Strategic Management Tools for Study Active Competitiveness

This report provides a strategic analysis of Study Active, a UK-based provider of personal training courses and fitness qualifications, using various management tools. It begins with a PESTLE analysis to identify political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors impacting the business. Porter's Five Forces are then applied to assess the competitive landscape, including industry rivalry, the threat of new entrants, the power of suppliers and customers, and the threat of substitutes. The report also employs a resource-based view to evaluate Study Active's tangible and intangible assets, followed by a capabilities assessment and VRIO analysis to determine competitive advantages. A value chain analysis identifies key activities that contribute to value creation, and finally, a SWOT analysis summarizes the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The analysis aims to provide insights into the challenges faced by Study Active and potential strategies to enhance its competitiveness and profitability within the fitness training market.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
TOOLS PROJECT 1

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
PESTLE Analysis........................................................................................................................3
Porter's five forces.......................................................................................................................5
Resource based value...................................................................................................................6
Capabilities..................................................................................................................................8
VRIO............................................................................................................................................8
Value chain analysis....................................................................................................................8
SWOT analysis..........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is defined as procedure of setting aims, objectives and formulating
strategies that helps organizations to become a productive and profitable brands. The current
assignment will be based on Study active, which falls under the category of personal training
courses and fitness qualification providing organizations in the United Kingdom. The study will
explain implementation of strategic management tools in the context of challenges that firm
faced.
MAIN BODY
PESTLE Analysis
Study Active which is leading provider for Gym instructors and personal trainers in UK.
This organization is affected from some external factors which can be understood with the help
of PESTLE analysis. These forces may create challenges for company, which it may overcome
by applying strategic tools.
Political factors :
Changes in the policies of the government can affect the business operations of the
company. Increase in the imposed tax could increase the cost incurred of organization as it may
put negative impact on business growth and occur as key challenge. The actions of the
government sometimes favours the organization or may even be beneficial for the competitors of
the organization. Due to the geographical changes some competitors of Study Active may gain
an advantage like PT Academy and Train fitness. Like Australian government changing some
policies which will help PT Academy will affect Study Active negatively (Green, 2018).
Economical factors :
The stability of the economic system of a countries operations explains the type of
economic system there is in which Study Active is operating. Especially for this organization the
educational level of the country will affect its operations the most. Employment rates of the
country also determines the availability of workforce for the organization. Interest rates also
effects the capital of the organization. The economic factors some times affect different
organization differently, thus, the competitors of this company may benefit from a change which
will be bad for the business of Study Active.
Social Factors :

The society's culture is very impactful for the business of a company like Study Active. It
depends on the nature of the people on whether they want to do a business or not. The belief of
the society over towards the Gym will influence the services of the company. Also, the tendency
of the society over spending on personal development will be a factor which will determine the
market segment of the organization. The preference of the society changes very quickly thus it
can effect the company by favouring another competitors (Shenoy and Aithal, 2017). Social or
cultural changes may bring challenges for company to run venture effectively, in term of
increasing pressure to consider customers needs and make changes accordingly for which extra
resources may require.
Technological factors :
The recent developments done by the competitors is a challenging factor for the business
of Study Active. Changes in the technology also affects the services provided by the company.
Improved technology also improves quality of the services which can be provided by the
company. Technological improvement also benefits the organization internally. It helps the
company to increase its productivity by easing the complexity of the business operations. In
certain scenarios the company needs to develop their own technology so that they can keep up
with the competitors.
Environmental factors :
The environmental factors some times do affect the gyms as the customers do not like
working out in certain weather conditions. Apart from that the environmental laws which are
upon the company to be followed are also a factor to be considered. It is important for the
company to have some corporate social responsibility for the environment otherwise the
competitors which are involved in the CSR activities can easily make it an advantage improving
their image.
Legal factors :
In many countries the legal framework are not very robust enough for protecting the
intellectual property rights of the organization. Thus, it is important for a company like Study
Active to be very careful with the intellectual properties as it can be leaked to a major competitor
or stolen for being leaked publicly. Other than that the company needs to follow the legal frame
work for the business activities of the organization. The law of employment also effects the
company's performance along with the other laws (Novel and Moertono, 2019).

Porter's five forces
For the analysation of the competition of Study Active the Porter's five forces are used
which shapes the industry's weaknesses and strengths. The forces are,
Competition in the industry :
The major competitors of Study Active are three companies, PT Academy, Train fitness
and HFE. All these companies have very similar services and business model. Thus, for having
competitive advantage this organization needs to develop it services. By innovating the services
which it provides it can gain competitive advantage. Due to having high competition from these
businesses the company is limited to the prices it can charge to its customers. Trying to increase
the prices may affect the business negatively as the customers will have to pay less switching
cost for changing organization (Coker and Porter, 2017). For this company the power of the
company is very low in the competition due to which it finds it hard to negotiate with suppliers.
High competitive environment may create challenge for company to run venture effectively and
be a profitable organization.
New Entrants :
For the establishments of the business of this company the resources which are required
are not as much. Due to this there are many new competitors enter the market, as it create
another challenge for company. This weakens the position of the company in the market. The
potential customers generally prefer a well-established business to take the services, however
distraction of the interest of the customers interest is very easy and common. In order to avoid
this threat the organization needs to ensure that it develops good marketing strategy which will
influence the customers to get attracted to the company. Having strong brand name will be
important for over coming the threat of new competitors in the market.
Power of Suppliers :
For this organization which provides the services of Gym trainers and study tutors the
major part of their supply are the teachers and the trainers. These are basically the employees of
the organization which has the power in this scenario. Due to having such a strong competition
the power of the suppliers is high due to which the company fails to negotiate with them. The
trainers and teachers have the power to make their own choice for the company they would like
to work for (Perez and et.al., 2020).
Power of customers :

The power of the customers here donate the ability they have for lowering the prices of
services they get. Due to having so strong competition the power of the customers of this
company is very high. This means that the customers can force this organization to decrease the
price of its services other wise due to the low switching cost they will change companies through
which they are taking services. In this scenario it is important for the company to develop good
relationship with the customers.
Threat of substitute :
The threat of having a potential substitute for Study Active is very high due to the kind of
services it provides. In this organization the services which are provided are gym trainers and
teaching services. These services can be easily be given by many individual trainers and teachers
on their own. Due to which the company does face the threat of being substituted. Other than that
training video available on the internet for training as well as teaching is also a kind of substitute
to the services (Orlov and Chubarkina, 2017).
Resource based value
According to the resource based theory the competitive advantage for Study Active on
the long term success is very important specially (Adnan, Abdulhamid and Sohail, 2018). In this
theory the suggestions have been made towards having the internal resources of the firm which
helps in the offering of the firm's capabilities. With the help of utilizing the internal resource the
company can develop competitive advantages towards the other competitors. As per this theory
the company can utilize the training and development method to train its employees to improve
the services which they provide to the customers. It can also influence new strategies for
increasing the total number of offering made by the organization. Introduction of new
equipments or even addition of new software for providing enhanced services can also be a very
effective strategy for gaining competitive advantages against its major competitors (Pract, 2018).
By referring to resource based value model, Study active may gain competitive
advantages by using its key assets in term of tangible and intangible services and products.
Tangible-
Chosen concept may emphasizes certain important points such as current one through
which a company obtains competitive benefits and give tough competition to its rivals that also
operate under same industry. For example, in case of Study active, its own outlets, gym

equipments for practical practices and other products that customers may tough and take their
benefits may enable firm to enhance target market satisfaction.
These category of things may enable firm to gain the attention of more voluntaries, who
prefer to go gym and obtain a lot of information about how to make body fit forever.
Intangible-
Furthermore, firm may increase its profitability by offering online services to individual
customer. As intangible product, organization may use its website where trainers or tutors may
communicate with people who are interest to become an educated candidate related to field of
gyming (Using the Resource-based View Strategy for a Competitive Advantage, 2021). Study
active by providing online digital learning opportunities may gain the attention of more
customers, who prefer to stay with brand instead of its rivals. This service may provide
organization chance to overcome the challenge of high competitive or competitive business
atmosphere that impact negatively upon its sales and strategy formulation activity of
management.

Capabilities
In term of capability, Study active is able to gain the attention of new and retain existing
customers for long time period as it may have capability to provide appropriate and effective
training services to them. It may offer offline and online services to each customer, which
contribute to increase the profitability of brand and also build wide consumer base. Along with
this ability, organization may have another one and that is financing that provided to loan
applicator with 0% finance.
VRIO
Resource or
capability
Valuable Rare Inimitable Organized
Strong brand
presence
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Quality products
and services
Yes Yes Yes no
Skilled
employees or
trainers.
Yes No Yes Yes
Online presence Yes No Yes Yes
According to above description in form of table, it can be said that Study active may gain
competitive edge by using valuable resources in term of developing strong and influencing brand
image worldwide, which rare because not every firm may obtain success to do so.
Value chain analysis
Primary activities-
Inbound logistics-
Study active may gain benefits of being a competitor, by conducting beneficial and
suitable inbound activities such as managing inventory and controlling source handling operation
that help to grow and get success above expectations of stakeholders.
Operations-

It may focus on conducting and managing current operations that help to enhance
operational effectiveness and also contribute to run venture effectively, which is quite essential
for management to do so.
Outbound logistics-
In term of outbound activity, organization may unable to serve its services across UK
because of lack of effective outbound activities that may put negative impact on its sales.
Marketing and sales-
Study active may face challenge to grow venture because of lack of online marketing
activities for which its marketer is accountable and able to develop effective plans regarding
courses advertisement that boost firm productivity and sales.
Services-
By offering offline and online services, firm may build its strong brand image in market,
which no one may beat and affect negatively. These services are valuable because it contributes
to increase the satisfaction of customers.
Support activities-
Firm infrastructure-
Study active may gain competitive benefits by using effective and diverse teams of
players who work under specific business function in organizational structure such as legal
department, finance, etc. where they act to fulfil roles and responsibilities that enable firm to
obtain expected outcomes.

Human resource management-
HR manager in company may attempt to build strong and productive workforce that also
help to reach at expect outcomes and achieve strategic aims. Their efforts in term of strategic
plans and strategies related to human resource bring several benefits such as skilled candidates.
Technology development-
At workplace, in order to train people, firm may offer fitness, gym, PT and other
professional courses in term of services for which it may also use advance technologies.
Marketer by using digital marketing tools effort to generate strong brand awareness globally.
Procurement-
Organization may take action to build relationship with those suppliers who may provide
quality products which company may use to earn profit. Furthermore, in term of procurement, it
may also take initiative to be sustainable brand by following business ethics.
Illustration 1: Value Chain Analysis
(Source: Value Chain Analysis, 2021)

SWOT analysis
Strengths-
Skilled and well-trained staff members are become the main strength of firm who are
effective and capable to provide services that enhance satisfactory level of customers and also
help to meet the stakeholders needs.
Its online presence may provide management chance to grow continually and effectively
within competitive world of corporate.
Weaknesses-
Limited visibility of a location may consider as the weakness of chosen company that
may put negatively upon its venture growth and decrease sales, which is not acceptable by the
stakeholders, such as owner.
Unfamiliar environment may also become a threat or challenge for company which they
effort to overcome by making improvement regarding that.
Opportunities-
Technology advancement may put positive effect on firm in term of strengthen
management to give tough competitive to rivals that existing in sector. It may enable them to
promote venture worldwide, which is not that easy for any firm do to so in systematic way.
Health life style as current market trend may also provide chance to firm to be
competitive by considering that factor and making chances accordingly.
Threats-
Intense competitive within industry where Study active conduct its business activities
may posses great threat as it may lead to decrease its productivity and operational effectiveness.
Pandemic also affect negatively upon company in term of creating barrier to serve their
services through own stores or outlets.
By considering each factor and taking action accordingly these, organization may
effectively and successfully overcome the negative impact of some external or internal factors
that has been determined by apply above strategic tools.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it has been concluded that by using tangible, and
intangible resources' organization has gained competitive advantages and increased its

productivity. It has sustained in business world, by considering and analysing external and
internal factors and taking actions in regard to each.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adnan, M., Abdulhamid, T. and Sohail, B., 2018. Predicting Firm Performance Through
Resource-Based Framework. European Journal of Business & Management. 10(1).
pp.31-36.
Coker, J.S. and Porter, D.J., 2017. Student motivations and perceptions across and within five
forms of experiential learning. The Journal of General Education. 65(2). pp.138-156.
Green, D.D., 2018. Fueling the gig economy: A case study evaluation of upwork. com. Manag
Econ Res J. 4(2018). p.3399.
Novel, I. and Moertono, B., 2019. Perencanaan strategi bisnis hotel Grand Keisha
Yogyakarta. Kepariwisataan: Jurnal Ilmiah. 13(03). pp.59-76.
Orlov, A.K. and Chubarkina, I.Y., 2017. Blue ocean strategy application in the course of
planning and implementation of construction projects in the area of SMART housing and
social infrastructure. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 106, p. 08015). EDP
Sciences.
Perez, J.D.R., and et.al., 2020. Current state of agricultural units: as a phenomenon and
complexity. Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana. 25(2). pp.452-468.
Shenoy, V. and Aithal, P.S., 2017. Quantitative ABCD Analysis of IEDRA Model of Placement
Determination. International Journal of Case Studies in Business, IT and Education
(IJCSBE). 1(2). pp.103-113.
Online
Pract., P, 2018. Resource based theory of competitive advantage[Online]. Available through:
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6207354/#:~:text=The%20resource
%2Dbased%20theory%20of%20competitive%20advantage%20argues%20that
%20the,over%20competing%20options%2C%20and%20the>
UK leading provider of Gym Instructor & Personal Trainer courses. 2021. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://studyactive.co.uk/>
Using the Resource-based View Strategy for a Competitive Advantage. 2021. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://www.saviom.com/blog/using-the-resource-based-view-strategy-for-
competitive-advantage/>
Value Chain Analysis. 2021. [Online]. Available Through: <https://www.ayoa.com/ourblog/the-
simple-way-to-conduct-a-value-chain-analysis/>