Strategic Planning Project: In-depth Analysis of Wesfarmers Company

This project provides a comprehensive analysis of Wesfarmers, a major Australian company, focusing on its strategic planning and business operations. The project is divided into three parts. Part A provides a background of the company, details the business strategies adopted for competitive advantage, including market segmentation, pricing, and internationalization, and outlines the company's vision, mission, and value statements. It also examines how these approaches influence organizational performance. Part B employs Porter's Five Forces framework to analyze the competitive forces within the industry, conducts a competitor analysis, and identifies the company's resources and competencies based on the resource-based theory, culminating in a SWOT analysis. Part C identifies major issues, discusses strategic changes, and offers recommendations for Wesfarmers' future strategic direction, emphasizing the importance of talent recognition and market adaptation. The project is supported by various academic references.

MANAGEMENT
Strategic planning

Project Part A
 Background of the company
Wesfarmers is one of the major companies
in Australia. The company is dominating
Australian retail market along with New
Zealand. Wesfarmers deal with the
chemicals, fertilizers, industrial products
and more.

To be continued…
 Business strategies adopted by the
company to gain a competitive advantage
Market segmentation: Wesfarmers segments the
customers on the basis of the valuation of the
commodities sold. This strategy assists the
company to form the products which are
demanded more by the customers (Perrone &
Wodonga, 2015).
Pricing strategy: An aggressive pricing strategy is
followed by Wesfarmers in order to attain more
market share(Papke-Shields & Boyer-Wright, 2017).

To be continued…
Private labels: It is another strategy
concerning a specific trend of using
personal labels in the marketplace.
Wesfarmers has formed a ‘code of conduct’
to save the favour of the suppliers.
Internationalization: Wesfarmers have
opted a new global strategy which assists
the company in acquiring a home base in
the UK. The company is having a past of
opposing greater names and winning them
over in the field.

To be continued…
Strategic operations: The company makes
sure that it offers sufficient return to the
shareholders in the short and long run
(Nickols, 2016).
Strategies for sustainability: Sustainable
developemnt is the major agenda of the
Wesfarmers. For sustainable growth, the
company has initiated to make use of the
acquisition as it is a greater move towards
success (Prajogo, 2016).

To be continued…
 Vision, mission and value statements
of the company
Wesfarmers have the mission of having the
highest ethical standards among the
organizations which are functioning in the
retail industry. It is the vision of Wesfarmers
to create value in the sustained and
accountable way.

To be continued…
 How approaches influence to the
organization performance
The approaches impact on the business
performance as these strategies lead to the
growth in the long term earning prospects.
The strategies ensure effective
management of working capital in the
company and its partners. It also creates a
robust procedure of capital expenditure
(Mishra, et al. 2017).

Project Part B
 Porter’s five forces framework
The threat of new applicants: The new
companies in food retailing fetch innovative
and unique methods of doing things. The
new entrants put pressure on Wesfarmers
by making use of the lower pricing strategy,
diminishing costs and more (Saebi & Foss,
2015).
Bargaining capability of the suppliers: The
organizations in the food trade purchase
raw material from several suppliers.

To be continued…
Bargaining power of the customers: The
customers are generally demanding and like to
buy the best product offerings accessible by
paying the least price as possible.
Threats of substitute products or services: The
profit of the industry suffers when the new
products meet the alike need of the customers
in diverse ways.
Rivalry among the prevailing competitors: The
competitors among the players in the industry
is intense.

To be continued…
 Competitor analysis
Wesfarmers is having competitors like Myer,
Woolworths, Best and less and hs home. Wesfarmers is
experiencing a slow decline in profits.
Identification of the resources and competencies
of the company based on the resource-based
theory
Wesfarmers‘s resource-based overview describes that
the company has 2 predominant and perceived coal
mines. Wesfarmers has attained the greatest
competitive advantage in the form of people. The
company offers opportunities to its people in order to
improve job performance and advance their careers.

To be continued…
 SWOT analysis
Strength
Good outcomes on the capital expenditure.
Robust brand portfolio
Strong record of assimilating complimentary firms
A higher base of customer satisfaction
Weaknesses
Investment in research and development
Restricted success external to the core business
Improper fashion planning

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Opportunities
Enlargement in the market share
Stable free cash
Dimnishing the cost of transportation
Threats
The trend toward isolation
Intense competition

Project Part C
 Major issues identify
The implementation of the strategies results
in the potential benefits, but these benefits
are not possible to attain without facing
issues. Wesfarmers went for accomplishing
growth by acquisition but the transactions
made before the international financial crisis
made the move riskier (Campbell, 2017). At
the time of implementation of the aggressive
pricing strategy, the company faces issues in
approving lower prices.

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 Strategic change
 The company identified the factors required to attain the
strategy.
 The company attained a better understanding of the
current business.
 Wesfarmers attained clarity, focus, and direction
regarding where the company is and where it required
going
 Simplification of the brand portfolio. The company is able
to manage the portfolio of brands and operates as an
individual brand.
 The strategies helped the company to produce
differentiated products by meeting the specific needs of
the market (Cassidy, 2016).

To be continued…
 Recommendations
Wesfarmers is recommended to recognize the top
talent which is accountable for the wellbeing of
the company along with the reputation. Such
people add value to the company. Wesfarmers
should make sure that the supreme quality
service is offered by these individuals. In order to
overcome the issues faced in the market
segmentation, Wesfarmers should restrict to
function in the wide geographical area along with
the domestic and global markets because of
pattern changes in the demand.

References
Campbell, J. (2017). Insights from the company monitor:
Wesfarmers. Equity, 31(8), 16.
Cassidy, A. (2016). A practical guide to information systems
strategic planning. Auerbach Publications.
Mishra, D., Sharma, R. R. K., Gunasekaran, A., Papadopoulos, T.,
& Dubey, R. (2017). Role of decoupling point in examining
manufacturing flexibility: an empirical study for different
business strategies. Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence, 1-25.
Nickols, F. (2016). Strategy, strategic management, strategic
planning and strategic thinking. Management Journal, 1(1), 4-7.
Papke-Shields, K. E., & Boyer-Wright, K. M. (2017). Strategic
planning characteristics applied to project
management. International Journal of Project
Management, 35(2), 169-179.

To be continued…
Perrone, A., & Wodonga, T. A. F. E. (2015).
Centralian College: Creating a strategic marketing
plan for long-term growth. Marketing, 85.
Prajogo, D. I. (2016). The strategic fit between
innovation strategies and business environment in
delivering business performance. International
Journal of Production Economics, 171, 241-249.
Saebi, T., & Foss, N. J. (2015). Business models for
open innovation: Matching heterogeneous open
innovation strategies with business model
dimensions. European Management Journal, 33(3),
201-213.