry 4.0 enablers for a cleaner production and circular
economy within the context of business ethics: a study in a developing country. Journal
of Cleaner Production. 281. p.125280.
Sivarajah, U. and et.al., 2020. Role of big data and social media analytics for business to business
sustainability: A participatory web context. Industrial Marketing Management. 86.
pp.163-179.
Zybareva, O. and et.al., 2021. Economic and Legal Aspects of the Network Readiness of the
Enterprises in Ukraine in the Context of Business Improving. Studies of Applied
Economics. 39(5).
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