SHR011-2 - Strategic HRM: Coolco Case Study Analysis & Solutions

This case study analyzes Coolco, a UK-based food retailer, using strategic human resource management (HRM) theories and practices to address its business issues. The analysis includes a STEEPLE analysis to identify key drivers for organizational change, focusing on socio-cultural and socio-economic factors impacting HRM interventions. The report evaluates stakeholder interests and recommends HRM activities to solve business challenges, particularly concerning Coolco's market decline and employee insecurities. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding external factors, workforce diversity, and the need for effective training to navigate organizational changes and ensure ethical decision-making. The goal is to improve organizational performance through targeted HRM interventions that integrate, develop, and support employees while aligning with the company's core values and market demands. This document is a student contribution and is available on Desklib, a platform offering a range of AI-powered study tools and resources for students.

The strategic context of
human resource
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
STEEPLE analysis which established drivers for organisational changes..................................3
3 socio cultural and three socio-economic factors from the analysis that impact on HRM
interventions................................................................................................................................6
Evaluation of stakeholder interest and recommendations of HRM activities which help
organisation to solve business issues...........................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
Books and Journals:...................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
This report aims to analyse internal and external context of an organisation which
influences on the business operations weather special reference to the case study company i.e.
Coolco. It is UK-based organisation which operates in food retailing sector and established in
1978. It is dealing in prepared foods with low priced and good quality. This report is analysing
the understanding of strategic human resource management theories and practices which is
applicable in order to deal with the business issues (Collins, 2021). It will cover STEEPLE
analysis and identifying 3 socio cultural and 3 social economic factors. In addition to this, report
will also cover the evolution of stakeholder interest and the recommendations of human resource
management activities which help to solve the issues.
MAIN BODY
STEEPLE analysis which established drivers for organisational changes
Coolco is found within the organisation that already faced many complications in the
businesses. It is important to note that company needs to take necessary course of action in order
to grow their business. Coolco has already faced many problems in their business in 2012 where
the market was fall. Due to this, the founder of company took a step in order to get their original
position in the market (Armstrong, 2019). They announced a scheme which is known as graduate
trainee scheme. It is the scheme in which a plan is developed in order to get a new generation of
knowledgeable, talented people who are able to understand the core business, customer base and
market of an organisation. Graduates are selected on the basis of their qualifications with the
strong contingent of MBA graduates who possess all the qualities of business savvy. It is very
important for the applicants of graduate trainee position at Coolco that should possess all the
understanding of the influence of history of an organisation and also able to use their knowledge
in order to protect from external conditions of company. This is the reason that the need to do a
STEEPLE analysis which helps them to establish key drivers for organisational change. Steeple
analysis is discussed in below points:
STEEPLE analysis

It is found to be a planning tool which is used for marketing strategies in order to
measure the macro environment external factors. It is the acronym of social, technological,
economic, environmental, political, legal and ethical. It provides a practical insight of each factor
which affects a business (Cooke, Xiao and Xiao, 2020). It is the extension of PEST analysis.
This analysis is very helpful in order to check the validity and reasonableness of overriding of
business targets. In the case of Coolco, it is an important tool for them as company already faced
many problems in their history. It is found that Coolco’s market was declined due to the external
forces. This is the reason that employees of Coolco should understand the influence of external
factors. All the factors of STEEPLE analysis are mentioned below:
Social factor
Social factor is concerned with the cultural changes and market research in an
organisation which should be considered. It is found that there is a continuous change in trends
and tastes of customers. It is important for employees that they should understand the behaviour
of customers so that they are able to provide solution accordingly. In the case of Coolco, it is
found that companies commit between internal and external pressure in 2000. Due to this, they
lost their sight of its core business. One of the important reasons for their market share declined
was the insecurities of employees which impacts on the productivity. That's why it is very
important for employees to understand an external force which includes social factors.
Technological factor
Technological factor is concerned with advanced production methods which are rapidly
increasing in the market. It is important to note for employees that they should understand the
nature of technological business world (Sareen, 2018). Every day the new opportunities are
offering in the market which helps to improve profit margin of an enterprise. But it is not easy
for an organisation to adopt any technology in the business as it may be provide an adverse
impact on the efficiency and productivity of employees. Sometimes it is found that changes are
not accepted by employees as they are resistant to change. This can be better understood with the
help of Coolco’s history. Their employees were felt insecure because of the new board of
directors. The reason behind this was resistance of changes. That's why company needs to choose
only to those technologies which they are able to convince employees for accepting change.

Economical factor
Economic is one of the big factors which influence organisational operations and
functions in the market. It is concerned with the understanding of inflation level, international
trade, unemployment and rate of growth (Ridder and Baluch, 2017). The current period of
economic is support from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. This gives a great impact on the
purchasing power of potential customers and that’s why company should make a strategy of their
pricing of products in such a way which motivates customers to buy their products. Coolco is
provided low price products and not compromise with the quality which gives a reason to the
customers to buy their products even in adverse economic conditions.
Environmental factor
Today's business environment is focused on environmental friendly business activities.
The reason behind this is company’s products provided a negative impact on the environment as
it created many waste and pollution in the environment. Due to this, company needs to reduce or
manage waste which helps to reduce air and water pollution in the environment. In this factor,
employees of an organisation should understand their sustainable duties which reduce the
environmental pollution in the market. It is found in Coolco that their employees are producing
less waste in the production process which is a positive factor for company.
Political factor
Political factors are playing a very important role in the success and growth of an
organisation. Company need to run their business the compliance of all policies which are
formulated by government. It includes tax policies, regulations on environment, employment
laws, restriction on trade and tariffs, trade agreements, interference of state, etc. These all factors
should be considered by every organisation in the business operation so that they are not
negatively impacted. It is found that Coolco is the organisation which is currently running their
business in UK so they have less impact of political factors. If company is expanding their
business in other countries then they will face complications as it increases policies and laws of
different governments.
Legal factor

Legal factors are deals with the official complications which is mandatory to comply by
companies. It is important for an organisation that they should comply all minority protection
act, legal restaurant and regulations, competition law, safety and health policies of employees,
etc. This factor should be considered by Coolco in order to run their business successfully.
Ethical factor
Ethical factors are concerned with social values which is an integral part of an
organisation that governs behaviour of employees (Zeller, 2019). It is necessary to consider
ethical elements by employees of Coolco in order to determine that what is correct and what is
not. Ethical elements include value of the culture, tendency of people, integrity, behaviour and
duties of employees towards society.
These are the important elements of steeple analysis which should be considered by an
organisation in order to grow their business. Coolco has already faced many complications in
their history because of the combination of internal and external factors. That was the learning
for company to understand that employees get training in such a way which helps them to
understand the influences of external factors on operations and business. All the factors included
in STEEPLE analysis should be understand by an organisation in an effective way a and also
enables them to take right decisions instead of feeling insecurity. There are many situation come
in the organisation where employees needs to focus on betterment of organisation and society.
For that purpose, they may be face problems in the company. But in that situation they should
get well training which helps them to take the right decisions.
3 socio cultural and three socio-economic factors from the analysis that impact on HRM
interventions
HRM interventions are concerned with the improvement and enhancement of overall
organisational performance which can be possible by improving the performances of groups and
individuals within an organisation. It is also concerned with the way of managing people in an
efficient and effective way (Akinlade and Shalack, 2017). Human resource management
interventions are targeted at integrating, developing and supporting employees in an
organisation. Important HRM interventions are including developing talent and managing
workforce diversity, performance management and wellbeing. It is found that using of HRM

interventions in an organisation is not easy as it get influences or impacted by socio cultural and
economic factors. There is a discussion of social culture and economic factors which is identified
from the STEEPLE analysis that affected on HRM interventions:
3 social cultural factors
Level of education
It is very important for an organisation that they should understand the level of education
of their employees as it provides a great impact on choosing HRM interventions. It is found that
HRM interventions are focusing on the development and improvement in performances of
employees which provides overall improvement in organisational performance. When companies
are using any HRM interventions such as performance management and it should know the level
of education of their employees so that they cannot fail in their practices. It is very important to
know that level of education should we match with the standards of HRM intervention so that
any deviation cannot occur or company is not able to match the performances of employees. If
any differences in the measurement tool of performances are found then it becomes tough for
Coolco to improve the performances of employees.
Cross cultural differences
Every day the workforce diversity is increasing in the organisation and it makes up
pressure on employees that they should adapt the diversity culture of an organisation. It is
necessary for employees to understand the workforce diversity but it sometimes it becomes
impossible for them as they are resistant to change (Beaven, 2019). In addition to this, it is very
tough for employees to understand the different religion and languages of other employees which
are come from different nations or other religions. This will increases the problems of conflicts
due to cross cultural differences. That's why it is crucial for an organisation to understand this
factor and able to make a solution which has to reduce the negative impact of cross cultural
differences.
Customer preferences
An organisation is always customer-centric and they want to satisfy their customers with
the help of understanding their taste and preferences. But it is not easy to understand the

customer's preferences as it is daily change with the changes in trends. This is the reason that
Coolco needs to understand taste and preferences of customers which helps them to produce
goods and services accordingly. It is found that food is the basic necessity and that's why people
were not able to afford expensive food materials. So this preference should be understand by an
organisation in an effective way which assists them to take right decision. It is found that Coolco
successfully understands the preference of customers and that's why they provided low-priced
food products with no compromise in the quality. This is really helpful for them to increase the
market share and customer base in the market.
3 socio economic factors
Income level
It is very important for an organisation to understand the target customers on the basis of
their income level because it effects on their purchasing power. If target customers are earning a
good income than it is automatically increases the purchasing power of their potential buyers.
Cooclo is targeted to lower level and middle level people as they produces goods at lower price
and also so not compromise with the quality of products and services. So that’s why if
organisation is using any HRM intervention then they should know the income level of their
employees which it is affordable or not for them.
Global poverty
It is found that global poverty is one of the important socio-economic factors which
should be considered by an organisation (Ding and Cai, 2018). In the HRM intervention, Coolco
should understand this factor so that they a measure and improve the performances of employees
with the consideration of global poverty.
State of the environment
HRM intervention is used for the purpose of success in growth of an organisation as it
improves the performances of employees. It is necessary for an organisation to consider the state
of environment which impacts on the HRM intervention. It is crucial for company to analyse this
factor as it is found that it provides a great impact on choice of HRM interventions.

Evaluation of stakeholder interest and recommendations of HRM activities which help
organisation to solve business issues
Stakeholders are playing a very important role in the success in growth of any
organisation. It is identified that company needs to understand the importance of stakeholders so
that they can able to satisfy their stakeholders in an effective and efficient way (Kim and Torneo,
2021). It is very important for Coolco to evaluate the interest of stakeholders so that they are able
to deliver high quality products. It is crucial to identify and assess important people, institutions
or groups which helps them to satisfy the needs and wants of their stakeholders with the effective
planning. There are some recommendations which are mentioned below about the human
resource management activities which help in organisation to move forward without any
conflicts:
 Every person has a different mindset which needs to be understood by company in order
to satisfy employees. It is important to note that companies should make up plan for their
human resource management activities so that they can reduce the conflicts in an
organisation (Fadhil, 2019). For example, workforce diversity is increasing and that's
why human resource manager of Coolco need to understand that every person has
different perception. This is the reason that company needs to provide training in such a
way which makes a culture of diversity.
 Human resource management activities also included the performance management and
performance appraisal of employees. It is found that it provides a great impact on the
productivity and performances of all employees. This is the reason that company needs to
understand the needs and wants of employees. In addition to this, performances should be
appraised according to the productivity and performances of employees which needs to
be measured.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above discussion that external conditions are increasing in
the market which provides a great impact on the organisational operations. It is crucial for every
organisation that they should understand the importance of employees and take necessary steps

accordingly. This report covered steeple analysis and their impact on choice of HRM
interventions. This report also covered evaluation of stakeholder interest and recommendations.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Akinlade, D. and Shalack, R., 2017. Strategic human resource management in nonprofit
organizations: A case for mission-driven human resource practices. Global Journal of
Management and Marketing, 1(1), pp.121-146.
Armstrong, M., 2019. Strategic human resource management. pdf drive. com.
Beaven, K., 2019. Strategic Human Resource Management: An HR Professional's Toolkit.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Collins, C.J., 2021. Expanding the resource based view model of strategic human resource
management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(2), pp.331-
358.
Cooke, F.L., Xiao, Q. and Xiao, M., 2020. Extending the frontier of research on (strategic)
human resource management in China: A review of David Lepak and colleagues’
influence and future research direction. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 32(1), pp.183-224.
Ding, J. and Cai, X., 2018. Study on the Impact of Strategic Human Resource Management on
Enterprise Performance. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 8(3),
pp.6068-6068.
Fadhil, A.S.H., 2019. Strategic human resource management and organisational performance:
an empirical examination of the relationship between high-performance work systems
and customer satisfaction in the sultanate of Oman (Doctoral dissertation, Brunel
University London).
Kim, M.Y. and Torneo, A., 2021. The Roles of Strategic Human Resource Management and
Person–Environment Fit On Nonprofit Public Service Motivation. Public Integrity, 23(1),
pp.33-51.
Ridder, H.G. and Baluch, A.M., 2017. Strategic human resource management. In The Nonprofit
Human Resource Management Handbook (pp. 69-86). Routledge.
Sareen, D., 2018. Relationship between strategic human resource management and job
satisfaction. International Journal of Current Research in Life Sciences, 7(03), pp.1229-
1233.
Zeller, D., 2019. Strategic human resource management in the hybrid (virtual offsite/traditional
‘brick and mortar’) organization. From doi. org/10.5281/zenodo, 2671809.