University Strategic Management Report: Woolworths Case Study Analysis

This report provides a strategic management analysis of Woolworths, an Australian supermarket chain. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the strategic paths undertaken by Woolworths to achieve growth, followed by an introduction outlining the company's market position and strategic importance. The report delves into the project statement, background, and the purpose of the research, which aims to identify and analyze the strategies employed by Woolworths. A literature review supports the analysis, examining key elements in Woolworths' strategies. The core of the report involves internal and external environmental analyses, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, along with an application of Porter's Five Forces. The methodology section details the research design, data collection methods, and analysis techniques. The report concludes with key findings, limitations, and recommendations for Woolworths, offering insights into its strategic management practices and future directions.

Running head: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Strategic management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Executive Summary
The following report has been prepared to highlight the strategic management paths undertaken
by the management of the organization in Australia. The report involved a critical strategic
analysis with respect to the strategy undertaken by the management of Woolworths to achieve a
much higher level of growth in all of the operations of the organization. The report has provided
a transparent analysis of the external as well as the internal environment of the business. The
analysis of the internal environmental conditions suggested that the company has a high level of
skilled and trained employees. The report has also highlighted ht methods of the following
analysis and lastly has provided a strong conclusion with a number of recommendations for the
organization.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Project Statement.............................................................................................................................5
Background......................................................................................................................................5
Project Topic....................................................................................................................................6
Purpose of the Research...................................................................................................................6
Literature Review............................................................................................................................7
Internal and External Analysis of the firm......................................................................................9
Internal Analysis..............................................................................................................................9
External Analysis...........................................................................................................................10
Main Strategy.................................................................................................................................11
Methodology..................................................................................................................................12
Research Design............................................................................................................................12
Reliability and Validity..................................................................................................................12
Sampling........................................................................................................................................13
Sample Size...................................................................................................................................13
Data Collection Method.................................................................................................................14
Quantitative Research....................................................................................................................14
Quantitative Research Design Process..........................................................................................14

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Research Instrument......................................................................................................................14
Data analysis..................................................................................................................................15
Sampling and Sample Size............................................................................................................15
Interviewing and Questionnaire Design........................................................................................15
Validity of Data.............................................................................................................................15
Limitations of the Research...........................................................................................................16
Data Analysis and Reflections on Key Findings...........................................................................16
Conclusion, Limitations and Recommendations...........................................................................19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................19
Limitations.....................................................................................................................................20
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................21
References......................................................................................................................................24

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Introduction
The following report is based on the identification of the strategic goals of Woolworths
Organization. Woolworths Organization is an Australian supermarket store chain that is owned
and operated by Woolworths Limited (coburnarchitecture.com.au 2016). Woolworth is the
largest supermarket store of Australia and along with Cole’s supermarket; the company forms a
near duopoly in the Australian retail market. The competitive nature of the market in Australia
forces the management of Woolworths to ensure the implementation of the correct set of
strategies that best suits the interests of the organization. Strategic management generally refers
to the identification and implementation of the different strategies that are needed for the smooth
operations of the organization. The following report will basically project on the ways by which
the company maintains the track record for the smooth growth of the organization and the ways
by which the company helps its shareholders to maximize their profit (coburnarchitecture.com.au
2016).
Project Statement
Background
The identification of the strategies that are implemented in the business by the managers
or the supervisors are said to be Strategic Management. Strategic Management also involves the
managers and the supervisors to undertake crucial decisions and actions to make sure that the
planning of the organization moves forward in the correct path (macrobusiness.com.au 2016).
The proper and effective implementation of the strategies helps the organization to determine the
performance of the company in a proper and effective manner.

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Project Topic
The following report is based on the strategic management of Woolworths which is an
Australian supermarket chain. The management of the company works in close cooperation with
the Australian farmers and cultivators and in turn promotes the use of home grown domestic
products (macrobusiness.com.au 2016). The following strategy to work in tandem with the
farmers is generally done to ensure the presence of the best quality products to its customers.
Both the mission and vision statement of the organization is designed in such a way that it
addresses the needs of the common people and also caters to their demands. The mission
statement of the organization aims to highlight the key elements that would e required to serve
the purpose of the stakeholders. On the other hand the vision statement describes the future
oriented declaration; Goals and the planning that are generally undertaken by the management of
the organization. Apart from this the company has also aims to deliver the customers with the
proper experience related to shopping each and every time. The statement also includes the fact
that the organization leads the customers to a profound knowledge about each and every products
of the organization (Madsen and Walker 2015).
Purpose of the Research
The strategic planning has a number of different objectives. Some of them are as follows;
a. The efficient maintenance of the different kinds of track records that helps to build new
partnerships and grow the business accordingly
b. The expansion of the business and extension of the brand reputation
c. To stay dedicated and concentrate all the different efforts towards the Company itself

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d. Implementing strategies and planning that are the most suitable and stable for the
business organization.
Literature Review
The report has been successful in highlighting the different types of the elements in the
strategies undertaken by the management of the business to ensure their growth as the giant of
supermarket chains in the island continent, Australia (Cummings and Worley 2014). Apart from
this the strategies will also be addressing and supporting the idea of their international expansion.
The formation and implementation of the proper strategic analysis depends on the proper
selection of the goals and objectives of the mentioned Company. The goals identified by the
Business organization are as follows;
1. Creation of a large customer base
2. Implementation of the strategies in a proper way to support the sustainability of the
business
3. Empowering the portfolio business
4. Ensuring the continuation of search for innovation and new strategies to gain competitive
edge in the market over their rivals
The above mentioned goals can only be achieved by formulating a great retail team that
generally listens to the customers, employees and the suppliers of the business. The employees
generally receives continuous feedback from the customers and accordingly reports to the
management.
The main objectives of the business are as follows;

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 Uniqueness in Business- The retail business has a unique characteristic in it which is the
ever changing mentality of the customers of the organization. The management of the
company has to adapt to these changes accordingly and ensure that they change their
strategies in the same pace (Cummings and Worley 2014). The main reasons for the
change are the availability of a number of different kinds of retail stores and new kind of
products in the offering. The customers have the tendency to opt for the best products and
services that are available to them in a particular time. Thus the management has been
changing accordingly to ensure that they meet the demands and needs of the customers.
The management has also started a feedback option for the customers where the
customers are able to provide their feedback to the management of the company
regarding the different goods and services. This helps the management of the business to
get a clear idea of the needs of the customer and the changes that they expect from the
organization (Saeidi 2015). Thus following such kinds of feedbacks and completing the
changes helps the organization to sustain in the market and increase the demand of the
products that are sold in the stores of Woolworths.
 Focusing on the customers- Official figures estimates the number of customers who
avail the services of the retail giants crosses 20 million (Cummings and Worley 2014).
Being one of the best and the largest retail stores of Australia, the company ensures that
each and every of its employees works in coordination and helps in the success of the
organization. The training program of the company helps the organization to instill a
sense of responsibility in every employee to work for the company by serving all the
customers in a proper and efficient manner. The proper behavior of the employees
towards their customers helps the organizations to attract more and more customers and

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ensure their success in the market. The more the labor of the employees towards their
customers, the more are the chance of success of the organization in the market.
 Innovations in shopping- The innovative approaches in shopping that is being practiced
nowadays will dominate the future of shopping (coburnarchitecture.com.au 2016). Some
of the main approaches include the likes of online shopping, phone shopping and many
others as such. The rise in the use of mobile technology has been the main reason behind
the growth of the shopping innovations. Woolworths has recently introduced a mobile
application that will be helpful for the shoppers to shop all the necessary items at one
click of their mobile. The items that will be ordered will be delivered within a particular
time limit. Apart from this the absence of ample time has also been one of the main
reasons for the innovative shopping procedures.
Internal and External Analysis of the firm
Internal Analysis
The Internal analysis of the firm is mainly estimated by the identification of the strengths
and weaknesses of the organization. The internal analysis of Woolworths is carried out by the
management of the organization to ensure the strengths of the organization and use them in a
coordinated and efficient way to mitigate the weakness of the Company. The strengths and
weaknesses of the company are given below;

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STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESS Largest Retail store of Australia Largest Market share of retail business in
Australia Strong Financial Performance
 Proper and Efficient Growth
 Absence of International Presence
 Restricted geographical presence in
comparison to Cole’s or David’s
 Business is restricted to New Zeeland and
Australia
External Analysis
The external analysis of the business is generally said to be the opportunities and threats
that the business will have during its operations (macrobusiness.com.au 2016). The external
analysis of the business is more relevant to the proper functioning and the success of the
business. The main Opportunities and the Threats of the business organization are as follows;
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS The opening of new markets in Australia
because of new Government Agreements
 The new taxation policy of the
Government can help improve the policy
of the government and impact the way by
which business is carried on
 New trends of consumer behavior
 Introduction of online shopping
 Absence of New products
 Rising number of International retail
Companies opening their stores in
Australia and New Zealand
 Absence of aggressive expansion policies
and strategies
 Absence of innovative marketing policies
The management of Woolworth’s private Limited defines the external analysis by means
of Porter’s Five Forces.

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a. Bargaining Power of Suppliers- The large retail market share of the organization in
Australia makes the organizing power of suppliers for the organization very weak in
nature.
b. Bargaining Power of Customers- The presence of large number of individual buyers in
the organization makes the bargaining power of buyers much powerful in nature. The
customers generally bargains for the price of all the articles that they feel are excessive in
nature and forces the organization to rethink on the pricing strategy and finally reduce the
price of the products.
c. Threat of New Players- Woolworths Private Limited Company is the largest retailer of
Australia and also holds the largest market share among all the other retail players in the
market. The immense power of the organization in the market suggests the absence of
any kind of threats from other retailers or any new retailers who tend to enter the market
of Australia. The presence of large and efficient network of distribution networks and
supplier channels helps the organization to ensure the strong presence of the company in
the Australian market.
d. Threat of Substitutions- The presence of lots of substitute products especially the ones
which offer the same advantages but are cheap in nature pose a direct threat to the
organization. The presence of such kind of products in the market is a threat to the
organization.
e. Rivalry among the different Competitors- The rivalry of the company is basically limited
in nature as because apart from Coles Supermarket there is no such company that
matches its stature.

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Main Strategy
According to, Sakas Vlachos and Nasiopoulos (2014) the management of Woolworths
has decided to fix to the pricing strategy that best suits the company. The pricing strategy of the
company is useful for the organization as because the organization is mainly dependent on the
customers for fulfilling their goals and objectives. The strategy will help the management to fix
the price of the products that they offer in their stores and lower the prices of these products
accordingly. The management of the company has decided to enhance the quality of the products
to fight the price gap of their products with that of their competitors.
Methodology
The research will be totally based on the study of the strategic elements of Cole’s
supermarket. The report will be prepared by means of both the use of qualitative as well as
quantitative data. Apart from this it will use both primary as well as the secondary methods of
data collection collect data. The data can be collected from the employees at the stores and also
from the people who visits the stores regularly. The data will then be analyzed accordingly to
find out the different results related to the topic. The main elements of the qualitative research
methodology are as follows;
Research Design
The proper evaluation of the different objectives will be completed for this particular
project with the use of the Descriptive Research Design. The descriptive research design will be
chosen for the other two research designs mainly because of the ability of the following research
design to provide a proper analysis to the theories and concepts that are directly or indirectly
related to the following topic (Wheelen et al. 2017). The particular research design will be quite